Gambling in a casino without any “basic” knowledge on how to play is like going to war without weapons. It’s basically suicide. You gamble to win not to lose. You go to war to conquer, not to be conquered. Simply put, you must be prepared and armed. So how do you “arm” yourself in gambling? Aside from bringing money of course, you must learn the mechanics of every game. Otherwise you will just keep losing your stacks of chips to the Blackjack or Poker expert. Below are a list of the commonly played casino games and how each is played. Let us discuss each.
Slot Machines
Perhaps the most popular and easiest among all casino games is the slot machine. As easy as it seems however, it is very important for a player to first familiarize himself with the different buttons used before playing. Once he does, everything else is very simple.
Before playing, the player must first secure some slot coins, chips or tickets used in playing the machine. After which, he/she can select a particular machine he/she wants to play with. If he/she is playing a multi-denomination slot machine, he must choose the coin denomination he’s going to use by pushing the +/- button he then can select the number of coins he wishes to play. The player must also remember to select the number of pay lines to bet on when playing a multi-reel video slot. The player then pushes the spin reels button or pulls the lever to the reel spinning. Once the reels have finished spinning, different symbol combinations are displayed if a certain amount of money is won or lost.
Blackjack
Blackjack is a game between the player and the dealer wherein each targets to raise as closer as 21 points as possible or exactly 21 points. However, if either of them gets more than 21 points, he/she loses the bet (busts). If a tie shall occur between the player and the dealer, and the cards are worth 17 or more, the bet is returned to the player (push).
In playing Blackjack, all number cards ( 2’s, 3’s, etc.) are worth their face value, face cards (jacks, queens, kings) are worth 10 points each and aces are worth 1 or 11 depending on the situation. A blackjack is attained if a player is dealt with an ace and a 10-value card as his/her first two cards which earn the player150% of his bet. If a player has a card value closer to 21 than the dealer he then earns 100% of his bet.
Keno
Keno is a lottery game played using gaming cards containing numbers 1 to 80 and Ping-Pong balls also numbered 1 to 80. Players choose up to 20 numbers and a wager. They then marked their chosen number on their card and register it. Twenty numbered balls are then randomly drawn. Players then try to match as many drawn numbers to their own choices. Pay offs depend on the amount wagered and the number of matched numbers..
Wheel of Fortune
Wheel of Fortune is played by spinning a large vertical wheel. The wheel is divided into equal parts through pins or spokes around the edges. A pointer will indicate the winning segment. Players place their bets on one of the six symbols on the game table before the wheel is spun. When the wheel stops spinning, the pointer will be between two pins. All bets placed on the symbol where the pointer stopped win.
Pai Gow Poker
Pai Gow Poker or Double Hand poker is a game played against the house instead of the players. It is a game played using a 53-deck card which is consist of a 52 cards and a joker. The joker can be used either as an ace or a wild card to complete a straight, a flush or straight flush. Once the players have placed their bets, the dealer deals the players and himself seven cards each. The players then separate and arrange the cards into two hands: the 5-card hand and the two-card poker hand. The 5-card hand should always rank higher than the 2-card hand.. Each of the players’ hands is afterwards compared to that of the dealer’s. If both player and dealer win a hand, it is called a push. The player wins if both of his hands beat the dealer’s. The player loses if both his hands loses to the dealer’s.
Mastering each game takes time. But as you keep playing you will learn more techniques to enhance your chances of taking home the pot. All experts started as novice, just take a leap and practice what you just learned.
