Rules

Rules of playing Keno in Casino

Keno was Nevada’s form of the lottery until Megabucks appeared. Keno is a very simple game to play. As shown in the illustration, there are 80 possible numbers on a Keno ticket. The player tries to guess which numbers will constitute the 20 picked by the Keno machine. A player can pick from one number up to 15, or even 20 numbers.
Keno is a very slow game. The casinos maintain a lounge where the machine is located, and spectator/players drink and bet. This machine has the 80 numbered balls in its holding tank.

When the machine is turned on, 20 balls are sucked into the top part of the machine - these are the winning numbers. Since winnings can be very large (one casino advertises a $1,000,000 Keno payoff) the machine is constantly being filmed by surveillance.

Keno boards are posted all over the casino so the players can see which numbers were picked. These boards have the numbers 1-80 on them and the numbers that are picked light up.

The casinos have runners who walk around the entire casino picking up Keno tickets from customers who want to play. The Keno game must wait for all the runners to return with the Keno tickets before the next game can be run. This delay is up to 10 minutes between games.

Look at the math behind Keno. Do not read this if you just ate, because it will make you sick, as Keno is a disgusting game for everyone except the casino. Suppose a player picks 8 numbers. The odds of picking 8 out of 8 are 230,114 to 1! If the player bet $10, therefore, he should win $2,301,140 minus the casino edge. These are the true odds. What payoff does the casino actually give the player? $250,000. That is correct! This is taken from one of the largest casinos in Las Vegas; most Keno games in town have the same payoffs.

Keno is a terrible game for the player. The casino’s edge is more than 25 percent - and they call me a thief! If that isn’t bad enough, the casinos have come up with even worse (for the player) ways to play. Multigame tickets allow a player to mark a number of Keno tickets (2-20) all at once and then hand them to a Keno runner. By doing this he is free to go dust his money on video Keno, because he does not have to worry about the results from the real game until the last game he played is called.
Remember, 20 games of Keno will take hours. If you play single games you must collect your winnings before the next game starts. Some casinos even have “Keno To Go.” This is great (if you’re the casino). You can play from 21 to 1,000 consecutive games, and have up to a full year to collect your winnings. STAY AWAY!

The 1993 Annual Report of the New Jersey Gaming Commission notes that, bowing to public pressure, Atlantic City casinos would lower their Keno take from 38 percent to 35 percent. Unbelievable!

Other than self-destructive tendencies and sheer boredom, why do people play Keno? Actually, as bad as Keno is a player cannot lose too much money since it’s a cheap game to play. A player cannot make big bets, and the game is so slow he cannot quickly dust off a ton of money. Some people play Keno just to take up time.
Cheating modern Keno is very difficult. The game is filmed 24 hours a day. There are many checks and guards against any kind of wrong or phony ticket being paid. Any amount of money paid out over $1,199 in Keno (slots, too) must be reported to the IRS. This means the casinos ask for identification before they will pay. This is an obstacle cheaters must overcome - false ID helps.

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Playing Roulette

Overview

Roulette is a fun game to play and is easy to learn. In its most basic form, all you have to do is bet on the numbers.

Roulette comes as either European Roulette (the original version) or American Roulette (which has an additional “00″ on the wheel). Both games are played exactly the same way, with the 00 in American roulette being the only difference between the two.

Roulette is popular because it has some of the highest payouts of any casino game. Roulette is the only game that pays out at up to 35:1 for a single bet!

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When betting is open, players can place bets on any of the numbers on the board including the 0 and 00, as well as being able to bet on doubles (two numbers side-by-side), corners (a corner of four numbers together), rows (a row of three numbers across the board) and sixes (two joining rows of three numbers). Players can also place Outside bets. These bets are Red/Black, Odd/Even, High (1-18/Low (19-36), dozens (1-12, 13-24, 25-36) and columns (columns of twelve numbers).

Once all of the best have been placed, the croupier spins the wheel and releases the white ball in the opposite direction to the way the wheel is spinning. When the ball drops into one of the numbers slots, the game is finished. The croupier takes away all of the loosing bets, and then pays out all of the winning bets. After this, the game is open for the next round of betting.

To play roulette, you place your bet or bets on numbers (any number including the zero) in the table layout or on the outside, and when everybody at the table had a chance to place their bets, the croupier starts the spin and launches the ball. Just a few moments before the ball is about to drop over the slots, the croupier says ‘no more bets’. From that moment no one is allowed to place - or change - their bets until the ball drops on a slot. Only after the croupier places the dolly on the winning number on the roulette table and clears all the losing bets you can then start placing your new bets while the croupier pays the winners. The winners are those bets that are on or around the number that comes up. Also the bets on the outside of the layout win if the winning number is represented.

