Learning Casino Table Games - beginning level

[troutnut1]

My first wife's folks lived in Las Vegas and I lost my shirt the first time I visited in 1972. I vowed to never let than happen again and became an expert at blackjack. It took a large investment in time, training, and money in books. Card counting and other winning methods were pretty new to Vegas then and I was allowed to play pretty much unmolested by the casinos. I made quite a bit of money and used to fly back and forth like a real job. By the 80's the casinos were wising up and getting better at banning us from playing. I finally made it into a book of undesireable players put out by a retired Vegas detective and subscribed to by most of the casinos. We ve played very little since. I became too much like work.

Although blackjack can still be beaten it takes tons of study and practice and your welcome will be withdrawn as soon as you start winning. They only want losers now. My wife and I have been tossed out with complete strangers who just happened to get lucky and had no real knowledge of the game. If chips start piling up you will be asked to leave. Sometimes nicely, sometimes not so nicely. We have lots of stories. The casino's significant edge is almost entirely created by player mistakes and ignorance. The infrequent visitor really doesn't stand a chance percentage wise.

Craps is what I always suggest for casual players. Don't try and get fancy. Just play the pass line or the don't pass line and always take the "odds". They will always show you how to do that. The house edge is tiny and if you keep your bets small you can probably make up for any losses with free drinks. And you'll never get banned for playing craps. It's your absolute best chance to get lucky over a short period of time. Still limit the amount you put at risk to something comfortable.

Stay entirely away from Keno, roulette, and slots of all kinds.They are easy to play but the house edge is huge and you don't stand a chance.

A wise pit boss who hadn't yet figured out I was winning once told me "When the lamb goes to slaughter, it's always possible that the lamb could rise up and kill the butcher. But we always bet on the butcher."

 

[MichealKnight]

TONS of sites - - - in the App Store, I got Appeak. Free app, but you can buy tokens to play with (if the darn purchase feature works) - nothing money - $3-30 depending on how many tokens you buy. Simple, functional site.

I played quite a bit of poker at the local casino this year. First few months - great...I was up $700. I figured - heck - I'm making about $5 an hour, and loving the hours playing. Well, then after a few months I was down $500. And in November I stopped - each year I decide to stop casino during flu/cold season - that and it saves money. May dip my toe next spring. Mind you I look at the loss - - means I lost $3.50 per hour. Frankly ....I felt it was great time pass and personal time for me. But with 1st kids college starting in 3.5 years and me not working - well $3.50 an hour seems to mean more these days than before

I love it so much. But I'm average at best.

 

[RobbieB]

$3.50 an hour with free drinks is cheap entertainment. Yeah sometimes you loose.

Poker has "ends and a middle". If you get good cards you win a lotta dough. If you get bad cards, you don't bet and you don't lose much. It's the middle that costs you. Aces up vs 3 of a kind. Straight vs flush. Flush vs full. Full vs 4. Yeah, you have a great hand and you are chucking in the bucks.... but sorry, you loose.

 

[Jerry1]

I would say that the odds are very close. The title of this thread is --
Learning Casino Table Games - beginning level.

I'm not sure a beginning level gambler would know how to play the pass line. Counting to 21 would be an easier entry point.

Walk up to a Craps table and put a $5 chip on the pass line right in front of you on the start of a new round. Done!

I think the pass line is a lot easier to master than the basic strategy of black jack. You’re not just counting to 21, you’re hitting and holding based on the dealer’s card. Not too difficult, but more than the pass line. As Car-Guy stated, put the minimum allowed bet on the area that says pass and you’re half way home. Then ask the dealer how much odds you’re allowed to play and put that behind the chips you just set down. Wait until the dealer says you win or takes your money away. Rinse and repeat.

One thing I like about craps versus black Jack is that no one cares how you bet or play. My experience is that if you don’t play basic strategy correctly at a black jack table, people give you grief. They tend to feel they have a right to that next card and you shouldn’t have hit on 17.

Craps also give you more entertainment (IMHO). There’s a group of people, most of which, want the same outcome of the dice. Also, you can put down the table minimum and watch the game for awhile. Much longer that one hand at a black jack table. Of course there’s a few rolls that can go quick, but mostly, the dice roll around a bit for each of your bets.

 

[MuirWannabe]

I think the pass line is a lot easier to master than the basic strategy of black jack. You’re not just counting to 21, you’re hitting and holding based on the dealer’s card. Not too difficult, but more than the pass line. As Car-Guy stated, put the minimum allowed bet on the area that says pass and you’re half way home. Then ask the dealer how much odds you’re allowed to play and put that behind the chips you just set down. Wait until the dealer says you win or takes your money away. Rinse and repeat.

One thing I like about craps versus black Jack is that no one cares how you bet or play. My experience is that if you don’t play basic strategy correctly at a black jack table, people give you grief. They tend to feel they have a right to that next card and you shouldn’t have hit on 17.

Craps also give you more entertainment (IMHO). There’s a group of people, most of which, want the same outcome of the dice. Also, you can put down the table minimum and watch the game for awhile. Much longer that one hand at a black jack table. Of course there’s a few rolls that can go quick, but mostly, the dice roll around a bit for each of your bets.

I agree completely. The only bet in craps that might get some grumbles is the don’t pass bet. But that’s unlikely to be a strategy of a newbie anyway. And really there’s nothing wrong with that bet except your going against what pretty much everyone at the table probably wants.

