As a gambler, you quickly learn that your craft is much broader than the statistical analyses and methodology used to play casino games. A sizeable chunk of your actions at the casino is based upon your emotions and your personality type. There are many different groups of players, some more wild and reckless, and they tend to play with abandon.
Others are more cautious, structured, and disciplined. Astute players tend to focus on things like house edge (100% - RTP) and how the casino secures that percentage for itself. Players who focus on this type of number-crunching and analysis are the intellectual scholars of casino games.
The question remains: How do they play all of the casino games they enjoy? Does in-depth knowledge automatically translate into compelling gameplay? If you know something, does that mean you will execute that knowledge to great effect? Then there is another issue to consider – the disconnect between emotional intelligence and intellectual intelligence. Where is the overlap? What happens when you challenge lady luck at the roulette tables?
The trick to playing better with casino games is balance. It's important to focus on your mental and emotional energy. Discipline, tactics and strategies can help you to stay balanced without going off-kilter. Emotional discipline centres you and allows you to make those intellectual decisions that you know are in your best interest. Never chase your losses when you're on a losing streak, maintain focus at all times, and know when to walk away.
When these factors merge, you can become an outstanding casino game player.
Over the Long-Term the Casino Always Wins
If you have yet to see the movie Casino by Martin Scorsese, watch it. There's a particularly interesting scene where Lefty Rosenthal talks about how much time players spend in the casino. To paraphrase, he explained that the longer a player plays in the casino, the better off the casino will be. It's not just hearsay; it’s a fact.
Casinos have an inherent house edge, and it is the house edge that chips away at your bankroll over time. The house edge impacts every casino player. To prove it, look at the RTP of any casino game – it's always less than 100%. That means over the long term; you can expect to win back less than what you bet at the casino.
You can manage your time more effectively now that you know this, and casinos know this. Remember: Over the short term; you can beat the casino in any game. It's the long-term averages that work against you. Casinos will always try to maximize the time you spend playing because they generally win it back and then some. Casinos want players to stay engaged for at least four hours during any gaming session.
*Be advised: If you are a high roller par excellence, casinos tend to be more flexible concerning the time-played category. For example, a casino player who throws down C$1000 bets is much more desirable for an hour of play than a casino player who bets C$10 and plays for four hours. The casinos know the math but also recognize that there is much greater volatility (big wins or losses) with high-rollers than with casual players.
Introducing the Action Player
Listen closely to the banter at the casino tables. You might catch some players talking about how they love the action of casino games. It's the hustle and bustle of betting their money, the ritz and glitz unfolding in real-time. For these players, the definition of action is more about their emotional state and less focused on mathematics, statistics, and probability analysis.
Casinos also define action players. However, the definition of an action player differs from how these players define themselves. Casinos prefer players to place the worst bets (most house-friendly bets) for the longest time possible. Since this conversation is all about roulette, let's refocus on specific types of roulette bets.
American Roulette is a fun game, but it's got the highest house edge of all the roulette games. If you continuously place a five-number bet on 0-00-1, 2, 3, the casino will love you. Seriously they love you to place that bet over and over again. Now, if you decide to spread your bets across more numbers, the casino will love you even more. That's because there isn't a better way for the casino to generate more profits in this game. It's all in the bottom line – the ROI.
You see, it's a simple matter of probability analysis. While we can joke about how much the casinos love these reckless or emotionally based players, there is truth to it. The mathematics of these bets is always favourable to the house.
When you place bets recklessly (emotionally) without due diligence or regard for your bankroll, you become a veritable ATM to the casino. They will treat you like royalty, upgrade your rooms, offer you tickets to shows, fly you in at your convenience, et cetera. Why? Because you're a cash cow to them.
Better players are different from the moneymakers that casinos need or want. But there is a caveat; casinos will ultimately undo even the best players if they spend too much time playing in the casino. So, again, recall the long-term returns for the house.
Let's turn our attention to those roulette players who place minimum bets at the table. Let's assume that their preference is outside bets on even-money selections. You know the bets well – odd or even, red or black, 1-18, 19-36, et cetera. Bets on these selections tend to pay more frequently to players and yield less ROI for the house. These types of roulette players are certainly not the favourites of the scribes n the casinos’ underground vaults..
