- You begin at an online casino by making a real money deposit. The money that you deposit into your account is then used to play blackjack and the other games that the casino offers. Online casinos generally accept credit and debit cards as a form of deposit.
- These are some of the most commonly used cheating methods by casinos when it comes to Blackjack: Selective Shuffling. Sleight of Hand. Removing Cards from the Deck. Subtle Tricks. Swapping Hole Cards. Mishandling Chips or Money.
Sometime in the distant future, maybe the year 3225 or so, when historians are studying ancient Western society (or what will be ancient Western society by the time), they will marvel at one particular human enterprise perhaps more than any other: the epic, money-sucking efficiency of casinos.
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The way casinos have turned the act of separating us from our money into such a marvel of precision and ingenuity is every bit as awe-inspiring as the Egyptian pyramids.
“I could give you a guaranteed method to go into a casino and come out with a small fortune: go in there with a large one,” laughs Sal Piacente, a former casino dealer and security staffer who now runs UniverSal Game Protection Development, a company that trains casino staff members. He and other casino insiders know that casinos exist to not only take our money, but to keep as much of theirs as possible — both by offering games that are tilted in the house’s favor and by having air-tight security measures designed to catch thieves and cheaters.
So Yahoo Travel talked to Sal and other casino experts with decades of experience in the industry to get some dirty little secrets of casinos. Not only are these secrets juicy — knowing them might help you keep a little bit more of your money during your next casino trip. But probably just a little bit.
1. Some games are way more of a ripoff than others — even by casino standards.
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It’s common knowledge that just about every game you’ll find in a casino is tilted in the house’s favor. But Sal says some games are worse than others. “A lot of these games are designed so that the player can’t win,” says Sal. “That’s why the players have to realize they need to stay away from certain games.”
The top of his list: so-called 'carnival games,” which are table games other than the traditional casino fare such as blackjack, craps, and baccarat. “Three-card poker, Let it Ride, Caribbean Stud — all these games have high house advantages where the casino has a strong edge,” Sal says. “People like these games because of the bigger payouts: They get paid 9-to-1, 8-to-1, 250-to-1. But you’re going to lose a lot more than you’re going to win in those games.”
Sal has particular disdain for Double Exposure Blackjack, which he considers a particular ripoff, thanks to strict rules on when you can double down and the fact that if you tie with the dealer without a blackjack, the dealer wins. “That’s over a 9 percent house advantage,” Sal says. “The dealer should be wearing a [robber’s] mask when he deals that game!”
2. Some games are “good” games — or at least better.
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How Do Casinos Make Money
“There are games tourists can play that they have better chances at,” says Derk Boss, a licensed Nevada private investigator and casino security surveillance expert. For one, he points to traditional blackjack. “You can reduce the house advantages by being a skilled player or studying the game,” he says. He also likes video poker. “That’s a game where there are strategies you can study,” he says. “It doesn’t guarantee you’re going to win, but it gives you a much better chance. It’s going to reduce the house advantage and put things a little bit more in your favor.”
3. Everything you see is designed to keep you in the casino.
A couple of gamblers drinking a glass of champagne (iStock)
Anyone who’s spent time in a casino knows they are designed to make sure you’ll lose track of the time (and of the money you’re probably losing). That means no windows and no clocks. “Two in the morning is the exact same thing as two in the afternoon,” says Sal. Some casinos have gone to desperate, and sexy, measures to keep you there and gambling. “They have stripper poles, they have party pits,” Sal says. “You go to Vegas right now, it looks like a gentlemen’s club. You see girls dancing on the poles. It keeps the guys at the table.”
And don’t be fooled by the “free” food and drink offers you might get. Those have the same purpose. “I love when people say, ‘Sal, they gave me a $20 buffet for free!’” Sal says, laughing. “You sat at a blackjack table, you lost $200 and they gave you a $20 buffet.” That’s what you all a good return on investment.
