Casinos continue to grow and thrive and we enable them to build bigger, better, more opulent palaces by playing games we can't beat. Most of you reading this are poker players, and I suggest you stay in the poker room rather than battling it out against the casino. A few issues ago, I wrote about some of the tricks the casinos use to help separate you from your bankroll.
One thing casinos do to get you to wager more is to color you up, whether you've asked for it or not. Say you are betting $15 a hand at a blackjack game. You win a few hands and they pay you in the denomination you are betting. Now that you have a stack of reds in front of you, when you win, the dealer quickly and deftly replaces some of your five dollar chips with a $25 chip!
Instead of having six red chips, you have one red and one green chip. Wouldn't it be fun to bet that $25 chip and get paid with another one? Just once, maybe twice? The more high-denomination chips you have, the more likely you are to bet them. Do you really want to ask for change? Wouldn't that make you feel like a wimp? It shouldn't; but it often it does. Don't go for it.
If you have the wrong color chip for the amount you want to bet, ask for change. Better yet, take those chips to the poker room where you are vying against the other players rather than the house. If you must gamble in the pit, learn the games where you can have a chance to play for a long time running even or close to it. Blackjack and Pai Gow are such games, but you have to play them perfectly. There are plenty of good books on correct strategy for these games.
Comps are another ploy the casinos love to use. A buffet comp costs them less than $5, and the casinos are happy to give them to their best customers. By comping a customer to a line pass that player can be seated in a restaurant or buffet with little or no waiting time, enabling him to get back in action quickly and have more time to play at the tables.
There also is comped free-flowing alcohol in the casinos. Where else but a casino can you get bombed and have them continue to serve you? If you do drink, do so responsibly. Remember, you lose your inhibitions when you drink and are more likely to go off at the tables. This is your poker bankroll, remember?
Have you noticed, even through all the gross cigarette smoke, you'll often get a whiff of a sweet odor? Perhaps vanilla or pina colada? Yup ... they scent the air for your enjoyment.
Progressive jackpots have the allure of huge wins for small investments, but you'd do better taking that rack of silver to the poker room. Hitting those huge slots is called winning the forest with a toothpick. Have you noticed the restaurants and shops with so many pretty things and good looking food? Why is it there? It is all strategic and helps to keep you in the building. How did you get there? Were you drawn in from a mailing you got offering you free rolls of quarters or something similar? Maybe they offered you free rooms, show comps, and free food. These freebies can turn into expensive items. Stay in the poker room. You are reading a poker publication for a reason. Use your knowledge to play a game you can beat. Now go out there and get 'em!
Moving right along...
