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Casino Poker
Casino Poker
Playing poker in the casino is vastly different from the casual poker game at home. Poker in the casino can be fun, but if you are not careful, it can also be quite costly. Here are some things to be aware of before booking your tickets to Las Vegas or Atlantic City.
First, poker is the only game in the casino where you are not playing against the house—you are playing with strangers. Be aware that some of these strangers might be pros; they will know you are a rookie before you even sit down. Obviously, not everyone is going to be a shark, particularly at the low-limit table, where there will be plenty of people who enjoy poker but only play occasionally at casinos. But before sitting down at a table, walk around the casino and try and find a table where you think you might be comfortable.
A good place to start would be a low-limit table where the minimum bet is $1 or $2 and the maximum bet is $2 or $4. Because the stakes are low, you will probably be playing with people of similar skill level. Also, the betting will be light enough that you won’t feel intimidated.
If you thought table etiquette was important at home, it is doubly important in the casino. Things like playing out of turn, moving your cards from the table, and mishandling chips can have serious consequences. Not only will your fellow players have zero tolerance for your misbehavior, but your mistakes could lead to disqualification of your hand. It is quite all right for you to mention to the dealer that you’re a rookie. It is the dealer’s role to let you know when you should move and to remind you of rules. Don’t worry about exposing yourself as a novice; it will most likely be apparent anyhow.
Ever wonder how the casinos make money from poker since the gamblers are not playing against the house? The casinos can charge an “admission fee” by requiring you to pay to sit down; they can also take a percentage of the winnings. If you go to the casino with a set amount of money to gamble with, just remember that not all of that money will be for making bets. This fee is something to think about if you plan to play lots of hands; it will add up.
Money Management and the Mental Edge Redux -3
Ask yourself the question: How long do I want to play? Or, how many shots at Lady Luck do I want to take?
Let us say you want to play for four hours a day for three days. That’s 12 hours of total play. Assuming four hands a minute (one hand every 15 seconds—a rather moderate pace), you would play 2,880 hands of video poker in that three-day period.
Now, you have a choice to make. Do you play any credits during your sessions or do you stick to playing coins? Personally I never play any credits. I put my money through the machine once and once only. Thus, facing a three-day, 12 hour, 2,880 hand assault on Lady Luck, I would need 14,400 coins (2,880 hands x 5 coins = 14,400 coins). So does that mean that if I wanted to play a dollar machine, I would need $14,400 behind me? Not really.
Just take one day, which would be 4800 coins ($4,800 dollars for dollar machines, $1,200 for quarter machines, and $240 for nickel machines) and make that your trip-stake. This is the money you are going to risk. You will put the money through the machine that first day—once. However, do not put all your coins into the machine during one session. Instead, divide the day into two or more sessions and allot the requisite amount for each. Only play the money originally slated for each session and never play credits. If you wind up with more than 4,800 coins at the end of the first day, the excess is put away, not to be touched on this trip. That excess will go back into your gambling account when you get home.
The second day, you would again put 4,800 coins through the machine—just once—and again spread out the play amongst various sessions. On the third day, same procedure. Should your trip bankroll fall below 4,800 coins at any time, you would risk whatever you had by putting it through the machine once. So, on that first day, let us say that you took a beating and lost half your stake—a not impossible occurrence. On day two, you would put through 2,400 coins because that’s all you had left. And you would put them through during individual sessions, not all at once. You would have to cut down the length and/or number of sessions because of your shortened bankroll.
Using this method of play, it is impossible for you to lose every penny unless the unthinkable happens—every day is a losing day and you lose every single hand on the last day of your trip. If this horrible fate happens, you could still make money by selling your story (MEET THE UNLUCKIEST PERSON ON EARTH!) to the Guinness Book of World Records or Ripley’s Believe It or Not!