A shill is an associate of a person selling goods or services who pretends no association to the seller and assumes the air of an enthusiastic customer. The intention of the shill is, using crowd psychology, to encourage other potential customers unaware of the set-up to purchase said goods or services. Shills are often employed by confidence artists.
The word “shill” is probably related to “shillaber”, a word of obscure early-20th century origin with the same meaning.
Shills are illegal in many circumstances and in many jurisdictions because of the frequently fraudulent and damaging character of their actions. However, if a shill does not place uninformed parties at a risk of loss, but merely generates “buzz,” the shill’s actions may be legal. For example, a person planted in an audience to laugh and applaud when appropriate, see “claque”, or to participate in on-stage activities as a “random member of the audience”, is a type of legal shill.
Shills in gambling
The illegal and legal gambling industries often use shills to make winning at games appear more likely than it actually is. For example, illegal three card monte peddlers are notorious employers of shills. These shills also often aid in cheating; they will disrupt the game if the mark is likely to win.
In a legal casino, however, a shill is sometimes a gambler who plays using the casino’s money in order to keep games (e.g. especially poker) going when there are not enough players. (This is different from a proposition player who is paid a salary by the casino for the same purpose, but bets with their own money.)
The fundamental bet in craps is the pass line bet, in which one bets that the dice will pass (that is, roll the point number before rolling a 7). A pass line bet is also won if the come-out roll is a 7 or 11. The following discussion assumes that the shooter, as is usually the case, is betting on the pass line.
If a 4,5,6,8,9, or 10 is thrown on the come-out roll (i.e., if a point is set), most casinos allow pass line bettors to take odds by placing from one to five times (and at some casinos, up to 100 times) the pass line bet behind the line. This additional bet wins if the point is rolled again before a 7 is rolled (the point is made) and pays at the true odds, 2-to-1 if 4 or 10 is the point, 3-to-2 if 5 or 9 is the point, and 6-to-5 if 6 or 8 is the point. While the house has a small (1.4%) advantage on pass line bets, the house has no advantage at all on odds bets. Therefore, taking the maximum odds (which vary by casino) can lower the house percentage for any given bet down to as low as 0.5%.
Odds bets in craps are one of the few bets offered at a casino that are completely free of any house advantage. Another such bet is the “double-up” option offered to the player in some forms of video poker after winning a hand.
Let’s see why that is. There are 36 possible permutations (ways to roll a pair of 6-sided dice):
1-1 = 1 way to make a 2
1-2 2-1 = 2 ways to make a 3
1-3 2-2 3-1 = 3 ways to make a 4, true odds pays 2-1
1-4 2-3 3-2 4-1 = 4 ways to make a 5, true odds pays 3-2
1-5 2-4 3-3 4-2 5-1 = 5 ways to make a 6, true odds pays 6-5
1-6 2-5 3-4 4-3 5-2 6-1 = 6 ways to make a 7
2-6 3-5 4-4 5-3 6-2 = 5 ways to make an 8, true odds pays 6-5
3-6 4-5 5-4 6-3 = 4 ways to make a 9, true odds pays 3-2
4-6 5-5 6-4 = 3 ways to make a 10, true odds pays 2-1
5-6 6-5 = 2 ways to make an 11
6-6 = 1 way to make a 12
There are a total of 36 possible combinations. So on the come-out roll there are 8 ways to win, 4 ways to lose and (36-12=) 24 ways to start a point.
The odds of making the point are the ratio of the number of ways to make a 7 to the number of ways to make the point. For example, there are five ways to make a 6 or 8, so the odds of making a point of 6 or 8 are 6-5. Therefore an odds bet of $5 on 6 or 8 pays out $6.
Many experienced craps players only make pass line and odds bets since the odds are much more favorable to the player than any other bets in craps, and in fact most casino games. The pass line and odds bet is one of the best wagers you can make in gambling, and a lot of the excitement and fortunes of craps can be experienced with this simple bet.
The rules for the come wagers are the same as for the pass line except that they can only be made after the come-out roll. Effectively, they represent starting a new game using the same stream of numbers being generated by the existing (pass line) game.
