Casino Strategy: The Best Advice Comes From Those Who Don’t Bathe

READ MORE: Casino Buzz, Casinos, Strategy

Over at Casino Buzz, a reader asks the question of what is the best advice ever given to Mark L. of and he fires back with an amusing anecdote about a panhandler and a hot dog:

A panhandler approached and asked if I had any loose change so he could buy a hot dog. Unfortunately, spare change doesn’t exist in Las Vegas. Strategically positioned slot machines allow you to travel light. But I guess I’m an easy mark for a hot dog story so I gave him a nickel chip-casino talk for $5-that I had in my coat pocket.
After his gratitude for my allowing him to bump up into buffet dining, or whatever, he shared some of his best gaming wisdom. “Go downtown to Binion’s and make a pass line bet and take those 10 times odds. It’s one of the best bets in the house,” he said.

And, sadly, immediately after the panhandler was beaten by some crackheads for his $5 and left for dead. But Mark also assures us that this advice is sound:

The house advantage on this wager is .018%. Those multiple odds he was talking about- zero casino advantage. It’s the line bet where the casino enjoys its slight edge. And I mean slight. Expected mathematical loss on a $1 line bet with $10 odds, about 4¢. But we can combat that too, Ned. Throw in a few free drinks and pry a breakfast out of a floorman, you’re getting to the point where they’re paying you to play.

Good Advice Can Come From Anywhere [Casino Buzz]

The Art of the Comp

READ MORE: Casino Buzz, Casinos, Comps

How often are you sitting by the quarter slots in Atlantic City, mindlessly sitcking change into the Wheel of Fortune game with a fizz-less vodka tonic waiting for that tap on the shoulder from a man in a nice suit offering up a free buffet dinner or a room comp? Yes, us too. And it never happens. Maybe we don’t spend enough money. Or maybe it’s because we’re dressed like slobs and falling down too much. Casino Buzz writer John Brokopp has listed five ways to maximize compability for casino visitors including “knowing the names of the pit boss”, “using your playing tracking card”, and “asking for comps.”

Get the Most Out of Casino Comps [Casino Buzz]

Casino Buzz: Tots Get the Bug Early

READ MORE: Casino Buzz, Gambling, Odd

Today’s Casino Buzz letter examines the phenomenon of children being predisposed to gambling through other means—the letter writer used video games as an example—but, of course, the always enjoyable and sometimes psychotic Mark Casino Buzz takes things to another level we’d never even think about:

On the Boardwalk in Atlantic City children can freely walk into an arcade and play true slot machines by exchanging quarters for tokens. They win crummy prizes in exchange for the tickets the slot spits out. Another example is at the children’s arcade at the Circus Circus in Reno. A child can play Flip It, the casino game that flips quarters into the air and on rare occasion pushes them down into trays. They disguised it in name only by calling it Jungle Jamboree. Again, kids get to exchange tickets for worthless prizes. But I did say two-year-olds. To prove I have one foot planted in mid-air, how about the two-year-old who makes a path with Linus blanket in hand to that thingamajig at the supermarket door that dispenses those plastic transparent eggs. For a quarter a young tot can win an egg containing a bracelet, a cheap watch, but most likely a 3¢ ring-more on that below. These vending machines are classic slot machines.

Hmm. We wonder what childhood activity predisposed us to being such avid fans of barnyard pornography? We always thought those egg machines contributed to that.

Do Two-Year-Olds Gamble? You Bet They Do! [Casino Buzz]

Longshot Keno Tickets Are For Boobs

READ MORE: Casino Buzz, Keno, Longshot

It took the blogger at Casino Buzz only one letter to completely lay into a reader after she asked a question about everybody’s favorite sucker game, Keno. Yes, we know picking numbers is fun! However, read the letter and watch the flayed odds by Casino Buzz and maybe you’ll stay away:
Dear Mark:
Though I’m not a keno player, my favorite casino offers a Special Bonus Keno ticket. All I have to do is hit 19 out of 20, and I win $250,000. Is this ticket worth a try? Marti S.

The nerve of your favorite casino calling it a “Special Bonus” ticket. Let me illustrate how appalling this ticket is. Let’s say you were to play one keno ticket per second, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. According to laws of probability you will catch 19 out of 20 once every 93,420,116 years. What are the odds of hitting it? Two quadrillion, 946 trillion, 096 billion, 780 million to one. Unfortunately, Marti, this isn’t the only ruthless ticket in keno. The chances of hitting 10 of 10-and mind you they will only pay you $50,000-is nine times harder than hitting your state lottery. Then the casino has the audacity to pay you what is called an “aggregate payoff,” meaning if both you and someone else are playing the same numbers and it hits solid, you split the money. Or how about this popular ticket here in Nevada-the 15 spot. Chances of your hitting it? 428 billion to one. Tall odds, but consider that no person has ever hit a solid 15 spot, a solid 14 spot, a solid 13 and to the best of my knowledge, a 12 out of 12. As you can see, Marti, these long-shot tickets-or keno in general for that matter-are a game designed for the Tootsie-Pop crowd; known by the casinos as “a sucker’s born every minute” club

Just Say NO To Keno [Casino Buzz]