What to do when you feel overwhelmed at a casino.
Every time I visited a casino (on vacation or not) I felt a certain amount of nervousness. It was like I was betting $10,000 in games I had no clue how to play. Fortunately, most casinos offer free lessons and if you do not know the games, most casinos will have a professional teaching staff that will be more than happy to teach you.
Other than taking a course or watching a video, how can you approach the casino without being overwhelmed in ways you might not like? Here are a few ideas I have used in the past and they may sound stupid, but I believe they work.
- Control your body language. If you try to act cool when you’re winning, others will see that as a weakness and flock to your aid in ways that will cost you in the long term. Social interaction is essential when walking away from the gaming floor, but once you’re out, the game goes on. If you’re losing, some players will become incredibly loud to try and push their luck, but mostly they will be proud of their lack of control. Try to exude composure.
- Walk with a limp. If your limp is extremely limp, you can pretend it’s a walking stick to attraction you to come closer. The casino is full of walking stick people, wannabe walkers, and people who pretend to be experts at the game. All of them can potentially be walking sticks, so try to go with the flow.
- Watch the players. When you are playing behind a pair of thick, blacking out dollar signs, it’s time to class up. Ninety percent of the time, black is your opponent. When dollar signs are on the table, however, they have to pretend they’re little green men. Hold them to their truth and you’ll get more than just knowledge of the game you are going to play. Try to find a seat where you are not directly in line with them, but not in the line of fire either. It’s a rule of thumb, but in general, if you are paying $5 and there’s at least 1 person besides you paying $5, it’s worth it to hang with the hot hands.
- Walk away. If you’re at a hot table, walk away. The problem with most gamblers is that they let the temptation of a long shot sit there and tempt them to keep playing. Sometimes it will even take on a life of its own and you’ll realize that you should have quit a long time ago. Either way, you had your money and it’s time to walk away.
- Never gamble when you’re under the influence of anything. Mind you, you should probably say no to that complimentary soft drink too if you want to win, but anything that affects your judgment is just too much. This is not a game of the higher cerebral Thinking powers. It’s a game of noise and numbers and emotions. You are Guests at the Ball Game not noted for your literary abilities. Take heed of my warning and you’ll get on with life instead of proceeding at Eagle Fundamentals.
- Nothing worse than letting a temperance addict win a load of cash then forgetting to hands it back in after he’s cashing in, because he’s had one too many.
- They say that life is what you make of it, I would have to agree with that. On the other hand, that doesn’t mean you should make life easy for frustrated gamblers by throwing money at them when they’re down.
- Baldwin’s 500 recos (yes, that’s the name of the hand!) is so easy to lose that it makes you wonder why you never heard of it being offered as a bonus at Full Tilt Dominobet.
- You will always make money if you have a balanced hand, unless you pick a random hand at the last moment and lose Call to Razz.
- If you play for $50 a hand, you should expect to lose three hands over the course of a month.
- Watch out for the guy who keeps clearing your pockets for you. I know, I’ve done it, and he’s not the only player. It’s actually a great method for ensnaring weak players, but for now you’ll just have to accept it.