Because of the come bet, if the shooter makes their point, a player can find themselves in the situation where they have a come bet with odds on it, and yet be rooting for the shooter to roll a 7 on their next come-out roll. Because of this, it is usual that odds bets on come wagers are presumed to be not working. That means that if the shooter rolls a 7 on the come-out roll, any players with active come bets lose their initial wager but will have their odds money returned to them, unless they tell the dealer that they want their odds working. Conversely, if the shooter rolls a number that matches an active come bet, the original bet is paid off at even money and the odds money is returned to the player (unless they told the dealer that they wanted their odds working, in which case they are paid at the true odds).
There is also a don’t come box in which one can place bets that the dice will not pass on the next sequence starting with the immediate roll as a virtual come-out roll; even the shooter may bet that he or she will miss out. Don’t pass and don’t come bets are basically the opposite of pass and come bets; the player is betting that a 7 will be rolled before the point. On the come-out roll a 7 or an 11 is a loss, whereas a 2, 3, or 12 is a win. Casino craps layouts bar either 2 or 12 on the don’t pass and don’t come bets. This means that if 2 is barred and the shooter rolls a 2 on the come-out roll, the wager is a stand off and the player’s money is returned.
When betting against the shooter, the bettor must put up the long side of the bet. Thus a don’t pass bettor who bets $10 when the point is a 4 could place an odds bet of $20 behind the line. If the shooter rolls a 7 before achieving their point, the bettor would receive $10 for the don’t pass bet plus $10 for their odds bet. Even though the house advantage on the don’t pass and don’t come bets are almost identical to the pass line and come bets, for most players the disadvantage of putting up the long side of the bet makes the don’t pass line less desirable. Additionally, many craps players consider don’t pass and don’t come bets to be in poor taste, or even “taboo”.
Five-card draw is often the first poker variant learned by most players, and is very common in home games although it is now rare in casino and tournament play. The lowball variations make more interesting games and are more commonly played in casinos. Two to eight players can play.
The descriptions below assume that you are familiar with the general game play of poker, and with hand values. They also make no assumptions about what betting structure is used. In casino play, it is common to use blinds; the first betting round thus begins with the player to the left of the big blind, and subsequent rounds begin with the player to the dealer’s left. In home games, it is typical to use an ante; the first betting round begins with the player to the dealer’s left, and the second round begins with the player who opened the first round.
Play begins with each player being dealt five cards, one at a time, all face down. The remaining deck stub is placed aside, often protected by placing a chip or other marker on it. Players pick up the cards and hold them in their hands, being careful to keep them concealed from the other players. The first “before the draw” betting round occurs at this point, starting with the player to the dealer’s left (or to the left of the big blind if blinds are used).
If more than one player remains after the first round, the “draw” phase begins. Each player specifies how many of his cards he wishes to replace, and discards that many from his hand. The deck stub is retrieved, and after a burn card is dealt, each player in turn beginning at the dealer’s left is dealt from the stub the same number of cards he discarded, so that each player again has five cards. It is important that each player discards the cards he wishes to replace before he takes any replacements, and that he take the same number of replacements as he discarded.
A second “after the draw” betting round occurs after the draw phase, beginning with the player to the dealers left or else beginning with the player who opened the first round (the latter is common when antes are used instead of blinds). This is followed by a showdown if more than one player remains, in which the player with the best hand wins the pot.
A common “house rule” in some places is that a player may not replace more than three cards, unless he draws four cards while keeping an ace (or wild card). This rule is only needed for low-stakes social games where many players will stay for the draw, and will help avoid depletion of the deck stub. In more serious games such as those played in casinos it is unnecessary and generally not used. A rule that is used by many casinos is that a player is not allowed to draw five consecutive cards from the deck stub. In this case, if a player wishes to replace all five of his cards, he is given four of them in turn, the other players are given their draws, and then the dealer returns to that player to give him his fifth replacement (if no later player drew, it is necessary to deal a burn card first).