These types of players aren't action players. The casino wants action players – and everyone – to play for as long as possible. However, they don't yearn for the patronage of the smaller, skilled players over the action players.
For a casino boss, there is nothing better than a player who places bad bets for an extended period. If that's your style of play, you are a goldmine to the casino.
Sky High Value with Action Players
There is a rudimentary formula for determining how much a casino player is worth. Let's take a look:
* The casino game you're playing
* The number of decisions made per hour
* The percentage house edge in the game
* The amount of money you're betting
* The duration of your engagement at the casino
Let's turn our attention to the roulette wheel as a case in point.
Player A places an inside bet on a single number for C$10. We know that the house edge on American Roulette is 5.26%. That means the RTP is 100% -5.26% = 94.74%. This player might play for one hour with 50 decisions per hour. If the action amounts to C$500, with the resultant house edge of 5.26%, that player should yield a profit of C$26.30 for the casino or the equivalent loss for the player.
Now let's go back to our four-hour ideal betting timeframe. C$26.30 X 4 = C$105.20.
Remember the high rollers from earlier on? Well, these folks throw down 'Big Dollar' on the tables. We're talking hundreds or thousands of dollars per spin. If a high-roller is placing a bet of C$100 for every spin on inside numbers (0, 00, 1-36), the expected losses over one hour are C$263. Over four hours, that figure grows to C$1052.
See the difference? That's why managers at the casino will always pamper high-rollers and try to keep them playing for as long as possible. On the other hand, most roulette players, at least a lot, typically bet on multiple inside numbers.
As a casual player placing C$10 bets on inside numbers, you may find yourself with wagers on six, seven, eight, or nine individual numbers on any given spin. Other players might start piling up smokestacks of chips on winning numbers and keep betting on them.
The casino management carefully eyes the action at the tables. They see sky-high value with action players because they calculate, according to the formula, what your value is to the casino. If you bet on many numbers, the total of all those bets is filtered through the formula to calculate your net worth for the casino.
Therefore, if you are a player who bets C$10 on multiple bets at any given time, you become the equivalent of a small high roller. It's not a stretch of the imagination to see how C$10 wagered on multiple bet selections is the equivalent of a C$100 high roller bet on a single selection on any roulette spin.
*Please Note: Although I have simplified the player rating process, it isn't a perfect science. My calculations use a rating theory rather than a bricks-and-mortar rating reality. As a result, it's difficult to determine what a player is worth to the casino based on their betting decisions. For the most part, casino raters use educated guesses to determine a player's worth to the casino. This is important based on how much they are betting at any given time.
These rating professionals may write their best guess estimates for this player and that player, but it's not based on every decision. The roulette table has multiple bet selections, making it an array of options. Nowadays, casino raters sometimes enter the numbers directly into the computer program, avoiding writing them down entirely. Then, it's up to computers to determine each player's net value to the casino.
Mathematics vs Emotions: What's Real vs what you Feel?
Whether we like it or not, emotions are a big part of gambling activity. We can't avoid the house edge in any casino game – that's an inescapable fact of life. It's built into the constructs of the casino. However, if you let your emotions control you, you're in trouble.
The house edge always works against you, whether calm or emotionally buzzing. But it doesn't help to play when your mind is emotionally unstable. If that's the case, you'll burn through your cash in a flash. The casino will be your best friend, if only for a fleeting moment until your pockets are empty. So never engage in emotionally-based play – it's a surefire recipe for bankruptcy, depression, and problem gaming.
There are certain actions at the casino tables that you should avoid. These include yelling, screaming, kicking, whining, spitting, swearing, and slamming your chips on the table. Anything that is socially unacceptable is taboo at the casino tables. Never yell at the croupier, disparage the management, or insult other players. It's just not the done thing. Instead, stay classy at all times. You'll promptly be escorted out of the casino and possibly blocked if you don't behave. It's uncanny how bad behaviour perpetuates bad luck and vice versa.
If you are running cold with your betting and decide to push through the negative spell, you're not changing the house edge or roulette odds. All you're doing is burning through your bankroll and going on tilt. The odds are clearly against you when trying to turn things around from a bad beat (to coin a poker phrase). If you want to be the comeback kid, then leave the casino and come back another day. You can never change the house edge, even if you try to push through a bad beat.