The House advantage
On a single zero roulette table the House advantage is 2.7%. On a double zero roulette table it is 5.26% (7.9% on the five-number bet, 0-00-1-2-3). The House advantage is gained by paying the winners a chip or two (or a proportion of it) less than what it should have been if there was no advantage. (See Roulette Quiz - The Casino Advantage.)

The ‘En Prison’ rule
A roulette rule applied to even-money bets only, and by some casinos (not all). When the outcome is zero, some casinos will allow the player to either take back half his/her bet or leave the bet (en prison = in prison) for another roulette spin. In the second case, if the following spin the outcome is again zero, then the whole bet is lost.

The ‘La Partage’ rule
The la partage roulette rule is similar to the en prison rule, only in this case the player loses half the bet and does not have the option of leaving the bet en prison for another spin. This refers to the ‘outside’ even-money bets Red/Black, High/Low, Odd/Even and applies when the outcome is zero. Both the La Partage and the En Prison roulette rules essentially cut the casino edge on the ‘even-money bets’ in half. So a bet on Red on a single-zero roulette table with the la partage rule or the en prison rule has a 1.35% House edge and one on a double-zero roulette table has a House edge of 2.63%.

The payouts
A bet on one number only, called a straight-up bet, pays 35 to 1. (You collect 36. With no House advantage you should collect 37 (38 in the USA on double zero roulette wheels).
A two-number bet, called split bet, pays 17 to 1.
A three-number bet, called street bet, pays 11 to 1.
A four-number bet, called corner bet, pays 8 to 1.
A six-number bet, pays 5 to 1.
A bet on the outside dozen or column, pays 2 to 1.
A bet on the outside even money bets, pays 1 to 1.

Object of the game
To win at roulette the player needs to predict where the ball will land after each spin. This is by no means easy. In fact, luck plays an important part in this game. Some players go with the winning numbers calling them ‘hot’ numbers and therefore likely to come up more times. Others see which numbers did not come up for some time and bet on them believing that their turn is now due. Some players bet on many numbers to increase their chances of winning at every spin, but this way the payout is considerably reduced. Other methodical players use specific roulette systems or methods, money management systems, or both.

French roulette rules

The French roulette rules are very much like the European roulette rules. It has the same 37 numbered wheel with one zero but a different table layout for the outside bets. See Table layout (Link opens new window).

The player odds in French roulette are the same as in European roulette (only one zero) and better than the odds in American roulette (two zeros). The players loose only 50% of their even-money bets when the outcome is zero, known as the ‘La Partage’ rule.

The object of the game is still the same - to predict which number out of possible 37 the ball will land on. And of course, they speak French. Below are the English and equivalent French terms for the various roulette bets:

Inside bets

One number Straight up = En plein
Two numbers Split Bet = Cheval
Three numbers Street Bet = Transversale
Four numbers Corner = Carre
Six numbers Line Bet = Sixainne
Outside bets

Twelve numbers Column = Colonne
Twelve numbers Dozen = Douzaine
Red or Black = Rouge, Noir
Even or Odd = Pair, Impair
Low or High numbers = Manque, Passe
Did you know?

In every casino it is customary that the croupier starts the first round/spin of the day with the ball lying in the number slot of the date of that day. This obviously excludes the numbers 32, 33, 34, 35, 36 and 0.

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My last trip to Las Vegas was around 10 years ago and as with all of my trips to Las Vegas, I had my lovely wife with me (well someone has to keep me in check) but not just my wife this time, we had two of our younger children with us. This trip proved to be one of the most memorable trips of all time.

We were on vacation, on a fly-drive holiday again, but our itinerary didn’t originally include Vegas but Palm Springs. Our visit there was short and sweet, well no, not sweet, just unbearably hot. I know what you are thinking, well what do you expect in the middle of the desert? Bad planning on my part! We literally  spent one night there. None of us managed to get much sleep that night and the children became very irritable as a result, so it was decided that we move on to our unplanned destination of Las Vegas. The deal was “No Gambling” just entertainment for the children, even though we had Disneyland etc to look forward to, but we had not budgeted for any gambling.  Anyway, I agreed in the hope that I might get a chance to have a flutter.

We stayed at the Sahara Casino Hotel. Staying at a Casino Hotel with children meant that you could not go onto the gambling floor if you had children with you. The only permissible time was when walking through to the exit or to your room, but you were not allowed to stop. I totally agree with this rule if you have children.

