Cruise casino vs. Atlantic City or Vegas

[EmTeeNesters]

I have a diifferent take on the slot odds. Remember on land they are regulated by the various states, there is a loose organization of cruise lines that supposedly regulate the ships but there is no enforcement behind it. Although the odds could very well be lower, I think it may have to do more with individual machines. The trick in a casino is to find the machine that pays the best odds, I suspect there are less "good" machines in cruise casinos because the casinos are much smaller. To give an example, you may have a bank of ten machines in a land based casino and two of those machines may pay the best odds. Since the ships casinos are smaller, you may only have about ten or so of those machines in the entire casino. Generally, in all casinos, the lower the denomination of of a machine, the lower the odds. Multi denomination machines are seperate games for each demonination, this is required by law...

 

Have you noticed that the machines are "looser" for the first part of the cruise and then suddenly "tighten up"? That has been our experience. I won't even donate...err play the last couple of days... :rolleyes:

[mr. cruiser]

Have you noticed that the machines are "looser" for the first part of the cruise and then suddenly "tighten up"? That has been our experience. I won't even donate...err play the last couple of days... :rolleyes:

I'm afraid thats an old wives tale, slot machines are set up as to what the casino wants the payout to be with a computer chip. To change the payout on a machine is very expensive as they would require a new computer chip. The payouts even in Vegas are not changed that often, however the number of times a machine pays is greater in Vegas than on a cruise because of the competition. In Vegas if your casino had lousy payouts consumers would head for a casino that the machines paid out more, at sea no choice but to play in the only casino within walking distance:D

[dkjretired]

I'm afraid thats an old wives tale, slot machines are set up as to what the casino wants the payout to be with a computer chip. To change the payout on a machine is very expensive as they would require a new computer chip. The payouts even in Vegas are not changed that often, however the number of times a machine pays is greater in Vegas than on a cruise because of the competition. In Vegas if your casino had lousy payouts consumers would head for a casino that the machines paid out more, at sea no choice but to play in the only casino within walking distance:D

 

Ken is absolutely right, if you go to Simply Slots magazine or Casino player magazine, they list changing of odds and payouts as the #1 myth of slot machines. The odds of the machine are set at the factory and most are not changed during its lifetime. Just as an aside, in land based casinos such as those in Jersey or Nevada, it is illegal to change the

RNG (Random Number Generator) unless a member of the casino control commission is present. This just shows how difficult it is. The RNG is very expensive and cost prohibitive to change. I have seen this myth about slot machines in many forms, better odds in the beginning of a cruise, better odds at end, before dinner, after dinner, during at sea day.

 

Bottom line, they don't have to change the odds, they will always win in the long run...

[EmTeeNesters]

Thanks for the information. Just one more question:

 

How do they get the bank of slot machines to hit so often during the slots tournaments? After the tournament is over, they definitely revert back to "normal". Just curious.

[richstowe]

Great answer! I still don't get why they don't give free drinks though. After all ,free drinks make people bet stupid and thus pay for themselves many times over. I get

that on a ship you can't move to another casino BUT thats not why casino's give away free booze. Its in their own interest. Smarten up cruise lines!

[dkjretired]

Thanks for the information. Just one more question:

 

How do they get the bank of slot machines to hit so often during the slots tournaments? After the tournament is over, they definitely revert back to "normal". Just curious.

 

Special program for tournaments seperate from the regular program. I was just on the Dawn and the attendent hit a few buttons to activate the program.

[patseacruiser]

Casino Player - I see you live in NY - is that NYC near AC? I live 35 minutes north of AC and I don't have to tell you how often you can see me at the poker table.

[Casino Player]

Casino Player - I see you live in NY - is that NYC near AC? I live 35 minutes north of AC and I don't have to tell you how often you can see me at the poker table.

 

HHHHHEEEEELLLLLLLLLLOOOOO patseacruiser: I do live in NYC and go to AC often. Not as much this year as I would like to go though.

You play at the poker table? I like to play at the craps table. Do you live in NJ? Begining next year Celebrity Cruise Line will run a ship all year based out of Bayonne.

[Mr. Luckytoo]

HHHHHEEEEELLLLLLLLLLOOOOO familyak3: The best line I think for gaming is Celebrity Cruise Line. 3-4-5x odds on the craps table. Minimum $5 bet for Pass Line and Don't Pass bets. $1 for Prop bets.

