Can someone give me general advice for vegas gambling with slots, roulette and craps on a budget?

Question

I'm going to vegas in a few days. i have no gambling experience. i am not interested in learning any card games, just slots, craps and roulette. and i don't have lots of money to gamble with.

Answer 1

I agree, don't play. The house always wins.

But, if you do play, go for blackjack. You'll win a blackjack hand, on average, 43% of the time. Count cards. The rest of the games have worse odds. If you play slots, play ones in the best view of people. They have better odds than the ones tucked away in a corner.

Answer 2

SImply put, the house ALWAYS wins. The strip casino's are money pits. Off the strip you are more likely to come away with more of your money than not. But its all probablity. One of my friends spent 2 hrs on the floor playing slots and the other comes down and plays a $2 machine. 3 pulls and she hits the jackpot. I had beginners luck when I moved there, always coming home with $50-$200 from the slots and $1000 at Bingo. Watch the payout screen on the slots, if it just paid rather big, find another one. Check out the Station Casino's-Green Valley Ranch off of I-215 or Sunset Station...take 215 to Stephanie, turn left OR the 95 to Sunset Blvd. Or the newest one Red Rock up in Summerlin. Southcoast is decent too up in Summerlin as well.

Wheel of Fortunes are my favorite. They call to me, and when I worked for Delta the machine was right in front of the gates I worked...it sucked, but I managed. I always won the most on the nickel video Wheel of Fortunes. There's another one Mega-something....that one hits a lot too, so look for those.
Find progressives...they will have a ticker above them with the jackpot getting bigger by the second. I was working in the cage when a Mega-something machine hit the jackpot and it was up over $1 million.

I'll be in Vegas this weekend and will do some gambling for fun...and dont go expecting to win. Slots you will lose 35% of what you play. Table games is higher, craps and roulette the odds are worse. Even if you play the penny and nickle slots you are betting several lines at a time and you are playing the same amount as the quarter and dollar machines sometimes. I normally play my $20 and go home...sometimes I've gone as much as $200, but there is a reason residents of NV dont have to pay state sales or income tax.

Just go to have a good time, set aside a certain amount you can afford to lose and just have fun. Dont expect to hit it big. Its when you are having fun that you sometimes walk away $100 richer.

High limit slots pay out more and more often. $5 and up in the high limit rooms.

Get a players card no matter what. If you gamble a lot, you can earn comps...free buffet's etc.

Drinks are free on the casino floor, but the waitresses focus on the tables. ITs hard to get them to the slots and they take forever to come back. If you go to a bar that has video poker or a video machine, put a dollar in it. As long as you are gambling, its free.

ALWAYS TIP! No matter where you are, tip a dollar or two or give them a chip. Same goes for bellman, valet's and anyone who offers you a service. EVEN the cage. When you cash in a voucher or exchange money, leave a tip. (I worked in the cage at a strip location...)Tip the dealer when you leave the table as well. TIP TIP TIP!!!

Again, just go to have fun. The odds are against you anyway. And stay with in your means. If you set aside $200, dont go beyond that, you'll be sure to lose. Dont go expecting to hit the jackpot, because you more than likely wont. Just have a good time and dont catch the fever.

"Good luck to you!"

Answer 3

If you have over $50, you can have some fun. Just go in KNOWING that you will lose it, and if you DO end up on the positive, count it a bonus. Less than $50, it will go so quick you won't know what happened.

Downtown is a good place for cheap play. They even have penny and nickle machines. The key for the house is, they have MULTIPLE pennies and MULTIPLE lines. Usually you can play only one penny, one line at a time, but of course the payouts and hits are lower.

As far as having a fighting chance, Video Poker is your best bet (groan) for lots of play on little money. But do some research first. For example, in Jacks or Better, if you have a pair, two low cards, and an "Ace" kicker, hold ONLY the pair. You are not trying to beat other people's hands, you are trying to hit on the paytable. And three fresh cards will give you more chances to improve your hand than two. Don't chase flushes with only three of a suit. Don't chase inside straights unless it is a straight flush chance - ESPECIALLY if you are holding face cards.

Look around the net for "Video Poker strategy" and you will find more tips, including strategy cards. You probably also want to check out one of my favorite Vegas websites, CheapoVegas! They have great pennypincher reviews and tips.

But if you really want to have a good time, try Blackjack...it's more fun (usually) to play and socialize with other people than to sit at a machine pushing buttons. But if you just want the "me" time, VP is better than straight mind numbing money eating slots.

Roulette - Most places have $5 minimums, although some are as low as $2. I've seen a lot of people spreading chips all over the board just so they hit something. These people obviously failed math. If you want a big payoff, play one number. If you want lots of hits, play black or red, odd or even. Just keep in mind there is a reason for the green 0 and 00 - that's how the house gets paid.

Answer 4

Beleive it or not, those three have among the WORST odds as far as favoring the player. The house has much better odds on those. (The game with the absolute worst odds is Keno.) Blackjack, statistcally has the best player odds. (Especially single deck.)

Just find low limit areas (I don't play more than quarter slots) and set yourself an amount of money to play and when that's gone, stop. If you have to skip paying a bill because you played the money away, you played too much money!

Answer 5

Play tiny amounts on penny slots and keno. Sure, the house odds are against you, but you can kill a lot of time without losing much money.

Unless you're willing to lose significant amounts (hundreds of dollars), leave the craps, cards, etc. to other people to play. Just cruise the casino and enjoy watching the suckers lose their money.

(It wasn't always this way -- 15 years ago you used to be able to play 25 cent craps, dime roulette, etc.)

Answer 6

Hmm, you don't want to learn blackjack, one of the easiest to learn, but you are willing to learn to play craps, one of if not the most difficult game to learn.

If you are playing on a budget, then you should play at the casinos downtown more low coin slots and the lowest minimums to play craps and roulette.

Answer 7

ok, don't gamble in the daytime, use that for exploring around,
there is a lot of non-gambling stuff to see and do.
second, have a nice dinner every night, it will make you feel better, more relaxed, & less pressed to gamble..gamble..gamble.
third: relax, have fun, even if you loose, it will be worth the
memory.
Don't jump in too fast, watch & see whats going on & only take
a limited amount of cash with you per day, once your spending
limit is done, head for the lounge & enjoy the show.

Good Luck.

Answer 8

i spend 20 bucks a day on slots while in vegas. skip the high cost machines, did 25 cent machines since i think penny and nickel ones make no sense

Answer 9

Yes. Don't do it at all is the best advice, but if you feel you have to ignore this, then the games you have mentined are the worst and Blackjack has the best odds if you play Basic Stategy or use advanced techniques. Again, don't play.

Answer 10

i would choose video poker over slots...either way-you will see there are machines that pay big jackpots, 10,000..50,000, even million dollar jackpots!! i like the smaller jackpot progressive machines( $1000.00 video poker machines.....25 cents, play mex bets)....vs. the big buck jackpot,.25 cent and $1 machines. Don't go with the attitude you are going to "hit it big".....play what you can afford and only what you can afford---and I hope you too walk away with a pleasant surprise!!!! Then if you do win, take a set amount and try the big buck machines, ha-ha you will be shooting for a chance to "hit it big" on their money!