Yes, You Can Improve Your Odds!

The odds are stacked against you when you gamble in casinos—the house has an edge on almost every bet. But there are ways that even novice gamblers can greatly improve their odds of winning—or at least reduce the amount they lose. The key is to choose the right games…the right bets…and the right casinos.

Five secrets the casinos don’t want you to know…

TABLE GAMES

Casinos are making it harder than ever to win at blackjack. Hitting a blackjack—that is, getting dealt a two-card opening hand that adds up to 21—traditionally pays the player 3:2 (“three to two”), which is $15 on a $10 bet. But in the past five years or so, many casinos have quietly lowered this payout to 6:5, or just $12 on a $10 bet, greatly reducing players’ odds of coming out ahead—even if they play blackjack very well.

Look for a placard at the table that explains the game’s payouts. If you don’t see this or cannot understand it, ask the dealer, “Is this a 6:5 or 3:2 blackjack game?” If the answer is 6:5, don’t play.

Sometimes the only 3:2 blackjack tables in a casino have fairly steep minimum bets—often $20 or higher. If you cannot find a 3:2 table with stakes you feel comfortable with, play a different game.

Baccarat is a good table game for novice gamblers. Many casino goers think of baccarat as a game for high rollers and experienced gamblers. Not so. It requires no skill…many casinos have “mini-baccarat” tables with affordable $5 minimums…and the odds are among the best you’ll find in the casino—the house edge is just a little over 1% on each of the two primary bets you can make.

To play mini-baccarat, simply place a bet on either the player or the banker—the dealer will do the rest. (You also can bet on a tie, but the odds against you are much higher if you do.)

The player and the banker hands are marked on the table, and each will be dealt two cards (or sometimes three, for complicated reasons that you don’t need to understand to play). Face cards and 10s are worth 0, aces are worth 1 and other cards are worth the number shown. These values are added up after the cards are dealt, and the hand that has the total closest to 9 wins.

Examples: A hand consisting of a 2 and a 6 produces a score of 8. A king and a 4 would create a score of 4 because face cards are worth 0. A 7 and an 8 would result in a score of 5—the cards add up to 15, but only the final digit of this figure matters.

Full tables are good for gamblers. More players at a table slows down the game and results in fewer hands played per hour. That gives you more time to think.

A slower pace of play also can increase the odds that you will be ­offered free meals and hotel rooms. Casinos award these perks based in part on how much time a gambler spends at the tables. If the pace of play is slow, you can spend more time at the tables without putting additional money at risk.

Helpful: You typically will receive perks only if you join the casino’s players club. Players clubs are free to join. Ask a casino employee how to sign up before you begin gambling.

VIDEO POKER AND SLOTS

Seemingly identical video poker machines can have significantly different odds. A row of video poker machines that all look the same might actually differ in an important way—they might pay different returns for certain winning hands. Compare the “pay tables”—usually displayed on their screens—before playing.

Example: With “Jacks or Better” video poker—a game where players receive a payout if their final hand is a pair of jacks or better—check the payout for full houses and flushes. The best Jacks-or-Better machines pay nine coins for each coin bet if you make a full house and six for a flush. But many others pay only eight coins for a full house and five for a flush—some even less. This reduces your expected return on each hand from 99.5% of the amount you bet to 97.3% or less.

Helpful: Always play five coins per hand at video poker. This will earn you a big bonus if you hit a royal flush.

There are many different varieties of video poker, but Jacks or Better is a good choice for novice gamblers because it is very common and relatively easy to understand.

Max bets usually are bad bets on slot machines. If you make the max bet on a penny slot machine, for example, you might be gambling $3 a spin. If you’re going to bet that much, you’re better off playing on a $1 slot machine—higher-denomination slots inevitably ­offer substantially better odds.

Example: On the Las Vegas strip, penny slots return an average of 88% of the money bet on each spin, while dollar slots return an average of 93%.

The best amount to bet when you play slots is the minimum amount that qualifies for any bonuses or progressive jackpots offered by the machine. Or better yet, don’t play the slots at all—they offer among the worst odds in the casino.

CASINOS WITH THE BEST ODDS

Where you gamble in Las Vegas can significantly affect your chances of winning. Casinos on the Las Vegas Strip use glitz and prestige to attract out-of-town gamblers. Some casinos in less touristy parts of town, such as North Las Vegas and the Boulder Strip along the Boulder Highway, instead try to attract locals and other savvy gamblers by offering more favorable odds than their better-known competitors.

• In 2014, the 25-cent slot machines returned, on average, 96.71% of each bet on the Boulder Strip and 96.61% in North Las Vegas…but just 91.52% on the Vegas Strip and 94.76% downtown.

• You can find blackjack tables with a $5 minimum bet on the Boulder Strip and in North Las Vegas, while the minimum bet at blackjack tables in ­tourist-oriented casinos is rarely below $10.

Examples: The Boyd properties, including Sam’s Town on the Boulder Strip and The ­Orleans west of the Strip across Route 15 offer some of the best odds for gamblers and free shuttle buses to and from the Strip. The Station casinos, such as Boulder Station on the Boulder Strip, are good choices as well.

Other cities: In Atlantic City, the Borgata has the highest slot-machine returns plus high-paying low-­denomination video poker machines. In Reno, Nevada, the Peppermill offers appealing video poker machine returns, while the Alamo Travel Center, a truck stop just outside of town, offers very ­gambler-friendly, low-limit blackjack rules. In Biloxi, Mississippi, IP offers some of the area’s best video poker machines and craps table odds, while Treasure Bay offers favorable blackjack rules.