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Patrons play blackjack during the grand opening of the Red Rock Casino.

Today, almost everywhere you look across the United States, it seems casinos are dotting the landscape. Casino gambling has been established in Atlantic City since 1978. In addition to the land-based casinos of Nevada and New Jersey, riverboat casinos have opened in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Missouri while all-slots casinos are awaiting final approval in Pennsylvania. Low-limit land-based casinos are in Colorado and South Dakota, and New Orleans has one large full-service land-based casino. And Native American tribes bring casino gambling to much of the rest of the country. Tribal casinos or bingo halls have opened in Arizona, California, Connecticut, Florida, Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Washington, and Wisconsin.

A 2005 survey found that in the previous year, United States patrons made 319 million casino visits — about seven times the 1990 total. More people visited casinos than attended major league baseball games or any other professional sporting events — than attended arena concerts — than attended Broadway shows. It seems casino gambling is becoming one of America’s national pastimes.

Casino-goers come from all groups of the population — 55 percent have some college education; 45 percent have white-collar jobs, 25 percent blue-collar; 17 percent are retired. The percentages of blue-collar workers are higher at newer gambling areas.

Perhaps you are considering joining the legion of casino gamblers, but you are unsure of the rules and customs. Where do you get betting chips? How much do you tip the dealer? What exactly is a “comp?” Luckily for you, this article has the answers to all of your casino gambling questions. Let’s get started with a little more background information to help you decide if casino gambling is right for you.

Can You Win?

Let’s be realistic — casino gambling is best taken as a form of entertainment. In the long run, the casinos will be the winners — those resort hotels and riverboats aren’t built to drive themselves out of business by giving money away to the players.

Except for blackjack, which has odds that change continuously as cards are dealt out, casino games are designed with a fixed mathematical edge in favor of the house. In roulette, for instance, the wheel has 38 numbers — 1 though 36, plus 0 and 00. To use the simplest example, the player may place a bet on any one of those 38 numbers. A winning bet will bring a payoff of 35-1 — the player gets his original bet back, plus 35 times the bet in winnings. If there were no 0 or 00, that would correspond exactly to the odds of winning, but with those numbers added, the true odds are 37-1. By paying at less than the true odds, the house builds in a 5.26 percent advantage in roulette.

Does that mean it’s hopeless for the player, that the house will win every time? No, for if there were no winners, there soon would be no customers. In the long run, the percentage will hold up and the casino will make its profit. But in the short term, results vary widely from the norm. The house advantages in casino games are narrow enough to produce winners — lots of winners, in fact — every day.

For the best chance to win — and to limit losses — players need to understand the games before they start to play. A blackjack player who does not know the rules of the game, the totals on which the dealer is required to hit or stand, or a basic strategy for play might as well just write the casino a check. Likewise, a craps player who does not understand the available options might make bets giving the house a 16.67 percent edge, when bets are available at the same table that limit the house advantage to .6 percent.

Learn the best bets and stay away from the worst ones, and you’ll win more often. But understand that regardless of how well you play, sometimes — the majority of times, in fact — the house edge is going to grind down your bankroll.

Well, they call it gambling for a reason, right? If you think your ready for both the risk and excitement, move on to the next section for the tips and guidelines that will help you blend in seamlessly with the most experienced gamblers.

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Players play video poker in a casino.

But video poker adds something slot machines don’t have — an element of skill. Players have decisions to make that affect the outcome. And because cards are required to be dealt from a randomly shuffled 52-card deck — or 53 cards, in the case of Joker’s Wild machines — the possible combinations are known, the frequency of the combinations can be calculated, and an optimal playing strategy can be devised. In fact, when Missouri riverboats opened under a law that forbade games of chance, casinos were allowed to offer video poker, as a game of skill, even though slots, as games of chance, had to wait until voters changed the law.

The best video poker machines, played skillfully, offer odds that rival any table game. The basic game, Jacks or Better, in its full-pay version returns 99.5 percent with optimal play over the long haul. Other machines, especially some versions of Deuces Wild, offer a positive expectation to the player — that is, over the long haul, they’ll return more than 100 percent with optimal play.

Why do casinos offer games that can be beaten? Because only a very small percentage of players know the basics of proper play. Enough mistakes are made that the casinos actually pay out 2 to 4 percent less than the expectation for skilled players. In competitive markets, casinos walk a tightrope between two choices — offering a pay table so good that the best players can expect to make a profit in the long term, or offering lower pay tables and risk driving away the weaker players who are the casino’s bread-and-butter customers. In less-competitive markets, where the demand for space to play is great, casinos will offer lower-paying machines because they will be played despite the low payoffs.

Enough Americans have an easy familiarity with the rank of poker hands that video poker has become one of the most popular casino games. As gambling markets mature and players become more experienced, the demand for video poker has tended to become stronger. In Nevada, casinos with a clientele of locals devote more than 50 percent of slot space to video poker, and there are video poker bars that offer few other gambling options. The major resorts that cater to tourists turn a lower percentage of space to video poker, about 10 percent to 15 percent. That’s about the percentage you’ll find in other United States gaming destinations. In Missouri, as soon as voters allowed games of chance, about 80 percent of slot space was turned over to reel slots.