 

I just got off the Epic TA.

 

The casino on this ship is very much like a real casino.

 

they have two (2) poker tables with a real dealer, not that pokerpro crap

 

this was the first time I was able to play Pai Gow on a cruise ship. The drawback is there was no automatic shuffler so it was really LONG between games.

 

The Epic has 2 craps tables but they only had one table open during the TA with a $5 min. Odds were 3x/4x/5x. The Dealers were very good, especially Dan (an American with Vegas experience) and Simba

 

The casino reminded me of Harrah's in AC

[Casino Player]

I just got off the Epic TA.

 

The casino on this ship is very much like a real casino.

 

they have two (2) poker tables with a real dealer, not that pokerpro crap

 

this was the first time I was able to play Pai Gow on a cruise ship. The drawback is there was no automatic shuffler so it was really LONG between games.

 

The Epic has 2 craps tables but they only had one table open during the TA with a $5 min. Odds were 3x/4x/5x. The Dealers were very good, especially Dan (an American with Vegas experience) and Simba

 

The casino reminded me of Harrah's in AC

 

HHHHHEEEEELLLLLLLLLLOOOOO Mr. Luckytoo: I am sure the Casino is good on a new ship. NCL is owned, at least 50%, by the same people who own Harrah's. Thus, you have similarities.

I sailed on NCL back in 2003. On the Dawn when it was a new ship. The Casino was pretty good, but, most other things about the cruise turned off my wife and I. On the Dawn they had two craps tables too. They wouldn't open the second table even when you had lots of people waiting to play at the one table. What good is having two tables if you only use one?

[nobog]

HHHHHEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLOOOOO patseacruiser: You are correct. The ships do offer lessons. Usually during the first seating on the first night. They teach you about all the bets and how to play the game. It is up to the player to determine what strategy to use.

 

Casino Player: I don't know how you mean it but your "hello" comes off as very condesending.. Maybe its just me but thats how it comes across.

[familyak3]

Casino Player: I don't know how you mean it but your "hello" comes off as very condesending.. Maybe its just me but thats how it comes across.

 

I like Casino Player's BIG friendly hello. Actually I find your avatar a little scary and funny at the same time:cool:

[Dicenator]

One big difference that you will find is the table limits. In Atlantic City where I play it is very hard to find a $5 minimum bet on any game. On the cruise ships it is $5 all the time and I've been on a few cruises where they had $3 minimums on the first night. Do not play any 6:5 blackjack because the house edge goes up to 4 to 5%.

 

They give classes on a lot of the games. For example I just got off a cruise on the Carnival Glory on 6/27 and I watched the instruction for craps. All they do is teach you the basics and the bets. They do not get into any strategy. The only good strategy is don't play because every game is a negative expectation for the players.

 

Dicenator

[BeagleDogLover]

The one good thing about ship casinos is that I don't know anyone who has been banned for counting cards. I received some dirty looks from the pit bosses for openly telling people when the deck was good and proper strategy. Of course, the rules are so bad that they don't really care.

 

One amusing anecdote is when I was first cruising before they had the stabilizers. When the sea got rough (during the day) I hung out by the 'quarter pusher' machine and would rake in the quarters that spilled over the edge as the ship moved from side to side. Of course, it was a Pyrrhic victory as the casino got that and much more later in the day.

[familyak3]

One big difference that you will find is the table limits. In Atlantic City where I play it is very hard to find a $5 minimum bet on any game. On the cruise ships it is $5 all the time and I've been on a few cruises where they had $3 minimums on the first night. Do not play any 6:5 blackjack because the house edge goes up to 4 to 5%.

 

They give classes on a lot of the games. For example I just got off a cruise on the Carnival Glory on 6/27 and I watched the instruction for craps. All they do is teach you the basics and the bets. They do not get into any strategy. The only good strategy is don't play because every game is a negative expectation for the players.

 

Dicenator

The craps minimums sounds good for us as beginners.

 

Dicenator, on the other thread, I read your trip report and I thought wow, how did you keep track of your rolls? You and your wife did well. I don't understand what you mean by good stategy is don't play...

[Casino Player]

Casino Player: I don't know how you mean it but your "hello" comes off as very condesending.. Maybe its just me but thats how it comes across.

