Casino Advantage Play is a term used to describe the practice of playing casino games in order to gain an advantage over the house. This can involve anything from playing with smaller stakes in order to reduce the amount of money that is wagered, to playing specific games in order to gain an advantage over the other players.
If you're looking for an edge when playing casino games, you may want to consider taking advantage of casino advantage play. This type of play can help you win more money by exploiting any quirks or inefficiencies in the casino's gameplay.
There are a few key things to keep in mind when playing casino advantage:
1. Know the rules of the game.
You need to be familiar with the rules of the particular casino game you're playing in order to take advantage of casino advantage play. For example, in slot machines, know the pays and misses, wild symbols, and bonus rounds. This knowledge will help you make better decisions when playing.
2. Know the house edge.
The house edge is the percentage of the time that a gambler will lose money playing a casino game. Keep this in mind when playing, as it will affect how much money you can win. For example, a slot machine with a house edge of 2% will payout 96% of the time, but it will also take away 4% of your bet.
3. Play on the correct side of the house.
Casinos heavily favor one side of the house in order to keep gamblers playing. If you're playing blackjack, for example, it's usually a good idea to play as the dealer. This will give you an edge over the other players, since the house always stands to make more money off of a deck full of blackjacks.
4. Know the odds.
Whenever you're playing a casino game, be aware of what the odds are. This will help you make better decisions about how much to bet and how to play in order to maximize your chances of winning. For example, in blackjack, the odds of getting a 21 are 1 in 52. If you're playing against someone who is also betting with odds, you're essentially competing against them with one hand. This can lead to some interesting and profitable betting strategies.
The following are some strategies for using advantage play to increase your chances of winning. These are not tricks of the trade. Cheating is illegal and will result in your arrest. These are strategies for utilizing information that has been presented to you for your benefit.
Hole Carding
When the dealer reveals cards on the bottom of a pack of cards or single cards as they come out of the shuffler or shoe, this is known as hole carding. Hole carding is possible in most poker-based table games and can significantly improve the chances in Three Card Poker, Ultimate Texas Hold'em, Heads Up Holdem, Crazy4Poker, and a few others.
When the dealer removes the cards from the shuffler and distributes them to the players and dealer, the cards may be lifted too high off the table, revealing the bottom card of the pack of three cards.
If the dealer reveals their own bottom card each round, the house edge on the Ante/Play bet shifts from 3.4% to 3.5% in favor of the player. Knowing the entire deck greatly alters the basic ideal play. Without any card knowledge, Q64 or higher should be played while Q63 or lower should be folded. The play bet should always be placed when the hole card is a 2-J. If the hole card is a Q, then play Q92 or higher. If the hole card is a K, then play K92 or better. Furthermore, if the hole card is an Ace, the A92 or better should be played.
This is a fairly simple method to understand, and if a specific dealer exposes the hole card every hand, you will have a 3.5% advantage throughout that period.
Edge Sorting
Edge sorting is a little more contentious than Hole Carding because you are not simply using information that has been provided to you. By edge sorting, you are actually exploiting a defect in card manufacture and turning the cards you handle based on whether they are advantageous to you or not.
Many casino card manufacturers create cards with asymmetrical graphics on the back. As shown in the sample below, there is a whole circle visible in the design before it reaches the edge of the card. Only a half circle can be seen at the top.
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As a result, if the casino does not perform a correct shuffle after each hand, which includes turning half of the cards before shuffling, a player could turn all of the face cards in one direction and all of the non-facing cards in the other. It will take some time to go through the full deck, but once done, the player will have an idea of the approximate worth of the dealer cards. In a game like Three Card Poker, the player may be aware of one, two, or all three of the dealer's cards. In Ultimate Texas Hold'em, the player may be able to tell whether either or both of the dealer's cards are face cards. This knowledge of the dealer's cards could provide a significant advantage to a player in this and other games.
Information Sharing
Sharing information is virtually always prohibited in table gaming rules, however many casinos are lenient in enforcing the prohibition. Friends who are having a good time look around or just share what they have with others at the table. It is so frequent these days that someone using this weakness of game protection can simply blend in with the crowd and go unnoticed.
When playing a game like Ultimate Texas Hold'em, players can gain a 2.5% advantage by sharing information. This may be accomplished by taking a seat in the middle of the table and observing each player's two-card hand, or it could be accomplished by some type of signaling from other players participating in the play. All the other players at the table, who are only placing the minimum bets allowed by the table, signal one player when they make very large bets.
If the player getting the information was dealt a Q 8, for instance, that is an example of how this might operate. Without common knowledge, Q 8 is always a rise of four times. Both getting a Q on the board and drawing to a straight are definitely possibilities. What if, however, two Qs, a few 10s, and a few Js were among the cards the other five players at the table signaled? Now there are significantly fewer opportunities to get a straight or a Q on the board. With that understanding, the player should never make a 4x wager. The handed hand J-7, on the other hand, is never a 4x bet prior to the flop. However, the chances of getting a straight or three of a kind or greater are greatly boosted if all players signal and every card in each player's hand is worth less than seven. A 4x wager would be ideal at this point.
Card Counting
One of the most popular types of advantage play, when the player uses information provided to them to their advantage, is card counting. The information provided by the card history during play is what the player uses to their advantage when placing bets.
Card counting was described in a previous article and is a rather simple skill to pick up. The fundamental idea behind card counting is that you count the number of low cards (2–6) as they are dealt out, the number of high cards (10–A), which decrease your odds when played, and the number of intermediate cards (7-9), which have little bearing on betting.
Card counting is legal in every casino, despite the fact that the casino does not like it. And if you're discovered, you'll probably be asked to leave. If you're not asked to leave, the casino might use a few strategies to thwart your counting. They might mandate that you "flat bet," which means that you must wager the same sum on each hand throughout the game. Anytime you raise your bet, the cards may be reshuffled. They could potentially lessen the game's betting spread. What was previously a $25–$500 game might now just cost $25–$100.
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