Top 45 Casino Gaming Questions
Source : Frank Scoblete

This is the age of lists the top 100 movies of all time, the top 100 books of the 20th Century, the top 100 colleges for academic excellence or bargains or partying, and the top 100 women former President Bill Clinton scored with; plus all those weekly top 10 this list, and top 10 that list and top 10 those other things list. In the interests of keeping up with the list makers as well as the (Dow) Joneses, I decided to list the top 60 questions I am asked whenever I give talks about casino gambling. My list is in no particular order of importance, but these are the most-asked questions of yours truly and the answers that I give when I’m asked them. All value judgments are mine. So if I say this is the best thing, that is just my not-so-humble opinion. Of course, in my opinion my opinion is the correct opinion as today I assume my new identity as The Oracle at Odds Nostragamus! Ask and it shall be answered!1. Can a person really beat the casinos? Yes, a person can really beat the casinos if that person plays the right games the right ways. Unfortunately, most people won’t be that person who beats the casinos because most people play games that give the casino the edge. You can with expert play beat the following games: blackjack, video poker, and regular poker. Here I am saying that you can actually beat the math of the game and get the edge.2. How much of a [mathematical] edge can you get on these games? A good card counter at blackjack playing games with good penetration and good rules can get between a 0.5 percent and a 1.5 percent edge. I’d guess most card counters are playing with a one percent edge. Good single-deck players are probably closer to the 1.5 percent, while good shoe players are probably closer to the 0.5 percent. A lot of the percentage advantage that a card counter has depends on how much money he can get on the table when the game favors him. On select full-pay or more-than-full pay video poker machines you can probably play even with the house to realizing about a two percent edge on some machines. On regular poker, it is much harder to estimate an advantage but some people can and do make a living playing poker.3. What skills do you need to play poker? First, you have to realize that even though you are competing against other people, you not only have to overcome them but you have to overcome the house rake on the pots. Poker requires two skills: a killer instinct and a knowledge, whether intuitive or actual, of the probabilities inherent in the hand you’re working on. Most people can learn the latter information with study and practice, but very few have the goods in the killer-instinct department. Like a fighter who is technically perfect but just can’t “pull the trigger” in a real fight, most poker players just don’t have the full array of talents needed to be pros or even winning players.4. How hard is it to count cards at blackjack? Actually, it's like riding a bike. Remember when you couldn’t ride and you got on a two wheeler? How could anyone ever keep that thing from falling? But once you learned to do it, it was the simplest thing in the world. At first thought, counting cards seems extremely difficult, but then you do it and you discover that once you get the hang of it, it isn’t really all that hard. If you have average intelligence, you can do it, but that probably leaves out your brother-in-law.5. So counting cards is simple? Yes and no. If you are motivated to learn to do it, then you will learn it. If you aren’t motivated, you won’t want to put in the time and effort. But it is definitely not as hard as, say, graduating high school.6. How much time does it take to learn to count card at blackjack? Here are the steps you must take. First get a good blackjack book and learn basic strategy. It will probably take you a week or two of memorizing to get it down pat. This is the toughest part of the process. You will have to memorize what to do with every hand you get against every dealer upcard. Break it up over a couple to three weeks and you’ll master it. Then go to a casino and play for small stakes and when you are perfect in your decision-making, you can learn a count system. It will take you all of five minutes to learn the basics of counting. But it will take you weeks to do it proficiently enough to go into a casino and do it. Figure two months for the whole process.7. Is one basic strategy good for every type of blackjack game? Actually, there are different basic strategies for different games. The single-deck strategy is a little different from the multiple-deck strategy; the strategy for games where a dealer hits soft 17 (ace-6) is slightly different from a game where the dealer stands on soft 17, and on and on it goes. But you don’t have to go crazy memorizing six or seven different basic