Did you make money your first time at the Casino?

Now that Im 19 I can gamble, my parents and grandparents took me to the casino. Ya, I know, some role modles they are.

Either way, the slot machines raped me for $20 but I made it back and another $15 from blackjack.

For my first trip comeing out $15 on top is kinda cool, I was just wondering how other people did on their first trip.

[Savaaha]

I came out ahead. won back what I spent on  buffet and gambling plus 20.00.

I play slots and then only the reeled ones. My brother used to work on the machines and he taught me how to see whats been put in a machine and how much has been paid out.

[Monoceros]

There ought to be a "never been to a casino and never will even if someone points a gun at me" option.

[AvianGrrl]

Yep, I did. I always make money at the casino... some times more than others, but I always come out ahead. But that's largely because I'm strictly a blackjack and baccarat girl, with a little roulette thrown in if I'm nice and lubricated (read: drunk and feel like yelling with a bunch of other drunk gamblers).

Its all about the house advantage. Blackjack has the best odds. A lot of blackjack games even have a gamer advantage (particularly the one deck games), with a dealer hitting to soft 17 and all of that. A tip to casino newbies: never buy insurance. I hate it when people do that. And don't forget to double down! If you're into counting at all, I can give you some tips on that, too. I'm good enough that I usually make at least a couple grand, but I could never make a living doing it. Baccarat and roulette also have decent odds.

Slots are fine, social, low-risk, but they also have the biggest house advantage. Slots are for people that aren't that interested in serious gambling, because the house take is obscene. How much money does someone think they're going to make playing nickel or quarter slots all day? I will definitely play a slot machine, but its usually if I'm killing time for some reason, or if I don't feel like gambling at the moment and just want an excuse for a free beer.

My new favorite thing is video blackjack. While you can't bet as high as in a table game, its still blackjack, and it eliminates the need to be social. So if you're feeling antisocial (and I sometimes am), it still gives you a good outlet and something to do while you're sitting at the bar.

Gah, I miss Vegas.

[Ulario]

I won $60 my first time there.  '>

[Hat-Kun]

Never been, don't intend to.

[Sporty Fox]

I've only been once, to the Harrah's on the Cherokee Reservation in N.C. . I started with a quarter and played the slots for about 20 minutes non-stop before I lost my winnings. I left with the same cash in my pocket that I came in with, and that was my only goal.

[Ecco]

It was like this:
win
loose loose
win win win
LOOSE LOOSE LOOSE LOOSE LOOOOOSE!
 '>
*slinks away in shame*

[Cynic]

Bleh, only a month and a half until I can go and gamble. Hopefully learning how to count cards will help me out in blackjack. '>

[Mazz]

I have an addictive personality. i refuse to go gamble...

[Burr]

Never set foot in one.

If I did play it'd be blackjack though. Like was mentioned earlier it's the best odds and the game you have the most control over.

[Taren]

Quote (Burr @ April 11 2005, 2:24 pm)

Never set foot in one. If I did play it'd be blackjack though. Like was mentioned earlier it's the best odds and the game you have the most control over.

Not really. I feel that poker is, sence the house advantage is 0%, sence the house can't win.

Anyway, I never went to a casino, but my first time gambling with friends, I netted 20 dollars. '>

[HockeyRaven]

I've never gambled at a casino, but I did end up with a couple "$2 souvenirs" from a day at Churchill Downs once. I like trying to pick the ponies, but I won't bet anymore unless I have a really good feeling about it.

[Om]

I'll second Mazz's sentiment...

You know, I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to stop... and besides, I can find something more fun for $20, I'm sure.

-Kai.

[Party Pony]

Quote (kaisilverfire @ April 11 2005, 3:48 pm)

and besides, I can find something more fun for $20, I'm sure.

That may be true...  but there are all kinds of fun.
At a 'friendly' vegas casino, my wife and I can make $20 last over four hours.  During that time we are having fun AND getting free beverages.  I can't take my wife to a movie (and get popcorn) for $20.  

I remember when I first got into gambling, friends would think I was wasting my time, until I showed them I could play longer with $20 at a casino than they could  play at an arcade!  And to me, most casino games (especially the animal ones) are more fun than standard videogames.  I mean, why pay 50 cents to shoot at people and monsters, when you can try to find three zebras?  And there is no arcade I know of where you put a quarter in a game and get $76 back.

My key to 'fun' in gambling is to go NEVER expecting to win.  I go with an amount of money that I feel 'at ease' to spend.  Kind of like Disneyland.  You know you will spend so much to get in, get food, get a souvenir, etc.  If I put that amount into 'gambling' money, then I am not 'losing', I am spending.  Should I win, which does happen, it is WOO-HOO!

[Nikko]

'> It's exillerateing to win a few hands. The adreniline of winning a pot of money. The intencity of keeping your nerve. It's very exciteing. I must say that I would rather gamble 20 then go to the mall with it.

 ----=Nikko=----

[Sskessa]

Quote

I can't take my wife to a movie (and get popcorn) for $20.

That is so true, PP. I don't even think you could see a matine for that much any more.
I've never been gambling myself. I do like to play card games though, so it might be fun.

[Autumn Fire]

I put "I lost my Car"

I technically didn't, but I did really really bad.... horribly bad. Lady Luck doesn't smile on this horse

Technically I cleaned house, but... Technically it wasn't a real casino.  Bridgewater State did this thing to welcome the incomming freshmen where they had, for lack of a better term, a combination raffle/casino. The idea was that each student would be given three raffle tickets, which they could either keep, or exchange for casino chips which they could potentially earn more.  I turned them in for chips, played nothing but 21 BJ, and... Well, the guys that were counting my chips made it to fifty, then they got really peeved and declared that the maximum. '>

Since then I've only been invited to a poker game once, and technically that didn't count either because it was held on short notice after my two idiot roommates decided they were instant professionals after renting Rounders... Unbeknownst to them that I'd been watching the poker tournaments on the Travel Channel for three months.

Haven't invited me back since. '> I wonder why.

[Golgamoth]

ive only bin to the casino in edmonton a few times as we dont have one way up here in the fridgid north.. but the few times i went i never got below what i started with.. also slots blow hate them so much

[Raging Tiger]

My first time in Vegas I won 100 bucks from the Quarter slots...It all went into beer and Jack the next week. The second time I was in Vegas I didn't gamble... I watched Hockey instead...

Quote (Monoceros @ April 11 2005, 2:26 am)

There ought to be a "never been to a casino and never will even if someone points a gun at me" option.

Amen, brother!  But yawl keep on gambling; the tribes up here are getting rich!

[Simo]

Win more often than not.  '>  Then, again, I mainly play live poker (7-stud, Hold 'em) where the house doesn't have any stake in whether you win or not. If that's not available, then I tend to stick with Craps (Don't Pass) that way, you're giving up very little to the house, and you stand a decent chance of coming out ahead.

Baccarat and roulette also have decent odds.

Baccarat: yes. Roulette, however, has some of the worst odds: up to 5.24% house edge (Vegas rules: double zero, no special deals) and that's larcenous. It's only worth playing if you can find Monte carlo rules: (one zero + partage or en prison). That gets the edge down to an acceptable 1.35%. Otherwise: Yuckers!