The first night we were there, the memories of previous visits came flooding back and I just wanted to get into the action. But the agreement was no gambling! Being the devoted husband and father that I am, this agreement was kept by me. Well, almost! As we were walking through the casino, I hung back a short distance and when the wife wasn’t looking, dropped a dollar into a slot machine. I won $10.00.

Having to take time to collect my winnings, my wife turned around to see where I was and spotted me - ouch! - I tell you, you never want to get on the wrong side of my wife

The lecture taken in and the winnings duly confiscated by my wife, we set out to enjoy ourselves taking in many of the attractions that Las Vegas now offers children and the young at heart. We had a magical time, even without gambling.

It was our last evening there before setting out to San Francisco via Yosemite. On arival back at the Hotel, I asked my wife if she still had the $10.00 she had confiscated from me. “Why? She asked” I said “play that machine there” pointing to a huge slot machine just in the entrance to the Casino. Every Casino seemed to have one of these and I believe they were all linked to a massive life-changing jackpot. “You never know your luck” I said. Surprisingly she agreed and I stood back in the doorway with the children so as not to break any laws and watched as she dropped a dollar in and then another and another. Suddenly, I saw the security guards rushing over to her. Hurriedly I went over to see “Jackpot”"Jackpot”"Jackpot” “Jackpot”"Jackpot” in the display.  Unlike any other winning machine, there were no bells, no whistles, no flashing lights and no clanking of coins. My wife was beside herself with excitement. Until that is, one of the security guards asked her “How many coins did you play?”  “One” my wife replied,”Why do you ask?”  With that the security guard pointed to a small printed area  on the machine ” To win the jackpot, you must play 3 coins” - —-  oh my word —- my wife’s excitement turned to floods of tears and hysterics… You really can’t imagine!  This was only made worse by me laughing…you see I am a realist and I just saw the funny side… trying to console my wife I asked her ” Well, would you have played $3 at a time if you had known?”  “No” she said. Then I said “Well just put it down to an experience you will never forget” The annoying part for me, was it didn’t even pay out a dime! Not one single dime! Added to which, I wanted to take a photograph, but the security guard wouldn’t let me.

You could argue the ethics of this experience until you are blue in the face, but rules are rules and when there is so much money at stake, no one is going to bend them for you.

In summary, if you plan on going to Las Vegas or any other Casino for that matter and if you don’t want to suffer disappointment on this scale, make sure you have read and understand the rules of any game you play.

As far as my wife and I are concerned, it is an experience we will never forget and one we talk about a lot. My wife can see the funny side now, but that said has vowed never to gamble again.

Graham Maddison
Copyright © Graham Maddison-2009

Texas Holdem Poker Rules

Texas holdem poker is a popular card game played the world over in Casino’s, online, at home and at some corporate events. It is played with a typical 52 card deck. Texas Holdem can be played with as little as two players (going “heads up”), up to a max of ten players per table. More than one table is known as a tournamant. Regular poker hands apply to this game. The typical Texas Holdem game is broken down into five categories. when the game commences, it has to be decided who will be the dealer. This is done by dealing out the cards until the first Ace turns up. The person dealt the Ace is now the dealer and receives the “Dealer button” or discc. The cards are returned to the deck and the deck is then shuffled.

Preflop:

Starting from the dealer button, each person is dealt one card and then a second card. These are known as hole or pocket cards. Both cards are dealt face down. Once everyone has received their two cards face down, the betting begins. The player immediately left of the dealer opens the betting with the “small blind” a predetermined amount. The next player has to pay double this amount the “Big Blind” this bet has to be made by the small & big blind without either player seeing their hole cards. All remaining players look at their cards and decide whether to play or fold. If a player folds  they are not required to pay any bet. If a player elects to play, they”call” and pay a minimum equivelant of the big blind, or if a player feels his cards are strong enough to win, he can raise. All subsequent players if they wish to remain in the game, need to match the raise in turn or raise again in turn. Once the betting has gone around the table, the next round of cards are dealt known as the flop.

Flop:

The dealer turns over three cards in the middle of the table (called “the flop”). These are community cards that each player can use to create their best possible hand together with their hole cards. Once again betting occurs.

Turn:

The dealer turns over one more card making  a total of four community cards. This fourth card is called “the turn” or sometimes “fourth street”. Betting occurs again.

River:

The dealer turns over the fifth and last community card. This is called “the river” or “fifth street”. Betting occurs for the last time.

Showdown:

Any players who haven’t folded in their hand, show their cards in the order from the person who made the first bet. Each player uses his two cards, and the five community cards to create the best hand (5 cards total). A player can use any combination so even if one card from his pocket cards and four of the community cards creates the best hand, it is fine.

Once play has completed, the dealer button moves round to the next player on the left of the dealer and so on.

Graham Maddison