There are things you should do in a casino and there are things you shouldn’t do. Some of these are simply decorum issues, some have to do with the rules of the particular game you are playing. I think the key words here are “don’t be offensive.”
Okay, now, this part is simple. You should follow the rules of the game you are playing. Some of these rules are ironclad. You can’t touch the cards in a face-up blackjack game. You can’t dangle your hands over the craps table where the dice can hit them. Hit the back wall with the dice. Simple rules really.
What you should say, how you should talk, and who you should tease is a little more complicated. Who you should complain to – or whether you should complain at all, now that is an even more nuanced task. Players do have a tendency to whine and moan if they have lost a lot that session. I guess that’s par for the course.
I am generally cordial at the table games. I say hello to the other players when I enter a game or when another player enters the game that I’m at and I even cheer when they do something good or if they have good luck. Why not? Good luck is good luck. Players like to be applauded. Don’t they?
I tip the dealers whether I am winning or losing. I try to make the game easy for me and for them.
But in my over 40 years of playing in the casinos, I have seen players do and say awful things. Come along with me for the ride on two such occasions.
Oh, Please, Please Shut Up
If you are at a blackjack table, you don’t want to mention or act as if you know anything about card counting. That should be, and usually is, a verboten topic.
Card counting is one way that the players can get the edge over the house at this table game – the most popular table-game in the casino. The casinos are very much aware of this fact and they watch the games closely to make sure no one is actually counting the cards.
If they catch a player who is counting they will simply ask that player to stop playing or tell the player to leave the casino or ban them or trespass them, in which case the player cannot return to the casino if he or she doesn’t want to be arrested.
If you are a good and a wealthy player the risks will be greater if you count cards. If you are a small-stakes player you will be considered a flea to be snuffed off. The more the player can hit the house, the harder the house will hit back. That’s a casino law of nature.
Can many blackjack players actually count cards? No, but some rare few do try. However, it is not an easy skill to master.
But with thousands of players flocking to the casinos daily, it might be that a few players of that throng may be able to give counting a go.
My Blackjack Story
This happened just before the pandemic at a luxury casino in Las Vegas. I wanted to buy into a game and I went up to the table.
Oops, there was an argument going on.
A weird as heck argument.
It caught my attention that’s for sure. I didn’t bother to buy in. I just stood there and listened.
“So, you see when all the aces come out or most of them, there won’t be any or many blackjacks. Blackjacks are favorable to the player.”
The guy talking was big and fat and seemed a little tipsy … or maybe a lot tipsy. He was giving a lesson on card counting at a blackjack table in the swanky high-roller room no less.
“Sir,” said the floor person. “We prefer not to talk about, you know, card counting.” The floor person smiled, slightly. The blubbery guy was playing two hands for quite a lot of money.
“I’m not counting the cards, I’m just talking about it. Is there is a law against talking about it?” There were two other people at the table and they smiled. I don’t think they wanted to hear a lecture about card counting but they were polite. I mean this was a high-roller room in a high-roller casino.
“When the small cards come out, anything under seven, that is good for the players because there are more big cards left to be played. So, if the count favors the player, he will bet bigger. And that’s the basic theory of card counting. Good counts favor the players and bad counts favor the casino.”
The pit boss came over. “We prefer not to talk about you know what right? It’s kind of a thing here.”
Mr. Blubberbutt said, “I just got my ass whipped at the craps tables. Can’t I just have a conversation with these two fellas? I’m not hurting anyone am I?”
The pit boss made his decision, “We prefer you don’t. Card counting is not looked upon favorably here.” The pit boss laughed. But Mr. Blubberbutt just kept going. At what point would they ask him to leave? Or would they ask him to leave? He was a big bettor.
“I know you can beat the house with card counting, there I said it, card counting, but most players can’t do it. The casinos really don’t have to worry about it. But you can see how afraid they are – his arm swept across and it took in the pit boss and the floor person – neither of whom was smiling.
“Sir,” said the pit boss. “Perhaps you’d like to go back to craps? Your luck might change there.”
“You don’t want me to play blackjack?” said Mr. Blubberbutt.
“Uh … maybe … but no talking about card counting, okay?” The pit boss seemed resolute. That told me two things. Mr. Blubber was not a regular and they would (I am guessing) go the route not to let him play unless he followed their orders.
