Best tips for gamblers

Originally posted by: Kevin Lewis

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My advice to gamblers:

 

1) Don't gamble. It's addictive, expensive, and self-destructive.

2) OK, OK. If you're gonna gamble, don't just blindly wander into a casino and start playing something. Learn a little something about the games and strategies. If you play craps, learn what the best bets are and stick to them. If you play BJ, learn Basic Strategy and adhere to it. If you play video poker, learn the strategies and stick to the games that you've learned. If you play slots, God help you, but at least take advantage of promos like point multiplier days.

3) Don't drink while or before you gamble. NO. NOT AT ALL. Even one drink can erode your judgment and self-control. You badly need those emotions in a casino.

4) Have a bankroll and stick to it. If you go broke, you're DONE until next trip. Stay the hell away from that ATM.

5) Apropos of the above, divide your bankroll into equal daily portions. When you double or lose your bankroll for the day, QUIT. 

6) Also, if you have money left at the end of the gambling day, PUT IT AWAY. Retire it and don't add it to tomorrow's bankroll.

7) Learn where the better games and better values are and give those places your action. Don't feel obligated to gamble where you're staying.

8) No. Not even one "free" drink while you're gambling. The casino wants you to be stupid and lose self-control. Plying you with drinks is the perfect way to do that.

9) Join every players' club and give them a token amount of recorded action, like $5 through a slot. You almost always get some kind of signup bonus and usually, some kind of discount offer will arrive in your inbox or mailbox.

10) Use the LVA coupons for all they're worth. Combine that with player signup bonuses and you'll have a mini-bankroll with which to start playing.

11-500) Don't drink before or during a gambling session. I know drinking is fun. Save it for later. Have wine with your dinner. Have a beer and watch the game. But order only soft drinks from the cocktail waitress while you're at the tables or machines.

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Originally posted by: O2bnVegas

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1)  Don't play at the airport flying in.

 

2)  Don't play at the airport flying out.

 

3)  Plan to hit your room, freshen up, shower or nap, whatever, before hitting the casino where you stay.  My casino BFF goes straight to the machines after check-in, tips the bellman to bring her luggage to her room.  I go to my room, hang up/arrange clothes from the suitcase; arrange my money (daily envelopes etc. as in Kevin's #5) into the safe and what I'll use that day goes in my purse.  I check out the TV/TV remote, set it for a channel I like so that I don't have fumble with it when I retire.  Arrange snacks, waters, etc. that I have brought with me.  Anything to NOT hit the machines with my adrenaline high from the casino noise coming in/walking through the casino.

 

4)  Make reservations for meals.  It makes you stop playing for a while. Even breakfast.   Of course you can cancel some if you need to, but try, before leaving home, to establish some places in Vegas where you'd like to eat during your stay.

 

5)  Take advantage of free, comped, or discounted mid day entainment, the cheaper the better, anything that breaks up your playing.

 

6)  Do some sightseeing.  Tours.  Anything away from the casino.

 

7)  If there are two of you, share at meals.  Servings in most places are enough for two.   Order one sandwich with fries, maybe another side or two.   At dinner I often order two appetizers instead of a main entree.  I like those better anyway, often.  I've lived long enough to have eaten all the steaks, lobster, crab legs etc. that I don't just have to have those anymore.

 

8)  Try to vary your play.  I started my gambling career in1988 with nickle slots.  Then quarters.  Then Video Poker exclusively because it was great.  Somehow I got up the nerve to try blackjack.  Then video poker kind of died.  Now I 'give them all a chance', slots, VP, and tables, get up when one isn't going well and try something else.  Somehow it helps, and is more fun.  It goes without saying that I am NOT an "advantage player."

 

9) My friend taught me to TITO out when a machine's balance is double what I start with.  Put in $100, TITO at $200.  Put the TITOs away, purse or whatever.  At the end of the day, or session, or whatever, you might have a bunch of TITOs to lift your spirits and money to spend the next day.

 

10)  And if you hit a handpay, fold the W-2G around it, put it away, no using it before end of the trip.  That's the best, getting home and finding that jackpot money still intact.

 

Candy

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Originally posted by: Kevin Lewis

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My advice to gamblers:

 

1) Don't gamble. It's addictive, expensive, and self-destructive.

2) OK, OK. If you're gonna gamble, don't just blindly wander into a casino and start playing something. Learn a little something about the games and strategies. If you play craps, learn what the best bets are and stick to them. If you play BJ, learn Basic Strategy and adhere to it. If you play video poker, learn the strategies and stick to the games that you've learned. If you play slots, God help you, but at least take advantage of promos like point multiplier days.

3) Don't drink while or before you gamble. NO. NOT AT ALL. Even one drink can erode your judgment and self-control. You badly need those emotions in a casino.

4) Have a bankroll and stick to it. If you go broke, you're DONE until next trip. Stay the hell away from that ATM.

5) Apropos of the above, divide your bankroll into equal daily portions. When you double or lose your bankroll for the day, QUIT. 

6) Also, if you have money left at the end of the gambling day, PUT IT AWAY. Retire it and don't add it to tomorrow's bankroll.

7) Learn where the better games and better values are and give those places your action. Don't feel obligated to gamble where you're staying.

8) No. Not even one "free" drink while you're gambling. The casino wants you to be stupid and lose self-control. Plying you with drinks is the perfect way to do that.

9) Join every players' club and give them a token amount of recorded action, like $5 through a slot. You almost always get some kind of signup bonus and usually, some kind of discount offer will arrive in your inbox or mailbox.

10) Use the LVA coupons for all they're worth. Combine that with player signup bonuses and you'll have a mini-bankroll with which to start playing.

11-500) Don't drink before or during a gambling session. I know drinking is fun. Save it for later. Have wine with your dinner. Have a beer and watch the game. But order only soft drinks from the cocktail waitress while you're at the tables or machines.

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