Casino Etiquette

[foleyfanforever88 0]

I'm going up to Turning Stone casino this weekend in New York and as it will be my first casino visit, I need to know some things about casino etiquette. I'm mainly just going to be playing No Limit Hold 'Em, but I'm sure I'll take a shot at some Blackjack and Roulette as well. Has anyone been up there before? How is it? Anybody else who frequents casinos, any advice? I don't know anything about tipping dealers, when I can sit down at/stand up from a table, what I can do with chips, etc., so any input is appreciated.

[Craig Th 0]

Can't use your cell phone when you play.

 

Tip the waitress' who bring you drinks.

 

Win

[Ravenbomb 0]

No picture taking ever.

[The Ghost of bps21 0]

Always bet on black.

 

...

 

I'm really of no use to this board at this point.

 

 

[Nighthawk 0]

A baby on the table is good luck.

[Red Baron 0]

On No Limit: Since its your first time playing at a casino, the players there would have lots of chips and lots of patience. Bring lots of cash and don't be too anxious. These guys are pretty good and would feed off of somebody new.

 

On Blackjack: Try to find yourself a manual shoe. You'll gain better odds in winning and counting cards becomes easier. Always play within the "rules" if you don't want to piss off your table. Stay clear of side bet games and insurance on a manual shoe. If its an automatic your hunch comes into play when you know a dealer would get blackjack. Remember. Always split 8's and aces. Never split 5's, 10's and face cards. Don't play on the anchor spot unless its the only spot left. (Last player before dealer).

 

Roulette: You might as well just give your money to the casino without playing.

[CanadianChris 0]

On No Limit: Since its your first time playing at a casino, the players there would have lots of chips and lots of patience. Bring lots of cash and don't be too anxious. These guys are pretty good and would feed off of somebody new.

You've obviously never played holdem at Turning Stone. Play tight aggressive and you'll get the money.

 

Tipping -- Standard tip at a poker table is $1 for any pot of reasonable size, maybe $2 if it's a really big pot. Don't tip if you just stole a $5 pot. Always tip dealers in chips. Dealers rotate every half hour, and they keep their own tips, so don't wait until you leave to tip or one dealer's going to get it all. Tip the waitress $1 if you order a drink.

 

Seating -- When you get to the poker room, talk to whoever takes care of seating for the games and ask him to put you down for whatever stakes you want to play. They'll call your name whenever a seat opens up. You're not allowed to just sit down in an empty seat at a poker table. Any other game, just sit down wherever there's space.

 

You're not allowed to take money off the table playing poker unless you're getting up to leave.

 

Also, you have to play $2 to the poker room before you even sit down at Turning Stone. They make you buy a "poker room membership" which is good for 24 hours. You're supposed to have this card on the table at all times, and you must have it when changing games or you have to pay up again.

 

I can answer any other questions you might have.

[foleyfanforever88 0]

On No Limit: Since its your first time playing at a casino, the players there would have lots of chips and lots of patience. Bring lots of cash and don't be too anxious. These guys are pretty good and would feed off of somebody new.

You've obviously never played holdem at Turning Stone. Play tight aggressive and you'll get the money.

 

Tipping -- Standard tip at a poker table is $1 for any pot of reasonable size, maybe $2 if it's a really big pot. Don't tip if you just stole a $5 pot. Always tip dealers in chips. Dealers rotate every half hour, and they keep their own tips, so don't wait until you leave to tip or one dealer's going to get it all. Tip the waitress $1 if you order a drink.

 

Seating -- When you get to the poker room, talk to whoever takes care of seating for the games and ask him to put you down for whatever stakes you want to play. They'll call your name whenever a seat opens up. You're not allowed to just sit down in an empty seat at a poker table. Any other game, just sit down wherever there's space.

 

You're not allowed to take money off the table playing poker unless you're getting up to leave.

 

Also, you have to play $2 to the poker room before you even sit down at Turning Stone. They make you buy a "poker room membership" which is good for 24 hours. You're supposed to have this card on the table at all times, and you must have it when changing games or you have to pay up again.

 

I can answer any other questions you might have.

 

Tight but aggressive is how I always play, so I'm hoping you're right and I can win big. We're going to be getting there around midnight and playing through til the afternoon..is it normally pretty dead in the early hours of the morning or will it be busy enough to win some good money? I'm anticipating and hoping for a decent amount of people my age (18-21) because I hate playing poker with 60+ year old men.

 

[Red Baron 0]

Since I have never been to Turning Rock, only the Casino's in Niagara Falls I can't answer your question. My experience is that your age or the elderly people will be playing, especially if its a weekend.

[CanadianChris 0]

I don't know how it'll be this weekend, because a lot of poker players that might normally go to Turning Stone will probably be in the casinos in Ottawa and Montreal for the grand opening of their poker rooms. You should probably get pretty good action late on the weekend, though.

[foleyfanforever88 0]

Question: Am I allowed to have poker chips from other casinos (in Vegas) on the table as card protectors/good luck charms or is that not allowed?

[Red Baron 0]

No.

 

Other chips are prohibited unless the two or more casino's are owned by the same people. (Niagara Fallsview Casino and Casino Niagara you can use both chips at each casino.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

Roulette: You might as well just give your money to the casino without playing.

I turned $20 into $150 on video roulette (though I stupidly lost it right back on $5 blackjack) over the course of like..3 hours up in Harrington a while back. The best bet you can make that Ive had long term success with is either Red and the 3rd column or black and the 2nd column. Either basically covers 26 of the 37 (or 38 with 00) numbers. There are 8 red in the 3rd column and 8 black in the 2nd column (out of 18 for each color) increasing your odds of hitting both bets. You break even if you hit the color but not the column bet, make $1 if you hit the column but not the color and $3 if you hit both. You would only lose $2 if you manage to hit 1 of 11 numbers you dont have covered which is good odds not to lose on and a good way to be able to play long term.

 

Ive never had the guts to do the one system where you take 35 bets (any increment you like $1 if you have $35, $2 for $70 etc) and play the exact same number each time. Supposedly you have a 60% chance of winning at least once in 35 spins and a single number bet pays 35:1 so youd have a 60% chance of winning your money back to keep on playing but in the long run youd probably end up leaving with nothing.

 

Anyway, the house advantage is only 2.7% on a single zero machine (which is what I was playing) which is better than a lot of other games so I dont see how its that bad. I made $130 in 3 hours only to lose it all back in about 45 minutes at blackjack (which was a combination of my suckiness and the dealer hitting blackjacks at a rather astonishing rate)