Did I say that craps was the most exciting game in a casino? It is also the most intimidating and hardest game to get a grip on (with the exception of Pai Gow Tiles). The layout features up to 16 people, 4 casino workers, and a myriad of different betting options. It is very difficult to explain what is going on. Indeed, the game is different from any other game in the casino because of all of the betting possibilities. But once you get started and get the hang of it, you'll get used to all of the commotion and love the game (and hate it at the same time).
Craps is offered at all of the casino resorts (Rama, Windsor, Niagara, Fallsview) and at Thousand Islands and Brantford. It is not at Great Blue Heron. I am not sure if it is in place in the Soo, Thunder Bay, or Point Edward. Thousand Island's craps table is open only from Thursdays to Sundays. Casino Niagara opens their craps table at 4pm on weekdays and 2pm on weekends. As far as I know, Rama, Fallsview, and Windsor operate their craps table around the clock.
The basic concept is that you are betting on throws of the dice. There are two six sided dice and so the probability of throwing a certain number is well known, as you add the two numbers to get the result.
There is one way to throw a 2 or a 12 (1-1 and 6-6)
There are two ways to throw a 3 or an 11 (1-2, 2-1, 6-5 and 5-6)
There are three ways to throw a 4 or a 10 (1-3, 2-2, 3-1)
There are four ways to throw a 5 or 9 (1-4, 2-3, 3-2, 4-1)
There are five ways to throw a 6 or 8 (1-5, 2-4, 3-3, 4-2, 5-1), and
There are six ways to throw a 7 (1-6, 2-5, 3-4, 4-3, 5-2, 6-1).
Craps is all about betting on a roll or a set of rolls.
The casino obviously knows this as well and sets the table up in a fashion where you never have an advantage, where what they pay you for the roll that you are betting on is always less than the true possibility of throwing that number, and that's how the casino makes there money. In general, all casinos operate the craps table the same with a few exceptions, and since I am talking about casinos operating in Ontario, I will talk about their rules.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Sunday, October 19, 2008
My favourite games...
Ontario's casinos offer a good variety of games to play. In general, you can see me at any table (except Roulette, which I abhor) but I have a few favourites. Here they are:
Blackjack Switch: You get dealt two blackjack hands and you get to switch the top card for the other. That means if you get dealt a 10-6 and an 5-10, you can switch it to a 10-10 and 5-6, which is way better! You still get to split and double down. The house, however, gets to push on a 22 and player blackjacks get paid 1-1. The Wizard of Odds calculates the house advantage at .58%, but the Great Blue Heron (where I play it) stands on any 17, lowering the house advantage to a mere 0.36%. Because you push on 22, the basic strategy changes slightly, and you should print out the strategy page and bring it with you.
Blackjack: Ontario's casinos mostly have liberal rules for blackjack and use alot of decks and the continuous shuffler to avoid card counters. The house advantage is 0.38% and is an excellent game. What I don't like about this game is the high minimums ($15 - $25) and the people (and dealers) giving me bad advice. Bring your strategy card and follow the advice (in a previous post). This game is my staple as it offers a very low house advantage and is fun to play. You get to multiply your bet to your advantage and you can go up (or down) very fast.
Craps: Name another game where you control the outcome (by throwing the dice). While craps looks complicated, it is a simple game to play (I'll illustrate in a later post) with house advantage sitting below 1.6% for the basic bets. The players are all relying on your throw to determine their financial outcome as well as yours. The game is filled with superstition: female first time rollers are lucky, male ones are unlucky; if you throw the dice off the table, ask for the same dice; throw the same way every time; never say SEVEN; you'll throw badly after the stickman changes; you'll throw badly if you order or receive a drink; you'll throw badly if your partner approaches the table. So the game is alot of fun: cheering when you win; lamenting your losses and trying to figure out how you threw that seven when you lose. You can bet on ANY number, at any time. It is a great, great game. I've had great rolls and I've had terrible rolls.
