There is one other alternative for those who have the discipline and control not to get carried away. You can establish a credit line with the casino you will be visiting. This column is not for everyone. If you have ever had any difficulties managing your money in the casino please skip this article. Most casinos offer credit privileges as part of their customer service to the player. It increases player loyalty because you will be inclined to play at a casino where you have a line of credit. It is also a convenience for the player not to have to carry extra cash. When you establish credit with a casino you are allowed to write a marker and withdraw money to use while gambling in the casino.

Establishing casino credit should be done before you visit the casino. In most cases it will take a few days to check your application so you should plan in advance to make sure all the paper work is done in time for your casino stay.

The first thing you need to do is to get a credit application.

If you are applying for credit at your local casino you can pick up an application at the casino. Many casinos have a credit office or you can inquire at the casino cage. If you are visiting a casino in another destination you can phone them and ask to be connected to the casino cage. Tell the person in the casino cage that you want to obtain a credit application. They can fax or mail you an application. If you have access to the Internet you may be able to download an application from the casino’s website. The Application
You will most likely have to fill out a credit application even if you are just applying for check cashing privileges. The application for casino credit is similar to an application for a credit card.

The application will also ask you the dollar amount of credit you would like to obtain. It is important that you have at least this much in the account you are listing on the credit application. You can’t have $500 dollars in your account and then expect to receive a $3,000 line of credit. The casinos want to make sure that they can withdraw the money from your account if necessary.

By signing the application you are giving the casino permission to do a complete credit check and to contact your bank. Some casinos will require you to send in a voided check along with your application.

Taking a Marker
Once your credit application is approved you an take a marker to get money to use for gambling. Taking a marker at the table is not difficult. When you sit down at the table you tell the dealer that you want a marker. The dealer will call over the floor person who will ask you for your player’s card and ask you the amount of money you would like the marker to be. The floor person will fill out the required paperwork for your request. In most casinos the marker will be printed right in the pit. In other casinos they may be printed in the cage and brought to the table. You will then be given the marker to sign and the floor person will instruct the dealer to give you chips for that amount. You are then free to play as you wish.

Slot players are not left out if they want to establish a line of credit but there is a little more scrutiny when they obtain a marker. When you are playing at the tables the Pit issues you chips with which they can track you as you play. When you are playing slots there is not as much control as to where the money goes. To obtain a marker for playing the machines you will need to visit the casino cage. Some casinos let you take a marker by requesting one through a Slot Attendant but it will be much faster at the cage.

Some casinos base the amount of the marker given to the slot player based on past play and amount of your credit line. If you normally play quarter slots for four hours a day and lose an average of $500 you will not be able to take a marker for $2,000 right from the start. The casino will also watch the slot players more carefully.

Whether you play the tables or the machines, the purpose of a marker is to allow you to be able to play without having to carry cash with you. The casino does not want you to use it as a free loan when you are in town. If you take a large marker and then play only a little and “walk” with the remainder of the money you can be cut off from taking markers in the future.

Paying Your Marker
When you sign a marker it becomes legal tender that can be cashed by the casinos. It is just the same as if you wrote them a personal check. If you do not have the money in your account and the check “bounces” you are committing fraud and are subject to the consequences.

If you are a winner it is customary to repay your markers before you leave the casino. While the casino doesn’t mind you using the money while you are there, they don’t appreciate you taking a free loan home with you along with your winnings.

You may pay your markers in full or make a partial payment with cash or check before you leave the casino. You can do this at the cage and any balance will be put on a new marker for you to sign. If you chose to pay your markers after you get home, you can do so by sending them a check or pay by wire transfer. If payment is not made within the specified time they will deposit your marker and the money will be withdrawn from the account you listed on your credit application.

The time frame for paying back markers varies by the amount of money you owe. Usually if the marker is less than $1,000 you are required to pay it back in 7 calendar days. If your marker is $1,001 - $5,000 you have 14 calendar days. If your marker is over $5,000 you usually have 45 days to pay.

Be Careful
Casino credit can be a great convenience and has many advantages because you don’t have to carry cash however you should NEVER apply for any casino credit if you don’t have the discipline to control your gambling. Having credit can be a benefit but it can also present big problems if you lose control. If you have any doubts about your ability play within a budget don’t even think about casino credit.