Another common house rule is that the bottom card of the deck is never given as a replacement, to avoid the possibility of someone who might have seen it during the deal using that information. If the deck stub is depleted during the draw before all players have received their replacements, the last players can receive cards chosen randomly from among those discarded by previous players. For example, if the last player to draw wants three replacements but there are only two cards remaining in the deck stub, the dealer gives the player the one top card he can give, then shuffles together the bottom card of the deck, the burn card, and the earlier players’ discards (but not the player’s own discards!), and finally deals two more replacements to the last player.
Sample deal
The sample deal below assumes that a game is being played by four players: Alice, who is dealing in the examples; Bob, who is sitting to her left; Carol to his left; and David to Carol’s left.
All four players ante $.25. Alice deals five cards to each player and places the deck stub aside. Bob opens the betting round by betting $1. Carol folds, David calls, and Alice calls, closing the betting round. Bob now declares that he wishes to replace three of his cards, so he removes those three cards from his hand and discards them. Alice retrieves the deck stub, deals a burn card, then deals three cards directly to Bob, who puts them in his hand. David discards one card, and Alice deals one card to him from the deck stub. Alice now discards three of her own cards, and replaces them with three from the top of the deck stub (Note: in a player-dealt casino game there is often a rule that the dealer must discard before picking up the deck stub, but this is a home game so we won’t worry about such details). Now a second betting round begins. Bob checks, David bets $3, Alice calls, and Bob folds, ending the second betting round. David shows a flush, and Alice shows two pair, so David takes the pot.
Caribbean Stud Poker differs slightly in the United Kingdom, and most parts of Europe, from the US. The game is officially known as “Casino Five Card Stud Poker”, and not all casinos have the jackpot prize. Those which do have the prize, usually the large chain groups, officially call the game “Casino Jackpot Five Card Stud Poker”. In both instances, the game is commonly referred to as “Casino Stud Poker”.
The basic rules are the same in the UK as the US, although the payouts differ – the maximum bet is generally £100 on the ante and £200 on the raise, and all payouts are paid on the raise, meaning the maximum payout can potentially be £10,000 (a Royal Flush pays at the same odds, 50:1, as a Straight Flush).
Casinos offering the jackpot generally have the card shuffled by a card shuffling machine – the cards are then removed and dealt out by the dealer, or croupier. Independent and small casinos generally have the croupier shuffle the cards by hand.
British casinos do not use the chip dropper system; instead, a £1 chip is placed on a small plastic circle on the table, which lights up. The croupier then presses a button on a panel infront of them, which keeps the lights lit up once the chips are removed. The dealer removes the chips, and can then tell which players are playing the jackpot game and which are not.
If the dealer does not show an Ace/King, hands playing the jackpot must be turned over, face up, and shown to the dealer and table. If the player is not playing the jackpot prize, the cards are not shown.
Panguingue (also known as Pan) is a gambling card game similar to rummy. It is particularly popular in Las Vegas and other casinos in the American southwest.The game is played using a 320-card deck, contstructed from eight decks of playing cards, removing all eights, nines, tens, and Jokers.
Caribbean Stud Poker differs slightly in the United Kingdom, and most parts of Europe, from the US. The game is officially known as “Casino Five Card Stud Poker”, and not all casinos have the jackpot prize. Those which do have the prize, usually the large chain groups, officially call the game “Casino Jackpot Five Card Stud Poker”. In both instances, the game is commonly referred to as “Casino Stud Poker”.
The basic rules are the same in the UK as the US, although the payouts differ – the maximum bet is generally £100 on the ante and £200 on the raise, and all payouts are paid on the raise, meaning the maximum payout can potentially be £10,000 (a Royal Flush pays at the same odds, 50:1, as a Straight Flush).
Casinos offering the jackpot generally have the card shuffled by a card shuffling machine – the cards are then removed and dealt out by the dealer, or croupier. Independent and small casinos generally have the croupier shuffle the cards by hand.
British casinos do not use the chip dropper system; instead, a £1 chip is placed on a small plastic circle on the table, which lights up. The croupier then presses a button on a panel infront of them, which keeps the lights lit up once the chips are removed. The dealer removes the chips, and can then tell which players are playing the jackpot game and which are not.
