Given that the casinos have ruthlessly crushed all possibilities of gambling and making money, or breaking even, we have to focus on bang for the buck--or lowest cost/losses. This is a function--when considered over time--of house advantage X decisions per hour. A low house advantage game can be worse than one with a high house advantage if the former has a lot more decisions per hour than the latter.
For example, keno (live) has a ghastly house edge--around 25%, while craps has a house edge of 1.4% (pass or don't pass, ignoring odds bets). But a player betting $10 on each game figures to be worse off if he plays craps than if he plays keno, because of the disparity in decisions. Craps, a decision takes a few seconds to a minute or two. Keno, it's ten minutes.
That's why you get more bang for your buck with a football bet (4.55% vig) than by playing blackjack (0.6% vig). In the three-plus hours you spend relaxing with a drink watching the game, you would be making 200 or more bets at the blackjack table. You'll do worse at blackjack in the long run, even if you play only the best games and use perfect basic strategy.
Which brings me to the absolute worst kind of gambling--slot machines. The bandits kill you by a deadly combination of high house edge (10%-ish) AND many decisions per hour (600+). And while video poker is a considerable improvement, you still have the same huge amount of money flowing through the machine on an hourly basis, so even a 98-99% return game can still bleed you dry.
So if you MUST play slots (and really, you shouldn't), pace yourself. Pause and look around. Crack jokes with your significant other. Carry crayons and make doodles on the machine's glass. Anything to reduce the number of decisions per hour. But really, don't play the damn things at all, and only for a few cents per spin if you must.
The above factors make pai grow poker my favorite table game. It's slow (only about 20 decisions per hour), the house advantage is low (2%-ish), it's easy to learn the correct strategy, and best of all, half the hands are pushes! So your money lasts much longer than at BJ or craps. Also, the game has the same "common enemy" social vibe that BJ does. Always play table games at a full table, both to enhance your fun and to lower the number of decisions per hour!
And best of all, many casinos will rate PGP players equivalent to BJ players for the same bet size, even though the former will be putting less money in action. Bonus tip: the smaller, less sophisticated casinos are more likely to "overrate" your play. The big megatoilets like Caesars and MGM will calculate your worth to them with ruthless precision.
