Las Vegas is known for its wedding chapels, “entertainment” options, cheesy Elvis impersonations, and glamorous casinos. Casinos are a source of entertainment meant to provide expensive services. I’m not talking about the food, spa, or other amenities that the casino could comp for its guests. I’m talking about gambling. Wagering money in order to win money. There are many books and systems on the internet claiming that it can help anybody become a professional table games player. But what is the likelihood that such a system exists?
Having lived in Las Vegas for most of my life, I am well versed in the sins the city provides. However, never have I been stupid enough to try and bust the big boys. The reasons are fairly obvious. Here are five reasons you will never beat the house.
- Every casino game has a house edge. No matter what game you are playing, the house always has the advantage. Roulette wheels add the 0 and 00 to favor the house. Most players mistakenly bet on a color thinking they are getting a 50/50 chance, but they haven’t factored in the zeroes. They only have a 18/38 chance of winning or a 47.37% chance. Games that “could” offer a fifty-fifty chance gets complicated through commission. The most prominent example is the game of baccarat. There are essentially two main bets, player and bank. If you bet and win with a bank bet, the house takes a 5% commission. The commission is designed to give the house an edge in a game that is “supposed” to be as close to a coin toss as any game could offer. Even if baccarat is an even chance game, the casino is taking 5% of all your winnings on the bank bet. Why not the player bet? The simple answer is that the game is designed to give the banker a better edge through the rules of the third card. If you want more details, you can search around on the internet.
- Any betting system gets trumped by the betting limit. Casinos understand that if you play a game that offers almost a coin flip situation, players can just double their bets every time until they win, or until they go bankrupt. To mitigate this, casinos impose a limit on the maximum bet amount. In most low stakes casinos the maximum limit is $1000. With a minimum bet of $10, a player will reach the maximum amount on their seventh bet. The famous martingale system simply cannot work under a system of minimum and maximum bets.
- Cheating is out of the question. In my sixteen years of living in Las Vegas, I have never heard of anyone even attempting to cheat against the house (stealing is another subject). Casinos invest millions in surveillance and security that it is nearly impossible to cheat and get away with it. There’s a line from Ocean’s Eleven that goes, “In my casino there is always someone watching.”
- Casinos can and will ban people using legitimate strategies. We have all heard about card counting. It is an actual technique that gives players a small edge against the house. However, casinos employ people to catch card counters and ban them from stepping foot in the casino floors. A casino is still a business which can regulate who its patrons are. Plus, most casinos know about card counting, so they employ 2, 4, or even 8 decks. They will even reshuffle after only half the cards have been used to alleviate the small player edge gained from counting cards.
- The casinos are the main source of revenue for the city and state. Do you think casinos make so much money because people have learned to win against the house? No way! Casinos are still in business because they win much more than they pay out. They understand that yes, in the short run, a few people will get extremely lucky, but in the long run, they will lose all their winnings. The longer you stay, the higher the chance that you will go home a loser. The casino lives by the math, which is why it does all it can in its power to keep a winner from going home. If you win tens of thousands from the casino, you can be sure that the host will try his best to keep you there by giving you complimentary food, room, and entertainment. They understand that if they can keep you, you will gamble more, and the more you gamble, the better chance they have of retrieving their money.
You need to have your wits against you when it comes to gambling in big games like blackjack and poker but people don’t take this advice seriously and take it casually as though they are playing situs judi online.
Gambling against the casino is no way to make money. Casinos have been in business for hundreds of years. They still stand because they have the advantage in every game. They understand the math, the mechanics, and the greed. Now, I’m not telling you not to gamble. I’m saying don’t expect to win from gambling. See it as a form of entertainment. You are spending money to have fun, and if you do somehow come ahead, then see it as a plus. Never expect to leave with a certain amount of dollars because that is unrealistic. If you are an avid gambler hoping to earn a living, try poker instead since poker is not a game against the casino. It allows players to gamble against other players. I do hope everyone comes to enjoy Las Vegas on their next vacation. There are many things to do besides the casinos, but if you are planning on hitting the tables, I wish you the best of luck!