People have been gambling since the dawn of civilization. For some, it remains a fun pastime, while others gamble with the hopes of making a living out of it. Whatever your motive, there’s always room for improvement, which is exactly why we compiled this list of casino dealer secrets to help you understand just what it takes to be a good gambler.

The fact that you like gambling or gamble often does not necessarily make you a winner. It takes a lot of practice, psychological steadiness, and a little bit of luck to come out on top. If you are interested in gambling, you may need some casino insider information to help you prosper and increase your odds at winning. The good thing is that there’s a way to master this knowledge: use available resources, such as casino dealer tips and guides on how to win at the casino.

Here are some tips on how to be a better player.

Experience makes you grow

Experience may come at a high cost for some, but it is the only way to perfect one’s skills and abilities. As your experience grows, you become better at picking up on trends and best practices. To be competitive, you need to acquire knowledge. This will ultimately give you confidence to throw yourself in more competitive arenas. Many online gambling/betting sites can help you improve your skills and get familiar with casino secrets – you just need to open an account and start practicing whenever you have some downtime.

Choose the best games

One of the first things you need to do to improve your gambling skills is to choose the best games at the casino, meaning those games closer to the lowest house edge. It means you should probably opt for games with as close to a 1% house edge as possible, such as blackjack (0.5 – 2.0%, varies based on house rules) or baccarat (0.6%, banker bet).

Regardless of your preferences and casino secrets to winning, almost every casino game is designed for the house to win. Sal Piacente, a former casino dealer, described your odds at winning by saying, “I could give you a guaranteed method to go into a casino and come out with a small fortune: go in there with a large one.” Basically, no revealed casino secrets can help you beat the odds – the best thing to do is to stay away from specific games.

So… Stay away from some games

The house always wins one way or another, but some games have better odds than others. The top of the list of games you should probably avoid is reserved for the games with a high house edge, like Keno, Casino War (tie) or baccarat (tie). There are games with a lower house advantage, like Caribbean Stud, three-card poker or Let it Ride that players choose for bigger payouts, but most casino tips indicate that you are more likely to lose money than beat the house if you choose these games.

Of course, there are games you can play that you have better chances at, like blackjack (single deck), craps, baccarat or video poker, where you can learn the strategy to perfect your playing skills. There is no guarantee you will win, but the odds are much higher.

“Keep the customer satisfied”

Nothing in the exciting, luxurious atmosphere of the casino has been placed there accidentally. The truth about casinos is that they are designed to lead you into staying longer and spending more money. How casinos cheat you into losing your money is one side of the coin. On the other side, they cleverly use lights, sounds and interior design to create a welcoming, yet hard-to-escape-from atmosphere.

Basically, you walk into a casino, confident, with a huge stack of cash, planning to have some fun and enjoy a game or two and a couple of rounds of cocktails. Next thing you know, you’re still there, still playing, unaware of the time of day or how many rounds of cocktails you’ve had. Secrets of former casino dealers reveal that every detail in a casino, floors to ceilings, is designed to distort reality and lead you into making irrational decisions that can actually put you at serious risk.

Therefore, if you want to have any chance at being on the “winning” side of gambling, try not to be fooled by the illusion of big wins, food and drinks or a variety of other casino tricks to keep you playing with no diversions.

Are you tough enough?

To become a better gambler, you need to have a functional coping mechanism that will help you through the wins and the losses. Whatever you do, however good you become, you’ll have good and bad days, but you should not let your emotions, anxiety or distress get in the way. The way you perceive and deal with your losses will help you through them, but also learn when it is time to walk away.

It doesn’t mean you have to flee each time “the going gets tough,” but you do need to learn how to keep your gambling in check, which also means you’ll need to understand and accept your losses.

Stick to what you know

Casino dealer tips suggest you should stick to the games you know or are good at, as this will increase your competitiveness (and your odds) in the gambling arena. To be a good player, you should stick to the games you know or the ones you aim at becoming an expert at. This also means you’ll be able to leverage your strengths and thus increase your odds of mastering blackjack secrets, winning at a professional card table or, perhaps, becoming a professional card dealer. Gamblers who stick to the games they know are more psychologically stable and confident about their skills, but are also more sensitive to the signals indicating that it’s time to quit.

You’re being watched

Regardless of what you may think about it, chances are you’re being watched during your entire stay at a casino. There are surveillance cameras recording each movement you make – of course, their role is to look out for the scammers and criminals, but be sure that security guards are on the move around-the-clock. You may learn casino tricks or develop an ingenious scheme to try to beat the casino, but if you have seen the 1995 drama “Casino,” you’ll remember Robert De Niro’s words: “In Vegas, everybody’s gotta watch everybody else.”

Casino comps secrets

To get comps at a casino, you don’t have to be an expert – you need some money and some common sense to get food, entertainment or free lodging from a casino. Getting access to the freebies requires a broader understanding of casino comps secrets. First of all, you need to understand that the amount of money you’re betting on directly affects your access to freebies.

The fact is that comps represent a percentage of your overall action – represented as how much action you’re bringing – such as your hourly action on machine games or how much money you’re putting in action per hour in table games. Your daily theoretical loss is also used by casinos in awarding comps. Their evaluation is based on the game you play and money/percentage they expect to keep out of every bet you make.

You will not be introduced to the secrets to blackjack or casino slot machine secrets, but your table image may benefit from tipping table dealers in casino or remembering a pit boss’s name, and some comps, like a free cocktail, may be easy to get if you don’t mind tipping the waitress.

The right timing

The best time to go to a casino to win is not easy to identify as it depends on individual preferences and the kind of experience you expect, meaning that for some, the best time to play can be work days, whereas for others 9 pm Saturday evening may be the best time to give it a try. Most importantly (regardless of the day or time of day), the best time for you to play is when your budget allows it.

Playing for money or the love of the game

Before you decide to take steps to improve your gambling skills, you need to be sure about your motives – are you playing to make money or are you playing to have fun? Regardless of your primary motive, you need to know that there are other (easier) ways to earn money. While it is possible to make a living as a professional gambler, most gamblers actually don’t.

Secrets of the gambling industry are not a myth anymore, and there are many ways (and sources) you can use to get informed about the practices, trends and ways of becoming a better player, but it still doesn’t mean gambling is the right thing for you. True, you can improve your skills and, thus, your odds at winning at any gambling game, like choosing the game with the lowest house advantage or making the right playing decisions. Even if you can’t beat the house, despite all the blackjack dealer tips or secrets to winning on slot machines, you can still improve your chances of winning by reducing the edge sufficiently.

Ultimately, the majority of gamblers consider gambling recreational, and if there’s still fun in it for you, you’ll be winning even when the money is lost.

References

Lipsey, S. (December 29, 2015). Top 10 secrets casinos don’t want you to know. [online]. Available from Fox News.