Blackjack Switch: You get dealt two blackjack hands and you get to switch the top card for the other. That means if you get dealt a 10-6 and an 5-10, you can switch it to a 10-10 and 5-6, which is way better! You still get to split and double down. The house, however, gets to push on a 22 and player blackjacks get paid 1-1. The Wizard of Odds calculates the house advantage at .58%, but the Great Blue Heron (where I play it) stands on any 17, lowering the house advantage to a mere 0.36%. Because you push on 22, the basic strategy changes slightly, and you should print out the strategy page and bring it with you.
Blackjack: Ontario's casinos mostly have liberal rules for blackjack and use alot of decks and the continuous shuffler to avoid card counters. The house advantage is 0.38% and is an excellent game. What I don't like about this game is the high minimums ($15 - $25) and the people (and dealers) giving me bad advice. Bring your strategy card and follow the advice (in a previous post). This game is my staple as it offers a very low house advantage and is fun to play. You get to multiply your bet to your advantage and you can go up (or down) very fast.
Craps: Name another game where you control the outcome (by throwing the dice). While craps looks complicated, it is a simple game to play (I'll illustrate in a later post) with house advantage sitting below 1.6% for the basic bets. The players are all relying on your throw to determine their financial outcome as well as yours. The game is filled with superstition: female first time rollers are lucky, male ones are unlucky; if you throw the dice off the table, ask for the same dice; throw the same way every time; never say SEVEN; you'll throw badly after the stickman changes; you'll throw badly if you order or receive a drink; you'll throw badly if your partner approaches the table. So the game is alot of fun: cheering when you win; lamenting your losses and trying to figure out how you threw that seven when you lose. You can bet on ANY number, at any time. It is a great, great game. I've had great rolls and I've had terrible rolls.
The dreaded slot machines
A long time ago, I did some work for OLG and got to take a look at how they make their money. The way all casinos make their money is SLOT MACHINES. The table games do not make a lot of money, but they do bring in patrons and their partners.
Table games require personnel... one for each table (four for craps), pit bosses, floor supervisors, and security. Even on a full night, there's one staff member for every three - four players on the casino floor, and that costs money. Whereas for a slot machine, there might be only one person to 200- 300 gamblers.
OLG gives 5% of its SLOT revenues (direct revenue, which is the profit on the machine itself) to the community. Here is the statement for Brantford. Over eight years, the city has received 29.5 million dollars. There are 514 slot machines. Let's do the math: 29.5 million / 5% = 589 million dollars in slot revenue revenue. Divide by 8 years and that is 73.6 million / year. Divide that by 514 slot machine and you'll see that EACH slot machine contributes $143,300 per year or $392/day to the Province of Ontario's coffers... and these slot machines are not busy 24 hours a day. It's scary. A slot machine in Thunder Bay brings in roughly $250/day while the Soo brings in $222/day.
That's because slot machine are designed to keep between 5 and 15 cents of each dollar you bet. The advantage on these goes up as the denomination goes down. Let's assume for a minute that you are playing a standard quarter slot with a house advantage of 5%. To win the jackpot, you must play with maximum coins, meaning that you are betting 75 cents per pull. So, on average you are giving up 3.75 cents per bet. You are slow, so you press that button 6 times on average a minute, so, playing that machine, you are going to give up on average of 21.5 cents a minute, or $12.60/hour.
Now, let's say you are playing a $15 blackjack game, betting $15/hand. The house advantage on this game is 0.4%, meaning that on a given hand, you are going to lose six cents. If you play 100 hands per hour (the dealer is fast), over that hour, you are going to lose, on average $6.00.
The worst part of the slots is the nickel and penny machines. Players think that they are not spending as much, but they aren't betting $.01/pull. They are playing max lines and max bet, sometimes pulling $.75/pull. Yet the casinos are taking 10 to 15% in the house advantage, or 7.5 cents per pull. So, even though they are playing the lowest demonination machine, they are giving up more money than the person playing the quarter slot (twice as much). That's why when you walk into a casino, you see these machines. They make more money per machine than the quarter machines.
