Learning card games in Vegas

[thetimeshareguy]

I'm going to be in Las Vegas May 1 thru 12. This is about my fourth time in Vegas and I know some of the things to do there, and will browse this site for new ideas.

I've always thought it's a shame that, not being a gambler, every time I've been I've never played any of the games, like blackjack or poker.

This time I'd like to take a class and learn to play at least one or two games so I can enjoy a bit of that action and not just play the slots.

Can anyone recommend a particular class or casino where they did this and had a good experience? Also interested in any online classes so perhaps I could learn a bit before I even go.

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[pkyorkbeach]

Golden Nugget had classes for their guests. I would imagine other casinos do too!! Great idea asking here, something I should learn someday.

 

[chalee94]

i think aol used to have a free card game area where you could play online for free (no real money involved). i would recommend that or a $10 computer card game to get started learning the rules. (just don't focus on strategy in those situations as it is much different when real money is involved.)

MGM offered a free poker lesson at a specific time (11am or something?) which was useful for getting used to looking at cards with people around you and some of the norms for an actual game. not sure if they still do that but it's worth looking for...

 

[Passepartout]

Most casinos have 'learn the games' sessions during their slow times- like afternoons. Just ask.

I've found it a lot more efficient to just take the money I've planned to gamble in and leave it at the 21 pit and go do something else. Like drink. It's just easier than having any pretense that the casino will let you leave with any of their money.

There are books on the strategies of the basic casino games. Just check Amazon or wait til you get to Vegas. They are for sale at casino gift shops so people can see where they went wrong.

Good luck. Seriously.

Jim

 

[lvhmbh]

I used an online game to brush up on my blackjack. There are some "rules" to follow (not everyone does which is frustrating) and then choices to make. Do you hit on 16 or not? Just be consistent. That said, 3 Card Poker is my game and I love it! Very easy to learn and if you goof you don't impact anyone else but yourself.

 

[jackio]

Years ago we took free craps and blackjack lessons at the Imperial Palace. We weren't staying there, but anyone was welcome. They were given around 11 am, and then they gave everyone a free voucher for $10 to try out their skills.

 

[bogey21]

I learned by reading books (many of them). In today's world you also have the ability to try out what you have learned by playing on the internet.

George

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

I used to be an occasional craps player. After I learned the rules of the game as played in the casinos, I sat down one afternoon and worked out the odds for various strategies. I confirmed what I read from others that if you simply bet on the come/pass line every roll of the dice the house edge is about 1%, which means it's close to an even money. If you take free odds when they are available, you can drop the house edge down to as little as 0.5%.

In my playing days I pretty much confirmed those odds. Sometimes I won, sometimes I lost, and the losses overall were just an increment larger than the winnings. If I got ahead early and stayed at the table, given enough time the casino would almost always get it back from me. And the times when I got ahead early and stayed ahead were offset by the times I didn't start with a big enough stake and the casino wiped me out before I could. (In craps, that't the big advantage the casino has - their bankroll is big enough to ride through their cold streaks, while most players don't have the same backing and can't ride out those times when the dice turn totally cold.)

****

Nowadays I've lost almost all interest in gambling. It was interesting to me when I was taken by the numbers part of it, but after my curiosity was satisfied my interest started withering.

 

[hypnotiq]

Craps, 21, Pai Gow are what I enjoy playing, in that order.

Craps is def the most complicated but its the one that favors you the most (and the one where I've won considerably more money).

21, they will have free instruction around lunch time at pretty much all the casinos. Different strategies around single deck/six deck but is less complicated than craps but odds arent terrible either.

Pai Gow, is a lot of fun, and you push a lot of hands. So if you're looking to play a game for a while with little cost usually, Pai Gow is a game for you.

 

[DeniseM]

Be aware that if you sit down with experienced players, and you make mistakes, they will get really ticked off at you.

 

[hypnotiq]

They will only get ticked off at you if you dont listen. Most experienced players at a table will help the lesser experienced players.

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

One of important elements with craps -if you want to conserve money - is to not make any bets other than at the come line and pass line (or don't come/don;t pass if you want to go against the player who has the dice). Every other bet on the craps table has significantly worse odds. The house makes it's money at a craps table with all of those other bets.

The optimum craps strategy is actually quite simple and very mechanical. Only place bets on the come line or pass line, and whenever that bet becomes a point (a roll of 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10), make the biggest free odds bet that you can (the lesser of what the house will allow you to place or your limit for the amount of your stake you want to have in play at any given moment).

******

I was at a table in North Lake Tahoe one time where the shooter held the dice for almost an hour before crapping out. As more people crowded in to try to ride the hot streak, there was only a narrow lane left in which the shooter could throw the dice and it got crazy if the dice bounced off a couple of stacks of chips and messed things up.

I got the dice three players later, and I held the dice for about half an hour myself.

Did pretty well that night, and that was one of my first sessions at the table, so on the whole I was decently ahead on the game. But playing more craps over the next several years the overall odds asserted themselves and that net positive position steadily eroded.

*****

I used to seek out $0.25 and $0.50 tables so I didn't need a lot of money to to have a large enough stake to play. When I found a table like that I used to figure I could walk up with $20 or $30 and get a minimum of three hours of entertainment and some free beer if I didn't do anything stupid.

 

[roadtriper]

with Blackjack you need to pay attention to the Payout as well. it use to be that all Casinos payed 3:2 odds on a blackjack meaning if you placed a $10 bet and got a natural "21" it paid $15 a lot if not most of them have gone to a 6:5 payout which means that $10 bet nets you only $12 on a "21" so not all blackjack games are the same. RT