If the dealer does not show an Ace/King, hands playing the jackpot must be turned over, face up, and shown to the dealer and table. If the player is not playing the jackpot prize, the cards are not shown.
A Riverboat casino is a type of casino unique to several areas of the United States. Several states authorized this type of casino to limit the areas where casinos could be constructed.The economic impacts of, first, limited sailing time and, later, from being closed as a result of storm damage, have restricted interest in this type of casino.
History
When first approved, these casinos were required to actually be located on ships that could sail away from the dock. In some areas, gambling was only allowed when the ship was sailing. Over time, these regulations allowed gambling when the ship was docked.
Further changes allowed these casinos to be located in a moat or an area with water adjacent to a navigable waterway. Over time, these casinos were allowed to be built on stilts but still had to be over water.
Following Hurricane Katrina in 2005 several states are now allowing these casinos to be built on land within certain limits from a navigable waterway.
About the time of World War II, many modern poker games used community cards (also called “shared cards” or “window cards”), which are cards dealt face up to the center of the table and shared by all players. In these games, each player is dealt privately an incomplete hand (“hole cards”), which is then combined with the community cards to make a complete hand. The set of community cards is called the “board”, and may be dealt in a simple line or arranged in a special pattern. Rules of each game determine how they may be combined with each player’s private hand. The most popular community card game today is Texas hold ‘em, originating sometime in the 1920s.
In home games, it is typical to use antes, while casinos typically use only blinds for these games. Fixed limit games are most common in casinos, while spread limit games are more common in home games. No limit and pot limit games are less common. Later betting rounds often have a higher limit than earlier betting rounds. Each betting round begins with the player to the dealer’s left (when blinds are used, the first round begins with the player after the big blind), so community card games are generally positional games.
Most community card games do not play well with lowball hand values, though some do play very well at high-low split, especially with ace-to-five low values, making it possible to win both halves of a pot. When played high-low split, there is generally a minimum qualifying hand for low (often 8-high), and it is played cards speak.
Caribbean stud poker is a casino table game with rules similar to five card stud poker. However, unlike standard poker games, Caribbean stud is played against the house rather than against other players (and, like most such games, it cannot be beaten in the long run). There is no bluffing or other deception. For these reasons, most poker players do not consider it to be a form of poker. (They do not necessarily feel that it should not be called poker, but means merely that they will not refer to it as simply “poker”. For instance, a gambler might say “I played poker” if he played seven card stud, but probably would not if he played Caribbean stud.)
The following rules are typical of U.S. casinos, but some of the details (the payouts and limits) vary from casino to casino.
To play, every player places his ante on the layout where indicated; all ante wagers must be placed prior to the dealer announcing “No more bets“. Each player and the dealer will then receive 5 cards, face down. The dealer will turn over one of his cards, then push the cards toward the players, after which the players may look at their cards. They may only look at their own cards, and may not discuss what they have with any other player at the table.
Players have the option to play or fold; if they choose to play, they place their bets (twice the amount of their respective ante) in the bet box. If they choose to fold, they forfeit their ante. After all the players have made their decisions, the dealer reveals his hole cards. The dealer only plays with an ace/king or higher; he then compares his cards to the players’ cards (individually, right to left), and the best poker hand wins.
There are some major rules in Caribbean Stud Poker that must be observed at all times while playing:
Only one hand per player. Players cannot hold or wager on multiple hands at the table.
Players choosing to play the Progressive Payout feature are responsible for ensuring their $1 wager has been inserted into slot and the “Indicator Light” is ON.
Players may not exchange or communicate information regarding their hands to other players or the dealer. Player violation will result in a dead hand and forfeiture of all wagers.
Incorrect amount of cards to the player constitutes a dead hand (or push) for that player only.
The decision of the table/casino supervisor is final.
If the dealer is dealt four cards of the five-card hand, the dealer shall deal an additional card to complete the hand. Any other misdeal to the dealer shall result in all hands being void and the cards shall be reshuffled.
Each player shall be required to keep the five cards in full view of the dealer at all times. Once each player has examined his or her cards and placed them face down on the layout, they may not touch the cards again.
