17 Ways to Win More Money at the Casino

Want to win more money at the casino? …Well, truth be told, who doesn’t?! We could all use some extra cash every now and then.

Luckily for you, in this post, I offer 17 ways to do exactly that. Keep in mind, some of these methods are strategies you might know about already.

But I’ll bet a few of these techniques will be new to even the most seasoned casino gamblers. Keep reading below to learn more about how you can win more money at the casino.

But that’s a long-term expectation, which results in an average of over thousands of bets.

For winning purposes, you want to try to stick with casino games where the house edge is less 1.5%.

2 – Learn the Best Strategies for Specific Games

Now, for most casino games, the best strategy is no more complicated than knowing which bets come with the lowest house edge. In some casino games, most notably blackjack and video poker, you also make playing decisions that affect the house edge.

In baccarat, the house edge for the banker bet is 1.06%. The house edge for the player bet is 1.24%. This means the best strategy is always to place the banker bet. There’s nothing else to do.

I’ll have more to say about blackjack strategy and video poker strategy later in this post, so keep reading!

3 – Only Play With Money You Can Afford to Lose

Have you ever heard the expression that scared money always loses? Well, I’m here to tell you that it’s an oft-quoted expression because it’s true most of the time.

You should only gamble with money you can afford to lose. Once you start trying to “catch up” to pay your rent or whatever, then you’ll likely start making poor decisions.

Those bad decisions will almost guarantee that you’ll walk away from the casino a loser.

4 – Avoid Lousy Bets

Sure, it’s okay to occasionally place a bet where the house has a higher edge than 1.5%. You might enjoy the action at the roulette table, for example.

But even then, you should go with the best version of the game.

The difference in the house edge on an American Roulette wheel and a European Roulette wheel is 5.26% versus 2.70%.

You’ll have just as much fun on the European Roulette wheel, I promise!

5 – Decide on the Volatility You’re Comfortable With

Volatility is how you measure the effect of big wins versus losses. Games with low volatility tend to result in a smoother rate of wins and losses, while games with high volatility usually have lots of small losses and occasional big wins.

Roulette is an example of both. The outside bets on the roulette table are low volatility bets. The even-money bets win slightly less than half the time, but you win less money.

The inside bets might only win once every 37 spins or so, but you get a bigger payout (35 to 1).

Which you prefer is up to you. You won’t automatically be a loser just because you prefer a higher volatility game. You just need a bigger bankroll to stay in action.

6 – Join the Players Club (Or Not)

You’ll find plenty of opinions about the players club (loyalty club, rewards program, or whatever you want to call it).

Most gambling writers insist that you should always join the players club. A minority of gambling writers don’t think trading your personal information for a 0.2% rebate is worth the additional advertising you’ll get.

Either way, joining the loyalty club and playing games with the card inserted don’t affect your probability of winning one way or the other. You just get “free” stuff.

7 – Use a Betting System (If You Want To)

Most gambling writers are in one of two camps.

The first camp suggests that betting systems are the worst thing you could possibly do in a casino. After all, mathematically, betting systems do almost nothing to eliminate the house edge.

The second camp suggests that betting systems provide you with a kind of artificial discipline that can sometimes help you walk away from the casino a winner.

Here’s my take! So long as you understand that betting systems don’t work in the long run, please use whatever betting system you like. Just make sure you’re having fun when doing so.

8 – Learn How to Play Poker

Some novice gamblers think that games like Ultimate Hold’em and Caribbean Stud are poker games. They’re not, though.

A poker game is a game you play against other players. Games like Ultimate Hold’em borrow some of the trappings of poker, but they’re banked by the casino. You’re not competing with the other players. You’re competing with the house.

When you’re competing with other poker players, you can get an edge by being a better poker player. When you’re competing with the casino, you have no chance of getting a mathematical edge. The house edge is built into the conditions of the game.

9 – Stay Away From the Booze

Avoiding the drinks is similar to only playing with money you can afford. It’s a great way to ensure you’re making good decisions.