4. Security is probably watching you… for your entire stay.
Security camera (iStock)
If you’re in a casino, you can assume you’re being watched. “Casinos are very well-covered with surveillance cameras,” says Derk. “Once someone arrives at our property, if we needed to put together their movements over their entire stay, we could easily do so. We would be able to track their movements on the property just about wherever they went — except for like the bathroom and into their hotel room.”
Casinos generally use surveillance to look out for criminals who prey on tourists and the cheaters. And, yes, Derk says they can actually zoom in on your cards if they wanted to. So somewhere in the casino, in a locked, high-tech room, a security guard you’ll never see might be telling you to “hit.”
5. And if you win big, they’re definitely watching you.
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You can bet on it: if you hit a big jackpot, or get on a major hot streak, security has its eyes on you. “When someone is winning a lot of money, they’re always going to get checked by us,” Derk says. “They’re not going to know it, of course. Say a guy wins $100,000 on a blackjack game. I just want to make sure that it’s legal, that he didn’t cheat, that he didn’t count cards or something like that.”
Derk says in that instance, security will do a player evaluation: They will review his/her play on video for signs of cheating or card counting. Then they’ll check out the player. “We have a database of bad guys that are out there and what kind of scams they pull, so we’re gonna check for that,” Derk says.
Slot winners get the same scrutiny. “Say someone wins $500,000 on a slot machine jackpot,” says Derk. “We’re going to review it but we’re just going to make sure everything’s okay — that they didn’t open the machine or do something to it.”
But don’t worry: Security isn’t out to harass winners. “As long as it’s legitimate, we’re okay and we move on,” Derk says. “We want people to win money or else they won’t play.”
6. If you’re cheating, security can tell — they know all the signs.
Gambling and cheating. Ace of hearts from the sleeve (iStock)
Poker players know all about “tells,” behaviors that give away a certain action or intention. Card counters and cheaters have tells, too, and security is on the lookout for all of them. “We look for cheating tells,” says Derk. “Those are just behaviors that, when you’re trained to spot them, they stand out a little bit.” While Derk didn’t want to give away too many of these tells, he did spill a few of them:
--Two guys sitting close together — Derk says two guys playing blackjack at the same table rarely sit close together, especially when there are empty seats. “Most guys just don’t sit like that,” he says. “Women will, most guys will not.” Derk says when you do see that, it’s a potential sign that the pair may be secretly switching cards. “They’re trying to make one strong hand — which, believe me, happens,” he says. “They sit close together and have their arms folded after they’re handed their cards. We suspect that [indicates] they’re switching cards, so that’ll get our attention.”
--Strange or extreme money management — Say someone is betting $100 for three or four hands, then from out of nowhere, bets $10,000. “That to us is an indicator that maybe they’re receiving information,” says Derk. “Maybe they can see the hole card, maybe they’re card counting, maybe they’re tracking a clump of cards. They’re waiting for a certain condition to arrive in the game, so they’re going to play minimally until that change happens and once that happens they’ll hit.” Derk says that’s a major red flag.
--“Rubber-necking” — A dead giveaway of a slot machine saboteur. “If somebody is cheating a slot machine, invariably, they’ll sit at it and they don’t really have to look at the machine because they know what they’re going to cause it to do,” says Derk. “So they’re usually looking around, from one side to the other, looking for security. That’s what we call 'rubber-necking.’ That’s a big tell for us because [normal] slot players don’t do that — they play their machine and they don’t want to be bothered. So if you look around like that, that’s going to get out attention and we’ll stop to figure out why.
7. One place the casino probably isn’t watching you too closely: the poker rooms.
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“Believe it or not, we don’t spend a whole lot of time on poker at all,” says Derk. For one, since poker players play against each other, and not the house, the casino doesn’t have much money at stake. The poker players themselves, do, however, and that’s the second reason why casino security staffers don’t need to monitor poker rooms that closely.
