1. Myth #1 – Online Casinos are Rigged. This couldn’t be further from the truth, well among reputable casinos anyway. It may be an unfortunate truth that there are some rogue online casinos out there. Fly by night versions that are set up to simply take your money and run.
2. Casinos Want You to Play. For some reason, this statement feels controversial or, at the very.
3. Some of the most interesting facts about casinos and gambling come from societies where it isn't allowed, proving that it's hard to keep people from the allure of a potential big win. Gamblers in Japan are forced to exploit a huge legal loophole to get their fix, while one of the world's most famous casinos in Monaco forbids locals from playing.
4. Truth: There was a time, long ago, when casinos did have strategic placement of loose slots to draw people in but that is not necessary any more. Slot players don’t care about being drawn into the casinos; indeed today’s slot players run into the slot aisles to play. It might be the closest thing to indoor rugby.

Believing myths about slot machines can cost you big

Casino games can be a fun and enjoyable way to spend your extra time. The great thing about casino games is that now you can play in a land casino or online, the choice is yours. Many people love going to land casinos from time to time for the experience, but more and more people are turning to online casinos to join in on the fun.

By Frank Scoblete

The big progressives are actually the toughest machines on which to win since they must withhold money for those large jackpots.

The world of the slot machines is filled with misinformation or semi-truthful information. Players often have the wrong idea about what is going on within the machine when they put their credit voucher in. So here are some untruths quickly followed by some truths that slot players should take to heart.

Untruth: Slot machines are programed to give out a certain amount of money. Therefore, if a machine has been cold it must warm up to fulfill its programming. If you learn of a cold machine hop on it because it is going to change to a hot machine.

Truth: The idea is correct as far as it goes, but it is also wrong. Yes, machines are indeed programmed to give a certain percentage of the money played in them as wins for players. But there is a big except here. There is no time limit as to when a machine will get hot. It may be cold when you watch it or play it but you have no idea whether it was hot or cold yesterday and will be hot or cold tomorrow. The programming of a slot machine is based on a random-number-generator (RNG) and it is not programmed to get hot or cold to keep handing out the same percentage of wins over the short term – and all slot players are playing in the short term.

Untruth: I saw a television commercial where a man claims that he knew he was going to win the big jackpot and that he shaved because of this foreknowledge so he would look good for the picture the PR and news people would take. Can such foreknowledge actually happen? Or is the commercial an actor telling us what we want to hear?

Truth: The commercial is real and the man is a real person who indeed had a feeling that he was going to win. Unfortunately thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of players every day think they are going to be lucky but instead they lose. There is no such thing as psychic knowledge of when a machine will hit. But all of us can applaud the guy who won, but his foreknowledge is (sadly) meaningless.

Untruth: Loose slot machines are always placed on the outside areas of the casino to lure players in. That has been going on for generations.

Truth: There was a time, long ago, when casinos did have strategic placement of loose slots to draw people in but that is not necessary any more. Slot players don’t care about being drawn into the casinos; indeed today’s slot players run into the slot aisles to play. It might be the closest thing to indoor rugby.

Untruth: The best slot machines to play are the progressives such as Megabucks and Wheel of Fortune. These give you the best chance of winning on any given night since they are programmed to give out really large jackpots.

Truth: While the idea of winning a fortune on a slot machine is the fancy of many slot players – and Megabucks and Wheel of Fortune certainly play into that fantasy – the big progressives are actually the toughest machines on which to win since they must withhold money for those large jackpots. Your chances of coming home with a win are therefore less than coming home with a win on stand-alone machines not linked to any other machines.

Untruth: It is better to play full coin on all slot machines to assure getting the maximum payout on the jackpot. It makes no sense playing just one coin or credit.

