Thinking of making a
stop at a casino as part of your next vacation? You can make your money stretch a little
further. Jeffrey
Strain explains.
There aren't many options when it comes to
gambling in Japan - only government regulated horse racing, the lottery and the
legally-gray pachinko industry. If you feel like a date with Lady Luck or just want to
stake it all on black eleven, your best bet is to tempt fate at an overseas casino.
The best advice you can receive regarding gambling is "don't." The odds aren't
in your favor, and the proof is right before your eyes. Those monstrous casinos don't pay
for themselves. It's everyone's gambling losses that make it possible for them to be so
luxurious. For those who still want to test their luck, or just want to entertain
themselves, there are a number of things you can do to lower your risk of losing
everything, and possibly you'll even walk away with a little more pocket change.
The most important thing for those out to have a good time is to have a gambling plan.
Before you walk into any casino, you should have already decided how much you're willing
to lose. Although some may argue this is negative thinking, it'll also keep you from
throwing away your children's college education. Once you've decided on a sum you're
comfortable with, it's best not to take any more money with you than that amount since it
only leads to temptation. Don't only leave extra cash and traveler's checks behind in your
hotel room safe, but also all those credit and ATM cards from which you can get cash
advances.
The next step is deciding what your maximum bet will be. You can decide the amounts, but a
good rule is to bet between the table's minimum bet and 1 percent of the amount you're
willing to lose. You can increase your bets if you're winning, but you shouldn't bet more
than 10 percent of the amount you're willing to lose at one time.
After you've put your spending plan in order, the next step is to decide which game you
want to play. The odds vary greatly, so it's worth taking some time to learn about each
game and your odds versus the casino's. By far your worst odds of winning are with keno,
so you should entirely avoid this game. If you feel you're lucky at picking random
numbers, go to one of the free lotto sites on the Internet and try your luck there. At
least it'll only cost you a phone call to play.
Slot strategy
Slot machines come in as a runner up to keno for giving you the worst odds of winning.
This is where most beginners head since it's easy to drop coins into a machine rather than
learn the actual rules of a game. Although the odds are by far and away against you,
picking the casino where you play the slots can increase your chances of playing longer
and that slim, slim chance of hitting a jackpot. The most important factor concerning slot
machines is the machine's payback percentage.
The payback percentage is the amount of money that is returned to the players over time.
For example, if a machine's payback percentage is 90 percent, $90 of every $100 put in the
machine will eventually be returned to the players while the casino keeps the other $10.
Since a large amount of this payback is saved for those huge jackpots you read about in
the newspapers every once in awhile, your actual odds of getting the payback amount is
even less. The key is that if you find machines with higher payback returns, (they can
range from 85 percent to 97 percent depending where you play) it'll give you a chance to
play a little longer than on the machines with lower payback returns.
It's also to your advantage to always play the maximum number of coins that a slot machine
allows. By playing less than the maximum, you give the casino up to an additional five
percent advantage. If you can't afford to play the maximum number of coins on a machine,
switch down to a lower denomination coin machine to play the maximum number of coins
there.
Roulette gives the casino an advantage of more than five percent, a large advantage that
will dwindle your money away rather quickly. You can cut the casino's advantage by half
(2.65 percent) by only betting even money bets such as red-black, even-odd, etc. since you
lose only half your wager if the green 0 or 00 strikes.
Trying your luck
Blackjack or 21 is the one game where a player can actually put the odds in his or her
favor. Those with the ability to count cards can turn the odds in their favor by up to two
percent. The problem is that it takes a lot of skill and training, something the average
person isn't usually willing to invest. For those who don't have a proven system they use,
but merely go with their gut feelings, the casino's edge is up to 15 percent. For someone
who spends just a short amount of time learning a non-card counting basic blackjack
strategy, however, you can decrease the casino's edge to the four to five percent range.
There are a large number of books that will teach you this basic system which will let you
enjoy more time at the table.
The best odds you can get are in craps. The casinos can afford to take slimmer odds due to
the fast pace of the game. Whereas the average number of bets in blackjack in an hour
would be about 25, craps entices well over 100, resulting in much faster turnover of
money. For those who have the discipline to play only the most favorable odds (Pass, Don't
Pass, etc.), however, the casino only has a 0.8 percent advantage. Long shot and one roll
bets in craps heavily favor the casino, up to 16 percent, and should be avoided.
Depending on how long you want to play, you should avoid all the free alcoholic drinks
that American casinos offer at no charge. There's a simple and basic reason that casinos
are willing to bring all those free drinks to those playing at the tables. It pays to get
the people playing a little tipsy since a little alcohol can go a long way to making any
player forget his or her strategy. Remember the casinos would never offer the free drinks
if they weren't going to make up the money some other way.
By doing a little homework before you go out gambling, you're bound to enjoy the
experience more. Taking the time to make a strategy for the game you decide to play, and
more importantly, sticking with your plan, will ensure you'll be able to spend more time
playing and having fun, and you might actually return to Japan with some money in your
pockets.
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