SLOW DOWN YOUR PLAY TO PROTECT YOUR BANKROLL
by Henry Tamburin
Most players know that the casino has the math on its side
when they gamble. So they focus on cutting the casino’s
edge to the bare minimum by learning correct playing and betting
strategies. That’s very important, but there is one lesser-known,
equally important variable that you need to pay attention
to—the speed of the game, or the number of decisions
per hour played.
Casinos want fast games where there are lots of hands dealt,
dice thrown and reels spun per hour, because every time you
make a bet, your money is being exposed to the house edge.
The faster you play, the more shots the casino has at your
bankroll. So it makes sense that if you slow down and reduce
your bets per hour, you can also reduce the exposure of your
money to the house edge. Consequently your bankroll will last
longer, and you will lose less money overall.
Most players compare the merits of one casino game to another
by only comparing the house edge. But that can be misleading.
For example, roulette and Caribbean stud have the same 5.3-percent
house edge, hence it would seem that a player would suffer
the same monetary loss regardless of which game he played.
Wrong. The Caribbean stud player would lose, on average, about
30 percent more money per hour of play, because the game plays
faster. At a typical crowded roulette table, a player will
experience about 30 spins or decisions per hour, whereas at
a crowded Caribbean stud table the number of decisions per
hour is about 40. If both players bet $10 per decision, the
roulette player stands to lose $16 per hour on average ($10
x 30 x 5.3%), whereas the Caribbean stud player stands to
lose $21 per hour, or $5 more. That’s a big difference
for every hour played.
Casinos understand that speed is in their favor, and therefore
usually do whatever possible to speed up their games. One
obvious way is to train their table dealers to deal lightning
fast. But they’ve also gone high tech to speed things
up in an unobtrusive manner. For example, it’s fairly
common nowadays to see blackjack dealers dealing the cards
from automatic continuous shuffling machines (known as CSMs).
With this device the discards are placed back into the CSM,
after every round or so, where they are randomly shuffled
with the four or five decks in the machine. Meanwhile the
dealer continues to deal the cards. That is, there is no need
for the dealer to pause the game in order to shuffle. Casinos
can pump out about 20 percent more hands dealt per hour using
a CSM compared to a hand-dealt game, or one that uses a standard
automatic shuffler. That 20 percent more hands per hour translates
to faster games in which players stand to lose more.
Slot players can play incredibly
fast since the invention of the bill acceptor and credit meter.
You no longer have to deposit coins one at a time into a machine
(a slow process). Instead you can quickly insert a bill into
the acceptor, and if you are like most slot players, start
pounding away on the credit and spin buttons to the tune of
1,000 or more spins per hour (yikes). The new coinless slots
eliminate hopper fills and lugging coin buckets to the cashier
(decreasing your downtime), which allows you to average even
more spins per hour.
I implore you to s-l-o-w down when you play, because speed
will kill your bankroll. But I’m a realist and know that
it’s hard for most casino players to do this. So to help,
I’ve prepared some tips.
Blackjack
Don’t play heads up or one-on-one against the dealer,
which makes your playing decisions in the blink of an eye.
Sit at crowded tables with six (or seven) spots filled instead,
and take your time making your playing decisions.
Don’t play on any table that uses a CSM. They are good
for the casino, but bad for you.
If you have a choice between a manually shuffled single-deck
game versus a six- or eight-deck game dealt from a dealing
shoe, opt for the former. This way, the dealer must stop and
shuffle more often (which slows down the game). However do
not play those single-deck 21 games that only pay 6-to-5 on
blackjacks. (This has nothing to do with speed; the lousy
payoff for a blackjack hand on this game makes it a rip-off.)
Craps
Use the “five-count” method explained by Frank Scoblete
in his craps books. This method determines which shooter to
bet on. When you use it, you won’t be betting on every
shooter (only 50 percent on average), which will slow down
your game, making your bankroll last longer.
Mini-Baccarat
Mini-baccarat is a fun and an easy game to play with a low
house edge. But it’s also a very fast game; it’s
not unheard of to have 150–200 hands dealt per hour of
play. Here’s a simple playing technique to slow down
your game and also help you take advantage of streaks that
may occur: Only bet on the bank hand after it wins. (This
will decrease the number of bets you make per hour by about
half.)
Games Based on Poker
Given a choice between playing Let It Ride, Three Card Poker,
Caribbean stud or pai gow poker, opt for the latter. It’s
a slow moving and deliberate game with frequent ties, which
results in a much slower game overall.
Slots
Here’s some helpful advice from the Frugal Princess (Angela
Sparks, co-author More Frugal Gambling) about slowing down
when you play the machines. Pull the handle rather than hit
the spin button. Cash out more frequently and feed coins rather
than using the bill acceptor or playing on credits. Change
machines frequently, and choose games with long bonusing rounds
(Scrabble, Word Jumble, Monopoly), since you aren’t risking
money while you watch and play the bonus game. If you’re
playing with a partner, take turns playing while he or she
watches.
If you’re a table player, here’s another inducement
to play slower—you will earn more comps for less risk.
But that’s a topic for another day. So until then, be
like that tortoise that beat the hare, and take it slow and
steady when you play.
Dr. Henry Tamburin is a casino gambling expert and teacher
of “smart gambling” to players everywhere. For details
on his two-day Golden Touch Blackjack course featuring “Speed
Count” call 866/WIN-BJ21. To order copies of his books
and tapes at a 30-percent discount, visit www.smartgaming.com.
To receive a free subscription to his Blackjack Insider Newsletter,
visit www.bjinsider.com. For
a free copy of his Casino Gambling catalog, call 888/353-3234.
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