Volume 15 : Issue 2
| In This Edition: | Soft Touch Says High Roller’s Secrets Part I Who Ya Gonna Call? |
Soft Touch Says – Viva Las Vegas!
My dear readers, I am still out of breath from the wild ride during my latest whirlwind trip to Las Vegas. The dice were good to me at Bellagio and poker games at the Wynn paid for tournament entry fees at the Venetian. So, it was all good. One of my best dice games occurred at Aria casino. Playing craps with the Dice Coach always ends up with the unexpected craziness. We decided to have lunch at Javier’s, one of my favorite spots for its Latin jazz, margaritas and real Mexican cuisine. After a nice lunch, with the craps pit in our view, a shift in the energy whispered an irresistible invitation to play a game just opening. It was like the wind gently blowing through beach palms on a hot summer’s night.
Happiness is a long roll, don’t y’all know?
Soft Touch
This month I am publishing a selected submission to from a known player. After reviewing the article, I felt there was merit in sharing Juan’s exploits, earning casino comps. He wrote the piece as a part I and part II. Part I introduces his philosophy about playing smarter to leverage casino credit. Part II comes next month and delivers Juan’s “how too”, that is, his strategy of playing craps and becoming a VIP rated guest.
Ed Jones
Editor / ed@dicesetter.com
HIGH ROLLER SECRETS by Juan
Get rated for four hours of play by wagering for only thirty minutes
To my fellow gaming enthusiasts: If you are a $25.00 average bettor* or higher and play blackjack, craps, roulette, or baccarat, you should be earning free rooms, meals, and beverage at least, and possibly more. *Check with your casino host for specifics in order to qualify for RFB.
As more and more new casinos open each year, the business of attracting players to their properties becomes more competitive. As a gaming enthusiast for over thirty years, it took me a long time to realize that being a VIP player is a very good thing. However, having said this, I have also witnessed many fellow gaming enthusiasts, who have become a victim to the casinos lure of free rooms, meals, shows, and more. I am convinced that too many of these fine folks lose far more money than they should. They have fallen victim to the casino’s lure of freebies, in exchange for four hours of action per day at a certain sized wager. I am convinced that most of my fellow gaming enthusiasts should re-evaluate how they go about earning RFB (Room, Food, and Beverage) status with the casinos. There is a technique which turns things against the casino at their own game. Let me explain how I do it.
The casino will determine how much they will give to any player, based upon the amount of time that she or he plays each day, and the amount of their average wager. If you win or lose, it does not affect your comp status. Do not be afraid to win. In fact, I am going to preach to you, that your main goal should be to win. I just think that there is a better way to earn RFB status, than is normally written about.
I consider craps to be the best game to play to earn RFB status. (Room Food Beverage) There are many reasons why you should earn your freebies at the crap tables. The single most important reason is, that you can easily “spot play” this game, and get credit for hours of play, when you only have your money at risk, for a small fraction of the total time you are at the tables. There are a number of important additional reasons, why craps should be your game of choice, as well.
1. Craps offers one of the lowest basic odds against the player. However, there is a specific wager that lowers the house edge against the player even further.
2. Craps is a game that the casino cannot manipulate. The players hold the dice. The players choose which dice to roll, and all rolls are independent of house control, with the exception of dies landing out of play.
3. The game can be easily evaluated for favorable betting conditions, prior to the time you actually begin wagering.
4. With the exception of suspected cheaters, the house does not place “heat on your play”.
5. You can easily allow other players to finance your playing time. Allowing other players to finance your playing time is the most critical element to earning your comps. You can continue to earn playing time credit, even when you do not bet. This will be fully explained in the next section.
6. Craps is the easiest game to “spot play”. It is not uncommon that I may not have any money in action for 10 to 15 minutes at a time. Aside from baccarat and roulette, craps is easy to sit out for extended periods. It is difficult for most blackjack players to sit out much of the game. I do not wish to offend anybody, but I do not consider playing machines to be a good venue for earning comps. The house’s edge is far too great. Remember the average edge against the player is 20%.
