Swain Scheps - Casino Gambling For Dummies

There is not much strategy to playing either game other than hoping to get lucky, but you’ll learn the basics in Chapter 14and give a quick overview for anyone unfamiliar with how to play either game.

There’s nothing quite like traveling to a casino to sit back in a comfortable chair, have a cold one, and watch sports on TV. Why not just stay home and do the same thing? In a casino, you’re viewing sporting events and horse races on the massive displays in today’s best race books and sports books. These plush, high-tech rooms draw fans to cheer their favorite teams or horses. And best of all, the casino is ready and willing to take your bet on just about any sporting event.

Thanks to a 2018 U.S. Supreme Court decision, you can now place legal sports bets in over 20 states. (You can make some sports bets online as well. Read Chapter 17for more info.) When you’re in a sports book, you may notice that the employees are strangely unemotional when the crowd cheers for one team or another. Why? Because the house takes a vigorish (a small commission) from every wager, virtually ensuring a profit on every bet.

Casino guests can find all kinds of betting opportunities in the wide world of sports, including football, basketball, baseball, hockey, tennis, boxing, golf, and special events. But being a great sports fan doesn’t make you a natural winner at the sports book. Why? Point spreads and money lines add complex challenges to the process. But understanding how to handicap and analyze sports statistics can simplify that process — and help you improve the odds of winning. (See Chapter 15for more on sports betting in a casino.)

If you love a day at the track, the racebook is going to feel like home sweet home. After all, through the modern miracle of simulcasting, you can enjoy a day at several tracks at once, without leaving your cozy chair. Casinos dedicate luxurious space and resources to keep fans happy: leather seats, private work desks, and stacks of publications full of data on the ponies. And just when you think the experience can’t get any better, the cocktail server hands you a double espresso to get your brain into high gear before the race day starts. Comfortable? Good, now you just need to pick some winners.

In both horse racing and sports betting, your understanding of handicapping and external factors can improve your chances of winning. And both kinds of betting favor gamblers who take a contrarian view. When you go against the grain — and you’re right — you win bigger than when you bet with the crowd. (Read Chapter 16for more about horse racing.)

Formerly quarantined to select areas, today’s casinos are nearly everywhere, making gambling — in some form or another — possible in almost every state. Only two states (Hawaii and Utah) have no legalized gambling. The main reason for this explosion is that the stigma of gambling has mostly been removed from our society. Although the previous generation generally viewed gambling with moral indignation, today’s attitudes are more relaxed, and many people consider casinos fun entertainment rather than one of the seven deadly sins.

This section looks more closely at the different types of gambling locations. Although Las Vegas and Atlantic City are still popular destinations for casino gambling, hundreds of other options are also waiting for you. (Flip to Chapter 19for ten cool places to gamble.)

For decades, Nevada was famous for being the only U.S. state where casino gambling was legal. That limitation changed when the state of New Jersey legalized gambling in the late 1970s (although only in one town, Atlantic City). And, despite the growth of casinos elsewhere in the United States, the Silver State remains the king of casino gambling with more than 200 commercial casinos.

Las Vegas is the jewel in the crown and is, far and away, the biggest gambling destination in the world. Also known as Sin City or Lost Wages, Vegas is a unique agglomeration of palm trees, fountains, neon lights, and 150,000-plus hotel rooms among a wild mishmash of must-see architecture.

From its forbidden-fruit beginnings to its mobster adolescence to its starring role in a few hit TV shows, Vegas exudes a frenetic energy that makes the city a unique place in American pop culture. And Vegas takes full advantage of its iconic position. New hotel/casino complexes continue to rise from the desert floor at an astounding pace. As of 2021, half of the ten biggest hotels in the world were located within a few miles of each other on the Las Vegas Strip.

The city is still primarily known for its gambling — after all, where else can you expect to find slot machines in grocery stores and airports? But in the late 1990s — for the first time in its history — gambling money amounted to less than half of the total revenue brought in by the Vegas casino industry. And that change means people from around the world are seeing the city as a resort (or convention) destination first and a place to gamble second.

If you’re eager to learn more about Las Vegas, check out Las Vegas For Dummies by Mary Herczog (Wiley).

Before Las Vegas rose to prominence, Reno was the epicenter of gambling in the United States, and casinos around Lake Tahoe frequently hosted celebrities, such as Frank Sinatra and his buddies. Now, their southern Nevada competitor easily eclipses both Tahoe and Reno, but these two intriguing cities remain good alternatives for visitors that don’t care for the Vegas speed-of-light pace.

As “the biggest little city in the world,” Reno’s Wild West frontier spirit and gambling accessibility appeal to many travelers. Tahoe also boasts gambling opportunities on the Nevada side of the border while promising superb skiing in winter, a wealth of lake activities in summer, and spectacular mountain scenery year-round.

In the late 1970s, New Jersey took the bold step of legalizing gambling to revitalize Atlantic City. The transformation hasn’t always gone smoothly, but today, Atlantic City’s casino industry is healthy. As one of the biggest gambling spots in the United States, it sees billions of dollars in wagers every year.

Although the Atlantic City Boardwalk can’t rival the Vegas Strip, it does offer a unique blend of glitz and glamour in a carnival atmosphere and a seaside setting. More importantly, the location means convenience for people on the East Coast — they no longer have to fly cross-country just to play blackjack.

The Constitution State legalized tribal gaming in the early 1990s, and the state hasn’t looked back since. With its proximity to Boston, New York City, and other lesser megalopolises of the northeast, Connecticut spent many years as the only alternative to Atlantic City. While it can’t compete with the size of New Jersey’s gaming industry, Connecticut hosts two of the three largest casinos in the United States: the Foxwoods and the Mohegan Sun resorts.

Some people may not understand why gambling can be legal on the water but illegal on land. Nevertheless, if your state has a river running through it or you live on the coast, you’re likely to find a casino within driving distance. (Of course, take your motion-sickness pills and be prepared to walk the plank.)