Casino - may be stupid questions, but...

[cruzinfamilyof4]

Okay so I've never gambled on any of our cruises. How does it work? The tables, slot machines? Do I just hand over my sail and sign and all my bets are put on it? Do I need to take cash? Thanks for helping this cruise-ship gambling newbie!!

[Super27]

For the slots, you can put in cash but once it's in there it goes into your "player bank." If you want to cash that out, you just take your Sail & Sign card to the cage. You don't get the little "tickets" like you do in land-based casinos. You can also just put in your Sail & Sign card and put money into your player bank directly from your shipboard account.

 

At tables, you can buy chips with cash or using your Sail & Sign, but I believe if you use the Sail & Sign for transactions at the tables there is a fee.

[Saint Greg]

I bring cash for tables so I don't have to pay the fee.

[NutsAboutGolf]

Tables charge 3%.  If you have a credit card that earns points linked to your sign and sail account, you can load up to $5,000/day all transaction free on the slot machines and receive a massive amount of credit card points as it's coded like a regular credit card charge and not a cash advance.

 

Reportedly, you can buy carnival giftcards for 10% off at allstate or aarp and either exchange them for cash at the cashiers cage or load them at the GS desk/kiosk and transfer your funds at the casino.  

[Djptcp]

A polite request - if you don't know how to play Blackjack please stay away from the tables as those of us who know how to play well don't appreciate those who don't know the rules of game. You may get lucky and win once when staying on something less than 17 against the dealer's 10, but it won't last and it screws it up for the rest of the players. We just returned from a Holland America cruise where a "newbie" had a 10 and a 4 and tried to split them! The dealer said no for a good reason. You could try Caribbean Stud Poker where it's just you playing against the dealer or you might like Roulette. Craps is not for people who don't know the many nuances and bets of the game. You might be better off just playing slots where you put your money in an go. Even with slots, play the maximum lines and then select how many times the minimum bet you want. I've seen people play 1 line out of 20 and then wonder why they don't win anything.

[riffatsea]

The casino usually has tutorials on how to play the table games.

If you are playing slots then don't worry about the other games.

[AmazedByCruising]

1 hour ago, Djptcp said:

A polite request - if you don't know how to play Blackjack please stay away from the tables as those of us who know how to play well don't appreciate those who don't know the rules of game.

 

How is that's a "polite request"?

 

Anyway I'm quite sure I've reached the level of knowledge to be allowed at the table by you, having spent more than a year writing software to test strategies. Funny though, the people I don't like at the table are certainly not the newbies, instead they are the ones who think they have mastered BJ but don't really understand odds. The ones who make a fuss about "wrong" decisions by the newbies when it leads to being dealt a bad card for themselves. 

 

To the OP, you really should try Black Jack. Just tell the dealer "I want $100 in chips" and hand him your card. The rest is easy. Other players will give you advice about what to do when you ask. The pace is slow. Everyone is on the same team, every player at the table wants the dealer to bust, even the dealer wants to lose to see happy faces. It's the best game to meet people.

Edited February 11, 2019 by AmazedByCruising

[NutsAboutGolf]

1 hour ago, Djptcp said:

A polite request - if you don't know how to play Blackjack please stay away from the tables as those of us who know how to play well don't appreciate those who don't know the rules of game. You may get lucky and win once when staying on something less than 17 against the dealer's 10, but it won't last and it screws it up for the rest of the players. We just returned from a Holland America cruise where a "newbie" had a 10 and a 4 and tried to split them! The dealer said no for a good reason. You could try Caribbean Stud Poker where it's just you playing against the dealer or you might like Roulette. Craps is not for people who don't know the many nuances and bets of the game. You might be better off just playing slots where you put your money in an go. Even with slots, play the maximum lines and then select how many times the minimum bet you want. I've seen people play 1 line out of 20 and then wonder why they don't win anything.

 

I witnessed and adopted a far better noob solution in Vegas.  You're always going to encounter noobs, often the the worst offenders are fairly drunk and seemingly randomly decide to play until they lose.  The best noob solution, find a BJ strategy card image online, print them out, cut them up and put a few in your pocket everytime you head to the BJ table.  If you encounter a noob (and usually you eventual do) hand them a card and say something like "This will help you win and when you win enough you'll get free drinks and other free offers".  You will be an absolute hero to everyone at the table as even to the dealer as they usually hate noobs as they tick the seasoned players off.  I can't speak for any cruise line other than Carnival, they DO allow BJ strategy cards, they just have to be on your lap and not placed on the table. 