“The players really police themselves,” Derk says. “When you get people who play poker all the time, they know when someone is screwing off or trying to take advantage of something and they’ll say something. They pay attention to it better than anybody.”
8. Dealers would rather you bet your tips for them.
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It’s a basic bit of casino etiquette, but tip your dealers. “Dealers make minimum wage or in some places might make a little bit more than minimum wage,” says Sal. “A dealer’s salary is all tips.”
Sal’s wife and business partner, Dee — a former casino dealer herself — agrees. But she says that despite common casino policy, most dealers would prefer that, instead of handing them a chip or two as a tip, players just put the tip up as a bet. “If a player asks you if you want to bet it or if you just want to take the tip, you’re supposed to just take the tip,” Dee says. “But most of us want to bet it because you have chance of doubling your money.”
9. The dealers feel bad for you.
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When someone loses their shirt, you can expect some silent pity, but not much else. “I can feel sorry for the guy, but I can’t say, 'Sir, you’ve lost enough, you’d better walk away,’” Sal says. “It’s not my job. There’s nothing I can do.”
Still, Sal admits dealers do find themselves following the players’ success, or lack thereof. “If a guy’s tipping, you don’t want him to lose,” he says. “If a guy’s not tipping, you’re rooting for him to lose!”
10. Yes, dealers sometimes steal.
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What’s the most common case of casino malfeasance Sal has dealt with? Hint: It’s not 11 tech-savvy scammers led by George Clooney. “This is not as Hollywood as you would think, but honestly, it’s dealers just reaching in, grabbing a chip and shoving it in their pocket,” Sal says. “Nothing sophisticated.” That’s the reason behind all those strange rituals you may see dealers do. “Everything the dealers do was put in place for a reason,” Sal says. For example, when a dealer leaves a table, they have to “clear their hands.” “They clap their hands and turn their hands palm up and palm down for the camera to show, 'I’m not stealing nothing,’” says Sal.
If a dealer is stealing, Sal says there are many different ways security will handle it, depending on where the casino is. “In Vegas, they’ll arrest you right at a table,” he says. “They’ll actually handcuff and walk you right out so everybody gets to see you. They call it 'The Walk of Shame.’ Some places, they don’t want the negative publicity. They’d rather do it off the game. So maybe they’ll call you to the manager’s office and arrest you there.”
Sure, it’s no secret that in a casino, the game is rigged, numerically, at least. “The longer you’re there, the more the numbers are going to take over and the casino’s going to make money,” says Dee. “Let’s be realistic; they’re in it to make money.” But even though we know the score, that doesn’t take away from how much fun casinos are. “People come there to have a good time,” says Dee. “So if you’re having a good time along the way and you win a few bucks or you lose a few bucks, great.”
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Playing blackjack online for real money can be fun and profitable. It can be even more lucrative when you are able to take advantage of free bet blackjack. Don’t have a large bankroll? No problem! Here are a few tips that you can use to score free bets on the most popular game in the online casino.
What is Free Bet Blackjack?
Free bet blackjack may be defined as any type of blackjack where you are given money to make your wagers. That might sound unbelievable, but we will show you that it is indeed possible. Playing online blackjack with someone else’s money is a huge advantage. It is especially helpful for those who might be new to the game and are just perfecting their basic strategy and card counting.
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Getting free bets at the blackjack table requires that you have an online casino account. You will find that Counting Edge recommends quite a few online casinos that are good for blackjack players. Many of these will provide you with a sum of free money to wager. Others will reward you with free money when you play consistently. Either way, you can use the free money to increase your blackjack bankroll.
The wagers that are made on blackjack with free money are exactly the same as the bets you would be making with you own cash. Sometimes there are conditions that apply to receiving the free money. These can range from easy to difficult depending on the online casino that you have chosen.
Let’s now take a look at how you can play blackjack for real money for free.