“Well,” said Mr. Blubberbutt. “I can tell when I am not wanted,” and he took his chips (dropping a few which I picked up and handed to him) and he left. I’m guessing he left the casino. Card counting, even in language, is a bad, bad topic to broach in a casino.
By the way, he’s the only person I ever heard talk about card counting at the blackjack tables. And I’ve been playing 40 years or so. Most blackjack players know about card counting but they don’t care to talk about it when they are playing.
Craps: Don’t Say the Word 'Seven'
Craps has certain strictures. Kind of like semi-rules. You should never say the word “seven” because that will bring out the seven and end everyone’s chance to make some dough on the current shooter, who will go down in flames when that “seven” rolls.
Any proof to that assertion? No. It’s a piece of craps mysticism but players believe it and other players should obey the belief systems of the craps residents who might get perturbed if their ideas are not followed.
Craps has other strictures too. Mostly mystical too.
Do not dangle your hands over the table. If the dice hit one or both of your hands or your arms that will bring out the “seven.” Will it? No, the seven will appear six times out of 36 rolls. On average that is.
You must hit the back wall with both dice. What happens if you miss once? Nothing. What happens if you miss twice? Probably the box man or the floor person will tell you that you must hit the back wall. Three times? Probably another warning.
Cheers!
Craps can be a loud game when rightside dice players are winning money because the shooter is hitting loads of numbers. That makes a lot of money for almost any craps player.
Except for darksiders, those players who are rooting against numbers being rolled and looking for the otherwise dreaded seven to show its ugly faces, ending the shooter's roll.
It is rare indeed that any darksiders will cheer at the table when their hoped-for seven appears. Why? Because usually there will be only one darksider or maybe just two of them. There are no legions of darksiders.
Craps tables have more cheers on them than probably any other table in the casino. Except for the following true story torn from the pages of something that has pages.
The Cheering Darksiders
The craps table had three openings on one side if you count a dozen players, six and six on each side. Our four guys pushed their way onto the table and one of the former players left the table for some reason or other. (Probably because they pushed him so the four of them could get on.)
This was midweek in Atlantic City at a big casino sometime in the late 1990s. This casino had a lot of bus traffic it was definitely a midweek early afternoon.
They cashed in and all of them made a don’t bet, a darkside bet that would go against the numbers, when the shooter took the dice. These guys were not at that exact moment rooting for the seven because on the come-out roll the seven would be a loser for them.
But after that? Onward and upward as they say.
The shooter’s point was a four. He had to make a four for the rightside players to win. If he rolled a seven the darksiders would win.
Now these young men had maybe been in the Sopranos that season. They had slicked-back hair and they were each smoking a cigarette. And then the bigger guy called out: “Let’s see the seven Herbie!”
Herbie, the shooter, whose name I am guessing was not Herbie, ignored the shouts of the big guy. “Seven Herbie! Seven! Saaa-vvvv- ann!”
Herbie sevened out to the cheers of the Soprano crowd. “Who is next?” said the skinniest of the four darksiders. “Who next?”
“Michelle? What the hell. Is you a man or a babe?” The three friends yucked it up on that one.
Michelle rolled a seven and the pass line bettors won their come-out bets. “No more of that my girl,” said the second biggest guy putting down another don’t pass bet. “We’re here to make money, girl.”
“Roll a number, Joey Boy,” said the second-biggest guy. “You see I don’t think you are a girl. But you’re cute.”
The shooter rolled and his number was a six. He came right back with a seven.
The four lobos cheered and whooped and hollered. They were making money.
“The seven is our friend! The seven is our friend!” They chanted. And smoked. And chanted. And smoked. A couple of players left the table. “The seven is our friend!”
Now the floor person came over. The casino’s craps games were crowded but this table lost a few more players as the floor person watched the game. You had one side of the table with the four amigos and the other side with just one player. The four amigos were chanting, smoking heavy drags of their cigarettes, and singing out their seven songs.
“What about you buddy?” One of the amigos called to me. “I don’t know how to play,” I lied.
“Can anyone in this joint know how to play this simple game?” the big guy shouted smoke coming out of his nose. “What about you buddy?” he said to the one remaining player on the opposite side of the table from him. That player picked up his chips and left. There were now only the four of them. And me, of course, standing watching.
No one came to the table. In a little while these men left the table. “This casino sucks!” said the big guy.
They left and the table quickly filled up again. I even played.
All the best in and out of the casinos!