Truth: Here is where I differ from most of my writing colleagues on slot play. Yes, if you are going for one of those monster jackpots then of course play full coin. Let me take a traditional three-line stand-alone slot machine. Using full coin means you play three times the money or credits than someone playing a single coin or credit. Think about it; you are playing many games against the house edge. The amount you receive in a jackpot does not make up for three times what you are spending to get to that jackpot. So in such cases only play one coin or credit. That might seem like radical advice but I think it is the best advice.

Untruth: The best advice anyone can give is to quit while you are ahead.

Truth: This is purely wishful thinking. In fact, at times it is absurdly wishful thinking. You’ve bought your expensive plane ticket and booked a room in a fabulous Las Vegas hotel. You go down and buy put credits on the slot machine of your choice. As luck would have it, you win your first decision. You are now ahead after your very first moment of gambling. Do you leave?

Or, you lose that first decision and you are behind and although you win some decisions and lose some decisions, you never get ahead of the machine – do you keep playing until you lose every penny you have because you were never ahead at any time in your play? Or do you finally give up and say, “That’s it for me” and quit even though you are behind?

Untruth: The IRS is sent all the information about the total amount of money you put into a machine if you use a player’s card. Also, once you have a player’s card the machines are programed to give back far less money.

Truth: No and no.

[Read Frank Scoblete’s books I Am a Card Counter: Inside the World of Advantage- Play Blackjack, I Am a Dice Controller: Inside the World of Advantage-Play Craps and Confessions of a Wayward Catholic! All available from Amazon.com, on Kindle and electronic media, at Barnes and Noble, and at bookstores. Visit Frank’s web site at www.frankscoblete.com]

The first time I went into a casino, I thought roulette was a sure thing – especially if I stuck with the outside bets that paid even money. I even got a little bolder and started placing some bets that paid off at 2 to 1.

Little did I know that the house edge on roulette was statistically one of the worst bets in the casino.

In fact, I knew so little about casino gambling that I shouldn’t have even been there.

With this post, I hope to spare you the same fate.

You’re Probably Not Going to Win Money at the Casino

Let’s go back to that expression I mentioned in the introduction – the “house edge.” This is just how the casino (and you) can measure how big the casino’s mathematical edge over you is. The house edge is usually expressed as a percentage, and it’s the average amount of each bet you’re expected to lose in the long run.

But that’s not the reason you’re probably going to lose money in the casino – at least not all of it.

Besides the house edge, the casino also has a relatively unlimited bankroll compared to you. Most casino gamblers – including you, probably – don’t have the bankroll to withstand any kind of losing streak to speak of. And the longer you play, the likelier you are to have a long enough losing streak to do some serious damage to your bankroll.

I’ve seen estimates that suggest 80% of casino gamblers go home having lost money – maybe not their entire bankroll, but a significant percentage of. On the other hand, this means that 20% of the time, you might go home a winner.

In the long run, unless you’re exceptional in ways you probably can’t even imagine yet, you’re not likely to be a net winner if you visit the casino on a regular basis.

The Free Drinks Sound Like a Good Deal, but They’re a Big Mistake

I’ll not deny that getting free drinks sounds like a good deal. In fact, if you’re a drinker, they might sound like a great deal.

The Truth About Casinos

But, to keep the drinks flowing, you still need to tip your cocktail waitress every time she brings you a drink. That’s only a dollar or two per drink, depending on how generous you are, but it adds up –especially when you add it to the amount of money you’re going to lose while you’re gambling.

And there’s the rub, really – to get the free drinks, you must be gambling. Real money gambling means losing money for most of us, but when you account for the adverse effect of alcohol on your decision-making skills, it’s an even worse idea.

Keep This in Mind:

The casinos have excellent accountants, analysts, and managers. They’ve run the numbers. They’ve figured out that they’ll win more money than those free drinks cost, or they wouldn’t continue to offer them.

Chasing Losses Is Probably the Biggest Mistake You Can Make

Here’s a scenario you’ll often see in a casino:

Bill the Gambler shows up and has a brief run of luck his first hour, winning a few hundred dollars. But the next hour, he starts seeing losses, and after two hours of gambling, he’s down $100.