If a hole card is exposed prior to the dealer announcing No More Bets, all hands shall be void.
If a player’s cards beat the dealer’s cards, the player will receive even money (1-1) on the ante, and the following on his bet (with a maximum payout of $5,000 U.S. Dollars per hand on each bet wager):
Royal flush
100 to 1
Straight flush
50 to 1
Four of a kind
20 to 1
Full house
7 to 1
Flush
5 to 1
Straight
4 to 1
Three of a kind
3 to 1
Two pair
2 to 1
One pair or less
1 to 1
If the dealer does not have at least ace/king, all bet wagers will be void, and players will receive even money on their ante bet only. If the dealer’s cards beat a player’s cards, the dealer collects both the ante and bet.
In addition, in Caribbean stud poker, players can also bet on their poker hands and win the “progressive feature”; this is done by dropping a 1.00 dollar gaming chip into the chip acceptor on the table after placing the ante. Players with a flush or higher win, regardless of the outcome of their table bets:
Royal Flush
100% of Progressive Meter
Straight Flush
10% of Progressive Meter
Four-of-a-Kind
$500
Full House
$100
Flush
$50
Winning progressive payout hands are paid in accordance with the amount on the meter when it is the player’s turn to be paid. However, if more than one player at a table has a royal flush progressive payout hand, each player shares equally in the amount on the meter when the first player with a royal flush is to be paid.
Player Strategy
Using optimal strategy the house edge is 5.224% of the player’s ante bet. This strategy can be complicated and does not lend itself to practical use in a casino. Using a strategy of raising with Ace/King/Jack/8/3 or better the house edge is 5.316%, very close to the optimal strategy house edge.
Knowledge of what other players hold can decrease the house edge. It has been estimated with the knowledge of 6 other player’s hands (30 cards) and associated optimal strategy the player can gain an edge of 2.3%. Given that sharing information is against the rules and that a computer would be needed to calculate the appropriate strategy it is unlikely this could ever be achieved in a real life casino.
Fraudulent behavior on the part of online casinos has been documented. The most commonly reported behaviors are refusal to pay withdrawals or cheating software. Online casinos who have multiple confirmed cases of fraudulent behavior are often called “rogues” or rogue casinos by the online casino player community.
One commonly reported behavior related to refusal to pay withdrawals is the refusal to pay withdrawals promptly, in hopes that the player will continue gambling with the money in the account and lose it all back.
Cheating software appears to be less common than payout problems.
Some casino software has been mathematically proven to cheat, such as Casino Bar (evidence by Michael Shackleford and others). Elka System/Oyster Gaming software is known to cheat, also confirmed by Michael Shackleford. Statistically non-random video poker has been reported at Playtech, see article “OCA STATS”. Screen shots from the back office of an older brand of software indicated the odds could be adjusted by the operator.
Much of the speculation about casino software cheating is usually the result of a player finding a pattern in a statistically small set of results. Most people in the online casino industry believe that most of the major casino software brands offer odds and paybacks that are the same as their land-based casino counterparts.
Many casino gambling portals and player forums maintain blacklists of rogue casinos. These can easily found in any major search engine, but most of them constitute indvidual webmaster and player opinions rather than anything official from any type of regulating body.
Fraudulent player behavior
Common fraudulent behavior from online casinos players includes the signing up for multiple casino accounts using different identities in order to claim a bonus offer multiple times. Another form of fraudulent behavior might be the use of a graphics editing software like Adobe Photoshop to create a false winning slot machine game screenshot in an attempt to tell the casino they hit a jackpot and didn’t get paid for it.
Online casinos usually lock the player accounts for these people, and it’s widely believed that online casinos share fraudulent player blacklists.
A set of Chinese dominoes. The top double-row of tiles lists the eleven matching pairs, in descending value from left to right. Below them are five non-matching pairs, worth less than the matching pairs, and also in descending value from left to right. The Gee Joon tiles, lower right, are the highest pair of all.