Craps is fun. It’s social. It’s got some of the best odds offered in a casino. (Some of the worst too depending on what you bet). And you get to throw your chips across the table and yell at a dealer how to place them. It’s action baby. I’ve actually had other players tip me $50 after a good long roll. Name another game where that happens.

Watching a basic YouTube video can teach you in 30 minutes the basic bets and etiquette. Then, once at a casino the dealers can help you from there. Pick an off peak time. They love to help newbies. Sometimes the casino even offers classes in off peak times.

The best way is to just learn the basic bets and then start. You will rapidly learn from there. Before you know it you’ll be yelling yo 11, betting the hard ways, and tipping the dealer by betting their chip on the horn. (nothing in that last sentence is much recommended for newbies, but it sure is fun)

 

[PandaBear]

I'd say pick one game you think you'd like, learn it a bit, and set yourself a budget for acceptable loss - think of it as an entertainment expense.

I've done well in the 2 or 3 times I ever played blackjack. By well, I mean after a few hands, I realized I had enough profit for a new pair of shoes. So I stopped playing!

Know before you go how much you can lose, and how much is "enough" to win and leave.

The problem with most casinos nowadays I find is the minimum settings on a table. I don't want to have to play $20 a hand, I want to play $5, slow and steady.

Just because you have a casino also doesn't mean you have to play. My last few trips to Vegas I never so much as put a quarter in a slot machine.

Oh, and do bear in mind, most casinos are still very smoky. If that's a turn off, no game is fun.

Just back from Vegas the other day.
Park MGM is smoke free. It was great!

 

[ShokWaveRider]

Stick to Craps, but avoid the Casino all together if you can. A Good Book is cheaper and better for you in the long run. $100 does not go very far anymore. You need a Grand to start. Not my idea of fun.

 

[sengsational]

.. The only bet in craps that might get some grumbles is the don’t pass bet. But that’s unlikely to be a strategy of a newbie anyway.

I've never played, but "don't pass" is the one my uncle said was the best odds. He also said the other players would grumble about it.

 

[MichealKnight]

$3.50 an hour with free drinks is cheap entertainment. Yeah sometimes you loose.

Poker has "ends and a middle". If you get good cards you win a lotta dough. If you get bad cards, you don't bet and you don't lose much. It's the middle that costs you. Aces up vs 3 of a kind. Straight vs flush. Flush vs full. Full vs 4. Yeah, you have a great hand and you are chucking in the bucks.... but sorry, you loose.

I love playing mornings. At night - the casino is in a so-so area - and it seems like the demons come out. The gentlemen seem to be there during daytimes - and I really like it. Trouble is - they are older, more experienced than me. And financially - they are at a good stage in life. - they play aggressively and they are better players than me. Geez - some of the regulars: A guy who is retired - his Wife, retired school principal - $85k pension. Another guy - doesn't work - his wife is a Pharma exex@350k a year. LOL - I've done well in life but I still have 2 kids, college, and on and on and on so I take $220 to the 1/3 table, they always start with $500. The only time I've really done well -- nights. And then I feel so creepy in the parking lot going to my car.

 

[samcat]

I love craps. You can play for a long time before you lose money. It also can be very social.

 

[BobJ]

I recommend poker tournaments over cash games. In a tournament, you can play for an hour or more with a one-time buy-in. About 5 years ago, I bought into a tournament for $60 and played for 1.5 hours. I had no expectations of winning, but it was fun.
In craps, you don't have to bet every roll. You can just wait and see which comes up first - your number or seven. That gives you more options than blackjack where you bet every hand dealt.

 

[Librarian]

I have played poker for about 20 years.
I learned by playing local free games (bars offer them to get people in).
There are always people who do not know what they are doing in casinos--but we all gotta learn somewhere.
There is a free WSOP app that can get you started.
Plenty of books out there...but I found I was too clueless to understand what they were saying in the beginning.
You know basic strategy.
My tip is to start with a low cost tournament. (under $100, preferably $60-80)
Now, tournaments are a slightly different animal than cash, BUT your $ is in & you can sit back, observe & learn.
The key to a tournament is to remember you are trying to still be in the game when it is over (thus cash). Too many newbies make calls for too high of a bet for their hand. MOST of the time players DO have a hand if they are betting decently. I think that is the biggest misconception among new players. Yes, we bluff. But FAR more often we have a good hand.

 

[sengsational]

One thing I realized about blackjack single buy-in events was that the basic strategy goes immediately out the window, and I wonder if it's the same with poker.

In blackjack, you're trying to end up with the most money after a fixed number of hands (at least that was the way it worked when I did it). So one lucky SOB gets dealt 20's and 21's and wins every hand. Meanwhile, Joe average (me) wins about half. The only way to catch up might be to double down on 6 or something ludicrous. So once you're significantly behind the leader, it's swinging for the fences with bad pitches, and that's a recipe for failure.

 

[Librarian]

100%

One thing I realized about blackjack single buy-in events was that the basic strategy goes immediately out the window, and I wonder if it's the same with poker.

In blackjack, you're trying to end up with the most money after a fixed number of hands (at least that was the way it worked when I did it). So one lucky SOB gets dealt 20's and 21's and wins every hand. Meanwhile, Joe average (me) wins about half. The only way to catch up might be to double down on 6 or something ludicrous. So once you're significantly behind the leader, it's swinging for the fences with bad pitches, and that's a recipe for failure.

I do NOT suggest playing BJ tourneys to learn BJ--it is a VERY different animal & requires a VERY different strategy. It is one that I am not comfortable with!

 

[jfn111]

A good site to practice-
https://wizardofodds.com/