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Table games in casino - how to buy in/out?


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Why the slam on BJ tourney ??? Its all fun I won $500 on Carnival for a $20 entry fee. Won $180 on RCI for the same $20 fee. Its a lucky game that you play for fun try to get in the top 7 and then play in the finals for the cash.

 

Its not real BJ you play wide open try to gain as many chips as you can in set number of hands. I always enjoy it as do a lot of passengers.

 

I could use several hundred words, but you said it best in just 4 words.

Its not real BJ.

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It is very important to know what the payouts are in craps since they vary dramatically depending upon the number rolled and whether it is a true odds bet or a layout number. In other words, you make a pass line bet, either side. The number rolled is a 6. You may now place odds. Say you bet $10, you can put $10 behind. If a 6 is rolled, they pay you $10 plus $12, or $22 for your $20. But, you could also have put a bet out on the place bets. You may bet on any number other than the point. So if the point is 6, you can place the 4, 5, 8, 9, or 10. You can also 'buy' the 4 or 10. The 8 is same as 6, everything symmetrical about the 7. If you place the 8 the payout is $7 for $6. As opposed to the true odds of $6 for $5. Clearly the edge here is higher. Better to make the true odds bet.

 

But people like to cover the numbers. They feel good when the numbers are rolled and they get paid. And they like to press the bet, raising the amount with winnings.

 

A bad plan. You will, by definition, lose your largest bet. Makes more sense to either reduce your bet or, if you win 3 times on the numbers you cover, take off all of your bets. After all they ALL lose if a 7 is rolled.

 

I use them in a different way. I will make a don't pass bet and then lay odds, and then place the 5 and 9. And make a don't come bet. If the 5 or 9 is rolled, I use my winnings on the place bet to be the stake for the odds lay against a 5 or 9 coming up again. I try to use the house money to pay for my next bet.

 

But, truly the most important advice is always take a part of the winnings of any roll off the table. And know when to walk away.

 

Someone asked about fun. No, this isn't fun. It's hard work. You must watch every bet and every payout. That's why you need to know the odds. Dealers, especially on cruise ships, are inexperienced often and will take your bet away or pay the wrong amount if you aren't watching. It happens.

 

I have a reputation in casinos. If a dealer overpays me, I stop. I call attention of the boxman (the center guy sitting down) to the bet, and point out I have been overpaid and I give it back. That may sound crazy, but then they know I am honest and know the game. If they make a mistake, and they almost always do, and it goes against me, my rep immediately gets the boxman to favor my point. Never touch your $ in this situation. Leave it right where it is and stop the game until it gets cleared up.

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I agree with a lot of what BaccaratBoy has said. Here are some

of my thoughts/ advice.

 

1. Set a daily amount you are going to play with. (for me it's $100)

2. Practice, practice, practice at home with computer programs.

Know what the proper move is to make. Bring the cheat sheet

if you want to. They don't care if you refer to it. The real money

to be made is when you split, double down, etc. Sometimes

my entire winnings for a session comes down to one good hand.

3. It seems, for me, if I sit down and start to lose immediately it

doesn't get any better. Get up and try another table or come back another time. Conversely, if I start winning right away I tend to have a

successful run.

4. Up your bet if you're winning and drop your bet if your losing. Don't

go chasing after lost money.

5. Don't play with your emotions. Cards don't have emotion. Just

because 4 small cards have come out in a row doesn't mean that

another small card won't be right behind it. Take the hits you're

supposed to and overall it will work out.

6. Personally, I don't like it when people jump in for 2 or 3 hands.

Blackjack is not a sprint, it's a marathon. If you're going to play,

sit down and invest some time. No fly bys! (JMHO)

7. If you don't know what to do.....ask! The dealer and other

players will be happy to advise you.

8. If I double my money in a session I quit for that day.

 

I think being successful at blackjack takes: good money

management, discipline to follow your money management,

skill, and luck.

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Casinos are not fun. They are sophisticated ways to part you from your $.

 

Casinos are not in the gambling business. They are in the money transfer business. They take Joe's money and give it to Debbie and keep a little bit. Then they take it from her and give it to Harry and keep a little. Then they give some back to Joe and some to Debbie and keep a bit more. They have virtually no risk since in a large casino roughly the same number of people win at any given time as lose.

 

If you go to have fun, don't. You will lose.

 

They love you. They love the punter who says I am only here to have fun for $100.

 

You will lose the $100 because you will stay until you do. You want fun? Take 7 of those $100 and buy your wife a pair of Manolo shoes. She will love you forever and I guarantee you will end up having more fun.

