light weight casino question

[DaveOKC]

Nobody mentioned roulette. I enjoy a turn or two at the wheel. No, the odds are not as good as some other games but the fun is good! It's very social because no customer is betting against another customer, only against the house. Customers usually root for each other.

 

And because it takes some amount of time for the ball to spin around you might not spend as much money as fast as in a slot machine. And I find it's more exciting and not boring. But still, any ship is a money making operation.

 

Bets can be split by placing a chip on a line or a corner, thus increasing the chance that one of these numbers will come up, but dividing the winnings by that also (half for a line split or a quarter for a corner split). Etc. You can play rows, columns, reds, blacks, evens, odds..... so it's never boring!

 

There are fun gaming classes usually offered early in the cruise and as others have said, the staff will happily assist you.

 

Every person at the roulette table has chips of their own color or pattern so the croupier knows to whom to pay the winnings.

 

I do not recall seeing a roulette table on a HAL ship?? Am I wrong?

DaveOKC

[jaguarstyper]

Its funny, I have a friend who is a roulette croupier at one of the local casinos and he claims he can place the ball on any number he wants with a high degree of accuracy. I have trouble believing this, but I have never set a chip on a roulette table since he told me that.

 

It can be a fun game, though. I generally like games that require some concentration and some thoughtful decision making over those that are more or less luck of the draw. But, I have had a lot of fun at craps tables and roulette tables over the years.

[jaguarstyper]

I do not recall seeing a roulette table on a HAL ship?? Am I wrong?

DaveOKC

I am pretty sure there was one on Westerdam when I was on her last.

[earljr]

I do not recall seeing a roulette table on a HAL ship?? Am I wrong?

DaveOKC

 

Rotterdam

[POA1]

I do not recall seeing a roulette table on a HAL ship?? Am I wrong?

DaveOKC

There's been a roulette table on all the HAL ships we've been on. The house advantage is 2.7% on the red/black bet. House advantage increases from there.

[Laminator]

I do not recall seeing a roulette table on a HAL ship?? Am I wrong?

DaveOKC

 

All the Vista and Signature Class ships have roulette.

[POA1]

All the Vista and Signature Class ships have roulette.

So do the rest, but I am not sure about the Prinsendam.

[corkpopr]

Yes they all have roulette and craps. That's my game and I am there every night of a cruise.

[jaguarstyper]

Yes they all have roulette and craps. That's my game and I am there every night of a cruise.

 

Unless something has changed, not all HAL ships have craps tables. The last time I was on Amsterdam, the craps table was gone, replaced with a poker table for Texas Hold'em. The Casino manager told me they were replaced on all the smaller ships. Sad.

[NYteacher]

My anecdotal evidence is that I seem to win more on HAL ships' slots than at land-based casinos. :) Maybe it's just luck. ;)

 

Peter, maybe HAL likes us New Yorkers. We've had more luck on HAL casinos than anywhere else. On our first HAL cruise, first night, we won a progressive jackpot for several thousands. We've also won smaller jackpots of several hundred at a time. My husband is great at walking away with money--far better than I am. Our upcoming deposit for the Westbound Voyage of the Vikings is the second cruise deposit we paid for from a penny slot win aboard the Statendam a couple of years ago.

[jaguarstyper]

Peter, maybe HAL likes us New Yorkers. We've had more luck on HAL casinos than anywhere else. On our first HAL cruise, first night, we won a progressive jackpot for several thousands. We've also won smaller jackpots of several hundred at a time. My husband is great at walking away with money--far better than I am. Our upcoming deposit for the Westbound Voyage of the Vikings is the second cruise deposit we paid for from a penny slot win aboard the Statendam a couple of years ago.

 

That's awesome! I don't play slots, but my SO likes to and never does any good on HAL's machines. Back in 2010, I had an amazing run at Black Jack on the last night of our Amsterdam cruise. I played until 4:30 in the morning and walked away with enough to cover the entire cost of our and my parent's SA suites, the final bills, our airfares, pre and post cruise hotels and a nice dinner when we got home. It was probably my best run ever. Once I started betting with the house's money, I just pulled all the stops and had a blast. The casino manager kept saying it was getting late, until she finally said they had to close at 4:30 because they were nearing Seattle. What a great time!

[DaveOKC]

That's awesome! I don't play slots, but my SO likes to and never does any good on HAL's machines. Back in 2010, I had an amazing run at Black Jack on the last night of our Amsterdam cruise. I played until 4:30 in the morning and walked away with enough to cover the entire cost of our and my parent's SA suites, the final bills, our airfares, pre and post cruise hotels and a nice dinner when we got home. It was probably my best run ever. Once I started betting with the house's money, I just pulled all the stops and had a blast. The casino manager kept saying it was getting late, until she finally said they had to close at 4:30 because they were nearing Seattle. What a great time!

 

WOW - that is quite a run. Normally BJ is a give and take game, with minor wins or losses for me. I had one run like you describe in Vegas - could not lose, even after moving from one casino to the next. When it broke though, it was terrible and I quickly went home with good winnings.

 

DaveOKC

[jaguarstyper]

WOW - that is quite a run. Normally BJ is a give and take game, with minor wins or losses for me. I had one run like you describe in Vegas - could not lose, even after moving from one casino to the next. When it broke though, it was terrible and I quickly went home with good winnings.

 

DaveOKC

 

Yeah, I know what you mean. Once I was well up, I got a little nuts betting with the house's money. On one hand, the numbers were right, so I bet $500. Got a 7 and a 4 with the dealer showing a 3. I reluctantly slid another 500 into play and got another 4. You can imagine how tight my butt cheeks were at that point. Dealer rolled a 13, drew a 9 and there was great rejoicing. LOL. That is what makes the game so exciting!

 

I normally only bet up to $50 per hand, and that's only when the number is really right. But when you're hot, you're hot. And its much easier to be stupid when you're betting with someone else's money. Go big, or go home. :D

Edited June 28, 2014 by jaguarstyper

[DaveOKC]

Yeah, I know what you mean. Once I was well up, I got a little nuts betting with the house's money. On one hand, the numbers were right, so I bet $500. Got a 7 and a 4 with the dealer showing a 3. I reluctantly slid another 500 into play and got another 4. You can imagine how tight my butt cheeks were at that point. Dealer rolled a 13, drew a 9 and there was great rejoicing. LOL. That is what makes the game so exciting!

 

I normally only bet up to $50 per hand, and that's only when the number is really right. But when you're hot, you're hot. And its much easier to be stupid when you're betting with someone else's money. Go big, or go home. :D

 

On my big run I ended up winning about 100 times my basic bet. However, I never really pressed my bets more than 5 times my basic. I was "counting" cards back then and had to be a bit careful not to attract too much attention (one of the reasons I kept casinos).

 

Back then (mid-70s) you could count cards and do "OK" most of the time. The casinos used single decks and the rules were fairly liberal. Nowadays, single deck games are rare, and even in Vegas BJ rules are tighter than they used to be. Because of that, I quit counting and now rarely play the game.

 

I moved onto Video Poker, due to the low "hold" on the good machines and the fact that comps were much easier to earn than playing BJ. Plus, the machine lets you play at your own pace and you do not have other players messing up the game. Now however, "full pay" machines are hard to find, so I do not play very much - the odds are now too bad IMO and the comps not worth it.

 

DaveOKC

Edited June 28, 2014 by DaveOKC