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Gaming School
If you are going to Las Vegas
the odds are you will end up gambling. The following is a quick guide
covering the basics of the various table games you will expect to see in
the Casinos of Las Vegas. If you are in need of further tutelage you can
also enquire about free gaming lessons at your chosen Hotel Casino as most
provide this service for their customers.
Blackjack
Blackjack is one of the most
popular table games on the casino
floor as it is easy to play
and allows players to participate when
the hit cards are dealt or
stuck on. Bets are placed first, then 2
cards are dealt to each player
(open) and
to the dealer (one card open,
one closed). Then based on
your hand, you can either stick or take
a card. The idea is to beat
the dealer by getting closer to 21 without
going over this amount, using
the added value of your cards (Aces
can be High or Low). Players
who do not bust, wait for the dealer's
turn. When all the players
are finished, the dealer turns up the down
card. By rule, on counts of
17 or higher, the dealer must stay.
On counts of 16 or lower the
dealer must draw.
If you make a total
of 21 with the
first two cards (a 10, or a face and an Ace), you win
automatically. This
is called 'Blackjack'. If you have Blackjack,
you will win one
and a half times your bet, unless the dealer also
has Blackjack. In
this case it is a Push or a Tie (or a Stand-off)
and you get your
bet back. The remaining players with a higher count
than the dealer win
an amount equal to their bet. Players with a lower
count than the
dealer lose their bet. If the dealer busts, all the
remaining players
win. There are other betting options, namely Insurance,
Surrender, Double
Down, Even Money and Split.
Roulette
Roulette is a very simple
game to play. Although the odds are
more heavily in the casinos
favour, this game continues to grow
more popular in America.
Originally from Europe, Roulette consists
of betting on a gaming
board numbered 1 - 36 plus a single 0
and double 00 option.
(European roulette has only one 0). These
numbers correspond to the
Roulette wheel. The player can bet
chips on a single number, any
of a dozen numbers, corner of
four numbers, a column of
numbers, odd or even numbers or red
or black. After all bets are
placed the dealer spins the wheel and
adds a small metal ball
spinning it in the opposite direction. When
the ball drops into one of
the slots the people who bet on that result
collect at odds of up to 35-1
on a single number bet!
Baccarat
This favoured game for high
rollers could not be simpler.
All you have to do is bet on
one of three outcomes; 1: That the
player will win the hand, 2:
That the Bank will win the hand or
3:That there will be a tie.
Based on a very simple idea you actually
play against the casino, not
the other players at the table. Each player
and the bank are dealt two
cards. The aim is to get to a total of
either eight or nine. The
value of the cards being ace to 9 = face value,
tens and face cards = zero. If
the two cards add up to more than ten,
only the second digit is
counted. i.e. if your hand is an 8 and a 6, the
total is 14, but your hand is
worth 4 when you remove the first digit.
You may then ask the dealer
for another card. Due to the relatively
low edge for the house the
casino puts a commission charge on
each winning Bank hand.
Slots
The sound that most people
are met with when entering a Las Vegas
casino is the
mechanical chiming of hundreds of slot machines.
These machines now take up
more floor space in casinos than ever
before and offer customers a
massive choice of game type at all
levels of play, from 1 cent
to $25 dollars a go. If you are new to gaming
or casinos, slots offer an
easy introduction to betting. They can even
prepare you for table games
due to games like Blackjack & Poker
being available as
interactive slots!. Progressive slots also give punters
a chance to win joint
jackpots fed from more than one set of themed
machines in more than one
casino. Progressive slots like Megabucks
often have jackpots of over
$10million that can be won with one pull
of the handle!
***Be
warned, certain slot machines need certain amounts wagered to win the
larger jackpots
available!!! Always read the specific rules for each machine or you could
end up
winning $200 instead of $200,000 on the same spin of the wheel!!!
Craps
Craps is a little harder to
learn than other casino games ,
but don't let that put you off
because once you learn the
basics it becomes a very
enjoyable way to gamble. If you
hear shouting and cheering in
a casino it is usually coming
from a craps table when a
players hit a hot streak!
To start the game, the
"Shooter" (the person throwing the
dice), picks two dice and
rolls them across the table so that
they hit the wall at the
other end. If he rolls a 7 or 11 he
wins whatever he bets on the
"Pass Line". If he throws a 2,3
or 12 he has rolled a "craps"
and loses his "Pass Line" bet.
If he rolls a 4, 5, 6, 8, 9
or 10 that becomes the "Point" and
he must roll that number
again before he rolls a 7.
Craps is definitely a
casino game where you would benefit
from the free lessons most
of the casinos provide.
Poker
To say poker is popular is an
understatement! It has literally exploded in the
last five years. So much so
that most people now know how to play its most
popular version, Texas
Hold'em. Within the type, there are Limit and No Limit
versions. In both versions
there is a dealer button that moves around the
table after each hand. Moving
around in front of the dealer button is a Small
Blind & Large Blind button,
bets that are compulsory. Everybody is dealt two
cards face down. These cards
then determine if your hand has potential and
whether you wish to continue
by matching the last bet made on the table.
You can fold if not. Once all
bets are in, the dealer places the next three cards
face up (the Flop). The
players can now make a 5 card hand from their
own two cards and the three
communal cards. There is another round of
betting then a fourth
communal card is dealt (the Turn). There is another round of betting, then
a final communal card is dealt, (the River). There is one more round of
betting, then once all bets are accounted for the dealer will call for the
showing of each
players hand. Highest hand
wins.
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Vegas