 

HHHHHEEEEELLLLLLLLLLOOOOO Nobog: You are correct, it is just you. There are many others that like it and a few that it disturbs. I don't worry about what others think. You can't please everyone.

[Casino Player]

The craps minimums sounds good for us as beginners.

 

Dicenator, on the other thread, I read your trip report and I thought wow, how did you keep track of your rolls? You and your wife did well. I don't understand what you mean by good stategy is don't play...

 

HHHHHEEEEELLLLLLLLLLOOOOO familyak3: The best strategy is to make bets with low house edge. Betting the Pass Line, Come area with full odds are good bets, but, only if you can afford them.

Don't Pass and Don't Come bets are good too. You have a slight edge playing the don't, however, it is a very small edge. Insignificant really. Just depends on you whether you bet with the dice or against the dice.

Another good bet with a low house edge is to make a Place Bet on the 6 or 8. The return is 7-6, but, those two numbers have the most combinations to hit other than the 7.

[Robinhill]

]My DH and I love to gamble. We are not high rollers. It just gets the blood pumping for us.

We will be going on Voyager in a few weeks.

Can you think of any differences between a cruise casino and

the land ones. We don’t play craps because we don’t know how. We like black jack, slots, roulette, poker etc. Will any games be better on the ship?

 

One good thing is that they usually keep the tables with low minimums so that everyone can play whereas AC and Vegas they gradually increase the minimums with the amount of people wanting to play so that you can end up with $25 minimum tables instead of say $5. I do much better and play much longer on the cruise ships then I do in Vegas or AC generally.

[Dicenator]

I bring a notebook with me to the table and I record every throw that myself and my wife make. I keep statistics and can tell you with each of the 2 ways that I throw the dice, which numbers are prominent for that type of throw. I average close to 12 throws per hand whereas the average player will average around 8 throws total from comeout to 7 out. These extra 4 throws will usally contain about 2 extra paying box numbers.

 

By saying don't play I mean that the casino has a built in advantage over you on every game you play. My last cruise which just ended on 6/27 I was up around $450 playing craps but my wife was down around $650 from playing everything else. She wasn't lucky on this cruise, but her last cruise was in early April on Celebrity and she won $1300 at roulette. What i've seen is that players do get up sometimes but the vast majority give it right back to the casino and then more.

 

When I play and get ahead chips start going into my pocket. Once they are there they don't come out again until I'm at the cashier. My goal is to get at least what my original buyin was in my pocket. 90% of the time I'm cashing in chips at the end of my session when I'm going home. I always use my players card at the casino I play in Atlantic City. They keep track of wins and losses. For 2009 their records say that I lost $349. But they don't know about the chips in my pocket so in reality I won thousands.

 

If you play craps, the best bets are the pass or don't pass and they get better with odds. The 6 and 8 only have a 1.67% house advantage if I remember correctly. If someone at the table is on a hot roll go with them and start covering more numbers. I don't recommend come bets.

 

 

Dicenator

[arc918]

HHHHHEEEEELLLLLLLLLLOOOOO familyak3: The best strategy is to make bets with low house edge. Betting the Pass Line, Come area with full odds are good bets, but, only if you can afford them.

 

Don't Pass and Don't Come bets are good too. You have a slight edge playing the don't, however, it is a very small edge. Insignificant really. Just depends on you whether you bet with the dice or against the dice.

 

Another good bet with a low house edge is to make a Place Bet on the 6 or 8. The return is 7-6, but, those two numbers have the most combinations to hit other than the 7.

 

important comment on placing the 6 & 8, make your bets in $6 increments ($6, $12, $18. $24, etc.)

 

a $5 bet pays $5

a $6 bet pays $7

a $7 bet pays $7

 

be sure not to put your $6 on "Big 6 or Big 8"

 

hand/toss your chips to the dealer and say $6 six and eight (or whatever

the desired amount is)

 

all the prop bets in the middle of the board have terrible odds - take double 6s or double 1s(box cars or snake eyes) the odds are 1:36, but the payout is 1:30 = almost a 14% edge to the house!

[dkjretired]

HHHHHEEEEELLLLLLLLLLOOOOO Nobog: You are correct, it is just you. There are many others that like it and a few that it disturbs. I don't worry about what others think. You can't please everyone.

 

Casino player has been doing that for a long while and is emulating a New York City TV personality from many years ago who did the hello....