First Time Going To A Casino Tips
Q: What’s going on with the buffets and when can I go eat at one? A: One casino in the region, Valley View Casino & Hotel, has brought back its buffet, but with food brought to diners’ tables. A few tips for first time visitors to Vegas: If you’re on a budget, gamble off the strip and during off-peak hours. Yep – the minimum bets at tables go up, up, up the closer you get to the strip, and also during peak times (Thursday – Saturday nights). The SB Community Join the community for the chance to learn all interesting First Time Going To A Casino Tips news around top bookmakers that also offer the best bonuses for new and existing players. Keep on returning for more professional reviews we add on a daily basis. At the same time, booking a room closer to the lido deck will cut down on the time you spend going back and forth to your room. And if you’re prone to seasickness, booking a cabin midship is your best bet, since the rocking caused by rough seas will be felt the least. Let's suppose you're going to play $2/$4 limit hold 'em, and you've decided to buy in for the maximum this casino allows for this game, which is, say, $200. There are four different ways you might.
Ed. note: For those who might have missed it before, we're reprising Robert Woolley's series of articles for poker players who are new to live poker. The series is great for newcomers, and likely useful as well to those with experience playing in casinos and poker rooms. Below find an introduction that answers some of the questions players have when deciding to play in a live poker room for the first time.
This series of articles is intended for people who have played poker online and/or in home games, but have little or no experience playing in a 'brick-and-mortar' casino.
Casinos have rules, procedures, and points of etiquette that can trip up players on their first few visits — or at least confuse and mystify them. I hope to explain these for you in advance so that you don't get intimidated or embarrassed. Understanding them might also keep you from losing money by inadvertently breaking a rule during the game.
Articles in this series focus specifically on how poker in casinos differs from what you have learned from playing online poker or in home games, particularly in what might be termed its 'procedural' aspects. I work from the assumption that readers have enough experience under their belts at one or both of those other types of poker games to feel comfortable playing them and would like to try adding casino poker to their repertoire.
For this first installment, I'll give you a step-by-step guide for getting into a cash game. I'll cover entering a casino poker tournament in a later column.
Figuring Out What Games Are Available
So you've taken the trip to Las Vegas, Atlantic City, Tunica, Los Angeles, or any of the other many poker destinations that are now available in the U.S. and around the world. You've selected which poker room to patronize. Now what?
Your first step is to know what games are available. Poker rooms vary in how they communicate game availability to would-be players. Most now have a large-screen TV listing the games and the names of any people waiting to play. Some use a manually updated white board. The smallest rooms sometimes still use one person behind a desk with a simple piece of paper, and you have to ask what games are available.
Let's say that by one of these methods you learn that the choices are listed as follows:
- 2-4 limit hold'em
- 4-8 limit hold'em
- 1-2 no-limit hold'em
- 2-5 no-limit hold'em
- 4-8 Omaha-8
Often you'll see a number in parentheses after such listings, which tells you how many tables of each game are in play. Some places display the actual table numbers. (Each table in a poker room has a fixed identification number.) If there are names under the game heading, that tells you who is waiting to play.
What the Numbers Mean
The stakes of the game are communicated by the pair of numbers in front of the name of the game. Confusingly, the numbers mean different things for different games.
In hold'em and Omaha (i.e., the so-called 'flop games'), fixed-limit games are named by the size of the bets you can make. For example, '4-8 limit hold'em' means that the bets and raises are each $4 for the first two betting rounds of each hand (before the flop and on the flop), and $8 on the turn and river. The blinds in these games are typically one-half of those values, or $2 and $4 in this example, though some casinos use different structures.
Stud games (and draw games, if you can ever find one) follow the same convention — the numbers in the name of the game represent allowable bet sizes.
But just when you think you understand that, you discover that no-limit games are listed differently. '1-2 no-limit hold'em' does not mean that the bets are $1 and $2 — that would violate the whole concept of a 'no-limit' structure. Instead, these games are named by the size of the two blinds, in this case the small blind being $1 and the big blind $2.
To make it even more confusing, a few casinos — most notably the largest ones in southern California — eschew the conventions I've just described in favor of a bewildering hodge-podge of buy-ins and blinds as the titles of their games.
For example, a '$40 NL' game will mean no-limit hold'em with buy-in of exactly $40 — no more and no less — with blinds unstated but understood to be $1 and $2. There are other variations used in these places that are too numerous to detail here. But don't worry — just tell them that it's your first time there, and they'll be happy to explain what the words, numbers, and abbreviations mean. Just about everywhere else, the explanations above will serve you well.
Buying In and Taking a Seat
Okay, so let's say you've decided which of the offered games you'd like to play. Now just approach the person poised to greet you at the entrance to the poker room and tell him or her what you're interested in. You will either be put on the waiting list for a opening, or, if you're lucky, directed or escorted directly to a vacant seat in an active game.
If you have to wait, be sure that you don't wander off to someplace where you can't hear your name being called. Some poker rooms now offer to call or text your cell phone when it's your turn, in which case you're free to go do something else while you wait. However, I think it's a better idea to stick around and watch (from a respectable distance) a game of the type you plan to play, in order to get a sense for what's happening.