Online Casino Deposit Bonuses
The most common type of free bet blackjack is the online casino bonus. Bonuses come in a number of ways, but the most common type that you will find is a deposit bonus. This happens when the online casino gives you an amount of bonus money that is equal to or greater than the amount of money that you have deposited.
Why would an online casino give you free money? First of all, the casino wants you to make that first deposit. They feel justified in rewarding you with a bonus because your initial deposit indicates that you are a player. They also want you to remain with their casino instead of trying out another one.
A deposit bonus can come in a matching bonus or a percentage bonus. In a matching bonus the casino will match the deposit that you have made dollar for dollar. If you deposit $100, you will receive $100 in return. The bonus money that you receive must be wagered first before your own funds are used. The totals are kept separate so that you can track how much money you have bet with the bonus.
The percentage bonus can reward you with a percentage of your first deposit. The casino might give you a 50% matching bonus. If you deposit $100, you would receive $50 in bonus money. The same rules apply. The bonus money will be added to your account and wagered before your own money.
An exciting thing that some online casinos offer for blackjack players is a percentage deposit bonus that exceeds the amount that you have deposited. They might give you 150% of your first deposit. We have even seen some online casinos offer a 200% bonus! That means you would receive $200 in bonus money for your first deposit of $100.
The type of free bet blackjack bonus that a casino offers depends upon a lot of factors. The first of these is how badly the casino wants to gain new players. The online casino business is a competitive one. All the casinos are fighting for player dollars. This means that you can benefit when you shop around for the best bonuses.
No Deposit Bonuses for Blackjack Bets
It has become common for some online casinos to offer what is called a no deposit bonus. This type of bonus does not require you to make any deposit. You simply create an account, enter a promotion code, and claim the bonus. The amount of these bonuses is generally much smaller than that of a deposit or percentage bonus. About $10 USD is common.
Now, $10 might not seem like a lot of money to make free bets on blackjack. But you have to consider that the table minimums at an online casino are much smaller than the limits you would find in a live venue. You can often play blackjack for as little as $1 per hand online. With $10 you have enough to play at least ten hands of blackjack.
Some players make it a point to chase these no deposit bonuses and claim as many as they can. There is even a name for this. It is called bonus whoring. We don’t recommend it as a strategy because you will spend all your time chasing small amounts of money.
How to Use Your Free Blackjack Bets
How To Play Casino Blackjack
Here is a problem that many players encounter when they are using free money to play blackjack. They think that because the money is free they can afford to play loose. They use hunches instead of basic blackjack strategy, forget about card counting, and make other mistakes. Pretty soon the free money is gone and they are back to square one.
When you receive free money from an online casino to play blackjack you need to treat it as though it were you own money. Bet cautiously and stick to the winning principles of the game. You don’t need to throw the money away just because it was given to you. Be wise with it and it could grow.
Begin by playing the blackjack game with the lowest table limits. This is very important if you are just starting out. Bet $1 per hand and only play one spot on the table. Using your free money in this fashion will make it last longer and give you a better chance of winning.
Always use basic blackjack strategy. Also count cards if you can. Counting cards can be difficult in some online casinos because the cards in a virtual game are shuffled after each hand of play. But if you can find an online casino that offers a live dealer blackjack game you may be able to count cards.
Cashing Out Free Blackjack Money
You will note in most cases that free blackjack money given to you by the casino comes with some strings attached. The main requirement is that you will have to “play through” the bonus a certain number of times before you are allowed to cash out the winnings. This bonus requirement can vary from casino to casino. Sometimes you might have to bet the money 50 times before withdrawal. Other times you might only need to bet it 10 times.
The only way that you will be able to turn the free money into something that you can withdraw is with smart, consistent play. Keep track of your betting, and also notify the casino if you think that you have satisfied the requirements.
As you can see, free bet blackjack is indeed a thing! Find the best offers, play your best, and you could win a nice amount of money.
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