strategies. The differences in the strategies are not great enough to warrant panic. Memorize one and play it perfectly. After you learn to count and after you become proficient, then begin to incorporate the changes in basic strategy for the various types of games.8. Is there anything else? Yes. Once you become proficient and once you alter the basic strategy for the game you are playing then you will want to learn about 16 or so basic strategy changes based on the count. All of this is easy. Most good blackjack books will give you all the information you will need to become a winning player.9. What blackjack books would you recommend for a motivated beginner? Lacking even a shred of humility, I recommend my own book, Best Blackjack, and I also recommend Henry Tamburin's book, Blackjack: Take the Money and Run as good books to learn what you need to know to win at blackjack. Once you have learned to count, then I would also recommend that you read Ken Uston's, Stanford Wong's, and Arnold Snyder's books. There are many other good blackjack writers as well, such as Walter Thomason, Fred Renzey, Lance Humble, and Bryce Carlson. If you really get into blackjack, you will find that there is an enormous amount of literature on the game and that most of it spans a continuum from good to damn good with a few not-worth-reading books thrown in for bad measure. You can’t go wrong with the writers I’ve mentioned, however.10. Can the slot machines be beaten? Of course! If you buy the right Craftsman hammer and plant one or two whacks firmly on the frontage, you should be able to get the money. A good drill would help as well. This technique should only be used in casinos where the security guards are sluggish and, preferably, unarmed. This is a great strategy for people who don’t fear jail.11. Does it really matter which slot machines I play? Actually, it matters very much which machines you play. The fact that a machine can’t be beaten doesn’t mean there aren’t better or worse machines to play and better or worse ways to play them.12. Which machines should I play? You have to judge your temperament. If you want to go for the big score such as Megabucks and you don’t mind bucking odds of around 50 million to one, then be my guest. You will lose almost every time you go to a casino when you exclusively play those progressives because they are keeping anywhere from 10 to 15 percent of the money put in them.13. But someone wins the progressives, right? Yes, once in a while someone wins but look at how long the jackpot builds before it is hit. Sometimes over a year. Sometimes up to two years! If you want a chance to come home with some money tonight, I would recommend that you stick to “equal distribution” or “straight multiplier” machines such as Double Diamond. Then only play one coin because there is no added benefit to playing two coins. You have an excellent chance of winning some money on a given night that way. You also have an excellent chance of not losing all that much.14. Are there really “loose” and “tight” machines in a casino? Yes. There are also loose and tight people in a casino.15. Where are they? They are located in chapter six of my book Break the One-Armed Bandits! Okay! Okay! Here's a hint: Where would you put the best-paying machines in a casino if you owned the casino? Of course, you would put them in areas that would encourage other slot players to continue playing or to play at a faster pace. You would not put them in areas where people would get annoyed with hearing slot players yelling and screaming like around the table game area. Those machines are usually tight because astute slot managers realize that table-game players aren’t interested in hearing coins being pumped into slots and these same managers know that if the table-game player is going to dump a few coins in a machine, he or she isn’t expecting to win. So why give a table-game player a loose machine? Why give him anything? Keep those few coins for yourself. Anyway, no one knows where every loose or tight machine is in every casino [even the source I used for my book could only tell me definitively where they were in his/her casinos although he/she stated that the psychology of placement is basically the same for most casinos] but as a general rule of thumb, the areas where slot players will be encouraged to play will be loose, the areas where solitary players might put in a few coins before going here or there to do this or that will be tight.16. What is the dumbest thing you ever did in a casino? I played a Martingale at roulette when I first started playing. That's the double-up-after-you-lose system. It worked great for almost three days. On the third day I had to go to a huge bet to try to recoup my $5 initial wager. I almost had a heart attack.17. What is the most you ever won in one session? Just enough to keep