In the early 1980s, Si Redd and his new International Gaming Technology entered into a licensing agreement with Bally’s Manufacturing that gave IGT exclusive rights to manufacture video poker machines. Few people recognized the potential at the time, but that gave IGT the boost it needed to become Bally’s main competitor in producing electronic gaming devices. Today IGT and Bally’s both produce video poker machines, and their machines take up most of the floor space devoted to electronic gaming devices across the country.

If you’re ready to join the video poker craze, you have found the right article. In the following pages, you will learn how to navigate the sea of buttons and flashing lights that is a video poker machine, as well as tips and tactics to come out a winner. Let’s get started with a quick refresher on the winning hands in poker.

Rank of Poker Hands

All payoffs are based on five-card poker hands, which rank as follows:

2006 Publications International, Ltd.

These are all examples of winning hands for video poker. They include:

Top row: royal flush, straight flush

Middle row: four of a kind, full house, flush

Bottom row: staright, three of a kind, two pair, jacks or better

Royal flush: Ace-king-queen-jack-10 all of the same suit (hearts, clubs, spades, or diamonds).

Straight flush: Five consecutive cards of the same suit; for example, 2-3-4-5-6, all of clubs.

Four of a kind: Four cards of the same rank; for example, ace of hearts, ace of spades, ace of clubs, ace of diamonds.

Full house: Three cards of one rank, two cards of another rank; for example, 3 of diamonds, 3 of hearts, 3 of spades, 6 of hearts, 6 of spades.

Flush: Five cards of the same suit; for example, ace, 10, 7, 4, 3, all of diamonds.

Straight: Five consecutive cards of mixed suits; for example, 2 of diamonds, 3 of hearts, 4 of diamonds, 5 of clubs, 6 of spades.

Three of a kind: Three cards of the same rank; for example, 6 of hearts, 6 of clubs, 6 of diamonds.

Two pair: Two cards of one rank, two cards of another rank; for example, ace of spades, ace of hearts, 7 of clubs, 7 of diamonds.

Pair of jacks or better: Two jacks, queens, kings, or aces.

Now that you know how to win, let’s take a look at the device that you’ll be playing on. Move on to the next section to learn the anatomy of a video poker machine.

Online Poker Rooms

Right now there are more than 200 Internet poker rooms. The largest Internet Party Poker Bonus room has over 50,000 people playing at the same time during peak playing hours. Just do an Internet search for poker or take a look at some of the online poker-related sites, and you will quickly find many places to play and thousands upon thousands of pages of information.

The following games, and others, are readily available online:

• Texas Hold’em
• Omaha/8
• Omaha High
• Seven-Card Stud
• Pineapple
• Razz
• Five-Card Draw
• Triple Draw

The Benefits of Internet Play

Playing poker on the Internet is a tremendous way to gain experience and also less expensive than traveling to a card room. Most players tip the dealer when they win a hand in a brick-and-mortar card room (often called B&M) and also often tip the servers when they bring a drink or food. Playing on the Internet requires no tipping. Thus these expenses, as well as the travel expenses associated with live play are nonexistent.

In addition, you play many more hands per hour online because a dealer doesn’t have to take the time to shuffle, and the play is faster because most online poker sites have a time limit for each player to act.

For players who are just learning to play poker or are learning a new game they have little or no experience with, online poker offers a wonderful arena to increase skill, knowledge of the game, and possibly build a bankroll at the same time. Most sites offer the opportunity to play poker for free, using play money. Some sites even have “free rolls,” which are tournaments you may enter for free that pay out real money to the winners. In addition, many sites offer real money limits as low as .01/.02. The largest entry level limit at any site currently is 1/2.

The play at the free money tables is not very good, and it is recommended using them only to get a feel for the gaming software and/or to learn a new game. The smaller games of .01/.02 up to .25/.50 (often called micro limits) offer a slightly more realistic feel to a poker game because you play for real money, but the play is horrendous. As you climb in levels, the play improves, but some games as high as 3/6 and 5/10 can have some inexperienced players, just like at a live poker room.

Bonus Offers

The online poker business is highly competitive. As mentioned above, poker rooms make money from players in the form of rakes (the amount of money a card room takes from each pot) and entry fees. The more players a site has, the more revenue it will generate. For this reason, it seems as though every site has bonus offers to attract new players.

Practically every site offers a bonus on a player’s first deposit ranging from 20 percent (deposit $100 and receive a $20 bonus) up to 100 percent (deposit $100 and get a $100 bonus). These deposit bonuses are usually tied to a requirement to play a predetermined amount of raked hands. Before depositing in any online site, make sure you have read the terms and conditions so you know exactly what you must do to receive the bonus.

Many sites also periodically offer reload bonuses (usually requiring another deposit under the same terms and conditions as a first-time bonus) to current players to entice them to keep playing at the site. Many players continuously move from site to site collecting these bonuses (often called bonus hunting), which can be a good way to increase a player’s profit per hour of poker play. In addition, if you are able to simply play break-even poker, bonuses can make you a profit as you improve your game.