US Gamblers.com has started a petition to legalize and regulate online gambling in the United States. Their goal is to collect 1 million signatures. When they reach their goal they will deliver the petition to Congress. If you are as frustrated as I am trying to get your money in and out of the online poker and gambling websites, I urge you to sign this petition.

Several people I have talked to have expressed concerns about the government legalizing online poker because it would mean taxes and maybe restrictions but I disagree.

Before everyone starts worrying about the online sites being regulated consider this: Right now it is a major hassle trying to get money into an online Pokers sites. Neteller has frozen the accounts of US Players and those of us trying to get our money out are in limbo.

The US Government arrested the owners of several of the online gaming sites and those of us with money in their sites lost everything we had on deposit.

The brick and mortar casinos are regulated by the government and they are in line and geared up to run the sites once they are legal. It should not be much different from what goes on in the cardrooms they run now.

The rake online right now is lower than the B&M cardrooms may increase a little because of the taxes the sites have to pay but I feel there will be enough competition to keep it lower than most B&M rooms.

As far as taxing the players, right now if you enter and win any money in a live tournament you have to supply your Social security number when they pay you. I have no problem paying taxes on poker wins in exchange for being able to play online and know that I can get money in or out in a secure environment.

If I think the price is too high to pay then I have the option not to. It will still be better than having to worry if the money I have in the online sites is going to be lost because they are closing down.

Other than the rake there is no house edge for poker and I am confident that I can continue to make money playing even if the rake is a bit higher. I make money in the B&M cardrooms so I don’t mind. Over that last few years that I have been playing online the only money I lost came from my funds being locked up due to the government crackdown.

I have signed the petition from US Gamblers.com (http://us-gamblers.com) I also paid my dues to the Poker Players Alliance which is working to legalize online poker. Maybe I won’t like the government regulations but at least I will have the right to chose whether or not I want to play online. It will still be better than the present state of affairs that is going on at present.

The popularity of video poker has increased tremendously in the last few years. This is because video poker gives a player a chance to use skill instead of just inserting coins and pulling the handle. Some of the games offered have over 100% return in the long run when using correct playing strategy. Although most of the games with “Positive Expectations” i.e. 100% payback are offered in Nevada, there are full pay video poker machines that offer higher returns than slot machines in many gaming destinations. When you combine full pay video poker with your players club benefits you can come up with a winning strategy. The advantage of playing video poker is that a player can determine the “Expected Return” (ER) of a machine by looking at the pay table on the front of the machine.

There are 2,598,960 hands that can be produced with a 52-card deck. The RNG (random number generator) in a video poker machines is set to simulate the probabilities of drawing any one of the combinations of hands. Because this is a set probability the casino gets its edge by adjusting the pay table of the machines. By knowing how to read a pay table you can make sure you are playing the machine with the best return. I have seen two identical looking machines next to each other with different pay tables. Let’s take a look at standard Jacks or Better draw poker game. The pay table is shown below. The Royal Flush pays 250 per coin with a bonus 4,000 coin pay out when you play the maximum five coins. This is shown as 250/4000. The bonus for the royal flush is figured in to the overall return. The key to the Jacks or Better game is the pay out for the Full House (9) and the Flush (6). Note also that it pays two coins for two pairs. A machine with this pay table in the first column is referred to as a 9/6 machine and has an ER of 99.5 percent.

The casinos lower the pay out by reducing the coins paid for the full house and the flush. If you take a look at the two other examples in the chart you will see that when they lower the payout of the Full House and Flush to 8/5 the return drops to 97.30 percent. When the payout for these hands is lowered to 6/5 the payout drops down to 95 percent. A quick rule of thumb is that the pay out will be reduced by 1.1% for each coin taken away from either of these hands.

Although video poker machines may look a like they are quite different. It is up to you to read the pay table before you sit down and make sure you are choosing the machine that will offer the best return. Any Video Poker machine can be analyzed to determine the Expected Return. Many times a casino will put two machines with different pay tables next to each other. I have often seen this happen and noticed that a player is sitting at the machine with the lower return. This tells me that they are not very knowledgeable about video poker. Once you pick the best game make sure you are using the correct strategy for that game.