me in writing.18. What is the most you ever lost in one session? Just enough to keep me in writing.19. What's the oldest gambling game? Marriage. After that it is probably rolling dem bones. I think “dice” of a type are about the oldest implements for divining luck and divining luck was the oldest form of gambling. In archeological digs, the ankle bones of ancient sheep have been found with all sorts of designs on them. Primitive people would roll those bones or throw them and ask the gods questions and depending on which symbols came up, that would be the answer to the question. By the way, some of those same primitive people can also be found at modern craps tables today.20. Is there a way to beat craps? The math is unassailable - craps can’t be beaten in the long run. But it is possible that the math is not the be-all and end-all of the game of craps. There is the real world where shooters get to roll them bones. The legendary Captain of craps believes, and I tend to believe, that some shooters are physically controlling the dice to slightly alter the nature of the game.21. What makes you believe that some people might be capable of physically altering the game of craps? First, it makes sense that such a thing might exist. It would also explain why the Captain's 5-Count has worked for him for some 20 years now. The Captain knows that if you bet on every shooter at craps you will lose because that house edge, even on the best bets, will grind you down. Most shooters seven-out rather quickly as anyone who has ever played craps for any extended period of time has experienced. But which shooters should you risk your money on? The 5-Count is the way to select the shooters to risk money on. I think the reason the Captain, myself, and the many people who have written to me to tell me of their success with the 5-Count have had that success partially due to the fact that some of the shooters we risk our money on are actually what the Captain calls “rhythmic rollers.” They are changing the math of the game by controlling the throw to a small extent. The 5-Count eliminates the bad shooters the ones you lose your money on and positions you to, hopefully, be there for the good shooters a small percentage of which are these rhythmic rollers.22. So you think the 5-Count guarantees that you will win at craps in the long run? No. Some people have written to me to tell me that while using the 5-Count has decreased their losses markedly (after all you are reducing your exposure to the house edge by using it), they are still behind after extended play. Of course, I have had blackjack card counters tell me the same thing they are still down after extended play even with a mathematical edge. But if you want to know what I believe, here it is: I would never ever play craps any other way than with the Captain's 5-Count, and making the smallest house-edge bets. I want the best chance to take home some money at craps tonight and a way to reduce my potential losses over time and keep my level of comps the same. The Captain's methods give me that.23. How can a player have a mathematical edge and still lose? Easy. Let's flip a coin. I am going to give you an approximately one percent edge over the casino the same kind of edge that most blackjack card counters might have. You get to call the flip. Every time you win, you will be paid one dollar and two cents. Every time you lose, you will give up one dollar. The math shows us plainly that you will theoretically win in the long run because flipping a coin is a 50-50 proposition and you’re getting paid more for a win than you are losing for a loss. So in 200 flips, you theoretically win 100 and lose 100 and come out ahead by 200 pennies or two dollars. Now, start flipping a real coin and start betting and keep track of it on paper. Do it right now and then come back and read the rest of this. Go ahead. Do it. Surprised aren’t you? Some of you went on a winning streak that made you a nice chunk of change but some of you started to lose and by the time you got tired of flipping that coin and keeping track of your wins and losses, you were down a pretty penny.24. But if I played long enough I would have to win, right? Yes, if you didn’t go broke first. We’re going to flip a coin again with the same stipulations as above. But this time, you have only four dollars to play with and your opponent has, oh, $10,000. Don’t bother going off and doing the experiment you are going to get wiped out even with your one percent edge. Why? Because your bankroll can’t sustain the fluctuations of probability inherent in a gambling game. That's a fancy way of saying you don’t have enough money to weather the bad streaks that will inevitably come your way. You have the edge but that edge is only mathematical. In the real world the guy with the $10,000 against your four dollars has the real