This is an informational hub for those who are about to become first time casino gamblers. Whether you're going to Las Vegas, Reno, Atlantic City, Mississippi riverboats, Europe, or one of those American Indian casinos; as a total n00b to casino gaming, you should acquire some basic knowledge before you start gambling.

There are two important rules that professional gamblers agree upon: never gamble while you're intoxicated, and never gamble with "scared money" (money that you've already allocated to pay the rent or mortgage or some other necessity.) Being drunk makes you gamble more aggressively, you don't care if you lose and you may foolishly increase your bets to levels you would never consider while sober. (I have gambled while drunk so believe me.) Gambling with your mortgage or rent money in an attempt to "get even" puts you at a huge psychological disadvantage that may cause you to make incorrect decisions and other errors in judgment.

Don't chase your losses is a third general rule, slightly less important than the first two. Professional gamblers strongly urge you to set aside a certain amount of money as your daily bankroll, and if you lose it all, you stop. Visiting the ATM or pulling another $100 out of your wallet in an attempt to get even because you just lost $500 is most likely going to put you deeper in the hole.

Those three rules, if adhered to, will prevent you from suffering a cataclysmic gambling loss.

If a cataclysmic loss is the worst thing that could happen in a day of gambling, losing your entire daily bankroll in a few minutes would be the second worst thing that could happen. So let's discuss how to stretch your gambling bankroll as far as possible.

The best way to stretch out your gambling bankroll is to add to it by winning.

Slot machines are the most popular casino game. Why do you think that is? I'm not sure why, but slots are the easiest game to play and that may explain their popularity. You don't have to make any decisions (like you do with any live or electronic poker game, craps, sports wagering or blackjack), you don't have to select a winning number (like you do with keno or roulette), you really don't have to think at all. You just pull the lever or push the button to spin the reels.

Slot machines are the least likely way to win money. The Nevada Gaming Commission sets minimum payout levels for mechanical and computerized casino games. So while a game like blackjack, if you know basic strategy, gives you about a 50/50 chance of winning (close to 100% payout) most slot machines are set to something like 75% to 85% payout. Downtown Las Vegas (the Fremont Street area), off-strip "locals" casinos, and Reno typically offer the best slots payouts while the Las Vegas strip, American Indian casinos and state lottery games typically offer the worst.

100% payout sounds attractive... and it is... but don't think it means that you'll break even at the end of the day. All payout percentages only apply in the long run... which is an indeterminate length of time. You could break even at the end of the day, or it could take 10 years for you to break even. You could, theoretically, consistently lose over and over at a 100% payout game. At some point you'll start winning but there is no way to guess how long that might take. On the other hand, you could consistently win over and over at a 100% (or lower) payout game. At some point you'll start losing, and that's also unknown.

While slot machines are the least likely way to win money, it's also true that slot machines are your best chance at winning a lot of money quickly. As the n00b gambler, one of your dilemmas is to decide whether you want to try to win a small amount of money over a long period of time with little risk, or win a lot of money in a short time with more risk (you'll lose your bankroll faster.)

For example, if you bet $10 on a blackjack hand and beat the dealer's 18 with a 20, you win $10. You sit there a long time winning $10 and then losing $10, back and forth. Some slot machines, on the other hand, have jackpots in the millions of dollars. Which you could win in one spin. You're more likely to be struck by lightning and have an asteroid crash down on the casino and on your head at the same time... but it could happen.

So, part of stretching your bankroll involves your win/loss ratio and length of time it takes to play a "hand" at a game. At a slot machine, you'll probably win one spin out of every ten spins (that's been my experience.) Each spin takes about 10 seconds. You lose money fast. At blackjack, you'll probably win 45 out of 100 hands; and if a table is full, each hand will take 60 to 90 seconds or so to play. You lose money slowly.

Your objective, of course, is to WIN money... but every casino game is designed to make money for the casino. Unless you know how to count cards at blackjack (which although it is a legal method of playing, casinos will ban you if they figure out that you're a counter), you are at a disadvantage in every game you play. Some games are better than others.