Roulette Player Temperament
Naturally, every single player has their own temperament. We know this. Sometimes, you'll come across chill players who take everything in their stride. Others may be outwardly aggressive and demonstrative in their betting actions. Some players like to whinge and whine about everything, while others complain that the casinos cheat them out of their winnings. That's probably because they're losing – they wouldn't say that if they were winning. But, as in everyday life, these folks are in their casino lives. Don't expect anything to be any different.
We must remember that there is much more emotional pressure on players trying to beat Lady Luck. That emotion filters through to the next decisions and also factors in the decisions that have taken place previously. If players were privy to good fortune in the past, those players would likely be in a more pleasant mood. It's just the nature of things. However, if adverse events have transpired, they will likely be in a bad mood and miserable. Your character is determined by how you react to these emotional ups and downs.
At land-based casinos, cruise ships, riverboats, and even at home on the Internet, casinos reel in all types of players. My preference is the player that is as cool as a cucumber. That player tends to use the right tactics and strategies, and they understand the house edge. But, more importantly, these players know how the casino creates the house edge. Yet, all of this knowledge doesn't change the player's attitude. That's the key!
I like festivities and celebrations when players have a good roll at the craps table, or a straight-up number comes in on the roulette wheel. But emotionally-based play – tilt – is not something I enjoy watching. Do you know what my biggest pet peeve is? Whingeing and whining casino players. They are anathema to me. I can't stand aggressive players, either. They get my goat. And you know what else is equally annoying? Drunkards who are trying to be funny and draw attention to themselves. The problem is these guys and gals aren't funny at all – they are just a nuisance.
Then we've got the self-proclaimed experts. Do you know the type? They know precisely where the roulette ball will land because red came up ten times in succession, so clearly, black will land next. They'll teach you how to play roulette because they are experts. Or, they know exactly what the dealer's hand will be in blackjack because they've got a gut feeling about it. Most of these people are in no position to give you sensible advice. They need help understanding casino games. They need help understanding the house edge. They probably don't know anything about the game that they are playing.
How about this one: 'Numbers repeat in roulette' – I heard a lady yelling across the table at other players. Then, you'll hear somebody else saying, 'That's not true – numbers don't repeat.' This type of banter goes back in forth, annoying all the other players at the table. Some numbers may repeat for short periods but not for long. In a truly random game with random outcomes – that's what roulette is – the results of roulette outcomes are truly random. No betting system on this planet can beat that fact.
I know it sounds like I'm complaining, but I'm simply trying to illustrate the different players at the roulette tables. I don't enjoy other players interfering with how I play roulette, blackjack, or slot games. It's hard enough to get by in real life, and the casino is not much easier, either. Keep your emotional investments out of your casino games. Be mindful of your bankroll and never chase your losses. Bet sensibly, not emotionally.
If somebody at the table continually makes snide comments, chastises other players, criticizes your betting decisions, and so forth, go to another table. They will ruin the game for you. I do not take any pleasure in being annoyed while playing casino games. I love playing roulette with the systems that I have developed for myself over the years. I don't want other emotionally-based players to trigger me. I love watching the roulette ball make its way around the track as the players place their bets and the dealer waits to announce the winning number. Losing is not fun, but it's part and parcel of playing the game.
Dealing with Losses in Roulette: A Lesson in Self-Control
While you're losing, you're likely to make many betting mistakes. A lot of players have been in that situation. When everything goes wrong, you keep digging deeper into the hole. It's an endless spiral. What should you do?
Sadly, too many players make the mistake of increasing the size of their bets. They're anxious to recoup their losses, but this is not quickly done. There is hardly ever a consistently quick fix to doing this. The house edge will chip away at every real money bet you throw down on the tables.
[*Remember: Your worst nature and behaviour can be brought out when losing. The roulette betting system, known as Martingale, is ideal for losing players. Double your bets on losing outcomes and wait until you win. You'll break even in the end (if you can afford the bets and if the table maximums allow). This system, like any others, only works until it doesn't. Trust me, in the end; this system can't beat the house edge. I advise you not to use the Martingale system. Just saying.]