So he decides to keep gambling during hour #3 to try to get back to even. He loses another $200 and calls it quits because he’s now broke.

Poker Sounds Like It’s Better Than Casino Games

I’ve written in the past that playing poker is better for most gamblers than playing casino games. And that advice is good as far as it goes.

Here’s why:

• When you’re playing poker, you at least have a chance of being better (i.e. having a mathematical edge) against the other players at the table.
• With almost all casino games, the house edge might as well be etched into stone. If you count cards, you can get an edge over the casino, but that’s hard to do for multiple reasons. But you don’t have to be just better than the other players at the poker table.
• You have to be so much better that you can overcome the power of the rake – the 5% (or so) fee that the casino takes from each pot to pay for your time at the table. Casinos aren’t in the business of hosting games for free.

If you and all the other players at the poker table were of exactly the same skill level, you’d break even over time. After all, everyone eventually gets the same hands the same number of times. But with that 5% rake, if everyone is the exact same skill level, everyone at the table will lose money gradually as they play.

If you’re good enough to win more often than the other players, you can still lose money.

Signing up for the Players Club Isn’t as Great a Deal as You’d Think

Casinos gives away free stuff all the time, but it really isn’t free. The so-called freebies are based on the amount of money you put into action at the casino. And since the casino has a mathematical edge over the players, you’ll lose more money over time the more money you put into action.

It usually consists of food, room comps, entertainment, travel, and cash rebates. You can get the free drinks without joining the players club, but we already discussed that.

The casino has calculated how much money they expect you to lose given a specific amount of action, and they know that they’ll make a specific amount of profit on top of the incentives they give you.

In other words, if you need to earn 300 points to get a free meal at the $50 buffet, the casino knows that (on average) a player who earns 300 points loses $150 earning those points. Those numbers are just made-up, but you get the idea.

The casino only gives away free stuff if it’s profitable for them. And before you point out to me that you’re immune to the power of incentives, think about this:

Songs About Casinos

Studies have shown that even brainwashing experts are susceptible to brainwashing techniques. In other words, knowledge of those techniques does nothing to make you immune to them. When the casino sends emails and mailings to a gambler, it increases the probability that they’ll visit the casino more often than they would if they weren’t sending that advertising.

And the easiest way to avoid that advertising is to NOT join the players club.

Many Blogs & Books by “Experts” Are Written by Shills for the Casinos

You’ll see a lot of bad advice from gambling writers like Frank Scoblete or John Patrick. Once upon a time, you’d also be able to take “classes” from these guys on how to gamble and win more often. The casinos would even host these classes.

Think about that for a minute, though.

Read some blog posts about how hard casinos work to thwart card counters. They have sophisticated surveillance technologies and hire outside security consultants to keep track of professional card counters. And those guys have a tiny edge of like 1% on their best days.

Would casinos really hire someone like John Patrick to come in and teach you how to win at real money video poker if they thought John Patrick had anything to offer you in terms of effective strategy?

Casino Gambling Isn’t Inherently Bad, but Be Smart

You’d be forgiven for thinking that I’m negative about casino gambling.

But that’s missing the point of this post – and most of my other posts.

I think casino gambling is a fine hobby, but only if you meet one prerequisite: You must have a clear-eyed view of what’s actually happening in the casino. You’re trading money for entertainment, and so long as you understand that, you’re good.

I’d no more criticize you for gambling at a casino than I would criticize you for buying a book or a movie ticket. But if you don’t understand that the odds are against you, or if you’re going to do something foolish like chase your losses hoping to pay the rent, well…

Conclusion

Here’s the truth about casino gambling:

It can be a fun hobby for someone with some disposable income, but it’s not a means of GETTING a disposable income.

Also, if you don’t understand what’s really happening at the casino, you’re going to lose more money than you expect in the long run.

And that’s no good for anyone.

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