Blackjack, video poker, baccarat, and craps generally offer your best chance of winning small amounts of money over the long run. You can search around the Internet and find highly technical analysis with mathematical percentages showing the "house advantage" under different circumstances. For example, if you know how to count cards while playing blackjack, you can have an advantage over the casino. If you can't count cards but know basic strategy, the house advantage is only something like 1%. If you don't know basic strategy then the house advantage goes up to around 5%. (1% house advantage means if you have $100 bankroll you can expect to end up with $99 after an extended period of gambling.)

The house also has a very small advantage at baccarat and at PASS and DON'T PASS bets on craps (dice.) The proposition bets on dice tables like "hard way" and "box cars" are sucker bets.

Video poker IS a slot machine. The only difference between it and a conventional slot machine is that after you spin, you get to discard up to 5 reels and re-spin. The payouts are generally set higher as well, it is possible to find 98% to 99% payout video poker games although probably only in downtown Las Vegas or Reno. I recall my first few trips to Las Vegas in the early 1990's, there were a few high payout video poker games in most of the strip (Las Vegas Blvd.) casinos. Over the years they became more and more scarce and now I don't think you can find any on the strip.

For a straight Jacks or Better game, the rule of thumb is to compare the payout for a full house and a flush. If a full house pays 9 and a flush pays 7, that's called a "9/7 machine" which pays out about 97%. If a full house pays 8 and a flush pays 5, it's an "8/5 machine" which pays out about 85%.

Most video poker games in strip casinos are abysmal 6/5 or 7/5 machines.

"Fancy" games like Deuces Wild, Double Bonus, Flush Attack... anything other than plain old Jacks or Better is tougher to analyze and can't be gauged  under the full house / flush payoff comparison.

Baccarat is kind of an odd game in that 1. hardly anyone plays it, and 2. like slots, there is no decision making.

You get dealt 2 cards, like blackjack. The objective is to come as close to 8 or 9 as possible Face cards count as zero. There are rules which dictate whether or not you draw a third card, and there is no drawing of a fourth card. You just sit there and pretty much don't do anything other than bet on the player or the bank. (Betting on the bank gives you a slightly better chance of winning in the long run.)

Baccarat is usually a fancy high stakes game in the high roller area of casinos.

The most important thing to remember about slot machines, if you're going to play them, is to always play maximum coins if the jackpot is out of proportion.

Some machines pay in proportion: $100 payoff for 1 credit bet, $200 payoff for 2 credits bet, $300 for 3 credits bet (a credit being one unit... could be a nickel, a quarter, a dollar, etc.)

MOST machines pay out of proportion: $100 payoff for 1 credit bet, $200 payoff for 2 credits bet, $1,199 for 3 credits bet. THAT is the kind of machine where you want to be careful and always bet 3 credits per spin. ($1,199 is a common jackpot due to it being one dollar below the tax reporting requirement threshold.) 

On the big jackpot networked games like Quartermania and Megabucks, playing maximum coins is critical. The jackpots on those games is often in the millions of dollars... and you are not eligible for that jackpot unless you play maximum coins (3 credits, which is $3, on Megabucks). If you only drop in a dollar on a Megabucks machine and the reels line up for the $7 million or however much jackpot... you don't win $7 million. You win nothing. You have to play maximum coins to have a chance to win.

As a n00b gambler, I recommend you read some books written by professional gamblers. Not any scam books like how to beat slot machines (which you can't) or how to win at roulette (which you can't) or nonsensical "lucky number" Keno strategies but rather informational books that coach you in the correct playing strategies at games like blackjack, poker, video poker, and craps. Also do searches on Google or whatever your favorite search engine is for web sites with information about whichever games you're most interested in.

Don't buy into any scams. If someone knew how to win at roulette or keno, that's what they'd be doing instead of trying to get $9.95 out of you for their e-book or whatever.