midgetcoach

After sailing on eleven cruises from different lines last year alone I stand by my November post NCL had the worst casino slot payout. Be warned.

Went on a NCL cruise this past summer. The slots paid absolutely nothing. No desire to sail with them again.

My wife and I both play. We buy in with the same amount every time we play. She plays slots and I play craps. We have sailed 9 times this year with two more booked on her comp. We always get a balcony. I get basically nothing for my craps play.

Thanks pcakes, that's a lot nicer than I was going to say it.

Yes being able to walk away is a big part of playing. Whether it's quitting when your hit your loss limit, leaving with your winnings or walking when you get back to even on a choppy game. It's one of the big parts of playing. My wife and I were playing on the NCL Jewel a few weeks age. By the third day it was obvious the slots were not paying at all. We decreased our daily buy-in by 60%. Day four we just quit playing. I will say this was the worst paying slots I have ever seen land or sea. We did not see or talk with a single winner or break even player. Yes walking away is very important.

I think this is a good explanation of a AP: Someone who practices advantage gambling is often referred to as an advantage player, or AP. Unlike cheating, which is by definition illegal, advantage play exploits innate characteristics of a particular game to give the player an advantage relative to the house or other players. Advantage Players normally prefer land based casinos because of the higher slots payouts and table limits. No it wasn't me. We (my wife and I) play to take advantage of the comps. I am not a card player at all. But from what I have seen the amount of cards used in the "shoe" varies by that particular tables minimum.

It's just to much to try and write and explain here. Yes, you got it now.

I read this thru and it is a good explanation of comps and how they work. Moving to the conclusion it reads... [Casino and gambling comps are really cool, but they’re also a tool that casinos use to get you to lose more money than you’d otherwise lose. Understanding how those comps work is the first step in making sure you don’t get taken advantage of. Some people learn how to take advantage of the comps system in such a way that they gamble practically for free. It’s even theoretically possible to come out ahead because of the comps program. That’s too much work for most people, but it’s nice to know that it’s possible. The bottom line about comps is that the casino doesn’t have your best interest at heart. They want your money.] My wife and I fall into the second part of this paragraph. We do come out ahead, but it is a lot of work. Hello ! My wife and I do just that. PS. We actually make money at it too.

drug pushers........ a big conspiracy........ This was a constructive rational post, its now become just plain stupid.

I personally try not to use any electronics while on a cruise. The phone is off and in the safe.

I think I miss understood. I was thinking "trend" I use trends as part of my game to help determine my play.

Well said pcakes

This is what I have been trying to say. My wife a I play because we enjoy it. Along the way we have found a way to use it to our advantage. We still do other activities aboard and excursions. This is a part of good money management. We began cruising in 2018. I never played or was in a casino before then. I saw the potential and decided to learn how to play. Started with $500. Put it in an envelope, wrote the amount and date. As of today we keep it in a safety box and could purchase a new car (not a cheap one) with it. It still grows.... We also play land based casinos. Travel, resorts, entertainment come from that. We get multiple offers from all the major cruise lines and casinos daily. This year alone we have taken 7 cruises with two more booked. The Caribbean, Bermuda, and Alaska were a few. Also resorts. All added expenses including travel (air), all food, entertainment (excursions), anything involved in the cruise or retort stay are calculated in. Bottom line...We are enjoying ourselves in retirement without using and draining any of our home accounts.

I agree with UK. Your decisions determine your out come of the game your playing. There is no way to predict a up coming streak or trend but realizing it when it is happening makes all the difference.

The math is easy. Take a bank envelope for every day (session) you plan to play. Write the days on each Mon,Tues, etc. that you plan to play. Example 7 day cruise, 7 envelopes of $300 each (buy-in). Total bank roll $2100. Everything goes in the safe. Each day use the daily envelope for you buy-in. When the session is over put "all" the money back in the envelope an safe. Winnings or loss everything goes back in the envelope for that session. You never spend any of this money for anything else, its your bank-roll ! The total at the end of the week tells the story. See no complicated math. Keep it simple. Remember we are playing for the comps.

Yes, you have your bank-roll which is your over all amount of gambling money. Your buy-in is the amount you take when going to play a session. If your planing on playing once a day on the cruise it would be seven sessions. On sea days it may be two sessions. Each trip to the casino is a session. Determine your buy in then how many sessions to play is your bankroll. The math is easy. Take a bank envelope for every day (session) you plan to play. Write the days on each Mon,Tues, etc. that you plan to play. Example 7 day cruise, 7 envelopes of $300 each (buy-in). Total bank roll $2100. Everything goes in the saf

It is kind of misleading. If your playing with 1-2K per week then your buy-in should be around $300 per session. You should have a loss limit and also a win limit (when its time to walk). You are playing to run your money thru machines or across the tables for comp and points. Knowing when to move on to a different slot or table is part of it. At the end of the week look at your seven $300 buy-ins and add them back together. You will be up, down or even but never should you lose the whole $2000 bankroll. As always good money management is one of the keys.

Our buy-in per session is $500 each. We use the envelope system.

We play for the comps ! we don't lose the $500. It is run thru the machines or across the tables. Our bank roll is used just for play and never any thing else. All wins and loses are in it. We don't take any profit from it, remember we're playing for the comps. I track all our play, at all casinos land or sea. I have records from the past 3 years on every session played. This year alone we have taken 7 cruises on different lines, all comped. To date we are a little ahead on cruise ship play. Our land base play is much better and generates a lot of interest and offers from the sea. One of the most important key things is good money management.

My wife and I buy-in every time we play a session at a casino for $500 each. She plays slots and I play craps. All our comp comes from the slots. That gets us ocean view or balcony.

Well I don't know if they love us but we are definitely on their list..LOL We get offers almost daily.

It's not having balls of steel.....but sometimes that can help..LOL Casino games are just that, games, adult games that have a negative expectation meaning you are not expected to win. It doesn't mean you can't win its just harder too. Everyone has luck and can win on any day with just luck but if you want to play to win you need two things. First you must fully understand every detail of the game you are playing. Second is how to gambler on that particular game. Now you can turn it into at least a 50/50 game.

NO, not talking about anything like that at all. A trend in a casino would be the direction a game is going. At times there could be a downward trend, a upward trend and you may refer to when a game is going back and forth as choppy. Its knowing how to read these trends. Being able to stay in the game and take advantage of the upward ones.

Normal slot pay out is around 90%. Not sure about cruise ships, but I would think the minimum would be around 85%. Casinos are based on the math. Playing to the math will always end with a loss. Winning at the casino is being able to read and follow the trends.

Hi UK, just wondering what game or games are you getting comped on ?