So if you must play slots, what should you do?
Table games require personnel... one for each table (four for craps), pit bosses, floor supervisors, and security. Even on a full night, there's one staff member for every three - four players on the casino floor, and that costs money. Whereas for a slot machine, there might be only one person to 200- 300 gamblers.
OLG gives 5% of its SLOT revenues (direct revenue, which is the profit on the machine itself) to the community. Here is the statement for Brantford. Over eight years, the city has received 29.5 million dollars. There are 514 slot machines. Let's do the math: 29.5 million / 5% = 589 million dollars in slot revenue revenue. Divide by 8 years and that is 73.6 million / year. Divide that by 514 slot machine and you'll see that EACH slot machine contributes $143,300 per year or $392/day to the Province of Ontario's coffers... and these slot machines are not busy 24 hours a day. It's scary. A slot machine in Thunder Bay brings in roughly $250/day while the Soo brings in $222/day.
That's because slot machine are designed to keep between 5 and 15 cents of each dollar you bet. The advantage on these goes up as the denomination goes down. Let's assume for a minute that you are playing a standard quarter slot with a house advantage of 5%. To win the jackpot, you must play with maximum coins, meaning that you are betting 75 cents per pull. So, on average you are giving up 3.75 cents per bet. You are slow, so you press that button 6 times on average a minute, so, playing that machine, you are going to give up on average of 21.5 cents a minute, or $12.60/hour.
Now, let's say you are playing a $15 blackjack game, betting $15/hand. The house advantage on this game is 0.4%, meaning that on a given hand, you are going to lose six cents. If you play 100 hands per hour (the dealer is fast), over that hour, you are going to lose, on average $6.00.
The worst part of the slots is the nickel and penny machines. Players think that they are not spending as much, but they aren't betting $.01/pull. They are playing max lines and max bet, sometimes pulling $.75/pull. Yet the casinos are taking 10 to 15% in the house advantage, or 7.5 cents per pull. So, even though they are playing the lowest demonination machine, they are giving up more money than the person playing the quarter slot (twice as much). That's why when you walk into a casino, you see these machines. They make more money per machine than the quarter machines.
So if you must play slots, what should you do?
- Play video poker (and learn to play it first). Video Poker's house advantages are less than 5% and they offer big jackpots as well. Legally, the video poker machines must play a fair deck of cards (no manipulations, deals are random) and therefore, you can calculate the house advantage by looking at the pay table. For example, if you play Pick-em poker at Casino Niagara, there are eight $.50 machines where the house advantage is less than 0.05% (when playing $2.50/bet), which makes it BY far the best game to play in the entire casino, including table games. Most other video poker games offer house advantages between 2 and 5%.
- Set a limit of losing $20 - $40 dollars and play higher denomination machines. Nickels and pennies will suck the life out of you because the house advantages are high and the payoffs are low. Play the quarter, fifty cent and dollar machines where the payoffs are higher. You'll last just as long and you have a better chance of losing less and winning a significant amount of money.
- Lock in your winnings. If you hit a decent win, print that ticket, cash it in and put it away.
- Pull the lever instead of hitting the button. You'll get some exercise and slow the number of hands played, increasing your life span.
- Play at machines without a progressive jackpot. You're less likely to win the "big" jackpot but you'll be more likely to win a few hundred dollars if that is the maximum jackpot. Of course, ignore this if you want to win a life-changing amount of money. Just stick to your limit.
- Use your player's cards. Player's cards in Ontario generally pay about 1 point (10 cents) for every $20 bet. That doesn't seem like it's very much but it results in reducing the house edge by 0.5%. You can use that player's card to get cash back or as a discount in meals. Player's cards do not affect the game you are playing... they are free, and if you gamble enough, there are decent benefits.
