Goals
Goal Groups
     Like the two players in the stories at the beginning of the chapter, casino goals fall somewhere between the extremes of getting the money and having fun. At one end of the spectrum is the professional gambler, who goes to his “job” at his casino “office” eight to ten hours a day, six or seven days a week, toiling away at a video poker machine or blackjack table. The former plays fast, sometimes banging away at two machines. The latter plays three hands heads-up against the dealer, with intense concentration. Neither is making small talk with other players and both often resent any interruption, social or business.
     At the other end of the spectrum are the purely recreational players, dropping a few coins here and there as they carry their coin cups through the rows of slot machines, or drinking and whooping it up with friends at the crap table. I recall a scene at a riverboat-casino a few years ago. Four senior citizens, two couples, were crowded around one nickel video poker machine. All four would “vote” on which cards to hold, taking turns pushing the buttons and dropping in a single nickel for the next hand. Whenever they stopped to order drinks, there was a lot of chatter and laughter. They cashed out credits immediately after every winning hand so they could enjoy feeling like winners while the coins clinked into the tray.
     The images of the pro and low rollers are extremes, of course. But they illustrate the two main reasons that people go to casinos—for profit and for fun, with the entertainment factor overwhelmingly more common. Even the most serious gamblers, those whose goal is to make money, will say that the entertainment factor is still very important. We often say that we can’t help it that we like our “work” so much.
     Goals have a way of overlapping, so there are many categories of gamblers intermingled between these two main goals.
     • The largest group can be summed up as people seeking occasional entertainment. The typical member of this group is a vacationer who goes on several-day sprees to casino destinations—Las Vegas, Atlantic City, or even the Mississippi Gulf area—once or twice a year. This might be coupled with a monthly trip to a nearby riverboat or Native American casino. This casual casino visitor enjoys the restaurants, the shopping, the shows, and the nearby sightseeing as much as, or even more than, the gambling itself. Some in this group play table games that look easy, such as roulette, but most are likely intimidated by blackjack and craps. Reel slots are the game of choice for most of these people, and many don’t join a slot club, because they don’t feel they play often enough to bother.
     People in this group pay for their entire casino visit out of their entertainment budget; they don’t differentiate between gambling and non-gambling expenses. Most don’t read gambling literature, having more important interests in their lives. They think, “When I’m on vacation, my mind likes to vacation too.” And most believe that luck alone will control whether they win or lose—so they mostly lose, but don’t mind, since they’d be spending the same money on traveling or other entertainment choices anyway.
     • More serious than those who go for occasional entertainment are those who want frequent entertainment. This group grows larger every year, thanks to the spread of gambling, which allows them to take several trips a year to casino towns and/or frequent daytrips to casinos within driving distance. This group still likes the non-gambling activities a casino provides, but their enjoyment of the games themselves is growing. The slots are popular with this group as well, but they join slot clubs and know how to accrue perks. Some learn the rules and etiquette of some of the more complicated table games and you might find them at the blackjack or crap tables.
     Because they spend more time playing, many start to see the advantage of having a separate gambling bankroll to help them control their budgets. They also begin reading about gambling and casinos. Not only does the subject interest them, but they find the information can expand their gaming opportunities and make casino visits more profitable, and thus, more fun.
     • Then there’s a transitional group that thinks of gambling as an inexpensive hobby. These people still consider the casino a place of entertainment, but they’re also willing to put forth some time and study in an effort to reduce their expenses so they can enjoy it longer. They go to a casino as often as their work schedule, family obligations, and bankroll allow.
     Usually, people in this group have chosen one or two games that they enjoy, and have begun to study these games so they can play them with the largest advantage (or slightest disadvantage) they can. They often play blackjack and they’ve learned basic strategy. If they’ve chosen craps, they’ve studied which of the many bets available on the table have the lowest casino advantage. However, most of these players still choose machine play, although many are switching from slots to video poker.
     Whatever their choice of game, this group quickly learns how to cover a lot of their losses by using the comp system. Those who play the machines become experts at using the slot club system, zeroing in on promotions such as bonus-point days, which helps them accumulate cash and comps faster.
     This group usually consists of avid readers of gambling material; if they can’t be in a casino, they want to read about being in one.
     • The next group thinks a casino is a good place for a profitable hobby, and here is where the numbers quickly start to shrink. Many knowledgeable casino patrons develop gambling to the point where it becomes a low-cost hobby. But a few, in their search for information, come across an amazing concept: Some casino games can be played with the mathematical edge on the player’s, rather than the casino’s, side; and because of that, there’s something called “advantage play.” However, they soon realize that these opportunities are limited. And even when they’re found, they all require strong motivation, dogged determination, an adequate bankroll, and extensive and continual study.
     A select few of these hobbyists looking for profit can use their computer-driven research to do battle with the odds on their side in the sports and race books. A few succeed in the live poker rooms, where knowledge, experience, and patience are key requirements. A few can beat the casino by skilled card counting at the blackjack table. And a growing group of video poker players can end up in the black in their casino logs by skillfully choosing machines and applying accurate playing strategies.
     These gamblers never stop studying. They soak up information like sponges—in written material, on the Internet, and from fellow gamblers. They hunt for good playing opportunities in any casino: on Native American reservations, aboard Midwest riverboats, on Mississippi boats that never sail and rarely even float, and along the Boardwalk or in the Marina in Atlantic City. But for many of them, Las Vegas is the mecca of advantage play—and they spend as much time as they can in this city.
     • Without even realizing it, many advantage players cross over from treating gambling as a profitable hobby to making it a part-time job. Actually, these two groups do about the same thing, only the label is different. Some consider advantage play a part-time job if they need the income for necessary expenses; other part-time “pros” supplement their regular income this way. Some remain hobbyists due to geographical considerations: They don’t have advantage-play opportunities within driving distance, so they have to save their passion for when they can arrange a trip to a good gambling location.
     The dream, especially of many younger video poker advantage players, is to retire in Las Vegas. This group would love to turn their profitable gambling hobby into a part-time job to supplement their pensions, as many retirees in Vegas have done.
     • The smallest group consists of the pros who make gambling their full-time job. This is a tough gig, no matter which of the five possible specialties are chosen: live poker, video poker, race betting, sports betting, or blackjack. It’s not only hard work, but the opportunities for making a profit are very limited. You can find good plays in only a restricted number of casinos, and in some gambling locales there are no opportunities at all. Most pros live and “work” in Las Vegas, which offers the most opportunities. But even here they’re becoming more rare as time passes, forcing some pros to travel extensively to find work, often on only a temporarily profitable job. Bob Dancer, a well-known video poker pro, describes his job as most professional gamblers would, “A hard way to make an easy living.”