simple-strategy-020414Simple strategies

Playing at the casino can be full of danger for your wallet. If you’re not careful, you can find yourself down in no time at all.

Yet there are a few casino strategies you can put into practice that will make your wallet breathe a sigh of relief. Some of them are outrageously simple, too, so there really is no excuse for not playing them.

A word of warning, though: all casino games have an element of luck. No matter how incredible your blackjack strategy is, you’re still only reducing the house’s edge, not removing it entirely. So still play within your means: none of these strategies are foolproof. In fact, the best strategy of all is simply knowing when to walk away from the table.

Strategy 1: The Simplest of all

The first strategy – like a few – is for the game of roulette. Like most, it relies on probability not screwing up, but it will always result in a certain win at the end of the day. It’s broken into two parts, though: the very, very simple one and the simple one.

Counting Cards can boost your chances of winning, but you still need luck…

• 21+3 is seen as a losing bet, so casinos pay less attention to counts involving this side bet

• Casinos encourage gamblers to think they have a strategy on roulette

• The game is seen as a cash cow for casinos, although the odds can be “massaged” by a clever player

The very simple version is as follows: bet 5 on reds, blacks, odds or evens – the choice is yours, it makes no difference. When you win, you should re-bet the same amount. When you lose, however, double the bet. You should walk away with more than you lose, but it’s not the most scientific method.

Unlike at the blackjack table, you’re allowed to bring a pen and paper to roulette. In fact, the casino will happily provide you with one. So for the second version of this strategy, here is where we start.

Write down the numbers between 1 and 6. Collect your chips and place a bet of the first and last number on your list (in this case 1 and 6, so 7) on odds or evens, reds or blacks. The choice is yours.

Should you win, cross off the numbers you’ve played with, and move in one. So the next round you bet with 2 and 5, which is still 7. Should you lose, however, you should add a number to the end of the list, and then bet with the highest and lowest available number.

Keep going until you’ve got no numbers left and you’ll walk away with a tidy profit. It’s as simple as that.

Strategy 2: The James Bond Strategy

Popularized in Ian Fleming’s novel, Casino Royale, yet omitted from a film that changed the focus to poker, this roulette system was used by Bond as a warm up before heading over to the baccarat tables.

You do need a bit more than normal to play, though, although on some low wager tables $20 will do.

The idea is to place $14 on the high numbers (19-36), $5 on 13-18 and $1 on 0. In this method, the only chance you have of not winning something is if 1-12 come out.

Should the ball land on any of the other numbers, though, you’ll get a return. On 0 you’ll win a cool $36 – $16 profit – while for 13-18 you’d bring in $10 profit or $8 profit for 19-36. Bond would play until a 0 appears, and then he’d walk away to join the baccarat table.

In Casino Royale, however, Bond’s casino strategy took on an even deeper role. He didn’t just bet, but he studied the wheel before hand. While he suggests this has no effect on the outcome of the spin, he felt it was good to show casino managers your hand in this fashion.

Strategy 3: Blackjack Poker?

While simple blackjack strategy can offset your chances of losing, it doesn’t really open up any chances for winning big. Luckily, a lot of casinos offer a nice side bet: 21+3.

This allows you to bet that your 2 cards and the dealer’s face up card will make a 3 card poker hand. That’s not the best part, though: that would be the 9-1 payout!

Compared to the usual blackjack odds, that 9-1 is extremely tempting, but simply betting on the 21+3 every round will see you lose more than you win. No, you need a slightly more complex strategy for this one.

Actually, you need to employ one of the easiest card counting systems around. Instead of paying attention to each and every card that comes out of the dealer’s shoe, you only need to pay attention to the suit. Taking all of those other numbers out of the equation makes life that much easier.

The best count is actually 4 in 1, so isn’t the most recommended for beginners, but counting just one of the suits adds a little extra to your blackjack play.

To start with, you need to pick a suit. Best idea is picking the suit with the least cards dealt in the first round.

Now, the count itself is simple: each time that suit comes up, -1 from your total. For each 4 cards dealt, +1 to your total. Divide your count by the number of decks left in the shoe, and you’ll have a nice number. Less than -5 or more than +4 and it’s time to place some chips on that 21+3 square.

There are even more complicated ways to beat this side bet, too, but they’re for another time.

So there you have it: a few small strategies to help leave you in the black when you leave the casino. If card counting isn’t your thing, then try these out next time you’re playing, and perhaps you’ll walk away with a nice bonus.