Pai Gow (Chinese: 牌九; pinyin: páijiǔ, Cantonese: paai4 gau2) is a Chinese gambling game. It is played with the Chinese dominoes tile set. The game is played in underground casinos in most Chinese communities. It is played openly in major casinos in Macau, China, Las Vegas, Nevada, Atlantic City, New Jersey, in many California cardrooms, and in some Australian casinos. It is an ancient game, thousands of years old, and steeped in tradition.
The name “Pai Gow” is sometimes used to refer to a card game called Pai Gow Poker (or Double Hand Poker ), also popular in Nevada, California and casinos in Detroit, MI. It is loosely based on the Chinese game.
Online casinos, also known as virtual casinos or internet casinos, are online versions of traditional (“brick and mortar”) casinos. Online casinos enable gamblers to play and wager on casino games through the Internet.Online casinos generally offer odds and payback percentages that are comparable to land-based casinos. Some online casinos claim higher payback percentages for slot machine games, and some publish payout percentage audits on their websites. Assuming that the online casino is using an appropriately programmed random number generator, table games like blackjack have an established house edge. The payout percentage for these games are established by the rules of the game.
Reliability and trust issues are commonplace and often questioned. Many online casinos lease or purchase their software from well-known companies like Wager Works, Microgaming, Realtime Gaming, Playtech and Cryptologic in an attempt to “piggyback” their reputation on the software manufacturer’s credibility. These software companies either use or claim to use random number generators to ensure that the numbers, cards or dice appear randomly.
The Griffin Book is a listing of known or suspected gambling cheaters and advantage players published by Griffin Investigations, a firm that monitors casinos. Those listed may be anyone perceived as a threat to the casino’s profits, including card counters, people who mark cards and those who try to cheat slot machines. The book keeps pictures either obtained from a photo of the individual when caught or from surveillance photos.
Gambling advertising is the promotion of gambling by casinos, lotteries, bookmakers or other organisations that provide the opportunity to make bets. It is usually conducted through a variety of media or through sponsorship deals, particularly with sporting events or people.
Although not as highly regulated as tobacco advertising and alcohol advertising, in many countries there are strict laws about the way in which such services can be marketed.
Gaming operators often sponsor sporting events, sportspeople or television coverage. For example, Bet365 sponsor snooker players and the Channel 4 coverage of The 2005 Ashes was sponsored by Betfair, both being online betting sites.
Cheating in casinos refers to actions which are prohibited by a casino’s rules. Cheating is usually illegal but the exact sanctions will depend on the jurisdiction in which the casino operates. In Nevada, cheating in a casino is a felony under Nevada law. In most other jurisdictions, specific statutes do not exist but cheating in a casino would likely be considered fraud and dealt with as such by the authorities.
Methods of cheating
The methods for cheating in a casino are often specific to individual games and include:
Pastposting
After a bet is won, one replaces smaller denomination chips with chips of large denomination.
Hand Mucking
Palming desirable cards then switching them for less desirable cards that the gambler holds.
Marking Cards During Play
Various methods.
Introducing Previously Marked Decks Into Play
Usually involves “inside” help, i.e., the collusion of casino employees. There are many different way to mark decks of cards, some of them very difficult to detect.
False Deals
Ability to deal the second card from the top (used in conjunction with marked cards), or the ability to deal the bottom card of the deck (used in conjunction with placing desirable cards at the bottom of the deck.)
False Shuffles and Cuts
Ability to seemingly mix and cut the cards while retaining certain cards or the whole deck in a desired order.
Slot Machines
Methods exist for altering the outcome of slot machine games.
Collusion
In poker games, the practice of two partners signalling to each other the values of their cards; this can be very difficult to detect.
How casinos combat cheating
Proper Procedure
This means certain standardized ways of shuffling cards, dealing cards, storing, retrieving and opening new decks of cards.
Eyes in the Sky
Most casinos have an extensive array of cameras and recorders which monitor and record all the action in a casino. Some casinos use facial recognition software to detect known cheats or card counters/advantage players as they enter the casino.
Software
Casinos use software to analyze game play to uncover any unusual betting patterns or winning patterns and thus discern cheaters (as well as non-cheating card counters and “advantage players”).
Video: Casino cheat Richard Marcus (World’s biggest casino baccarat scam demonstrated on national TV by the world’s most famous casino cheater, Richard Marcus.)