Blackjack Tips
Blackjack, by far, is the best game to play, in Ontario's casinos. However, it is only a great game when you know how to play it.
Blackjack has become more popular with the movie "21". As a result, it is almost impossible to find $5 dollar tables in Niagara Falls, Rama, Great Blue Heron, or Windsor. Brantford sometimes has a $5 table but it seems always full.
Typically, weekend nights will make the minimums at blackjack at $15 at most Ontario Casinos.
You can buy blackjack books and read up on blackjack online, but all you need is a basic strategy card (you can visit the Wizard of Odds page on blackjack, here) to view it and print it. Follow the strategy (you can have it at the table), and you will do the best you could possibly do. Here are some tips:
Blackjack has become more popular with the movie "21". As a result, it is almost impossible to find $5 dollar tables in Niagara Falls, Rama, Great Blue Heron, or Windsor. Brantford sometimes has a $5 table but it seems always full.
Typically, weekend nights will make the minimums at blackjack at $15 at most Ontario Casinos.
You can buy blackjack books and read up on blackjack online, but all you need is a basic strategy card (you can visit the Wizard of Odds page on blackjack, here) to view it and print it. Follow the strategy (you can have it at the table), and you will do the best you could possibly do. Here are some tips:
- Memorize basic strategy. Bring the card with you until you do. This goes for Spanish 21, Blackjack Switch, or regular blackjack.
- Never bet insurance, or take "even money". You are betting up to half of your bet to bet that 4 cards of 13 are a 10.
- Don't be afraid to hit those 12s on a 2 or 3. Players and even the dealer will admonish you for hitting that 12, especially when you get a 10 and the dealer makes a hand (17 - 21). Standing on a 12 has a house advantage of 29.3% on a dealer 2 and 25.2% on a dealer 3, while hitting has a house advantage of 25.3% on a 2 and 23.3% on a 3. So it's better to follow the strategy.
- Don't be afraid to hit those soft 18s against the dealers 9, 10, 11 and to double it against the 2-6. Hitting A-7 will help you more than it will hurt you. Standing on 18 has a expected loss of 18.3%, 17.8%, and 10% vs a 9, 10 or 11. Hitting has an expected loss of 10, 14.3, and 9.3% against the same dealer 9, 10 or 11.
- Don't be afraid to stand on 16 against a dealer 10, especially when your 16 is made up of 3 or more cards and you see alot of small cards on the table. The strategy for hitting reduces your house edge by a mere 0.06% versus standing. Remember that for every A-5 on the table reduces the odds that you will get one by 1% for each one that you see (there are 100 A-5 in a five deck infinite shuffles). Seeing small cards out there increases the odds that you won't get one. So stay on that 16 if you see a bunch of small cards (that outnumber the big ones).
- Double and split when you should. This is an essential part of your strategy. This includes the more "risky" one, like doubling an A on a 10 and the soft doubles. Never double 8s.
- Don't admonish people for making boneheaded moves. Sometimes the person at third base (the last person to receive cards) will do something dumb like stand on a 14 against a 10. But remember that the dealer is just as likely to pull a 3-7 as much as the player. It's their money.
- Don't get mad at the dealer for making his/her hands. She doesn't control the cards coming out of the shoe. You can get up and leave at any time.
- Give people advice if you know the answer and the player is seeking it.
- Avoid the side bets, ESPECIALLY Lucky Ladies (house advantage 25%) and Super Sevens (12%). Perfect Pairs and the Streak offer a house advantage of 4 and 3.2% respectively.
- Don't be afraid of the continuous shuffle machines. They do not affect the house advantage significantly at all.
The Nine Rules of Gambling
When you are going to gamble, remember these nine "rules"... I dare not say commandments, as gambling and religion have nothing in common.
- Budget your gambling experience. Set yourself up to spend an amount of money that you can afford, and leave your banking card, visa cards, etc. somewhere where it is not easy to access. If you are a conservative gambler, lock in your winnings.