The worst thing you can do when gambling at a casino is voluntarily impair your own judgment. It’s hard enough to make good decisions in a casino when you’re sober.

This also applies to drugs, even those drugs that are “supposed to” make you more focused.

10 – Set Artificial Limits on Yourself

The best way to win more money at the casino is to set a win goal and quit when you hit it.

As an example, I’ll tell you about my most recent gambling excursion. I drove to my local casino last weekend. And I hate to admit it, but I played slots.

I took $200 with me, and my goal was to walk away with $400 or lose my entire $200. As luck would have it, I hit it big early and walked away with my original $200 and $300 in winnings.

After looking at the time, it turns out that I was only at the casino for 15 minutes. It can be hard to walk away when you’ve only been at the casino for 15 minutes, but if you don’t learn how to do that, you’ll never win.

11 – Make Bigger, Fewer Bets

The house edge works over the long run. The more bets you make, the closer your results will get to the statistical expectation.

This means that the longer you play, the likelier you are to lose.

But, at the same time, who wants to play two hands of blackjack for $5 per hand and walk away?

The solution is to place large bets that give you a chance to win big. When you get lucky and win, take the money and run!

12 – Master Basic Strategy in Blackjack

The lowest house edge in most casinos can be found at the blackjack table. At 0.5%, blackjack offers you a game where your average loss for every $100 bet is only 50 cents.

But that low house edge is only for people playing with perfect basic strategy. Luckily, basic strategy is easy to learn. You’ll find at least one tutorial on this website, in fact.

13 – Try Casino Game Tournaments

A casino game tournament allows you to play a casino game for a timed period with the opportunity to win big prize money.

You can play in a slot machine tournament, for example, for a single-entry fee. If you make more spins than the other tournament players, you can win the big prize.

Different tournaments have different rules, but they almost always offer you a better chance of walking away a winner than just playing the games like normal.

14 – Spend Less Time in the Casino

The more time you spend in the casino, the more money you’ll put into action. The more bets you place, the likelier it is that the casino will see their expected winnings.

Think of the house edge as being like an interest rate that you’re paying on each bet. The longer you play, the likelier it is that the house edge figures will apply to you. And not in a good way.

15 – Ignore Most Gambling Advice on the Internet

Let’s be honest, most of the gambling advice you’ll find on the internet is lousy. You can probably tell by how it’s written that it wasn’t written by an expert.

It’s up to you to practice discernment. And it’s not just gambling advice on the internet that’s suspect, by the way. You can find lousy gambling advice in actual published books.

Sometimes, the lousy gambling advice is published alongside the good gambling advice. I’ve read books by Frank Scoblete, for example, where he gives excellent advice. But he sometimes immediately follows it up with terrible advice.

Study. Learn. Remember to think for yourself.

16 – Be Realistic

The casinos didn’t become big businesses because it’s easy for a gambler to win a lot of money. They became big businesses because the math is in their favor.

And over time, the math is impossible to defeat. Thinking that a collection of 17 gambling tips will enable you to be the exception is a glorious fantasy.

But it’s just a fantasy! Be realistic. Most of the time, you’re going to lose when you put money down in the casino.

17 – Pay Attention to What You’re Doing

I’m a big believer that mindfulness is the answer to most of our questions these days. It’s just a fancy word that describes the ability to pay attention to what you’re doing.

It’s easy to lack focus in a casino. In fact, most of the casino games deliberately discourage you from paying attention. Slot machines are the most egregious example. People who get lost in slot machine games’ hypnotic effects are called “slot zombies” for a reason.

If you’re not paying full attention to what you’re doing, you’re not even getting the maximum amount of fun in exchange for your action. So, why bother gambling at all?

Conclusion

Thinking that a blog post on the internet will instantly turn you into a casino winner is a fantasy, but it’s a pleasant one.

Here’s how casino gambling works… Sometimes, you’ll go in and walk away a loser. Other times, you’ll go in and walk away a winner. But some gamblers are unable to quit while they’re ahead.

Don’t be that guy! He never wins.