 

Me, I go to a casino for 2 reasons. I play to win. If I go in with $1k I want to walk out with $1050. Maybe even $1100. I consider that a great night. Now, I have won enough to buy a car, but I can remember that night vividly. 1 night in about 30 years of casino play. But, I doubt I ever lost more than $300 on any night through careful conservative play.

 

The second reason is I love the cards in Baccarat. The edge is miniscule and the game is fascinating to me. And you get to sit. Not mini-Bacc. That is boring and no table interaction. Big Baccarat involves up to 13 people and the shoe passes around the table and people get to talk and play at their own pace, not the casino's. The best game I ever played in involved almost $5 Million on the table each hand among the 12 of us. I dealt 18 banks in a row, wlhich is unheard of. It was the most fun I ever had. But that was very very rare.

 

Can it be fun? Sure. But that should be a bonus, not the reason to go. Gambling is hard work. When I won the poker tourney after 2 days I was so exhausted I swore never to do it again. The $ I won wasn't worth the work. And I love to play poker. Put myself thru college and law school doing it. But, it is always, always work.

 

You have to take it seriously. It's your hard earned money.

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Blackjack Betting plans:

 

#1

A. if you lose bet $6 (table min) on next hand

B. If you have $6 bet and you win, bet $7 on next hand.

C. If you have $7 bet and you win, bet $9 on next hand.

D. If you have $9 bet and you win, bet $10 on next hand.

E. If you have $10 bet and you win, bet $15 on next hand.

F. If you have $15 bet and you win, bet $20 on next hand.

G. From here on if you win increase your bet by $5 until you loose.

#2

A. if you lose bet $6 (table min) on next hand

B. If you have $6 bet and you win, bet $10 on next hand.

C. If you have $10 bet and you win, bet $15 on next hand.

D. If you have $15 bet and you win, bet $20 on next hand.

E. From here on if you win increase your bet by $5 until you loose.

 

BTW, 7 wins or looses in a row is not run into very often, but it does happen.

Ride your winning streak and do NOT chase loosing hands.

 

#3

If you lose a bet, on next hand double your bet.

This is chasing loosing hands. Do NOT do this, or any variation of it.

 

On my last cruise I used #1 90% of the time and #2 10% of the time (when I knew I was money ahead and felt the table was going my way). I ended the cruise a winner. Not a big winner, but a winner. It was a 7 night cruise and I allowed myself a loss of $100 per day and a total loss of $500. I ended up playing every day and walking off FOS with $700.

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I'm still not sure I understand the proper way to tip a dealer in roulette...as I'm leaving the game...after every win...and how do you do it? Slide them one of your betting chips? I know tipping is proper..but just always felt awkward...

 

When you talk to the dealer use the word toke instead of tip. When you are winning place your bet then put the toke on top of your bet, but offset a little. Tell the dealer "If I am winning, then you are winning". If you win, do not take your chips until the dealer has his toke.

 

Continue to toke, not every time, while you are winning. Every once in a while throw in the "If I am winning, then you are winning".

 

If they change dealers, the old dealer should say thank you to you, thus telling the new dealer that you have been toking and you are an OK guy. As soon as reasonable, toke the new dealer.

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Blackjack Betting plans:

 

#1

A. if you lose bet $6 (table min) on next hand

B. If you have $6 bet and you win, bet $7 on next hand.

C. If you have $7 bet and you win, bet $9 on next hand.

D. If you have $9 bet and you win, bet $10 on next hand.

E. If you have $10 bet and you win, bet $15 on next hand.

F. If you have $15 bet and you win, bet $20 on next hand.

G. From here on if you win increase your bet by $5 until you loose.

#2

A. if you lose bet $6 (table min) on next hand

B. If you have $6 bet and you win, bet $10 on next hand.

C. If you have $10 bet and you win, bet $15 on next hand.

D. If you have $15 bet and you win, bet $20 on next hand.

E. From here on if you win increase your bet by $5 until you loose.

 

BTW, 7 wins or looses in a row is not run into very often, but it does happen.

Ride your winning streak and do NOT chase loosing hands.

 

#3

If you lose a bet, on next hand double your bet.

This is chasing loosing hands. Do NOT do this, or any variation of it.

 

On my last cruise I used #1 90% of the time and #2 10% of the time (when I knew I was money ahead and felt the table was going my way). I ended the cruise a winner. Not a big winner, but a winner. It was a 7 night cruise and I allowed myself a loss of $100 per day and a total loss of $500. I ended up playing every day and walking off FOS with $700.

 

All good advice. This is an example of blackjack being a marathon

and not a sprint. It took me quite awhile to discipline myself. You

have to know when to stop -- both when you're losing and when

you're winning. So many times I see people sitting next to me

pulling out $100 after $100, shaking their head, saying "it's just

terrible, just terrible". If you're losing-- get up and leave!

