I spent a few days in Vegas last weekend betting on NCAA Conf Tourneys during the day and playing blackjack and craps at night.

One of the nights at the craps table, I won a large stack of cash from a single shooter having an amazing roll (hit 48 numbers in a row before crapping out, including making 6 points)....which, because I understand basic statistics, I can recognize how unlikely it was to happen.

But in order to enjoy those games (craps and 8-deck blackjack, for instance) one needs to suspend one's knowledge of statistics and just enjoy the game, because everyone knows that if you play them enough, you WILL lose because the odds are always against you no matter how well you play.

So I found myself questioning whether there are other gamblers here.
I've found poker players before, certainly.
And that kind of aligns with WG, because there is luck involved (dice vs cards), but good strategy and understanding of the game will offset that luck (best players on WG and at the WSOP are able to essentially remove luck from the equation and win despite the quality of dice/cards)

So.....any other casino gamblers out there?
What is your preferred game and why?
Can you explain Baccarat to me? 
And can anyone explain why casino war and the giant spinning wheel of dollar bills are still frequented by players?

I avoid forms of gambling that are straight odds oriented. I.e., there is little to no way that my play can improve my chances of winning.

These include Slots, Roulette, Black Jack, and similar games. Yes, there are ways you can improve your odds playing by playing some of these games optimally, but any additional advantage that you can possibly get as a result of using a skill like card counting is not tolerated.

Games like Poker (and Risk), on the other hand, while dependent on luck of the draw and the vagaries of dice, are zero-sum. Your win is someone else's loss.  These games all but require the use of a particular set of skills. Cheating aside, there is no limit put on how much you can develop and use these skills, so in the long run the player with the better skills will prevail.

I'm going tomorrow, also to enjoy the NCAA excitement. To me, sports betting is pretty exciting. It intensifies the already fun-to-watch sporting event. Unfortunately, Vegas seems to realize how popular the tournament/Vegas mixture is: all hotel and air fare are jacked up for this weekend in particular.

I also absolutely love poker and hope that (legal) online poker will someday return to all 50 states instead of just Nevada and New Jersey. Casino rakes are pretty high for poker in-person, but I still love sitting down at a table and playing.

Gambling is fun, but I prefer to believe the illusion that I have a shot at positive expected value, so I avoid craps/blackjack/roulette/etc.

I concur with M. If you want to make some money...or atleast have a slow death, play poker 5/7 stud). And be prepared to drop on a lot of hands. I haven't been to Vegas in awhile, but I was there 5 straight years at one point and made money on the poker tables each time.

M57:  I'm not the slightest bit surprised that you are too pragmatic to enjoy risking cash on a game of luck.

Hugh:  I would never have guessed that you were the gambling type.  Maybe it's because your avatar doesn't exude gambling prowess.

Unfortunately, Vegas seems to realize how popular the tournament/Vegas mixture is: all hotel and air fare are jacked up for this weekend in particular.

A couple of thoughts for you:

1) That's why we go to the conf championships weekend:
Prices are generally about 20% cheaper than on NCAA tourney weekend, and there's actually more games.

2) We go Wednesday to Saturday
Saturday night is most expensive night of the week, and Sunday only has the big conferences' championship games.  
So we go for the early days of the weekend when more games are available.  
Sign up for the players card for wherever you stay and you'll get deals on conf champ weekend (you'll never get deals for NCAA weekend).  
We payed $80 for Friday night, and they gave us Wed and Thursday free.

3) Use the video blackjack machines in the bars to get free drinks.  
Put your bets on games find a good set of seats to watch the games.  
Take turns going to the bar:
Put $20 in the video blackjack machine
Play the required bet to get free drinks (normally 5 credits, even if it's only .25c per credit, so it's only $1.25 per hand)
Play continually, but slowly
If you play good blackjack, you'll never be no more than maybe +/-$5
Stay there for maybe 20-30 minutes playing, then cash out and head back to watch the games. 
Repeat ad nauseum (literally)

Bartenders will know what you're doing, but as long as you play 30-40 hands every time you sit down (don't play 2 and then bolt), they'll let you do it all day long.
$1 tip per drink doesn't hurt your chances. 

4) You can see the games live for super cheap.
Vegas has always hosted the Mountain West championships (UNLV, San Diego State, Utah State) at Thomas & Mack Center at UNLV.

This year, they also added:
PAC12 (Arizona, Stanford, Oregon, UCLA) played at the MGM Grand Garden Arena right on the strip
WAC (9 unimportant teams) played at the Orleans Arena

If you're in town for early rounds:  buy a nosebleed seat for $10 to any of the three, and you get 2 games of great basketball that you've already got $20 on because you placed the bet before you showed up.
Also, each team's fanbase sits in a pie-slice of the stadium, and many of them only watch the games for the team they're there supporting.   Meaning that the other 8 pie slices are empty seats, and you can walk down to 10th row without batting an eye.

