Introduction 1 Casinos and Gamblers 2 About This Book 3 What You''re Not to Read 4 Foolish Assumptions 4 Icons Used in This Book 5 Beyond the Book 5 Where to Go from Here 5 Part 1: Casino Gambling Basics: Everything You Need to Know to Start 7 Chapter 1: Casino Gambling 101: The Inside Scoop 9 Entering the Casino: What You''re Up Against 10 Marketing their way to your wallet 10 Accepting the odds: The house rules 10 Protecting your money with a plan 11 Identifying the colors of the rainbow 12 Playing the Games: What''s Your Poison? 12 Touring the table games 13 Turning to digital and automated games 15 Betting on ball games and fast horses 16 Gambling Near and Far: Where to Find Casinos 18 Nevada: Viva the gambling state! 18 Atlantic City: Vegas of the east 19 Connecticut: Betting with the Yankees 19 Diving into on-the-water gambling 20 Tribal gaming: Cashing in on less bling 20 Beyond the borders: Gambling abroad 21 Betting on the Internet 21 Measuring Your Gambling IQ 22 Chapter 2: Taking a Quick Stroll Through the Casino 27 (Casino) Knowledge Is Power 28 Navigating the Casino Maze 29 Getting in is the easy part 29 Slot machines: Place them, and they will come 30 Table games: Penetrating the inner circle 30 The bar: Quiet escape -- or not? 31 Cashing out: Heading to the cashier''s cage 33 Meeting the Casino''s Cast of Characters 34 In the pits: Serving the table players 34 Slot employees: The reel dealers 36 Management: Running the tables 37 Maintaining a Safe and Secure Environment 38 Security personnel: The human touch 39 Surveillance: The watchers 39 Taking safety into your own hands 40 Chapter 3: Probability, Odds, and a Bit of Luck: What You Need to Succeed 41 Defining Luck: A Temporary Fluctuation 42 Understanding the Role of Probability 42 Identifying independent events 43 Recognizing dependent events 43 Factoring in the odds 44 Examining How Casinos Operate and Make Money: House Edge 45 Charging a fee 46 Paying less than the true odds 46 Calculating the Odds in Casino Games 47 Identifying payoff odds 47 Getting an edge on the house edge 48 Avoiding Myths, Magic, and Other Superstitions 49 Relying on Betting Systems 50 The Martingale system 50 The D''Alembert system 51 Chapter 4: Managing Your Money in a Casino 53 Setting a Budget and Sticking to It 54 Playing within your means 54 Determining your daily limits 55 Sizing up your bets 56 Keeping your bets consistent 56 Limiting your losses 57 Looking at Casino Credit and Its Risks 59 Grasping casino credit 59 Crediting yourself with an account 60 Using markers against casino credit 61 Knowing When Enough Is Enough 62 Knowing the odds of failure 63 Knowing thyself 63 Resisting the urge to chase losses 64 Sipping, not sinking 64 Recognizing a gambling addiction 65 Understanding Taxes and the Law 66 Deducting your losses and taxing your wins 66 Unreported winnings: Don''t fool the IRS 68 Counting comps for tax purposes 68 Lowering your gambling tax 69 Keeping a gambling log 69 Wagering with a group: Who pays the tax? 70 Part 2: Conquering the Table Games 71 Chapter 5: Minding Your Gambling Manners 73 Dressing (And Acting) the Part 74 Getting comfortable 74 Dressing up for evenings 75 Smoking permitted (sometimes) 75 Smoking other things 77 Drinking encouraged 78 Playing Well with Others: Minding Your Table Manners 79 Knowing your limits 80 Joining a game 80 Thou shall not touch and other table commandments 81 Giving Gratuities to Dealers and Others 82 Tipping your dealer 82 Tipping other casino employees 84 Avoiding the Appearance of Cheating 88 Doing the right thing 88 Playing fair and square 90 Chapter 6: Will Bluff for Food: Poker 95 Uncovering the ABCs of Casino Poker 96 Paying homage to hand hierarchy 97 Knowing the dealer 100 Following basic poker etiquette 101 Betting the Farm (Or Other Parcels of Real Estate) 102 Grasping the betting basics 103 Concluding the hand 104 Playing with (and without) betting limits 105 Bluffing: When deception pays 105 Betting it all 106 Playing the Popular Games 107 Holding your own at Texas