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Wow you guys take the fun out of gambling LOL. Yes it is our money. I use it as entertainment . In 10 cruises I have come out ahead on 8. I like the 3 card Poker table. Its a lot of fun good people when the cards are hot you can make a lot of money. Most cruise people slide in gamble for a couple of hour and and slide out , its not Vegas , But to each his own.

 

Since your talking BJ, my experience way to many rookies on a cruise ship. You will get to many bad players at the the table if you are going to gamble very much money. IMHO

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  • 3 weeks later...

I have gone to the casino a couple of times while I have cruised. The first time I lost $60. Since then I have come out ahead at least $20 each time.

 

What I do is that I come on a cruise with a certain amount I am going to spend in the casino. When and if I lose that I will leave. If I start ahead after the first night I try and win a little more as all of my winning go toward the Sea Pass account at the end.

 

I will never charge my Sea Pass account at the casino. To easy to get into trouble. I always bring cash and exchange at the table for chips.

 

I like playing blackjack and craps. On the Freedom I fond myself most nights at the $5 blackjack table. Most nights we had good decks with a good group of players playing.

 

Well good luck at the casino.

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Wow you guys take the fun out of gambling LOL. Yes it is our money. I use it as entertainment . In 10 cruises I have come out ahead on 8. I like the 3 card Poker table. Its a lot of fun good people when the cards are hot you can make a lot of money. Most cruise people slide in gamble for a couple of hour and and slide out , its not Vegas , But to each his own.

 

Since your talking BJ, my experience way to many rookies on a cruise ship. You will get to many bad players at the the table if you are going to gamble very much money. IMHO

 

 

I to have gome out ahead most of the time 2 out or 3. I agree about the BJ players. When I was on the Freedom last year I played the $5 BJ table with some great players and I was the rookie. When I played with them I made great money and they taught me the game and was patient with me. I went from bad player to good player on single deck in one night. Most nights it was the same crew that played and we had fun. We were all interacting with each other and the dealer. We had the best table of fun in the casino. Then at the end of the cruise we had the serios rookie that played terrible. I ended up leaving and not comming back when I was ahead before I ended up loosing my aloted Casino amout I wanted to spend.

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Not sure if there is any great strategy to roulette, but a friend of mine called it a game of patience. Basically he said he sees too many people come up and play random numbers, then on the next spin, play more random numbers, and so on. He picks a number, puts $6 on the number and $1 on each corner of that number and plays that number only for the duration of his session. So, if that number comes up, it's going to pay out (if I do my math right here) $242. He goes in with a set amount of money (usually $300) and any winnings he makes goes off to the side, he only plays with the original money.

 

He figures he has 30 spins with that money, and it's more likely than not his number will come up once. Plus odds are he'll make something off the surrounding, numbers as well. He also said he usually splits the money down into 3 piles of $100, and if his number comes up, he stops playing with that pile of money, puts the remainder of that $100 in with the winnings and puts it aside and then starts with the next $100. He seems to do okay, and he goes a couple times a week. He's retired and says it's a fun way to kill a couple hours and he's not playing with large amounts of money. One of these cruises, I might try his plan out, but $300 is more than I usually play with on a cruise LOL.

 

I also like Caribbean Stud, no real strategy involved, and the tables are usually pretty fun. Plus I can usually play with the same $50 for an hour or so (I usually only go this long after the wife goes to bed). I found the best way to hold my own on there is to play blind and bet on every hand. It seems just as many times as not, the dealer doesn't qualify, so I get $5 on my ante. I had a run of about 10 hands where either the dealer didn't qualify or I had a better hand. One hand, I had a full house. Unfortunately the dealer didn't qualify so all I got was the $50 on the side bet.

 

I know I'm a sucker and the casino loves me, but I only go to casinos when I cruise, I treat it as entertainment, and I don't play with a lot of money. I'm not in there trying to pay for my next 3 cruises as I don't have the fortitude to play with the kind of money needed to make big bucks. In 8 cruises, I have come home anywhere from slightly ahead to a couple hundred dollars ahead a few of the times, and down the rest, but I have never lost all the money I had budgeted for.

 

I do wish RCI would follow how Carnival sets up the slot machine player banks though. Basically, you can treat the slots like an ATM without a fee. Handy for not having to bring as much cash onboard as you otherwise might.

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To Baccarat Boy:

 

Great points and advice. I especially concur with line 11. When we gamble in AC or Vegas, we do it for the enjoyment and relaxation and not looking for a big win. If you walk away from a casino either break-even or a win, it's an achievement.

 

I shudder, when I see people tapping their ATM's.

 

Ps: Love "Sex & the City" slots.:D

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