- Budget your gambling time. Make sure that you leave around the time that you plan to. If you lose all of your money early, have a contingency plan to do something else. Build in time for breaks and meals.
- Know how to play the games. The casino builds in an automatic house edge to every game. Learn how to play the games before entering the casino. The way that you play affects the house edge. I am going to recommend the site Wizard of Odds to everyone. It has detailed strategies for every single table game that Ontario's casinos have to offer. Study the house edge and betting strategies carefully. Print out a gambling card (you can use them at the tables). This will minimize your errors and maximizes your chances to come out ahead.
- Expect to lose. None of Ontario's casinos offer any game where the player has the advantage. That said, there are games that are way worse than others. Table Games come in two classes: Blackjack, Craps (with proper bets), Bacarrat; and everything else.
- Tip. While the dealers in Ontario are paid decent, unionized wages, you should be tipping based on the time that you play and the amount you win. Generally, you should be tipping a couple of bucks per hour in general and should tip 1 to 2% of your winnings overall. But this is up to you. Make sure you tip your servers well. You will get much better service when you tip. Tips are distributed among all dealers at the casino.
- Be courteous. There is absolutely NO reason to take out your losing on the dealers. They are simply dealing cards. They want you to win because winners tip more. Harmless ribbing is okay. Remember that if you are losing and don't like the table, you can get up and leave. The dealer can't. If you are playing a game where other players can dictate the outcome (Blackjack, Craps), don't get mad at the player for doing a boneheaded move... over the long run, it doesn't help nor hinder you.
- Avoid the side bet. Most side bets at casinos are bad ones. The Caribbean Stud bonus is a famous one -- the house makes 29% of every dollar spent on the bonus. Let it Ride's bonus is 23%. The blackjack side feature a 12.5% advantage for super sevens, 3.2% for the streak (4 is the best streak), 25% on the lucky ladies, and 4% on perfect pairs. The Fortune Pai Gow bonus house edge's is 7.8%. Betting anywhere in the centre in craps has an advantage of 9-11%. If you must play the side bet, know the house advantage and try to play the minimum amount possible.
- Do not use a system. They don't work. Period. Your best chances of winning are to look at the math and bet accordingly.
- Have fun! If you are at the casino and am not enjoying yourself, leave. If you are at the casino expecting to win, you are not there for the right reason. Most casual gamblers go for entertainment, to see people, and to have fun. If you find yourself at the casino for other reasons, you might have a problem or an addiction. Get help for that addiction before it becomes too serious.
Welcome to Ontario Gamblers...
Hello, and welcome to the Blog on gambling in Ontario, Canada. This blog will post essays from time to time on my gambling experiences in Ontario, with advice to both gamblers new and old. I concentrate mostly on table gaming at Ontario's major casinos. So, I hope you enjoy this blog.
My background is that I have a degree in Physics and Astronomy. I gamble alot, and I don't like to lose (who does). My focus is to educate gamblers on my favourite casino games so that you can minimize your losses.
Where to gamble
There are 10 places to gamble on table games in Ontario. I will list these in order of my familiarity with them.
Fallsview Casino Resort (Niagara Falls)
Casino Niagara (Niagara Falls)
Caesars Windsor (Windsor)
Casino Rama (Orillia)
OLG Casino Brantford
Great Blue Heron Casino
OLG Casino Thousand Islands
OLG Casino Thunder Bay
OLG Casino Sault Ste Marie
OLG Casino Point Edward (Sarnia)
All of Ontario's casinos are smoke free. In addition, there are 17 sites to play slots in Ontario (and bet on horses). Plus, there are tens of thousands of lottery retailers in Ontario where you can scratch tickets and bet on sporting events. Not to mention bingo halls, charity raffles, fairs... you get the picture.
Outside of the province, surrounding our fair province, are other casinos... Michigan has 22 casinos (3 in Detroit, and 1 in Sault Ste. Marie). In New York state, there is Seneca Niagara in Niagara Falls and the Akwesasne Mohawk Casino close to Cornwall. Finally, there are Quebec's casinos... Casino Montreal and Casino Lac Leamy (in Hull).
