PLAYER STRATEGY by
FRANK SCOBLETE
Frank Scoblete is America’s #1 best-selling gaming author. He is holding his “Frank Scoblete’s World Casino Championships” in Las Vegas on August 14, 15 and 16. This event consists of tournaments, classes, parties and an awards banquet! Call 1-800-944-0406 for a free brochure. Frank also has his own Sports Service with his partner Dominator and best-selling author Bill Burton: “Dominator’s Golden Touch Sports Service.” Call 1-866-738-3423 for more information.
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CRAPS: Dear Frank Dear Frank:
Dear Frank:
I recently played at a casino in Joliet, Illinois and won a few dollars which is always a nice thing. When I colored up I asked the boxman (as usual) what my average play was so I could determine what comps I was entitled to. He added the odds bet into my average which was a good thing. My question is: Do some casinos in the country count the odds in their average bet calculations? I know the Vegas and Atlantic City casinos do not count the odds in their averages. Why are the policies so different in this regard? Counting the odds really helps players in terms of the comps they get, correct? Why wouldn’t the casinos want to help us out?
Help me out on this. I was at a table where the casino paid $10 for $1 bet on the Hard 6. Isn’t that a better return than the usual $9 to $1? My friend says it is a trick by the casinos. So where is the trick? I don’t see a trick.
Thank you, Alan Dear Alan: I hate to bust your bubble on this “counting odds” for comps thing. Yes, the casino says it is counting odds but in truth what the casino usually does is reduce the percentage of each bet to what it is worth when “counting odds” for comping purposes. The smaller Pass Line (or Come) bet is rated with a higher house edge than the larger bet that includes the counting of the odds in the formula. H e r e ’s h o w it g e n e r a l l y w o r k s: In a casino that does not count odds, a $10 Pass Line bet is counted as a 1.5% house edge and your comps are based on this percentage. The casino will give back between 30 and 50% of your expected loss on that $10 Pass Line or Come bet. Now in casinos that say they count odds, that $10 bet has $20 in odds behind it (using double odds as our reference). Instead of counting the bet as 1.5% against the $10 Pass Line or Come bet only, they count the odds but reduce the house edge to 0.5 percent and give back 30 to 50% of this reduced percentage. You can see where this is going. In short, you get the same back in comps. Your rating is indeed higher but the return is much less. Now for this answer I just guessed at the reduction in the percentage on odds bets. It will come out the same as 1.5 on non-odds bets. The 1.5% is what the casinos use for Pass and Come bets, not usually the 1.41% house edge these bets actually have. But you get the idea. Casinos are clever. They can give and take with the same hand.
Yours truly, Thomas Dear Thomas: This is a mistake a lot of casino players make because they don’t know the difference between the words “for” and “to” when it comes to payouts on various casino bets. When the casino says it is paying $10 for $1 on the Hard 6, it counts the original bet in its payback. That is what the “for” means. So you get a $9 win and the return of your $1 bet. That equals $10, but the win is only $9. The wording does make it seem as if you are getting more when, in fact, you are getting less. Now when the casino says it pays $9 to $1 on the Hard 6, the initial $1 bet is not counted. So you win $9. So both of these ways of explaining the bet and its payoff are actually the same exact things. But gamblers think the payout on one, the “for” one, is greater than the payment on the other one, the “to” one. Not so, as you see. For and to equal the same thing. Most slot machines use the “for” formulation when they state their payouts, counting the initial bet as a part of the equation. Slot players know this…I think. Got a gambling question? Email us at editor@gaminganddestinations.com
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