edge.25. What is the best show you ever saw in Las Vegas? Dennis Rodman playing craps at the Mirage before he was kicked out.26. Can roulette be beaten? Yes, if you can find a wheel that is biased or a dealer that can hit your numbers on purpose (if such a thing exists) or if you can figure out a dealer's signature (if such a thing exists) or if you can predict where the ball will fall either because you are psychic (if such a thing exists) or because you can follow the ball with your eyes without your head spinning and your stomach churning. Otherwise, bet the lowest amount that still gives you the thrill you’re looking for but do not bet a penny more.27. What are your favorite restaurants in Las Vegas and Atlantic City? In Vegas, it's Al Dente at Bally's; Antonio's at Rio, and The Garden of the Dragon at the Hilton. When writers discuss Chinese food in Vegas, The Garden of the Dragon is always overlooked. It is a terrific place. In Atlantic City, it's Peregrines at Hilton, Casa di Napoli at Showboat, and Regent Court at Tropicana. In either city, just about every casino gourmet room is great, so all the gourmet rooms I didn’t mention are worthy of consideration.28. What is the longest dice roll in history? No one has an official record book but several stories have circulated about an Hawaiian who had a three-and-one-half hour roll at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.29. What is the longest roll you ever witnessed personally? I saw the "Arm" in Atlantic City roll for about an hour. I’ve been in on my share of 30 to 45 minute rolls as well, one as recently as the summer of 1998 that I wrote about in my magazine The New Chance and Circumstance. Of course, it is not always the duration of the roll but the quality of the roll that dictates whether it is good for you. If the shooter is hitting your numbers, you will make money; if he isn’t, it's as if the roll never happened.30. Who is the biggest gambler in the world? The mantle of the biggest whale (“whale” is casinoese for mucho high roller) must belong to Australian billionaire Kerry Packer who has been known to bet a quarter of a million dollars on one round of blackjack or baccarat. Rumor has it that he has won and lost upwards of 20 to 40 million dollars in a single casino stay. He is also rumored to be a generous tipper and the best rumor of all is that he once gave a dealer he liked a house for a tip! These are the types of gaming rumors even I enjoy spreading.31. What are your favorite games? Craps for excitement. Blackjack for sustained money-making play.32. What are your least favorite games? Any game that gives the casino a huge edge over the player is out. So the Big Wheel and Sic Bo are out. I also don’t enjoy playing Caribbean Stud too many frustrating hands and a pretty high house edge to boot. I am also not a video poker lover even though some of the best games in the casino are in video poker. I spend a tremendous amount of time in front of my computer screen so that when I go to a casino I want to play games where I get to see people in action with me. Also video poker has many more losing sessions than winning sessions even when you have the edge because you have to hit your share of four-of-a-kinds and royal flushes to get into the black.33. Which games make the most money for the casinos? The most overall money is made from slots, followed by blackjack, with craps and roulette right behind. More people play those games than any others. However, there is another way to figure what the casinos make and that is on a per game per $100 bet ratio. This is called the win rate. Here are the most recent real-world win rates for the various games in both Atlantic City and Las Vegas. My guess is that other gambling jurisdictions such as Mississippi and Illinois are probably consistent with these results as well. However, these jurisdictions do not release their figures based on individual games. You can check the Casino Player slot charts for the returns on the machines. The percent means that for every $100 bet, the casino kept that percentage. Remember that the casino win rate is really the player loss rate! Hold your breath.Atlantic City Las Vegas
Blackjack 12.4% 14.2%
Craps 14.5% 14.1%
Baccarat 12.5% 14.4%
Let It Ride 16.3% 20.2%
Big Wheel n/a 45.2%
Mini-Baccarat 13.8% 15.6%
Pai Gow Poker 21.9% 21.9%
Roulette 25% 22.6%
Keno 26.7% 27.8%
Caribbean Stud 21.1% 25%