[AmazedByCruising]

3 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

The best noob solution, find a BJ strategy card image online, print them out, cut them up and put a few in your pocket everytime you head to the BJ table. 

 

That's quite a lot of work to solve a problem that doesn't exist.

[NutsAboutGolf]

Just now, AmazedByCruising said:

 

That's quite a lot of work to solve a problem that doesn't exist.

 

My actual experience and the poster I quoted, Djptcp, confirmed the problem does exist.  Google, print and cut.  Perhaps 2-3mins of your life wasted if you don't encounter the problem.

[blarko]

OP didn’t say they were new to gambling. They said they were new to cruise ship gambling.......

[Cinnamon2]

1 hour ago, Djptcp said:

A polite request - if you don't know how to play Blackjack please stay away from the tables as those of us who know how to play well don't appreciate those who don't know the rules of game. You may get lucky and win once when staying on something less than 17 against the dealer's 10, but it won't last and it screws it up for the rest of the players. We just returned from a Holland America cruise where a "newbie" had a 10 and a 4 and tried to split them! The dealer said no for a good reason. You could try Caribbean Stud Poker where it's just you playing against the dealer or you might like Roulette. Craps is not for people who don't know the many nuances and bets of the game. You might be better off just playing slots where you put your money in an go. Even with slots, play the maximum lines and then select how many times the minimum bet you want. I've seen people play 1 line out of 20 and then wonder why they don't win anything.

First let me say I HATE BJ and will never play because of this attitude.  Gamblers who are smart and know the game do have an advantage of course, BUT these games are games of chance.  A newbies mistake can cause the next player to win or lose - but it's a chance, not an absolute outcome.  It really ticks me off when I hear of the attitudes of some people.  Geeesh . . . 

[AmazedByCruising]

1 minute ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

My actual experience and the poster I quoted, Djptcp, confirmed the problem does exist. 

 

It's probably not a newbie trying to split a 10 and a 4. Is it someone staying on 16 against a 10? What is the problem?

[NutsAboutGolf]

4 minutes ago, AmazedByCruising said:

 

It's probably not a newbie trying to split a 10 and a 4. Is it someone staying on 16 against a 10? What is the problem?

 

Perhaps that player was a newbie or perhaps he wasn't; there are others out there.

[Mommawo]

2 hours ago, Djptcp said:

A polite request - if you don't know how to play Blackjack please stay away from the tables as those of us who know how to play well don't appreciate those who don't know the rules of game. You may get lucky and win once when staying on something less than 17 against the dealer's 10, but it won't last and it screws it up for the rest of the players. We just returned from a Holland America cruise where a "newbie" had a 10 and a 4 and tried to split them! The dealer said no for a good reason. You could try Caribbean Stud Poker where it's just you playing against the dealer or you might like Roulette. Craps is not for people who don't know the many nuances and bets of the game. You might be better off just playing slots where you put your money in an go. Even with slots, play the maximum lines and then select how many times the minimum bet you want. I've seen people play 1 line out of 20 and then wonder why they don't win anything.

So there is nothing polite about this request.  So let me get this straight because you are a self proclaimed expert you have more right to be there and play this game as someone who is learning it.  Ooooohhhh ok I see.  Mental note taken djtpcp is more important than everyone else at the table.  Got it ! 

[Saint Greg]

3 hours ago, Djptcp said:

A polite request - if you don't know how to play Blackjack please stay away from the tables as those of us who know how to play well don't appreciate those who don't know the rules of game. You may get lucky and win once when staying on something less than 17 against the dealer's 10, but it won't last and it screws it up for the rest of the players. We just returned from a Holland America cruise where a "newbie" had a 10 and a 4 and tried to split them! The dealer said no for a good reason. You could try Caribbean Stud Poker where it's just you playing against the dealer or you might like Roulette. Craps is not for people who don't know the many nuances and bets of the game. You might be better off just playing slots where you put your money in an go. Even with slots, play the maximum lines and then select how many times the minimum bet you want. I've seen people play 1 line out of 20 and then wonder why they don't win anything.

 

You can't tell people not to play. If you want to play blackjack with experienced players a cruise is the worst place to do it. You have thousands of people who don't normally go to casinos just walk up and think blackjack is the easiest game...So that's what they try. What I do is I watch a few hands before sitting down. Once I see everyone make a decision that tells me they know what they're doing, I sit down. The first dumb move I see I walk away. I usually only get to play once or twice a cruise that way. It's been about three cruises since I had a really good group that lasted. But I'm going to drive past a dozen casinos with better blackjack odds on my way to  and from the ship so It's really not that big of a deal.

