Okay so by now you already know The Top 10 ways to beat the Casino and you’re ready to let ‘em have it … but first let’s master a couple of additional basics …

Did you know that the game of craps originated in France? If the first toss of the dice resulted in a 7 or 11 (a natural) - you won, but a lost if a 2,3 or 12 (craps) was rolled. If any other number came up, that number (the point) must be repeated before a 7 shows up. Note how the 7 changes from a natural win on the first roll to a loser on all subsequent rolls.

In a casino, the player with the dice throws the first roll - the”come out roll”. If the shooter rolls a 7 or 11 on the first roll, the house loses and anyone with money on the “pass line” wins. If the player rolls craps, the house wins and players with money on the pass line lose. The player continues to shoot any number apart from a 7 or 11. After a point (this will be the only number on the table marked with a puck) is made, any player can also bet “come” or “don’t come”. Come means that the bettor is hoping you’ll make the point before crapping out.

A don’t come bettor is betting against you and is hoping that you’ll crap out before you make the point. The next toss of the dice is treated as the start of a new roll and it’s not uncommon to see more than a dozen side bets going on at once. It’s enough to make your head spin and you’ve got to stay focused on what you’re doing in order to prevent being distracted.

On a pass line bet, the house has a 1.4% edge. Taking full odds cuts this edge down to zero. Yes that’s right, zero. The more money you place on the odds portion of your bet, the more you cut into that 1.4% edge against you.

So once you’ve figured out how much money you want to play with, place the table minimum on the pass line, with the rest on odds. Next time we’ll take a closer look at how to place your bets on the craps table.

Tomorrow’s date is 07-07-07 and this means casinos are going to be jam packed. Although we haven’t started our posts proper on the winnable casino games (poker, craps & blackjack), here are a few tips to prevent you from being plucked like a spring chicken.

Caribbean Stud: You can never become the favorite at this game, ’nuff said. House edge is up to 5.3%. Pass! 

Roulette: This is as close to a slot machine as table games get. House Edge is 5.26%. Pass!

Slots: Why even bother? The house has a monster advantage here, up to 20% Pass!

Keno: Run fast and far in the opposite direction. The house edge here is a whopping 25% minimum to 40%! Pass!

Craps: This is hands down going to be the most exciting game in the casino. Here’s how to keep it that way - bet the pass line, take FULL ODDS and get the “come”. Rinse, lather and repeat. Don’t know how? Ask the stickman - aside from taking your money, they’re there to help. Don’t bother about side bets, and please stay away from the field. Some field bets carry a house advantage more than 10%. Playing the way we suggested, by taking full odds on your pass line bet trims the house advantage to around 0.5%. Play!

Blackjack: Unless you’ve mastered basic strategy, don’t even bother. Please proceed to the craps table. A good player with solid basic strategy can bring the house advantage to around 0%!

Poker: Like blackjack, this is a game of skill. You can’t get that good in 24 hours. Please proceed to the craps table! There is no house edge here because you’re playing against other players like yourself.

Till next time, remember - once a lollipop, twice a sucker.

Around here, we play to win - and when it comes to casinos there’s really only 3 games that are worth playing. Those games are blackjack, live poker & craps. But in order to be able to beat the house, you have to MASTER the basic strategy for each game.Blackjack is a lot like math. You need to learn it like you know your multiplication tables. Remember those? 2 times 2 is 4, 2 times 3 is 6, 2 times ….Blackjack Buddy Gold from Nickel Buddy LLC is a full featured game for blackberry devices that is guaranteed to teach and allow you to master basic strategy, anywhere anytime. On your train ride home. Waiting in line at the grocery store. During that staff meeting where you’re talking about what you talked about last week and you’ll talk about next week.
 Play is quite simple, you download the program and install it via your blackberry interface software. It has a very nice and easy to understand interface - it’s just you against the dealer.

You can control the game entirely with either the keypad or the scroll wheel. I prefer the keypad though because if you scroll too fast you can make a play that you didn’t mean to. Keypad usage is centered around the 2 (stay), 4 (split), 6 (double down) & 8 (hit). You even get an additional hint feature (5) which tell you how to play according to basic strategy.

You also have a statistics feature, which will measure how strong your basic strategy is. Mine is at around 101%, which would mean I’m playing better than the house. 100% is dead even, and below 100% means you’re in the hole - but at least it’s just a game, right?

Blackjack Buddy Gold v. 2.5 $9.95

Anyone who’s ever set foot in a casino wants to win, regardless of the game. Most people go to casino’s with the intention of winning - but the reality is that by the end of the night you’ll be leaving with much lighter pockets and purses.

Casino games are mathematically stacked against you, which means that in the long run the house always wins. Well almost always - here’s how to even the score.

1. 1. Never gamble with money that you can’t afford to lose. Leave the mortgage, car payments, grocery money etc at home. Too many people gamble with money they cannot afford to lose - and remember how I said the house always wins?
2. 2. Focus only on the beatable casino games - of which there are actually only 2, blackjack and poker. Craps comes a close third. Don’t even think about going anywhere the one armed-bandits (slot machines).
3. Learn basic strategy for the games mentioned above before you get to the Casino. You can win at blackjack because a player using basic strategy will just about break even with the casino, at a 0.46% disadvantage. In poker you’re playing against other opponents and not the house - so this is where your skill will determine how much of the other person’s money will be leaving with you at the end of the night. In craps, you can cut down the house edge to 0 - 1.4%. These are the games we will focus on here at agrandioseblog.com in terms of winning strategies, techniques etc.
4. Find out which Casinos offer the best odds and payouts before you get to your gambling destination.
5. Make sure you are well rested before you get to the Casino.
6. Get to the Casino early. Most casinos raise their table limits, or the minimum amount of money you can bet with after a certain time, usually after 9pm or so.
7. Get a comp card, or join the casino’s players club. Almost all casinos offer them, and after playing a few hours you may become eligible for free rooms, complimentary meals, gifts etc. The comp cards give the casino a way to keep track of your playing habits. You might want to change a large amount of money into chips in order to gain the attention of the pit boss - but don’t spend them all. At the end of the night you can change your chips back to cash.
8. Don’t drink. Casinos often offer free drinks to players during game play, hmmmm I wonder why? You need a clear head here to stick to or improve on that basic strategy. Save the drinking for after you win some money. Plus the drinks are usually weak anyway.
9. Play with house money as soon as you can. By this, we mean that once you’ve doubled what you came to the casino with, put away your money and use the casino’s money to play for the rest of the night. This way you’ll always go home a winner, no matter what.
10. Leave the table when you’re supposed to. You need to know when to walk away, or else all your “hard” earned money will soon evaporate right before your eyes and you’ll go home a loser.