A lot of the casino gambling advice and strategy on this site applies to specific games. Some of it applies to gambling in general. But today I want to write an article about a specific PLACE, instead of about gambling in general or a specific game or set of games. This article consists of tips for people interested specifically in Las Vegas casino gambling.
Las Vegas casino gambling tips might be the most useful set of tips you’ll find on a gambling site, too. It wouldn’t be far-fetched to call Las Vegas the gambling capitol of the world. What they do, as it relates to gambling, is pretty much the example that most other gambling destinations follow. And yes, that applies to places like Reno and Atlantic City, but it also relates to online and Internet-based casinos, too.
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Gambling Age: The First, Most Important Las Vegas Casino Gambling Tip
To gamble legally in Las Vegas, you have to be at least twenty-one years old, and you need proof of your age. If you’re seventeen years old, but you look twenty-five, you might not get carded in the casino. But don’t start thinking that you’re getting away with something. Suppose you win a big jackpot on a slot machine? Guess what the first thing a Las Vegas casino is going to ask to see before making the arrangements to pay off that big jackpot?
If you guessed a picture ID, as proof of your age and identity, then give yourself a gold star.
Winning a $15,000 jackpot is really exciting. But winning a $15,000 jackpot and not getting paid for it because you’re under age is just about as irritating as winning that jackpot is exciting. So don’t even risk it. Stuff like that can cause serious depression.
Choosing Casino Gambling Games
If you’re new to Las Vegas casino gambling, you should do a little bit of self-examination to figure out what your goals are for your casino gambling experience. Do you just want to have fun and maybe win some cash? Do you want to challenge yourself intellectually and be rewarded for making intelligent decisions? Do you want to enjoy drinks while hoping to win a big, life-changing jackpot?
Gambling is entertainment. Understanding what kind of entertainment you enjoy is the first step in choosing which gambling game you want to play.
Suppose you’re the type of person who likes to dream of all the cool things you’d do if you won the lottery. You know that the odds are against you, but just the incredibly slim chance of winning a life-changing jackpot gets your blood pumping. If that describes you, then you should find some progressive slot machine games to play. A percentage of each coin that you play goes into a shared prize pool that you become eligible for by playing the machine. It’s like playing the lottery, only with more frequent, smaller payouts, and a somewhat smaller jackpot. But unlike the lottery, where you have to wait for a drawing on a specific day, you get a chance at that big jackpot every spin.
On the other hand, let’s say you’re the type of person who enjoys a mental challenge. You consider yourself really intelligent, and you’re also a really social person. You want to do something where the decisions you make actually affect your outcomes. But you also want to enjoy being around other people. You should consider the blackjack tables or the poker rooms.
People at blackjack tables tend to be pretty social, and the decisions you make affect how well you do, so you can achieve a certain amount of satisfaction from that. Poker players are often even more social, and if you’re motivated, you can learn to win consistently at poker games. (You can learn to win consistently at blackjack, too, but the casinos will eventually ask you to stop playing blackjack. You won’t have that problem with poker.)
Maybe you’re an adrenaline junkie. If that’s the case, no game on the casino floor is more exciting than a craps table, especially when a shooter gets hot. It’s a streaky game, it’s fast-paced, and people love rooting for the shooter to win them all money.
Or, suppose you’re a loner, and you don’t want to deal with other people. But you’re smart, and you want good odds and a decent return on your investment. Play video poker. Your decisions will affect how well you do, but you won’t have to deal with strangers if you don’t want to.
And that’s just for starters. There are dozens of casino games available in any major Las Vegas casino. Try them all, and get a feel for how much you enjoy or don’t enjoy each game. When you find a game that you like, learn something about the math behind the game, and if the cost of paying is acceptable to you, then spend your time playing that game.
Join the Slots Club
All Las Vegas casinos offer a slots club, which is also called a players club. When you join, you’ll get a plastic card which the casino uses to track how much you wager at the tables or machines. They then award a certain (small) percentage of that money back to you in the form of cash back, free hotel stays, event tickets, and the like.
Joining the slot machine club at a Vegas casino is always free, and there’s no downside unless you’re a card counter trying to stay under the radar. Everyone should join the slots club , because even if you don’t gamble a lot of money while you’re in Vegas, you’ll receive mailings with special offers from the casinos that aren’t always available to the general public.
Don’t Be Stupid
This piece of gambling advice has been repeated so many times that it’s trite now, but set a budget for your gambling and stay within that budget. Don’t gamble money you can’t afford to lose, because there’s an excellent chance that you will lose. The casinos aren’t in the business of paying out more money than they take in. That’s the federal government’s job, and it’s a recipe for bankruptcy. It’s a rare casino that goes bankrupt.
If you have some kind of gambling addiction or psychological problem, seek professional help. I don’t recommend specific treatment plans, although you should know there are multiple treatment options available–don’t feel pressured into joining a twelve-step program for an addiction just because it’s supposedly the only thing that works. That type of treatment program might work well for some people, but other options are available, and you should get the help of a mental professional to determine which treatment options are appropriate for you, your condition, and your situation.
Have Fun
The most important Las Vegas casino gambling tip I can offer anyone is simply to have fun. If you’re gambling but you’re not having fun, something is seriously wrong. Engaging in an enjoyable activity and not enjoying it is usually a sign that something is wrong–go back and re-read the “don’t be stupid” subsection above if you’re doing a lot of gambling but not enjoying it, because that’s a major sign that you’ve got some kind of problem.
Whatever you can do is to maximize the amount of fun you’re having while you’re gambling in Vegas is what you should do, but don’t be short-sighted about it, either. You might have a great time at the craps table one night, but if you’re going to lose your car the next month because you can no longer afford the payment because of the money you lost, well, then your net amount of fun is decidedly in the negative, isn’t it?