[Saint Greg]

20 minutes ago, Mommawo said:

So there is nothing polite about this request.  So let me get this straight because you are a self proclaimed expert you have more right to be there and play this game as someone who is learning it.  Ooooohhhh ok I see.  Mental note taken djtpcp is more important than everyone else at the table.  Got it ! 

 

Years ago when I was learning I had a guy get so frustrated at me taking hits when the dealer had a bust card...he started paying me not to take hits. After that I started asking people when I wasn't sure. Sometimes even the dealer will give advice if you ask. If I'm at a table and a new player sits down and asks when they aren't sure what to do, I'll help them. If they just do stupid stuff, I'll just leave. I'm not going to tell anyone what to do but I'm not going to sit there and lose money because of them either.

[Mommawo]

1 minute ago, Saint Greg said:

 

Years ago when I was learning I had a guy get so frustrated at me taking hits when the dealer had a bust card...he started paying me not to take hits. After that I started asking people when I wasn't sure. Sometimes even the dealer will give advice if you ask. If I'm at a table and a new player sits down and asks when they aren't sure what to do, I'll help them. If they just do stupid stuff, I'll just leave. I'm not going to tell anyone what to do but I'm not going to sit there and lose money because of them either.

Lol don’t blame you for not staying at a table. Just saying the other poster is no more important than anyone else who wants to sit down at the table to play.  I agree with your post you can’t really tell people not to play.  Now that Being said you probably won’t find me at that  table. However if someone told me not to I’m probably gonna be at it. 😂 southern women are kinda like that 

[Saint Greg]

5 minutes ago, Mommawo said:

Lol don’t blame you for not staying at a table. Just saying the other poster is no more important than anyone else who wants to sit down at the table to play.  I agree with your post you can’t really tell people not to play.  Now that Being said you probably won’t find me at that  table. However if someone told me not to I’m probably gonna be at it. 😂 southern women are kinda like that 

 

Last cruise there was one lady who would split 10's every time...Which you aren't supposed to do because 20 is usually a win. Surprisingly it worked out okay for her more than I thought it would. Then there was another lady who would hit 12's against a bust card...she busted every time....and just kept doing it.

[Mommawo]

1 minute ago, Saint Greg said:

 

Last cruise there was one lady who would split 10's every time...Which you aren't supposed to do because 20 is usually a win. Surprisingly it worked out okay for her more than I thought it would. Then there was another lady who would hit 12's against a bust card...she busted every time....and just kept doing it.

One of my daughters got a check in the mail after she got home from her winnings on the Dream.  She doesn’t recall winning or probably playing anything 😂 May or may not have been alcohol involved lol however somehow she won some money I suppose 

[EllaDuChien]

19 hours ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

Reportedly, you can buy carnival giftcards for 10% off at allstate or aarp and either exchange them for cash at the cashiers cage or load them at the GS desk/kiosk and transfer your funds at the casino.  

 

Quick point, you cannot exchange GC for cash, but you can load them onto your card and use them as cash to gamble with.  Then when you are ready you can cash out your player bank.  Good way to save 10% on your gambling losses!! :-)

[NutsAboutGolf]

27 minutes ago, EllaDuChien said:

 

Quick point, you cannot exchange GC for cash, but you can load them onto your card and use them as cash to gamble with.  Then when you are ready you can cash out your player bank.  Good way to save 10% on your gambling losses!! 🙂

 

I have not done so myself but someone on another thread to claims to have recently done this 🙂

[EllaDuChien]

4 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

I have not done so myself but someone on another thread to claims to have recently done this 🙂

 

I hope its true!  It would make things much easier!

[memoak]

With so many cruise lines using the "constant shuffling" machines rather than "shoes" what one player does has very little impact on the other players

[Bostwick girl]

49 minutes ago, EllaDuChien said:

 

I hope its true!  It would make things much easier!

 

It most definitely is true! All you need to do is go to guest services and have them load your gift card(s) on to your Sail and Sign account. When you go to the casino, you can then play the slot machine using your S and S account. That is one of the options you have when you play the machines once you have your players bank set up. If you don't know how to do that, one of the casino hosts will help you. After you're done playing, you can either leave the money in your players bank or go to the casino cashier and cash out. Some posters say you can use the kiosks to download your gift cards to your s and s card, but it's easier for me to go to guest services.