My House Wins

Do you know someone who is crazy about hold percentage? Maybe you know someone who is just crazy? While hold percentage may be useful, it only tells part of the story and should be used as a tool in the arsenal that is used to manage a casino's profits. It should not be used as the ONLY tool to manage profits! Managers who do not understand casino games, do not understand hold percentage. Hold percentage is only an indicator of how well a game is performing and can be used a

One Shuffle Fits All Remember when dealers split six decks in half, riffled the cards once or twice in three sections and offered you the decks to cut all in about 90 seconds? What happened to those days? Nowadays, you can walk to the nearest bathroom, use the facilities, wash and dry your hands, walk back and still have time for a phone call before the next shoe is cut. In fact, a bathroom break can even be had in the time it takes to shuffle a double deck game! Today's com

Your Pit Bosses do what? Fill slips, player ratings, game protection, customer service, comps, schedules, enforce procedures, rule on player disputes and spot advantage play. Wait! Spot advantage play? How? From the hour long seminar they attended last year that told them that the way to spot card counters was to watch bet variation and basic strategy variations? LMFAO! 99% of the pit personnel don't know basic strategy on blackjack, much less Ultimate Texas Hold 'em, 3 card

Part 8 - Lone Wolves A large portion of AP's are lone wolves who travel solo looking for opportunities. Almost all lone wolves pose little if no threat to the casino and yet casinos spend more time pursuing lone wolves than focusing on real threats. Almost no great opportunities are available to the lone wolf and while the lone wolf can be successful, just like real packs of wolves, packs pose a much bigger threat than individuals. The point of all this is that casinos love l

Part 7 - Are slot and VP AP's a threat to Casinos? Slots and VP are unlike most other casino games. There are no dealers, chips, cards or down time. It's just man vs machine and some AP's prefer it that way. Why have a bunch of ploppys tell you you're an idiot for making plays that only the mentally challenged would make, listen to the same tired, old ploppy wisdoms about the flow of the cards or have a pit boss chained to your leg when you can find serenity with man vs. ma

Part 6 - Card Counting and Video Poker Card Counting and Video Poker? What could they possibly have in common? Well, more than it may at first appear. Both Card Counting Blackjack and Video Poker typically have relatively low house edges. Both good BJ and good VP games can be easily beaten under the right circumstances and with a little practice, particularly VP. Although they both can be beaten through "conventional" methods, the edge gained is tiny at best. What does this m

Part 5 - Cheats and Thieves This is a sore subject for AP's. True Advantage Play relies on skill not deceit. If you look at a man right in the eye, it's hard to get your hand in his wallet. Gaining an edge for the AP is a personal challenge and takes mental, physical and emotional skill not sleight of hand. No self-respecting AP would stoop to cheating to gain an edge. Ill gotten wins are not the goal of the AP. AP's get personal satisfaction from beating casinos at the casin

Part 4 - House Edge Tax and the REAL House Edge Every casino game is designed to have a fixed house edge (tax) with optimal play. Let me repeat that, WITH OPTIMAL PLAY! When was the last time you saw any type of optimal play at a table game or video poker machine? In fact, there isn't a single person in any casino that can even tell you what the optimal play is on any game except the aforementioned, extremely rarely found Advantage Player. This house edge tax is the price tha

Part 3 - Card Counting Myths abound about teams of card counters winning millions of dollars from unwitting casinos. The most famous is the acclaimed MIT blackjack team. However, the successes of the most feared team of AP's are greatly exaggerated. Team members have regaled over the decades about their successes and have revealed that although some of the teams were successful, some were not and that the amount of their overall win is greatly exaggerated. Team members also h

Part 2 - All the stars must align for an AP to succeed The only successful Advantage Players are the ones that have all their stars aligned. It starts with knowledge. First, you have to know HOW to beat the games. The successful Advantage Player has to carry an arsenal of weapons that they can unleash at any time when an opportunity presents itself. The successful Advantage Player must know not only know basic strategy backwards and forwards and ALL the rules for EVERY game i

Part 1 - Introduction Most people hear the word Advantage Player and thoughts of nefarious gangs of criminals who lay siege on unwitting casinos always walking out with wheelbarrows full of cash come to mind. The reality couldn't be further from the truth! So, to answer the question, what are Advantage Players, you have to ask yourself, are they thieves? Are they ne're-do-wells? Do they hang out in gangs? Are they always successful? Are hundreds in casinos at all times? The s