34. I thought Las Vegas had better games than Atlantic City but it seems that Vegas players are losing more? It does and they are. You can find single and double-deck games in blackjack, 100X odds at craps, and the best of a variety of video poker machines in Las Vegas. It's heaven on earth for a good gambler. So why are the Vegas figures in this survey showing that Vegas players are hitting the deck at a greater rate in many of the games? Some of it can be attributed to the normal fluctuations that occur in gaming. When you look at long-range figures, you’ll note that the casino win rates do fluctuate up and down from month to month. Some of it can also be attributed to the fact that many people who come to Vegas are first timers or just vacationers who really aren’t schooled in the games. My own experience is that more Atlantic City blackjack players play basic strategy than their Vegas counterparts. Even in the eight-deck monstrosities of Atlantic City, a basic strategy player is facing a little more than a half percent house edge. But look at those figures carefully and realize just how much money people lose to the casinos money that they don’t have to lose if they played the best strategies for the games of their choice. A sizeable percentage of those loss percentages is due to poor play!35. What's the best buffet in Vegas? Just about every major casino-hotel has a great buffet. I like the buffets at the Golden Nugget, Caesars and Rio, but I haven’t tried every buffet in Vegas because I’m fat enough as it is.36. What's the best buffet in Atlantic City? I’ve never eaten at an Atlantic City buffet.37. Is there such a thing as luck? Yes. There's good luck and bad luck. Good luck is defined as you winning. Bad luck is defined as you losing. Mathematicians don’t believe in good or bad luck but simply call all events, streaks, circumstances (and so on) that are involved with chance “fluctuations in probability.”38. How much money should you bring to a casino? Always bring enough money to last you for the amount of time you want to play. As a rule of thumb for every session of blackjack have at least 40 times your bet. If you are a five-dollar bettor then have $200. For craps, always have 10 times your bet spread. If you are up on three numbers at the height of your betting, then have 10 times the amount of the three combined wagers. In roulette and all other games, use the blackjack formula. Bring enough money to play all the sessions you plan to play. So the five-dollar bettor in blackjack who wants to play six sessions in two days should bring $1,200. Never use a win or any leftover money from one session in another session. Put it away. This will almost guarantee that you will go home with some money. Nothing feels worse than getting wiped out.39. What about hedging bets at craps? Like betting an Any Seven on the come-out to protect against the seven showing? Not a good idea. Every bet can and must be figured independently. You will lose more money if you bet Any Seven on every come-out roll than you will save by attempting to protect your pass line bet on the come-out.40. Who are your favorite gaming authors? I like just about all gaming writers even the ones whose ideas I might disagree with. My criteria for selecting my favorite writers is simply the sheer enjoyment I get from reading their books and the insights they give me. My all-time favorites, in no particular order, are: Ken Uston, Henry Tamburin, Walter Thomason, Edwin Silberstang, Anthony Curtis, Lyle Stuart, Barney Vinson, Arnold Snyder, John Grochowski, Marvin Karlins, Russell Barnhart, John Gollehon, Bryce Carlson, Max Rubin, Sam Grafstein, Stanford Wong, Jean Scott and Darwin Ortiz.41. What are the three most important books ever written about casino gambling? There were probably books written by mathematicians such as Pascal that did all the ground-breaking work in probability that allow us to analyze the underpinnings of today's casino games. However, in the post World War II era, the following three books are my choices for the all-time most important. Beat the Dealer by Edward O. Thorp, which was the first book about card counting. Although the method advocated by Thorp in his book is now outdated, the book was the battering ram that broke down the doors to the casino treasuries. It was also an enjoyable read. The Casino Gambler's Guide by Allan N. Wilson was the first rational analysis of modern casino games and their mathematical underpinnings that the non-mathematician could understand. Again it was a fun book to read as well. And Ken Uston's The Big Player, which gave playing blackjack a romanticism and lore that inspires many blackjack players to this day. Uston was the Zorro of blackjack!42. How important are comps? They are not important at all and they are very important. If you can con the casinos into giving you more comps then your play deserves then you are getting value for your time. If you merely get the comps that are commensurate with your play then you are just getting what everyone else would get, which is also just fine take what they give you. Always hand in your player's card to get what the casinos are giving but never give the casinos more than what you can afford to give in order to get a comp. Some people equate getting comped with their