What's more American than Mom, apple pie, and baseball? Would you believe

Mom, apple pie, and casinos? It's true. Americans are visiting casinos

more than they visit Major League baseball parks!

With all this participation, are Americans becoming expert at gambling? Do

they know their odds and the ways to improve their odds the way they used

to know baseball stats? If we are to judge by the billions of dollars

dropped in casinos each year, the answer is a resounding "NO."

If winning at the casino is the new American dream, it seems to be a dream

that comes true for very few - except the owners of the establishments.

We'll assume you are not an owner. Then what can you do to improve your

chances of winning a piece of the American casino pie? How can you change

your luck? Reduce the House Advantage and stay in control.

REDUCING THE HOUSE ADVANTAGE

Would you believe that your "luck" is really only one factor in the game,

that there is a lot more going on here than just plain old-fashioned apple

pie luck?

First, let me ask you a couple more questions. Do you spend more than you

intended to on most of your visits to the casino, stay longer than you had

planned, win far less money than you would like to win? Are you frustrated

by your inability to really get ahead but find yourself going back again

and again?

If you answered, "yes" to these questions, you are solidly in with the vast

majority of people who visit casinos. But, let's look at what "yes"

answers imply. Notice that what you are really saying is that you don't

seem to have as much control over your "luck" AND YOUR BEHAVIOR at casinos

as you would like to have. Why?

Would you believe good old-fashioned American psychology? It's true -

psychology is planned into the casino business!

First of all, there is the general psychology of society's changing

attitude. Gambling has increased in popularity in good part because it is

no longer perceived as terribly immoral - even the government has given its

approval. Since you're, in effect, looking through society's view of

gambling as an acceptable form of entertainment, it's easy to let your

guard down. It's just an acceptable, harmless way to have some fun. This

is fine, as long as you either have inexhaustible funds to throw away or

you can keep enough control to spend no more than you can afford. But if

you want to make your casino visits PAY, then you must change the way you

look at gambling. To make it pay you must look at the casino as your

adversary. Now, that's not to say it can't be fun - after all, wouldn't it

be more fun to walk away from your casino-adversary with bucks in your

pocket and a smile on your face than it is to walk away from your

casino-friend with empty pockets?

But the psychology part is more involved and complicated than just

analyzing your attitude and society's attitude. Casinos consciously and

deliberately exploit known psychological responses to control your gambling

behavior. Knowing some of their methods will help put you back in control.

We all know that casinos are set up to give the casino a mathematical edge.

They are in the business to make money, after all. What you may not know

is that your mathematical odds of winning are affected by the length of

your visit. The longer you stay, the poorer your odds of winning are.

That's mathematical. The casinos, then, use psychological methods to

persuade you to stay longer - the longer you stay, the greater the odds

that they win.

The design of the casinos - the colors, the lighting, the space, the

chairs, the smells in the air, everything - is analyzed for maximum comfort

and appeal. The operators figure that anything that can keep you playing

just another five minutes each visit can add millions to their take.

Let's take a critical look at some common casino practices.

Special promotions, for instance. Some are designed to get you into the

place, others to keep you there just a little longer.

The free or cheap meals - an all around winner for the casino - will bring

some people in for a bargain meal. How many will leave without dropping at

least some money in the games? Most will end up paying dearly for that

"cheap" meal, but will forget that the next time they want to go out for a

nice, "cheap" meal. But there's another aspect to it. If you are already

at the games, a cheap meal conveniently available in the casino will keep

you in the building at mealtime. You'll be away from the games for a

minimum length of time.

The fairly new bill acceptors on slot machines keep you at your play. When

you are out of change, you don't have to wait around or walk to the change

booth for more coin. This adds to your playing time - your playing time is

money - for the casinos.

Casinos operators carefully plan their lighting. You may have noticed that

when you are in a casino it is difficult to determine whether it is day or

night. This is deliberate. Remember, they like you (or your money) so

much they want you to extend your visit. If they can get you to drop you

usual time consciousness, you'll stay longer.

Colors are chosen to trigger automatic responses. Slot machines are

outfitted in colors that will attract and hold gamblers. Sophisticated

color combinations are used to minimize the time you will spend slot

hopping.

Many casino operators add a scent to the air. Think that's silly? In an

experimental test the scent was shown to increase substantially the number

of coins customers dropped into the slots - very substantially, about 45

percent.

Most of these techniques add greatly to your comfort as well as sometimes

triggering an automatic psychological response. If your visit is pleasant,

you will stay longer, play looser with your bankroll, and come back again.

Other techniques have little or nothing to do with your comfort and are

simply exploitive. You are simply the "white rat" - the unsuspecting

victim of psychological games.

For instance, the payout system of the slots. In the last thirty years,

psychology has even been applied to that. The system of paying tiny

winnings often is that new. How was it done before? Well if you won, you

won a reasonable amount, but the payoffs were infrequent. What is the

advantage of frequent small payoffs? It is the psychological "promise" of

a big win. You will be enticed into staying longer and risking more money.

Putting in a few "hot" machines is also an application of psychology. Your

search for the "hot" machine is motivated by the psychological "promise" of

a lucky streak. Again, you'll stay longer and risk more.

Some casinos will give you small denominations as change for large bills

or, at the tables, small denominations of chips. The reason? Because, as

we all know, it is easier to spend a dollar than it is to spend a twenty.

Psychological? Of course.

