A lot of casinos offer regular free instructional classes for the most popular casino games, namely blackjack, roulette, and craps. Owing to its current popularity, some are also adding Texas Hold ’Em to that list, while a few also offer other games like pai gow poker and Let It Ride.
Traditionally, these lessons have always been live, i.e., conducted by real dealers at a time when the casino was quiet and they could be spared to show new players the ropes. In the course of researching this answer, however, we came across a new trend, namely a move by some casinos (including Bally’s and the Las Vegas Hilton) away from live instructors, who have been replaced by computer terminals where you can log on for instruction in all the table games.
We checked out the computer at the Hilton, which is located right by the casino cage. It's not particularly user-friendly, in that you have to stand up to use it and there's nothing to lean on if you want to take any notes. Plus it talks to you out loud, so it's not a good option for the self-conscious. Through narration and video demonstrations, the machine offers basic instruction in blackjack, craps, roulette, baccarat, pai gow poker, Let it Ride, three-card poker, and Crazy 4 poker, but we'd recommend going to a casino that gives lessons by a human being to whom you can pose questions.
For a full list of all the free gaming classes around town and their times, click here.