self-worth as in “The casinos gave me a free room, a free gourmet meal, free show tickets and all the hosts called me ‘sir!’ and I only had to bet $200 per hand for four hours to get it.” That's silly, stupid, and costly if you can’t truly afford to bet $200 per hand. Play at the level that gives you the manageable thrill you are looking for but not for one penny more. The comps will come and they have absolutely nothing to do with your self-worth. Casino personnel would call the devil himself “sir!” if he bet big enough. Their job is, after all, making us feel good about losing our money.43. Is the Captain a real person or are you the Captain? Yes, the Captain is a real person. No, I am not the Captain .. but I am real, too.44. What is the average number of craps rolls before a shooter sevens out? About 3.5 rolls.45. What games have some of the highest win percentages for the players? If you lay against the four or 10 in craps, you have 66 percent win ratio while laying the five or nine has a 60 percent win rate. Of course, you have to put up more money than the bet is worth, so you will still lose even with this win rate. In baccarat, the bank wins about 50.5 percent of the time if you exclude ties. So you will actually win more than half your bets if you play this proposition exclusively at baccarat. That's why the casino takes a commission from the winning bets. The pass line at craps has a 49.3 percent player win ratio. Blackjack has around a 48 percent win rate if we exclude ties. The even-money bets at roulette (red/black, odd/even, high/low) have a 47.4 percent player win ratio.

Getting Comfortable Before You Play
(Source : www.gamemasteronline.com)

There are some steps you can take to make yourself more comfortable with the idea of Internet gaming. Please follow this list carefully: 1. Is it legal to participate? First and foremost, find out if it's legal for you to gamble on the Internet from your location. A few states in the United States have rules against Internet gambling and I want it clearly understood that I am writing this ONLY for people who can legally participate. No, I don't have a list of states and/or countries where this is legal so you'll need to find that out on your own and that's the way it should be. By doing the research yourself, you can also find out what, if any, support you can expect from your local government agencies should you become a victim of fraud or cheating.2. What is the software behind the casino? Many on-line casinos are 'turn-key' operations which are sold to operators, independent or otherwise, by companies which provide the consumer interfaces (the 'casino' which comes up on the screen), the games (selected by the operator from a long list), e-commerce functions and technical support. There are four primary companies providing these services: Microgaming of South Africa, Starnet's Softec Systems from Vancouver, British Columbia, CryptoLogic of Toronto, Canada and Boss Media which is based in Sweden. There are others, but these four have most of the market and their value to the player is that these companies usually do not let the individual operators have access to the logic systems of the games. In addition, these 4 companies have each established something of a 'network' of casinos and it's reasonable to assume that they will want to protect their reputations as responsible companies. No company has done more , to the best of my knowledge, to promote the Internet as a safe place to gamble than Microgaming. Some of their casinos have advertised on my web site for a long time and I have never received word from any of our readers of an unresolved complaint about a Microgaming casino. There are no guarantees here, but knowing who has provided the software for the casino of your choice may raise your confidence. 3. What games are available? All the better online casinos have a support page at their website. They'll list the ways that you can reach them. Almost everybody offers an email address that you can mail to for assistance. Is that good enough? Not for my money it isn't. I want service numbers I can call, hopefully 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. And toll-free too, please and thank you. Better yet, give me two toll free numbers, just in case. Can you assume that your casino provides this? Certainly not! Go look, check the details. Hell, I'd even call the toll free number just to make sure it's not an answering machine that's got so many messages on it that it can't accept yours. Sound outlandish? Not a chance! Been there, seen that. It's your money, so you decide how much this matters.Licensing Etc There are some general rules you should check A. Roulette - Does the game have one or two zeros? A single-zero game has a house edge of 2.70%, whereas a game with two zeros has an edge of 5.26%. I haven't yet seen