Next you'll need to convert some cash into chips. But how much? The amount for which you can or must buy in to a game is related to the sizes of the blinds and/or bets, but not in any obvious or standardized way. Most commonly, the buy-in is capped at 100, 150, or 200 times the amount of the big blind in no-limit games. However, you can find poker rooms with substantially smaller buy-in caps, and some with no caps at all.
There's no reliable way to figure this out on your own; you just have to ask an employee. Limit games are often officially uncapped, but you'd be looked at oddly if you bought into a fixed-limit game for more than about 50 big blinds, because stack sizes are not usually an important factor in how the game plays.
Let's suppose you're going to play $2/$4 limit hold 'em, and you've decided to buy in for the maximum this casino allows for this game, which is, say, $200. There are four different ways you might exchange your cash for poker chips.
- The person at the front podium who signs you in might also serve as the room's cashier.
- He or she might direct you to a separate cashier's 'cage' to purchase chips.
- You might be instructed to buy your chips from the dealer when you sit down.
- After you take your seat, they might have a 'chip runner' take your money and bring you chips.
Again, which method a given place uses (and it can change depending on how busy they are) is not usually obvious, even to experienced players — you just have to ask.
Congratulations! You're past the first set of hurdles, and seated in your first casino poker game, with a fresh stack of chips stacked neatly in front of you. In the next entry, I'll start to delve into what the casino expects of you as a player at one of its tables.
Robert Woolley lives in Asheville, NC. He spent several years in Las Vegas and chronicled his life in poker on the 'Poker Grump' blog.
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cash game strategylive casino pokerbeginner strategyrulesetiquette
I’ve been to a casino less than ten times in my life, but I really love the atmosphere and people watching when I do go. You always see the people who are on a winning streak, with their excitement and big smiles, and then the other people with grim faces… the ones who just blew away their rent money for the month. You see, one thing I learned right from the get go was to never expect to win a penny. You’re in for a bad time if you think you’re there to earn an income of some sort.
Having said that, I’ve also had a bit of luck with online casinos in the past. Sometimes you feel like playing but don’t want to leave the house. Blackjack is my game, and if online casinos are your thing then there is no shortage of sites to play on. I actually happened to pay for my Las Vegas trip thanks to a bit of luck at an online casino. But if you’re visiting Las Vegas and a casino for the first time, below are a few tips to help you enjoy your time there.
No Cell Phones
Sure, sounds obvious and it makes sense, but I kept forgetting since I’m always used to grabbing my phone and looking at messages. You can obviously have cell phones inside the casinos, but don’t use them if you are at a table game. I learned by having the dealer at the table notify me about this policy.
Set a Budget For Losing
Of course it would be great if you can walk into a casino and leave with pockets full of cash, but just to be on the safe side, have a maximum budget that you can afford to lose without your wife divorcing you. Consider this budget as entertainment for the night. If you win, great, but if you leave with nothing, you were already expecting that so no harm done.
Keep a Close Eyes On Chips & Belongings
Based on what I saw, 80 percent of the people in Vegas casinos are under the influence of alcohol which explains why the casinos are raking it in from these drunks with poor judgement. Chances are, you’ll also be drinking and it’s important to keep an eye on your personal belongings. There are professionals in Vegas who are preying on unsuspecting tourists who are too busy enjoying their vacation. And while at the table games, keep your chips in front of you and pay attention to them. If you have chips that you plan to cash out, hide them away while you’re at the tables.
Stacking Chips
The chips you are using for your table games, arrange them in an order where the most valuable chips are at the bottom of the stack while the lower valued chips are on top of the stack. This way, should a quick handed thief grab some chips, they’ll only be grabbing the ones worth a few bucks and not your $20 and $100 chips.
Enjoy The Complimentary Beverages
As you’re playing the table games, there are dozens of waitresses taking drink orders. If you didn’t know, these drinks are complimentary! I have heard that they are a bit watered down since they are free, but free booze is free booze. Although drinks are free, it’s common courtesy to tip the waitresses. Most people give them $2 to $5 in chips.
Expectations (Winnings)
How To Go To A Casino For The First Time
The worst thing you can do is to expect to win big. The only thing you should be expecting is a great time in Vegas with lots of entertainment and shows, architecture, strip clubs, and night clubs. And if you do want to win big, chances are that you also have to bet bigger.
Casino First Time Tips
Winnings and Taxes
Just because it’s winnings at a casino doesn’t mean you don’t have to pay taxes. No sir, Uncle Sam is ready to take your money anywhere and everywhere. When it comes to slot-machine winnings, a W-2G form must be filled out if the winnings are $1,200 or more in a single jackpot. If you win $800 from one slot-machine and another $1000 from another slot-machine, you are in the clear and don’t have to pay taxes. But table games such as blackjack and roulette are usually not taxable.
Sorry, But That Hot & Friendly Lady Is Working
They say that hot and friendly women may approach you for a good time. I saw this happen right in front of me but she wasn’t hot. Before you decide to join them, just know that these women are hookers and they indeed are looking for a good time… but at a price. What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, but what you catch in Vegas will likely come back with you. So be careful.
Well, that was my list of a few tips to help you on your first time journey to Las Vegas and its casinos. If you have any tips, feel free to comment below.
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