HOW TO BECOME A VIP:
I was told recently by one of the pit bosses at my home casino, that about eighty percent of all players at the craps tables bet less than a $25.00 average wager. What you want to do is to stand out from the crowd. To be perceived as a valued patron, you need to become more visible with your play. As such, you will earn more freebies from the house. Here are some of the tricks that I always use when I am putting in my four hours per day at my home casino.
1. Always play where your minimum bet is higher than the table minimum bet. Example: If you are going to wager $44.00, do not play at a $10.00 game, you should be at a $5.00 game. By the same token if you are going to wager $110.00, do not play at a $25.00 minimum table. Note: The wagering amounts listed here, represent a standard set-up for the inside numbers as a place bet on the 5, 6, 8, and 9. I use $220 as my standard wager in my regular gaming at craps. I will explain the reasons for this wager in the betting details section.
2. Make the largest buy-in you can. A larger buy-in get much more attention from the pit personnel. You do not have to gamble the entire buy-in.
3. Do not make large bet variations until you are confident that the pit boss is familiar with your wager size. I will try to position myself at the table, so I can look at the rating slips from time to time to see what the pit boss has recorded on my rating slip. Do not be bashful about asking how they have rated your play. This will give you insight as to how each table boss works. Always try to play in games where the table boss is more liberal in his assessment of your wagers, if you vary the sizes of your bets dramatically.
4. Follow the rules for the place betting strategy I have included in the next section, part II. This is absolutely crucial for your goal to win money while earning your RFB status.
5. Never play for recreation in your home casino. If you want to play at lower betting units, than you make during your 4 hours to earn comps, you must move to other casinos. Playing a lower unit will drop your overall average bet size, and this can adversely affect your RFB status.
6. Carefully select your home casino. You want it to full fill the maximum number of your desires. Good rooms, good food, atmosphere you like, pit personnel you like, and any other amenities you want to take advantage of as a VIP.
7. From time to time, be sure your average playing time exceeds the 4 hour per day minimum by a comfortable margin. You want to appear to be a bigger gambler to your casino host than you really are.
8. Cultivate a good relationship with your casino host. He or she will be the most important person to you, apart from the personnel in the craps pit. From time to time, you may want to consider tipping your host. The more personal your relationship with this person, the better treatment you will receive.
9. Always conduct yourself in a friendly manner. You want the pit personnel to like you. Tip the dealers for good service, and get friendly with the table bosses. There may be times when they can also do you little favors. Besides that, it adds to your overall gaming experience, when you are in a friendly and positive environment. I find that as a player, I can have a very positive effect on the overall table mood, and comfort levels. So smile and be friendly!
10. Having said what I said in number 9, never lose sight of the fact that you are there to win. Earning the RFB is merely part of your overall plan to take money from the casino.
11. Never! Never! Never! Feel guilty about getting freebies from the casino. The Casinos give about 5% of their net gaming revenue out as comps. You are not hurting their bottom line at all. Try to take advantage of midweek specials as part of your overall comp strategy. The comps are given more freely to mid week players. However, as you establish yourself as a VIP at your home casino, you will be able to get rooms whenever you want. Many times, you can do this on very short notice. Always book your rooms with your casino host. This is very important.
In the beginning you may not fully qualify for full RFB’s, but be sure you keep asking for all you can get. Note: If you are able to make an average wager of $220.00 or more for the four hour period, then you will fully qualify for full RFB, at any of the major resort hotels you may choose to stay at. For those of you who will not be able to wager at those levels, I suggest you check out many of the outlying casinos. Simply call the hotel, and ask to speak to a casino host. They will be happy to explain their RFB policy to you. Then you can visit the property, and decide if it matches your expectations.
12. I recommend that craps should be the only game played to earn comp status from a casino as it is the easiest game to have other players finance your inactive periods, of the three games offering the lowest edge against the player.
Next month we’ll get you going on the nuts and bolts to establish your status of VIP.
…To be continued in next month’s Dice Setter Newsletter. “High Roller Secrets Part II”.