an on-line casino with the 'en prison' rule, but that, combined with a single zero, reduces the house edge to 1.35% on the even-money bets.B. Craps - Are multiple free odds available? Do you understand the concept of the free odds bet? Not that you should ever bet the field, but there are some layouts which pay more for that than others.C. Video Poker - What are the payout schedules for the games? Few, if any, on-line casinos are going to offer 100+% payback games, but there are a lot which are in the 99.5% payback range, if you bet the maximum. (In most games, if you don't bet the max., you're giving the house more of an edge.) You should obviously play games with the highest possible payback. Also, most on-line casinos offer the 'double up' bet which carries with it no house edge. But I recommend you not use it, because if you're skeptical, you're going to thing it's rigged, even though it may not be and why put the extra pressure on yourself?D. Baccarat - Check the rules of the game to see that they are following the industry standard; don't take it for granted! Also check to see what 'commission' is charged on the winning Banker bet; it should be no more than 5%. E. Slots - Remember that a slot machine can be set to return virtually any percentage and that each state in the U.S. has minimums which the 'real' casinos must pay back on the slots. I'm not aware of any such minimums for Internet casinos. Therefore, my specific advice is to avoid ALL slot machines. Look at it this way, you're currently on a computer hooked into the Internet, because you're reading this. That means you're smart. Smart people can learn Video Poker or Blackjack or Pai-Gow or Baccarat, so why would you want to play a slot? F. Blackjack - The thing to remember about Blackjack is that, in most cases, card-counting won't work because the deck(s) are shuffled after every hand. But, a single-deck game has a lower house edge than a multi-deck game and the various options for the player, like doubling on any first two cards, surrender, etc. have a value. The object here is to play at a game which has the lowest house edge. Another thing to check is that in a lot of the Internet casinos, the dealer does not take a 'hole' card and should you double, say an 11 against a dealer's 10, and the dealer then pulls an Ace, you'll lose both bets. That rule requires a change in the Basic Strategy of the game and it gives the casino an additional .1% edge.G. Caribbean Stud - Most on-line casinos don't offer the $1 side bet for a progressive jackpot and I've seen weird pay schedules on some of the games. Before you play, see if the pay schedule is 'standard' and then try to talk yourself out of playing; the average edge for the casino is about 2.7%.H. Pai-Gow Poker - At on-line casinos, the dealer is always the Banker and, much like Baccarat, the Banker has a natural edge in this game. Combined with a 5% 'commission' on a winning bet, the casino has an overall edge of about 3% against a skillful player. You can imagine what the edge is against a player who doesn't know what s/he's doing.I. Keno - A lot of the cyber-casinos have changed the pay schedule for various 'picks' in that they pay something out at the low end, but have reduced the payoff on the high end. For example, at most 'real' electronic keno games, a hit of 1 out of 4 pays nothing, but it might pay a half-bet at a cyber-casino. That's good, but the 'jackpot' for 4 out of 4 has been reduced, so the overall payout may be lower, though your $$$ will last longer.4.What is the minimum bet? Of the casinos I've visited up to this point, it appears that the minimum 'coin' size is 50 cents and, for video poker, that's expensive! To realize the maximum return at most games, you'll have to bet $2.50 a pop. I'm going to keep looking for quarter games. A point to remember: make sure you check on the coin size you've chosen for each game; you'll find that at the top, usually marked, "options". You don't want to mistakenly play a hand of $25 Video Poker. 5. Does the casino have a 'slot' club? Yes, they exist in Cyberspace, though the best cash-back I've found so far is .1%. But you should sign up for it, no matter how low the return is.6. Can you play for free? What I mean by this is, does the casino have a 'play' money mode? Don't ever, ever, ever risk real $$$ at an on-line casino without trying it for a while in the 'play' mode. That's when you'll discover any oddities about the games and will get a chance to see if you enjoy playing there. With all the choices a cyber-gambler has, you should only play where the conditions are exactly right. That means you have to like the graphics, the choices of the games, the rules, the minimum bets, etc. before committing one red cent. 7. Is the casino licensed? I realize that a piece of paper from some banana republic that you've never heard