| His final e-mail from Jennifer said, "It's our decision to cancel or not your cashout. It was based on your inappropriate behavior. I'll not discuss with you any issues related to your cashout that was canceled and your behavior. You emails will be not answered anymore." As far as Lyell can tell, the "inappropriate behavior" consisted of having the temerity to send e-mails demanding payment, posting the problem on a Web site and complaining to media outlets. BLACKJACK: Few players have enough skill, discipline and bankroll to gain an edge on the house by counting cards. But nearly anyone with a little dedication can learn basic strategy, and basic strategy cuts the house edge to a half-percent or so in a six-deck game, give or take a few tenths of a percent depending on house rules. At a full table, you can expect to play about 50 hands per hour. So if you're betting $10 a hand, you risk $500 an hour, of which the casino keeps an average of about $2.50. Play speeds up when there are fewer players. Playing head-to-head with the dealer, you can expect 200 or more hands per hour, with a corresponding increase in risk and average losses. For players who don't take the time to learn basic strategy, blackjack doesn't yield quite as good a run for the money. The house edge against an average player is about 2 to 2.5 percent, leaving average hourly losses of $10 to $12.50 per hour for our $10 bettor. CRAPS: If you stick with the good bets--pass, don't pass, come and don't come--you can expect about 30 decisions an hour. With a 1.41 percent house edge on pass and come, and 1.4 percent on don't pass, a $10 bettor can expect average hourly losses of about $4.20 per hour. If you back those bets with free odds but leave the size of the basic bet the same, the overall house edge drops but average losses stay the same. On the other hand, if you drop your basic bet to $5 and reserve $5 for free odds to make up your total $10 wager, average hourly losses drop to $2.10. Realistically, few craps players stick with a single wager at any one time, and the more numbers you have working at once, the higher your average loss. With a $10 bet on the pass line followed by two $10 come bets, a common low-edge system, average losses climb to $12.60 per hour. BACCARAT: One of the best no-brainer bets in the casino, baccarat has a house edge of 1.17 percent if you bet on banker, and 1.36 percent if you bet on player. Although the playing rules are the same in mini-baccarat as in baccarat, mini-baccarat plays much faster. Expect to play 150 hands per hour in mini-baccarat. A $10 bettor risks $1,500, with average losses of $17.55 when betting on banker. Baccarat at a full-sized table, especially in its full ceremonial version in which players deal the cards, is much slower, with about 30 to 60 hands per hour. You're not likely to find $10 betting minimums at big baccarat tables. Figure at least $25 a hand. At $25 a hand and 30 hands per hour, you risk $750, with average losses of about $8.77. THREE CARD POKER: Of newer, poker-based table games, this one has the lowest house edge if you stick to the Pair Plus option. The house edge on Pair Plus is about 2.3 percent. At 50 hands per hour at a full table, a $10 bettor risks $500 per hour, with average losses of $11.50. The other option, play against the dealer, has a house edge of 3.4 percent of the ante. A player who antes $10 per hand loses an average of $15.70 per hour. Bet $10 on each option, and you're up to $27.20 per hour, but if you keep the total initial wager to $10 by betting $5 on Pair Plus and anteing $5 on play against the dealer, average losses are $13.60 per hour. In my time playing blackjack in casinos, I thought I'd seen just about every ill-conceived strategy imaginable. I've seen players stand on Ace-4--a soft 15. Doesn't matter what the dealer's up card is, there's never any reason to stand on a soft total of 17 or less. I've seen players double down on hard 6 when the dealer showed a 6, thinking the dealer was nearly certain to bust. Actually, the dealer makes 17 or better 58 percent of the time when the up card is a 6. |
Tiger 1 home gamble1 gamble2 gamble3 gamble4 gamble5 gamble6 gamble7 Tiger 2 Tiger 3 Casino and other Advertisers |
||