So if you live in Ontario, likely, you don't live far from a Casino. I am going to focus on table games only.
Gambling pitfalls
There is no such thing as a gambling system. Ontario's casino has an unbeatable house edge of between 0.4 and 6% on all of the table games in Ontario. The only way you can get around this house edge is to learn to count cards (difficult) or to take a dice controlling class (expensive). Systems that vary your bets according to previous results only increases your volatility and risk.
You should treat gambling as entertainment. If gambling becomes an anticipated source of income, if it is affecting your relationships or threatening your financial standing in life, then you have a problem. I have a big problem with the Rama commercials where the partner is talking to them (or the car is being repaired) and the person is daydreaming about gambling. Too often, that is what gambling addiction is about... this need to gamble all of the time, and to miss out on everything else that is important in life. If you are at this point, seek help... before it's too late. Too often, people fall into this trap that they are lucky, that you are going to win, that you are smarter than the casino. None of this true. You are subject to the same laws of math as everyone else. The casinos are out to make money while hopefully entertaining you. My opinion is that Ontario does not take gambling addiction seriously at all. Given that the Province of Ontario reaps most of the profits from gambling, it has a social responsibility to provide help to problem gamblers.
So, good luck in and outside of the casinos.
My background is that I have a degree in Physics and Astronomy. I gamble alot, and I don't like to lose (who does). My focus is to educate gamblers on my favourite casino games so that you can minimize your losses.
Where to gamble
There are 10 places to gamble on table games in Ontario. I will list these in order of my familiarity with them.
Fallsview Casino Resort (Niagara Falls)
Casino Niagara (Niagara Falls)
Caesars Windsor (Windsor)
Casino Rama (Orillia)
OLG Casino Brantford
Great Blue Heron Casino
OLG Casino Thousand Islands
OLG Casino Thunder Bay
OLG Casino Sault Ste Marie
OLG Casino Point Edward (Sarnia)
All of Ontario's casinos are smoke free. In addition, there are 17 sites to play slots in Ontario (and bet on horses). Plus, there are tens of thousands of lottery retailers in Ontario where you can scratch tickets and bet on sporting events. Not to mention bingo halls, charity raffles, fairs... you get the picture.
Outside of the province, surrounding our fair province, are other casinos... Michigan has 22 casinos (3 in Detroit, and 1 in Sault Ste. Marie). In New York state, there is Seneca Niagara in Niagara Falls and the Akwesasne Mohawk Casino close to Cornwall. Finally, there are Quebec's casinos... Casino Montreal and Casino Lac Leamy (in Hull).
So if you live in Ontario, likely, you don't live far from a Casino. I am going to focus on table games only.
Gambling pitfalls
There is no such thing as a gambling system. Ontario's casino has an unbeatable house edge of between 0.4 and 6% on all of the table games in Ontario. The only way you can get around this house edge is to learn to count cards (difficult) or to take a dice controlling class (expensive). Systems that vary your bets according to previous results only increases your volatility and risk.
You should treat gambling as entertainment. If gambling becomes an anticipated source of income, if it is affecting your relationships or threatening your financial standing in life, then you have a problem. I have a big problem with the Rama commercials where the partner is talking to them (or the car is being repaired) and the person is daydreaming about gambling. Too often, that is what gambling addiction is about... this need to gamble all of the time, and to miss out on everything else that is important in life. If you are at this point, seek help... before it's too late. Too often, people fall into this trap that they are lucky, that you are going to win, that you are smarter than the casino. None of this true. You are subject to the same laws of math as everyone else. The casinos are out to make money while hopefully entertaining you. My opinion is that Ontario does not take gambling addiction seriously at all. Given that the Province of Ontario reaps most of the profits from gambling, it has a social responsibility to provide help to problem gamblers.
So, good luck in and outside of the casinos.
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