Casino Secrets Revealed during Q&A with Experienced Gaming Exec, Part 2

Today we’ll continue our revelation of casino secrets with long-time gambling industry exec Todd Haushalter providing all the answers. In Part 2, we’ll focus more on his evaluations of how to beat the casino at specific games.

How To Beat the Casino at Blackjack

“You need to first learn the right strategy and when to hit, stand, double, split, and surrender. This will take the casino advantage down to less than one percent,” said Haushalter. “Then you need to find the tables with the most favorable rules – stand on soft 17, BJ pays 3/2, double after split allowed, etc.”

He noted you’ll have to expect higher table limits with these kinds of rules, and that using a Players Card is essential, since earned comps are calculated as “part of your return on investment.”

Surprisingly, Haushalter actually recommended learning to count cards at blackjack, “if you have the energy”, despite the fact that casinos could kick you out if they know you’re doing it (he pointed that out as well).

How To Beat The Casino at Slots

First things first, you must have some luck on your side to win at the slot machines. That’s a given. Any avid slots player must be willing to lose their entire bankroll in the effort (i.e. don’t bring more than you’re willing to lose). But I was intrigued by Haushalter’s response to an inquiry asking what’s the best way to beat the slots.

“A good way to improve your chances of winning in a given session is to break your bankroll into three sections: small bets, medium bets, big bets,” he said. “You start off small then move up if you lose and up again.”

The idea is to give your bets “enough punching power to get out of the hole you have dug,” and while that may sound like the erroneous strategy of chasing losses, so long as you’re using your original bankroll to do it, it’s not.

“It is certainly no magic bullet and long run it won’t do anything for you but in terms of winning one session it is a good trick,” said Haushalter.

He offered an example of starting with a $100 bankroll. “You start betting $0.60/spin then once you are down to $60 you increase your bets to $1.00/spin, then when you are down to $30  increase to $2.00/spin,” he explained. And to give yourself a chance at making a profit, he says you must “set a modest win amount,” and “commit to quitting if you hit it.”

How to Beat the Casino’s Sportsbook

One gambler asked specifically how to win in sports betting on Tennis, and Haushalter said it’s one of the easier types of sports to win a bet on, because there’s not a lot of luck involved in one-on-one athletics competitions.

“Therefore you will be well served to watch the smaller players that the sports books are less familiar with and assign your own sort of power rankings on each court surface,” he said. “As these new players rise up you will be able to effectively assess them against the competition and catch good value when they are better than the book gives them credit for.”

[Return to Casino Secrets Revealed Part 1]