While playing poker online can be fun and exciting, there are some pitfalls to watch out for. In the next section, we will discuss the legality of online poker rooms, as well as strategy that should be employed when playing poker online.

Bankroll vs. Buy-In

Some beginning players confuse the terms “bankroll” and “buy-in.” A buy-in is the amount of money you start with in a game or the entry fee into a tournament. Your bankroll is the entire amount of money you have available with which to play poker over a period of time. It would be unwise to bring your entire bankroll at any one time or to use all the money you have with you to buy chips right off. Not only are there ups-and-downs during a single poker session but also ups-and-downs over a period of time. Your bankroll should tide you over the low periods. If not, then you need to think about how poker is affecting your overall finances.

One more point about digging into your reserve when your chip stack is low. In a regular game, it is never advisable to wait until your stack is depleted before buying more chips. If your stack is too low, you can’t play with strength. It is better to buy more “ammo” (chips) before your stack gets low or end this particular playing session. It is not so much that you walk away from the poker table with something, it is that you won’t play those chips from a position of weakness, which rarely wins. To be able to walk away in this situation takes discipline, which marks the good players from the bad players.

Bankroll Recommendations

Bankroll-size suggestions range from 200 times the big bet at the level you are playing to 300 times the big bet. These amounts may seem like large numbers, but the fact is that even consistent winning professional poker players have downswings in their bankroll that may sometimes reach 200 times the big bet of the limits at which they are playing. Any number of factors or a combination of factors may cause these downswings. They include a run of bad cards, poor play for one reason or another, poor game or table selection, or health issues.

It is recommended to start with 300 times the big bet. A lot of players play much better when they have this cushion. Some have played at levels in which they had less than 100 times the big bet in their bankroll, and it usually hurts their play. This is obviously a purely psychological hurdle, but when reduced to facts, it makes sense. Keep in mind that 50 times the big bet is a fairly common downswing and nothing to become too concerned about if you are still playing to the best of your ability. Trying to just break-even when you are down is a thought that should never enter your mind.

An Accurate Poker Record

One last suggestion that is extremely important on your trip to becoming a successful poker player is record keeping. This bit of advice is very important. Keeping accurate records is the only way you will be able to make logical and educated decisions for your poker career. Some players keep very extensive records while others keep none at all. It is recommended keeping track of at least the data contained in the sidebar “Suggested Record of Poker Playing.”

By keeping these records you will be able to tell over time if there are any trends you need to be aware of and also just how profitable your poker playing is. You will be able to compare your winnings (usually measured in wins per hour) in different games, at different limits, at different times, and at different locations. For example: Solid players usually average 1 to 1.5 wins per hour.

Smart poker players are always looking to improve their performance. By monitoring your bankroll and your records, you’ll improve your chances of walking away from the poker table in the black.

The links at the bottom of this page will take you to articles that will help you learn the basic rules of some of the most popular poker games in the world. These articles also will provide advanced strategies for winning, advice on reading your opponents, and suggestions on how to keep track of your money.

In the end, poker is gambling, so victory is never guaranteed. Nevertheless, if you’re armed with knowledge, you’ll improve your chances of coming out on top.

See these articles about poker:

2007 Publications International, Ltd.
The best poker players are the ones who know when to risk their chips and when to hold them close.

• If you’re planning to sit down for your first hand, you should probably go over some Poker Basics first.

• Even James Bond plays it now. Say hello to the most popular game of poker around, and learn How to Play Texas Hold ‘Em Poker.

• Omaha is a lot trickier, because it involves playing more than one hand. Learn the pitfalls of this challenging variation by reading How to Play Omaha Poker.

• Stud poker used to be the most popular game. Read How to Play 7-Card Stud Poker and relive the glory days of this game.

• The first poker game most people learn is Five-Card Draw. Refresh your memory on this and other variations in How to Play Draw Poker.

• How much do you wanna bet that you’re ready to play some poker? Before you wager, you might want to review these Poker Betting Tips.

• So, how good are your cards, anyway? You can assess your chances in a split second once you know How to Calculate Poker Odds.

• Reading the cards is only part of the game in poker. Just as important is making the other players think you have a different hand than you do. A good liar probably knows How to Bluff in Poker.

• You’ve beaten all your friends and co-workers. Now you want to take on strangers. Learn how to do so by checking out How to Play Poker in a Casino.

• If you’re feeling really ambitious, you might want play for bigger stakes. In that case, you should know How to Play Poker in a Tournament.

• You don’t have to go to Vegas to challenge the competition anymore. You’re a mouse-click away from a hot game. First, it’s worth a click here to learn How to Play Poker Online.

• If you’re the solitary type but still want some poker action, you’re in luck. Just learn How to Play Video Poker, and it’ll be no one but you and the machine.

• Once you’re in the casino, you might want to play a few other games before sitting down at the poker table. Look like you know what you’re doing with some Casino Gambling Basics.

• For a list of useful poker terms and what they mean, take a gander at this glossary of Poker Terms.