Casino Luck

[ajj0624]

I am thinking of trying the casino on the crown on my cruise in 2 weeks but i have been told that cruise ship casinos usually have a very low payout or return from more experienced co-workers that play often. I have played blackjack, craps and slots before. I not really very good winning at any of them but especially bad at slots. I feel i just feed the machine for the next person to win. I have heard about a slot crawl on board, and thought this might be fun. Does anyone have any suggestions to make my losing more fun or make winning a reality. Favorite machines or games ? Best times to play?

[donscomp]

I am thinking of trying the casino on the crown on my cruise in 2 weeks but i have been told that cruise ship casinos usually have a very low payout or return from more experienced co-workers that play often. I have played blackjack, craps and slots before. I not really very good winning at any of them but especially bad at slots. I feel i just feed the machine for the next person to win. I have heard about a slot crawl on board, and thought this might be fun. Does anyone have any suggestions to make my losing more fun or make winning a reality. Favorite machines or games ? Best times to play?

 

This is our opinion only.

What I found on slots? That I won on the 1st or 2nd night out on a 15 day cruise. After that they just took our money. So I stopped. Started to play again the night we left the Islands and won all back. Made myself a promise that I would only put in so much a couple nights later while crossing the Pacific back to port. Again I lost it. Now call it a cowinkydink. I donno. But that is what I found.

I know someone who use to work on slots and it is just a matter of changing a chip to decrease the payout odds.

I always play double or triple Diamond and only the 2 coins. I will sometimes hit the 5.00 ones and usually play one coin.

 

They did have a cool Holdem table. All electronic. But we never sat in.

 

This is what we found and our experience only. It's all luck on the slots.

Hope it helped a little.

[serene56]

I like slot machines that have bonus features. (which allow you to accumulate coins when getting a bonus _ like 3 certain things in a row.

 

you cant just play one coin one row. I like playing at least 9 rows one or two coins depending how the machine is paying out.

 

My favorite machine is called "Lemmings" once ya hit the bonus you can get quite a few coins back.

[Seven-out]

After being in the casino industry for 6 years, I can tell you one definitive thing if your goal is to lose as little as possible: stay away from the slots. They require absolutely no interaction, and literally are there to hypnotize you with bonus games, close calls and catchy themes. Everyone's always accusing the casino of 'tightening up' or 'loosening' slots on a whim. While procedurally very easy, always keep one thing in mind in a casino: they don't have to cheat to win your money. The odds are ALWAYS stacked in their favour. The more you play, the more you're exposed to the house advantage. The odds are always slightly in the house's favour, and for good reason.. The house wants you to cut it close: if they take all your money at once, it's like killing the goose that laid the golden egg.

 

I've heard the wildest theories: that certain days are better, that the longer you play the more a machine is due: none of it is true, regardless of what you perceive. It's human nature to find patterns: the only constant you should keep in mind is that the house always has the upper hand and throws out a random crust (payout) once in a while to keep the fish around.

 

Now, I come from table games, so you could say I'm biased towards them. As a Pit Manager, I can tell you with 100% honesty and sincerity that there's no 'funny business' going on. The only control I had in taking more money was in what table limits were offered and the sheer hands per hour that a dealer could physically do. The more hands per hour/spins per hour/rolls per hour a dealer churns out (with accuracy), the more you're exposed to the house advantage. Table games isn't the golden beacon of loss mitigation though: some of the bets you'll find on tables are among the absolute worst in the whole casino. They're usually the $1 "extra" or "bonus" bets, that the casino uses to quietly siphon small amounts of money.

 

There's only one surefire way to make money at a casino: Work there. You can mitigate your losses by choosing games and bets with lower house advantages, and knowing theory and basic strategy for those games. When I go into a casino, I'll either just play blackjack or craps. Blackjack, when played properly, enjoys one of the lowest house advantages in the casino. Craps, while it requires a large bankroll, offers "true odds", bets that the casino has absolutely no advantage on.

 

In short, it's a lot of work to 'prepare' to go to the casino in order to mitigate losses. If you're just going to have fun, go there to have fun and count your money as already lost. If you beat the odds and walk away a winner, pocket it and don't go back (because you WILL eventually lose it). Just remember: a lot of people have spent a lot of time and money designing systems to squeeze money from you a penny at a time. There's no easy, legal, surefire way you'll suddenly discover that will tip the scale in your favour.

 

I hate to sound ominous, but the house always wins. Sure, some days my pit would post a loss. Actually, we could go a week with constant losses. But, dollars to doughnuts, those people would ALWAYS be back looking to 'reinvest', and the days/weeks after we'd make more profit than ever.

[dooleymoe]

I agree, stay away from slots. Table games are better, and the best I feel is poker. Actual poker (ie holdem not let it ride, carribean stud, etc) where you play against other players to take their money, not the casinos. The casino takes a percentage of each pot from the winner so they are guaranteed a set amount. This is a game where skill can factor in besides just dumb luck.

[KKB]

Slots are your worst edge. If you play to win, you should not play.

 

Craps & blackjack have best odds if played properly. But remember, the house is in it to win...ALL game have house edge overall.

 

Ship casinos are run by big name land casinos...payoffs are exactly the same.

 

The electronic hold em game was very frustrating. It should be random, but there were definitely hot & cold seats all week. I have played thousands of hands of live & internet poker; I have never had such a hot streak in a game or cold streak after that...Logical side says it's random; emotional side is struggling w/ that one! (and somewhat my logical side!!!)

 

Play for fun; stay w/in your budget. Best advice.

[Seven-out]

I agree, stay away from slots. Table games are better, and the best I feel is poker. Actual poker (ie holdem not let it ride, carribean stud, etc) where you play against other players to take their money, not the casinos. The casino takes a percentage of each pot from the winner so they are guaranteed a set amount. This is a game where skill can factor in besides just dumb luck.

 

Agreed.. a good poker player can make a killing. Just be careful of low limit raked games. The rake absolutely eats up all profitability. We ran *ALL* limit games (gaming commission doesn't allow no-limit in charity casinos in Ontario), and the majority of them were vitually unbeatable at 3-6, 4-8, and even 6-12 with a 10% (max $5) rake and avg of $30 hands per hour. The alluring thing about the electronic hold'em tables is that you increase your hands per hour. When you're playing against weak players, those extra bets they're making * extra hands per hour make even a 2-5/3-6 limit game potentially profitable.