Paul Mendelson - The Mammoth Book of Casino Games

Paul Mendelson is perhaps best known as the Financial Times Bridge correspondent. He has written six bestselling books on Bridge and Poker, including The Right Way to Play Bridge, Bridge for Complete Beginners, Texas Hold em Poker: Begin and Win and The Mammoth Book of Poker. He is an all-round mind-sports guru, having won gold and silver medals in the Mind Sports Olympiad and The Scottish National Championships.

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The Mammoth Book of

Paul Mendelson

Constable & Robinson Ltd
3 The Lanchesters 162 Fulham Palace Road
London W6 9ER
www.constablerobinson.com

First published in the UK by Robinson,
an imprint of Constable & Robinson, 2010

Copyright Paul Mendelson, 2010

The right of Paul Mendelson to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs & Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

A copy of the British Library Cataloguing in Publication
Data is available from the British Library

UK ISBN 978-1-84901-271-3

1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2

First published in the United States in 2010 by Running Press Book Publishers
All rights reserved under the Pan-American and International
Copyright Conventions

This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part, in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system now known or hereafter invented, without written permission from the publisher.

9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Digit on the right indicates the number of this printing

US Library of Congress number: 2009929936
US ISBN 978-0-7624-3847-1

Running Press Book Publishers
2300 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19103-4371

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www.runningpress.com

Printed and bound in the EU

Typesetting and editorial: Basement Press

W ELCOME to The Mammoth Book of Casino Games. It has a simple aim: the next time you play in a casino whatever your game of choice I want you to enjoy it more and have a better chance of coming out a winner. It is no exaggeration to say: dont go into another casino until youve read this book, especially the sections on the games you play regularly.

Having played in many casinos all over the world, it always amazes me how incredibly generous players are to the casinos. As if those corporations which they nearly all are didnt make enough money already, punters everywhere boost the casino profits with uninformed play, reckless money management, and ignorant attempts to buck the odds. The fact is that nowadays the odds of every casino game can be established by running computer simulations over hundreds of millions of plays. This technique started back in the 1950s when the game of Blackjack, or 21, was first studied by Edward O. Thorpe. He used the early IBM computers to analyse the correct way to play every hand, and then he created a simple count system that, not only cancelled out the casinos advantage, but actually provided the players with an advantage. This cannot be achieved for every game, but the correct play will reduce the house edge to a minimum, increase your enjoyment of the game, and greatly improve your chances of making a profit. In short, there is no place for superstition and feelings, just hard facts and optimum play.

At the start of my Mammoth Book of Poker, I ask one simple question, but it is truly the most important of all: Do you want to play, or do you want to win? There is a massive difference between the mind-set for the former and the focus required for the latter. Working at anything usually helps to improve your skills and better results will follow. When it comes to a pastime where you might be risking large sums of money, it strikes me that a little gentle work is scarcely much of a burden when the result could be worth hundreds, thousands, even hundreds of thousands of dollars in your pockets. However, if you feel that you cant be bothered to read up the right ways to play casino games, the best ways to enjoy complimentary accommodation, meals, show tickets and gaming credits, the correct mental approach to gambling, and the best way to behave in a casino, then put this book down, grab your wad, and prepare to lose it. The obvious indicators for this loss are the gigantic monoliths of corporate headquarters, the massive dividends to shareholders, and the huge annual profits earned by the casinos.

Las Vegas is not only the world centre of gambling, it is also probably the best place in the world to gamble. The games are strictly regulated and security is excellent. The most profitable rules for the players are usually applied; bonuses and incentives are superb. But and it is a huge but just take a look at the place. Those multi-million dollar hotels, the snazzy boutiques, the massive explosion of upmarket real estate are all funded by one thing alone: gambling revenues in other words, the money lost by the punters in the casinos. In the old days, casino-hotels used to rely on gaming revenues for everything; nowadays, the hotels and resorts may bring in over half the companys revenue, but it is still the promise of gambling, and the bling-bling with which it is associated, that lures in the punters and powers the citys glittering lights. The next time you see pictures of Vegas, or you find yourself walking down The Strip, look up and ask yourself whether you really want to be a major contributor to the global organizations that built them? Or would you rather enjoy yourself for a cheaper price, even leave Vegas in profit?