Vegas Casino

Got too many pennys in a jar somewhere? I always do, so I pack 'em up and take them to Gold Spike downtown, and play an hour or so of Joker Poker in their penny slot area. After that I take whatever's left to the change booth and get real money. What a deal! On my latest trip I was surprised how often I was able to find full pay nickel video poker. The Plaza downtown has it, and so do the Gold Coast, Palms and Stardust, so look around in the multiplay machines. The 4 Queens downtown has penny 6/5 Jacks or Better. I won 17 cents and can't wait to go back.

Sports Book

Las Vegas is a treasure trove of sports books with more than enough action for anyone. Simulcast horse races and major league team sports are among the things you can bet on, but there's also Golf, Tennis, Auto Racing, Boxing etc. The Las Vegas books are generally quite nice, and surprisingly different. There is a lot to weigh in terms of options, and I won't attempt it since I'm not sufficiently familiar with all their policies. Las Vegas Hilton is the biggest, and in some ways the best. They offer odds that are competitive with the offshores, including low vig on NFL at certain times, like 105 on Wednesday nights, and future odds that unlike most Las Vegas books might give the bettor a chance. Other good ones include the Plaza downtown, Sam's Town on Boulder Highway, Stardust, Bally's, and MGM. Binion's downtown, and Imperial Palace on the strip have large race books. Mandalay Bay and Gold Coast are also nice spots for playing the ponies, and if you get hungry they have 75 cent hot dogs in the sportsbook at the Coast properties. I play NFL games, and it can invoLas Vegase a lot of walking to try to find a better money line, or an extra half point on a game. It helps to know that books with common ownership have identical lines. If you are walking around shopping for odds, the route I'd recommend would be to check out Imperial Palace, then Harrah's next door, and finally across the street to Caesar's Palace. Which is the best place to watch a game or race? Bally's is a really nice setup, certainly the best I've seen! The MGM Grand has a Stage Deli adjacent to it's sportsbook, a definite plus.

Gaming

I hate to spoil your fun, but don't play the game unless you know the basic strategy. If you violate that rule, you may think you are gambling, but you're really just giving your money away. If you're willing to do that, find a panhandler somewhere. The difference between a 99% return and a 97% return is that with the latter you will lose your money 3 times as fast! The best machine, and most popular game with locals is video poker, of which there are many varieties. The simplest to learn the basic strategy for is Jacks Or Better. In fact the strategy is so easy to learn that the casinos don't like to offer "full pay" 9/6 JB machines. If you get a hand with a pair of Jacks or better you get back one unit for each unit played, in other words you break even. If you get an additional pair of anything you get back two units - MAKE SURE THAT PAYS 2 UNITS. The majority of these slots (called a variety of names, Jacks Or Better, Draw Poker, etc.) are 8/5, meaning they pay 8 for a full house, and 5 for a flush. Frankly, that's a poor bet, and there are machines with even lower pay tables. The trick is to look around for a machine with a 9/6 pay schedule ("full pay"). If you can't find full pay Jacks or better, look for full pay Double Bonus. The pay table will show 10 for the full house and 7 for the flush, and using the same simple strategy that works on Jacks or better will produce good results with Double Bonus. Remember that video poker machines don't get hot or cold; it's the pay table that determines the payback.

IMPORTANT ADVICE - Whatever video poker game you play, learn what pay table constitutes "full pay", and don't play any VP machine that isn't full pay!!! If you do, you are being ripped off and sending the casinos the message that players are suckers who don't know the difference when they're being short changed. Also remember that the term "full pay" does not mean 100% payback. Even a machine that has an actual 100% payback needs to factor in that ever elusive Royal Flush to get there. Currently the most common machines are "Double Double Bonus", "Joker Poker" and "Deuces Wild". Before you play the slots you should consider getting a slot club card to insert into the machine during play. You should also show your slot club card to the dealer when you play table games. I'd advise against joining a slot club unless you are actually going to play there. That's because casinos sometimes have special offers for new members, that you can't take advantage of if you are already a member. Being a slot club member can sometimes get you perks like line passes for restaurants or shows at some places (ask if you want to avoid waiting in line), or room discounts, etc. Blackjack has an even lower edge for the house than video poker. All the places have different blackjack rules, but the best games are where the dealer stands on soft 17, which makes a big difference. The SUCKER bet in Blackjack is games that don't pay the full 3-2 odds on Blackjack - they try to trick people by offering single deck or whatever, but you might as well paint the word sucker on your forehead, because that's what they are thinking. Accepting 6-5 on a Blackjack instead of 3-2 will cost the average player about $200 in a 4 hour session. Anytime that you've been playing table games or slots for 3 or 4 hours and it's documented by you using your slot club card, don't get up and leave without asking for a comp for something, coffee shop, buffet, etc., you've earned it.