Casinos are always holding promotions to bring people into the casino and entice them to play once they are there. Some casinos offer books of coupons called Funbooks. Some of the items the coupons can be used for include free drinks, 2 for 1dinner or show tickets and casino logo items such as pens or hats. Many casinos offer these Funbooks as an incentive to those players who come to the casino on a bus trip or with a group of people. Some casinos offer these Funbooks and coupons to the general public just for asking but most of the time you will receive them as part of a promotion or as an bonus when you purchase other products. When you book a vacation package you are usually given some sort of coupon book for the casino where you will be saying. Magazines such as Casino Player and the Las Vegas Advisor solicit the casinos for coupons and offer coupon books to their subscribers as an incentive to renew their subscriptions.

Steve Bourie’s book, The American Casino Guide has coupons in the back. The most valuable coupon that the casinos offer is one that is sometimes over looked by many players. It is the Match Play coupon.

How they work.
A match play coupon is used for the table games. The match play coupons can come in different denominations. Some of the coupons may pay 2 for 1 or 3 for 2 or 7 to 5. Most coupons are limited to the even money bets such as blackjack, the passline in craps or the red and black or odd or even on the roulette table. You place your bet along with the match play coupon and when you win your are paid for your bet along with a bonus for the values of the coupons. For example: If you were playing blackjack and had a $10 match play coupon you would bet $10 along with the coupon. If you win the hand you would be paid $20. Ten dollars for your original bet and $10 for the match play coupon. If you had a $7 /$5 coupon, you wold bet $5 along with the coupon band be paid $7 if you win. Five dollars for you original bet and two for the coupon.

On most of the even money bets your odds of winning are a little bit under 50/50. With the house edge your odds are a closer 49/51. The casino has a house edge because they do not pay off bets at true odds. When you are getting paid double or even $7 for $5 for your bet by using a match play coupon you actually have an advantage over the casino. That is what makes these coupons so valuable. However many players do not realize the value of the coupons, especially if they do not play the table games.

Even if you are a slot player you can take advantage of the match play coupons by making a single bet at the table. You don’t even have to take a seat at the table. You can just jump in and play one hand and then go about you merry way. If you are not sure about blackjack you can bet on the red or black or odd or even at the roulette table or for some real excitement you can make a pass line bet on the craps table. In fact if you are with another person and each of you have a coupon; I can show you a bet that will guarantee a win.

any people have watched Texas Holdem tournaments on television and it looks easy to play. However before you race down to the casino and sign up for a high stakes tournament you need to learn the basics of the game and get some playing experience in low limit games. The matches you see on television are No Limit Texas Hold’em games. That means that at any time a player can bet all of his chips. This is a great format for tournaments but as a beginning player you will want to first learn to play Limit Texas Hold’em. Limit games have structured betting rounds and you are limited to the amount of money you can bet during each round. More precisely you will want to play Low Limit Texas Hold’em as you learn the game. Some of the low limit games you will find in the cardroom are have a betting structure of $2/4, $3/6 $4/8.

After you gain experience you can move up the higher limits or No Limit if you desire, but you must learn to walk before you can run. Let me explain the game and then give you some winning tips to get started. How to Play.
Texas Hold’em is a deceptively simple game to learn but a harder game to master. Each player is dealt two personal cards and then five community cards are turned up on the board. You make the best five card hand using any combination of the seven cards. For this example we will use a low limit structure of $2/4. There are four betting rounds and the first two have a limit of $2 and the last two rounds have a limit of $4. You must bet or raise only the amount of the limit for that round.

The Start
To start a new hand, two “Blind” bets are put up or “Posted.” The player immediately to the left of the dealer puts up or “posts” the small blind which half the minimum bet one dollar. The player to the left of the small blind posts the big blind which is equal to the minimum bet which is two dollars for this game. The rest of the players do not put up any money to start the hand. Because the deal rotates around the table, each player will eventually act as the big blind, small blind and dealer.