Ever notice how wins are played up? The real coin that's dropped into

metal slot pan when someone wins is deliberate. The noise excites you.

The bells and whistles that attend a really big win are also deliberate

attention-getters and exciting. The casinos make a big deal over wins -

but losing is pretty quiet. The excitement of the noise stirs you to try

to win. But there is more. All the attention given to winning makes it

seem like there is more winning going on than there really is.

OK. Now you know that in the eyes of the casino you're merely a "white

rat" from whom they are trying to extract the most they can. What can you

do about it? Although occasionally casinos go too far and a practice is

outlawed, you really can't do much about changing their use of tricks. But

when you are aware of them, you can guard yourself against reacting

automatically. You can put yourself back in control.

So, is being in control going to change your "luck"? Well, it will help.

But you have to know how to use that control to your advantage.

First, you know that your odds of winning decrease in ratio to the length

of your visit at the casino. So with your new control you will make your

visits shorter. You will be aware of your surroundings and try to note the

tricks the casino is using to influence you. Conscious awareness will make

them less effective. Pick you games according to your own system - not

according to the casino's planned influence.

But you must also be aware of the things you can do to increase your odds

in a given game. We will discuss a couple of the most popular games.

Slot machines –Most slot machines have three reels. Before computers the

number of combinations for lining them up depended on the number of

symbols on each reel. Today the reels are actually electronicly controlled

by a computer chip. There are literally millions of combinations possible.

Each machine can be set for a rate of payback. Let's say a quarter machine

has a payback of 90 percent (the usual rate on quarter machines is 86 to 90

percent). That would mean that for every 100 quarters dropped into the

machine it would pay back 90 quarters. The dollar machines often pay back

between 97 and 99 percent.

The progressive slots are linked together so that a coin played in any of

the link-up will increase the size of the jackpot. You don't have a chance

at the jackpot unless you play the maximum number of coins. Since the

large jackpot games must reduce the amount paid in smaller winnings, you

would be better off playing other machines unless you are willing to put in

the maximum and go for the jackpot.

The best odds are on the dollar slots. They usually have the greatest

payback - as we said, payback is between 97 and 99 coins for each coin

played.

Some slot methods to increase your odds-

Start out with only an amount of money you can afford to loose. Keep these

coins separate from any other money, including your winnings. Play all

your start-up coins. Now tally up your winnings. If you have less coins

than you started with, go to a different machine, and using these coins

start over. If you have more than you started with, put your start-up

amount in your pocket. Then put an additional percentage in your pocket -

10 percent would be good, but whatever percentage you decide on, make the

decision before you begin playing and stick with it. Now whatever you have

left after pocketing that amount you use for your start-up coins and begin

again. Then in each additional round you will pocket half the winnings.

As you can see, if you come out ahead in the first round and stick to the

method, you will go home a winner. After the first round you will be

playing strictly on winnings. If you don't come out a winner on the first

round, you still have a chance to win and you will loose no more than the

amount you originally decided you could afford to loose. But you need to

be in control - this method will be of no help if you decide to change your

rules in the middle of the game.

Another way to play the slots for better winning odds is to form a slot

club with other players. Each person puts up a predetermined amount - make

sure it is an amount each of you can afford to contribute regularly. The

amounts put up should be the same for each player. Then you track the

progressive games - you should track them for a while BEFORE you make

attempts to win them. Keep records so you learn the characteristics of

each progressive game. From these records, your team decides at what point

each game is pregnant for a payoff. When the jackpot of a given

progressive reaches that predetermined point, a team made up of some or all

of the members takes the club bankroll and plays until they win or go

broke. The key to winning here is to gauge the payoff point.

Slots are not easy to beat and the odds are NEVER in your favor but by

putting yourself in control and using these techniques you will have a

better chance of beating the odds than you had before.

DECREASING HOUSE ADVANTAGE IN BLACKJACK-

Black Jack is another very popular casino game in which it is possible to

tip the odds VERY slightly in your favor, if you know what you are doing.

It takes a serious and determined player to master the strategies to

accomplish this, however. NEVER think that because you can tip the odds in

your favor that you will win all of the time. EVERYONE looses some of the

time so NEVER play with money you can't afford to loose.

Blackjack, as played in the world's casinos, has a number of variations -

certain rules that apply in one casino may not apply in another. You will

have to learn to adjust your game, if you travel from one casino to

another. Some of the variations highly favor the casino, so to keep the

odds favorable, you must avoid those variations and options that cut your

odds. I look for rules where the dealer stands on a soft 17 (Ace,6), I can

double down on any two cards or after splitting a pair and blackjack pays

3:2.

OK. Most of the Black Jack games you will find are multiple-deck games. A

single deck does give you slightly better odds. We will assume you are

playing in a multiple-deck game. With your new control, we will also assume

you are playing with a bankroll that you have determined you can afford to

loose. Now, you will need some real strategy to lower the odds against

you. What follows is the Basic Strategy Chart for Multideck Blackjack. Memorize

the chart or copy it and refer to it while you play.

DEALERS UP CARD	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	ACE
PLAYER'S CARDS
8	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H
9	H	D	D	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
10	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	H	H
11	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	H
12	H	H	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
13	S	S	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
14	S	S	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
15	S	S	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
16	S	S	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
17	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S
A,2	H	H	H	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
A,3	H	H	H	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
A,4	H	H	D	D