Hold''em 108 Heading to Omaha 115 Avoiding Poker Pitfalls 117 Chapter 7: The Easiest Game to Beat: Blackjack 121 Dealing Out Blackjack Basics 121 Setting the scene 122 Valuing your cards 123 Preparing to Play 124 Finding a table: Strategic seating 124 Purchasing chips 126 Homing in on house rules 127 Dealing what''s in the cards 128 Betting Your Bottom Dollar 129 Playing Your Hand 130 Exercising your options 130 Going beyond Lady Luck 132 Strategizing in the computer age 136 Avoiding insurance 136 Betting on the side 138 Drawing the dealer''s curtain 139 Looking at payouts 140 Blackjack protocol: How to avoid trouble 141 Identifying Common Mistakes 141 Chapter 8: Rolling the Dice: Craps 143 Setting the Craps Stage 143 Casting the dice 144 Surveying the lay of the table 145 Getting to know the craps crew 147 Shooting for the whole table 148 Minding Mr Manners at a craps table 148 One Bet, Two Sets of Rules 150 One Throw, Four Possible Outcomes 150 Understanding the basic craps sequence 151 Buying in 151 Coming out: The first roll in the craps sequence 152 Making a point 153 Relying on Strategy to Place the Best Bets 154 The Pass-Line bet 154 The Come bet 155 The Don''t-Pass line bet 157 The Don''t-Come bet 158 The odds bet 159 Avoiding "Sucker" Bets 162 Resisting the lure of Big 6 and Big 8 163 Swearing off the worst place bets 163 Steering clear of buy bets 163 Laying off lay bets 164 Forswearing the field bet 164 Saying no to proposition bets 165 Finding out the hard way 166 The New Look of Casino Craps 167 Bubble craps 167 Hybrid craps 167 Chapter 9: Spinning Wheel Goes Round n'' Round: Roulette 169 Getting the Spin on Roulette Basics 170 Starting with the wheel 170 Taking in the table layout 172 Semi-automated roulette 174 Betting in technicolor 174 Chip denominations 175 Dealing with the croupier 176 Betting: the inside (and outside) scoop 177 Roulette''s special table limits 177 Making inside bets: Long shots and big payouts 178 Making outside bets: Better odds but lower payouts 179 Reciting Roulette Etiquette 181 Improving Your Odds 182 Starting with the basics 182 Playing a European wheel 183 Avoiding Strategies That Don''t Work 184 Basing your plays on history 185 Blaming wheel bias 185 Buying into betting systems 186 Chapter 10: Baccarat: Not Just For High-Rollers 189 Counting Down the Baccarat Basics 190 Baccarat Math 191 The Baccarat Zoo 192 Stepping Into Baccarat 194 Positioning yourself to play 194 Betting the banker (or the player) 195 What''s the Deal? 195 Drawing for another card 196 Following the player''s rules 196 Adhering to the banker''s rules 197 Knowing when the banker follows the banker''s rules 198 Avoiding Baccarat Time Wasters 199 Dealing with ties 199 It''s not the history; it''s a mystery, and here''s how it goes 200 Counting cards 200 Relying on instinct 200 The Full Baccarat Experience 201 Playing in a room apart 201 Setting a table for 14 201 Dressing to the nines 202 Dealing and calling 202 Banking on the house 202 Dealing the hand 203 Part 3: Beyond the Tables: Slots, Video Poker, Sports Betting, and More 205 Chapter 11: Tackling the "Riskier" Table Games 207 Picking Up on Pai Gow Poker 208 Playing the game: An overview 208 Calculating your odds 210 Implementing some strategy 211 Tripling Your Fun with Three-Card Poker 211 Playing the game: An overview 211 Reckoning your odds 214 Betting in Circles with Let It Ride 214 Playing the game: An overview 215 Understanding the payout 217 Implementing some simplified strategy 217 Avoiding a side bet 218 Dabbling with the Riskiest Table Games 219 Chapter 12: Mastering the Slots 223 Understanding How to Play the Slots 224 Playing the game: Easy as pushing a button 225 Dissecting the innards: How slots work 226 Getting wise to virtual reel-ality 227 Paying and winning with tickets 227 Identifying Different Slot Games 229 Increasing wagers with multipliers 229 Zigzagging for multiple paylines 229 Tuning in to theme machines 231 Working the progressive slots 231 Engaging in skill-based slots 231 Getting a Handl.