of is scant comfort, but there are some jurisdictions that are taking the licensing of on-line casinos fairly seriously. Australia is VERY serious about it (and yes, I know it's not a banana republic) and a few others seem to be on the right track. The point I want to make here is that some on-line casinos are licensed, but most are not. If an operator will go to the trouble and expense of getting licensed, it will almost undoubtedly state that on their home page and it MIGHT mean you have some recourse in getting your $$$ back should they fold up their tent and steal away in the night.The Disadvantages of On-Line Gaming Beside the obvious ("Will I ever see my money again?"), the on-line casino raises to new heights the test of discipline which any casino imposes. Are you with me on this? Casinos aren't so much a test of your skill or luck (though both do have their impact), but more a test of your self-discipline. The drinks are free or inexpensive, there are no clocks, and few casinos allow you to bet with currency; it's all converted to tokens or chips. Those all contribute to the 'carefree' feeling that the casinos want you to adopt when you go in there. These factors are not a problem at an on-line casino, but consider this: at most 'real' casinos, you have to take $$$ out of your pocket and either change it into tokens or chips, or at least put it into a machine. At an on-line casino, you never see any $$$; you input your credit card info and then just point and click. Money under those circumstances becomes almost abstract and that can really work against you. Some casinos impose a daily or weekly limit on credit card purchases and some allow you to set a limit for yourself. I strongly urge you to set such limits, even if you're Mr. Gates himself.The other 'disciplinary problem' is impatience and the scenario usually goes something like this: You've been playing dollar Jacks or Better Video Poker for a few hours, haven't seen a Four-of-a-Kind even once, are down $250 and figure that a 4K is 'due', so you switch to playing a $5 game, figuring that just a Full House or two (let alone a 4K!) will get you even. Whoa, pardner! Remember that a Video Poker game is just a mouse click away, so take some time off and go after your $$$ when you're rested and your head is clear. It's difficult to win when you're 'steaming'.The Advantages of On-Line Gaming I've always been in love with the idea of playing Blackjack in my shorts..well, not IN my shorts, but while I'm in my shorts.. you know what I mean. Now I can do that. Secondly, have you ever ordered a glass of 'house' red at your local, friendly casino? Barely drinkable, right? Now I can play Video Poker whilst contemplating a lovely '82 Chateau Cos d'Estournel and a bit of good Asiago cheese! Take it easy on the booze when you're gambling, dear reader, but if you hate the fact that almost every gambler smokes, ta da! No smoking at your place, I'll bet. Also no travel expenses, no begging for a dinner comp, no....well, you get the idea. Sure, going to Vegas is fun and there's a lot to do there which you can't do on your computer, but there's one other very important thing you may not do in Vegas which you can do at home on your computer.Did you know that it's illegal to use an electronic device to help you play a game in a Las Vegas casino? But it's not illegal to do that at home. When I'm playing Video Poker on the 'Net, I have my VP software open so if I get a hand that I'm not absolutely certain about how to play, I just check it out, then I play the hand. This ability mostly applies to Video Poker, Blackjack and Pai-Gow Poker, though there might be other games out there for which this option applies. But think of it: perfect strategy decisions! No more guessing, no more, "I think that's the right play." At home you can play any game perfectly.A Few More Tips 1. Logging on to most Internet casinos does not require the use of your web browser, like Netscape Navigator or Internet Explorer and I recommend you keep them, as well as your e-mail program, off while you're playing at an on-line casino. That's because those other programs may tie up your connection at times (like when Eudora checks for mail) and you may freak out if cards are being flipped over at that moment. Because a signal is coming down your line from the casino, a delay can occur and you might think you're the victim of 'cheating' when you're not.2. If you're nervous about giving out your credit card info over the 'Net, most casinos will accept checks, money orders, etc. by snail-mail, but an even better idea is to contact your bank and ask them to issue you a new Mastercard or Visa with a small credit limit, say $500 or so. Jerks who want to steal credit card numbers go after big credit limits and, if you have a balance on yours most of the time, it's not a tempting target.