The Opening
Each player is dealt two cards face down with the player on the small blind receiving the first card and the player with the dealer button getting the last card. The first betting round begins with the player to the left of the big blind either putting in two dollars to “Call” the blind bet, or putting in four dollars to “raise” the big blind or folding his hand. The betting goes around the table in order until it reaches the player who posted the small blind. That player can call the bet by putting in one dollar since a dollar blind was already posted. The last person to act is the big blind. If no one has raised, the dealer will ask if they would like the option. This means the big blind has the option to raise or just “check.” By checking the player does not put in any more money. A rookie mistake sometimes occurs here. Because the blind is a live bet live, the player with the big blind has already put his bet in. I have seen some players throw their cards in not realizing that they are already in the hand. Another rookie mistake is betting or folding your cards when it is not your turn. You must wait before you act.

The Flop
After the first betting round is completed, three cards are dealt and turned face up in the middle of the table. This is known as the “Flop.” These are community cards used by all the players. Another betting round begins with the first active player to the left of the dealer button. The bet for this round is again two dollars.

The Turn
When the betting round after the flop is completed, the dealer turns a fourth card face up in the middle of the table. This is called the “Turn.” The bet after the turn is now four dollars and begins again with the first active player to the left of the dealer.

The River
Following the betting round for the turn, the dealer will turn a fifth and final card face up. This is called the “river,” and the final betting round begins with four dollars being the minimum bet.

The Showdown
To determine the winner, the players may use any combination of their two hole cards and the five cards on the “Board” (Table) to form the highest five-card hand. In some rare cases the best hand will be the five cards on board. Don’t count on this happening too often. In that case the active players will split the pot. A sixth card is never used to break a tie.

Casino Players are an optimistic bunch. We know deep down that the casino has the edge on most games and the games we play have a negative expectation. This is a fancy way of saying that in the long run we will lose. But we also know that in the short run anything can happen. This means that players can and do win. Nobody would go to a casino if they knew they were gong to lose each and every time. Some players study the games and make sure they are playing the best games with the lowest house edge. They take the time to learn the strategy for Blackjack, Video Poker and other games where their decisions can affect the outcome of the game. Nobody likes to lose. Whether it is because of a competitive spirit or a quest for excellence, most of us have a burning desire to win. When some players lose they feel the need to blame their loss on something other than the mathematical reality of the game.They might blame bad luck, rotten cards, the dealer or even other players at the table. Other than at live poker, this happens the most at the Blackjack table.

At a Blackjack table the seat closest to the dealer that gets dealt to first is known as first Base. The seat of the player that receives the last cards before the dealer is known as third base. The other seats really are not designated in any way. The seat that concerns players the most is third base. This is because the player in this seat is the last to act before the dealer and the decisions that this player makes receive the most scrutiny.

Many Blackjack players who have learned basic strategy feel that since they took the time to learn it, everyone else at the table should also “know how to play.” If a player at third base makes a decision that goes against basic strategy, the other basic strategy players at the table get very upset. If the player takes a hit on a hand he should have stood on and takes the card that would have busted the dealer, and the dealer then wins the hand, watch out. The rest of the players at the table will blame the player at third base for their loss. I have seen some heated arguments, discussions, name calling or worse occur when this happens.

The reality is that the only player that can affect your game in the long run is the player sitting in YOUR seat. Players tend to have selective amnesia. They remember the times that the third base player takes a card which results in a loss, however they forget about all the times that the “mistake” by the third base player actually saves the table.

Another situation that the “Basic Strategy Experts” fail to consider is that the player at third base may indeed be a card counter. A card counter will make decisions that go against basic strategy based on the relationship of the high and low cards left in the deck. So what looks like an idiot play by the player at third base in the eyes of the basic strategy player, may actually be the correct play for somebody who is counting cards.

But the players have no way of knowing this and the card counter is surely not going to defend the play to the others by telling them that the count justified the decision for doing it.

Don’t blame other players for their play. In the long run it will all even out for the basic strategy player. Remember the other player is playing with HIS money not yours. He has as much right to play the way he wants as you do. If you don’t like how someone plays at your table, you are free to get up and move to another table. If the player is new to the game you just might frighten them away. If there are no new players are learning the game there will be fewer players and the casinos will replace the blackjack tables with other games or slot machines. A trip to the casino is entertainment and should be fun for everyone. Don’t make it a bad experience by criticizing other players.