Good luck this weekend, and bet on Michigan State (I'm not an alum, I just have them going deep in my bracket).

BorisTheFrugal wrote:

Hugh:  I would never have guessed that you were the gambling type.  Maybe it's because your avatar doesn't exude gambling prowess.

I don't really look or act like my avatar in real life! The avatar is a character who appeared in the Simpson's episode "Flaming Moe's", never to reappear in future episodes.

At some point in the episode, Bart prank calls Moe's Tavern with his usual "Al Choholic" and "Seymour Butts" style of prank. He asks for "Hugh Jass". This one actually backfires, because there actually is a "Hugh Jass" in the bar. The avatar is the character Hugh Jass talking to Bart. I kept the avatar because many people have recognized the character from that episode and my real name is actually Hugh. Indeed, he does appear rather straight-laced and unlikely to go to Vegas! (The nerd part at least is true, but I definitely don't have blue hair.)

Thanks for the advice. I like that video blackjack at the bars for free drinks made your bulletpoint list. I'll suggest to my group that we go for the conference championships next year.

C'mon. Nobody really has a name of Hugh outside of a Monty Python movie, do they? ;)

I love to play poker, and like Hugh, wish I could play on-line legally since I am not living in NV or NJ.   Before the government shutdown of the websites, I was playing a lot of pot-limit Omaha, and I loved it because that's where a lot of probability is required to be successful I think.  You can't just bet and bet and bet and run people over because with so many cards people stay in trying to hit their hand.

When in a casino, I enjoy playing the video poker where if you play optimally, you do have a positive expected earnings.  They are around in Vegas all over, I prefer downtown Vegas and the Four Queens has tons of those machines.

I also enjoy Blackjack Switch and regular old Blackjack... I know I lose in the long run, but I can kinda count cards a little to help my chances of playing longer.

And Boris, as for Baccarat, I don't understand it either, except that I think it's all on autopilot, in that what  cards you have dictate if you get another card... it's not like the James Bond movies where you can choose to take another card.

I just discovered this app called "Bravo Poker". Lots of poker rooms use it. Basically, it gathers where you are, tells you your nearest poker room, and what tables are currently open! (Also, the rooms advertise their tournaments and bad beat jackpots.) I longingly gaze it at way more often than is healthy.

Anyway, what's cool is that now I know there's a lot of 7-card Stud played at Foxwoods, whereas the variant preferred at the Pennsylvania casinos is O/E (Omaha and Stud Hi/Lo combo game???) I'm also surprised by how much limit Holdem is still being played. Omaha isn't too popular in this area, and it seems like hi/lo is more popular than straight up Omaha.

I just learned that for the NJ online poker, you just have to be in NJ, you don't have to live there. This is great for me now that I live in NYC: I can just ferry across to Hoboken, find a coffee shop and play. I haven't done this yet, but it will happen :)

Good luck, Hugh!

Foxwoods - now that brings back memories of when I worked in Stamford, CT years ago.  Then Mohegian Sun opened and we would go there instead - all the actuarial students from my firm would go after exams were over.  Once we saw Joe Theismann in the high rollers area, tossing around black chips ($100) like they were candy!

Omaha (Pot Limit) is much more popular in Europe, so the on-line thing worked great for me on that.  It's not easy to find even in Vegas.

I never do particularly well live when playing poker, I must play predictably/badly and not realize it.  My favorite hand was an all-in pre-flop in No-Limit Hold 'Em with pocket Kings against a guy who was trying to push the table around.  The board ran out 8-10-J-7-A, and I remember just thinking "Crap, there's only one hand he could have that I beat" and then he flipped over his Queens and I scooped the pot!  Whew!

 I like that video blackjack at the bars for free drinks made your bulletpoint list.

Best Bet in all Vegas!  $5 into the machine + $1 tip a drink is worth 2-3 Jack & Cokes which cost about $8 a piece at the bar.

Yes. I am a BIG Spender!

Last time I went to vegas I spent a total of $20 on gambling.

Will be in Vegas for a week starting next weekend - not a big gambler at all but we will see how it goes - really will be there for work -

So far I have lost $80 playing blackjack and won $90 playing war.  

Rather be lucky than good?

Certainly is.  Heck, even breaking even in Vegas is considered a win.

However, I was in college when National Lampoons Vegas Vacation came out and I can remember thinking "there can't be anyone who hates money so much that they'd be willing to bet on WAR."  Apparently I was wrong?