Casino tokens are small colored metal or plastic discs used in gambling establishments.
There are two main types of tokens used in casinos: multicolor tokens of various denominations called chips, used primarily in table games; and metal token coins, used primarily in slot machines. Some casinos also use gaming plaques for high stakes table games ($25,000 and above). Plaques differ from chips in that they are larger, usually rectangular in shape and contain serial numbers.
Money is exchanged for the token coins or chips in a casino at a cashier station (the cage), at the gaming tables, or at a slot machine. The tokens are interchangeable with money at the casino, but have no value outside of the establishment.
These tokens are employed for several reasons. They are more convenient to use than currency, and also make theft and counterfeiting more difficult. Because of the uniform size and regularity of stacks of chips, they are easier to count compared to paper currency when used on a table. This attribute also enables the pit boss or security to quickly verify the amount being paid, reducing the chance that a dealer might be overpaying a customer.
Furthermore, it is observed that consumers gamble more freely with replacement currencies than with cash.
Finally, the chips are considered to be an integral part of the casino environment, and replacing them with some alternate currency would be unpopular. However, many casinos are moving to paper receipts.
Casino tokens are collected as a part of numismatics, more specifically as specialized exonumia collecting.
A set of injection molded ABS poker chips “hot-stamped” with denominations 100, 50, 25 & 10
Chip Denominations
Chips of the same denomination from different casinos tend to have similar colors. This increases familiarity with denominations.
The most common color scheme used in US casinos:
$1.00: White (uncommon: blue, grey)
$2.50: Pink
$5.00: Red
$25.00: Green
$100.00: Black
$500.00: Purple
$1000.00: Orange (often oversized)
Official Chip Colors
Denomination
Color
Exceptions
$1
White
Unusual in Nevada; may be blue or gray or white.
$2.50
Pink
Blue (MO); North Dakota prescribes pink for $2 chips
$5
Red
$25
Green
$100
Black
$500
Purple
$1,000
Orange
Oversized; usually yellow in Nevada
A standard 300 piece set of ABS plastic chips
History
After the increase in the value of silver stopped the circulation of silver dollar coins around 1964, casinos rushed to find a substitute, as most slot machines at that time used that particular coin. The Nevada Gaming Control Board consulted with the US Treasury, and casinos were soon allowed to start using their own tokens to operate their slot machines. The Franklin Mint was the main minter of tokens at that time.
In many jurisdictions, casinos are not permitted to use currency in slot machines, necessitating tokens for smaller denominations.
Tokens are being phased out of many casinos in favor of coinless machines which accept banknotes and print receipts for payout. (These receipts can also be inserted into the machines.)
Future
In certain casinos, such as the new Wynn Casino in Las Vegas, chips are embedded with RFID tags to help casinos keep better track of them, determine gamblers’ average bet sizes, and to make them harder for counterfeiters to reproduce. However, this technique is costly and considered by many to be unnecessary. Also, this technology provides minimal benefits in games with layouts that do not provide gamblers with their own designated betting areas, such as craps.
Big and small is a dice game of pure luck. It is a popular gambling game in China and is still offered in some casinos in Asia, notably in Macau. A variation is the common casino game Sic bo.
Rules
The game is played with three dice. Traditionally, the dice are placed on a plate, covered with an inverted bowl and the plate and bowl are then shaken together. After gamblers place their bets, the banker uncovers the bowl, pays the winners and the game continues on to the next round. In modern casinos the dice are shaken mechanically, and the outcome is keyed into a computer which automatically lights up the winning zones on the table.
The game is called “Big and Small” because the main bets are on “high points” (big) or “low points” (small). Other bets are also offered:
Name of Bet
Winning Criterion
Dividend
Odds of Occurrence
House Advantage
Big (大)
Dice Total: 11 to 17 Player loses if “Alls”
1 to 1
48.61%
2.78%
Small (小)
Dice Total: 4 to 10 Player lose if “Alls”
1 to 1
48.61%
2.78%
All 1 (圍一)
All 1
1 to 180
0.46%
16.7%
All 2 (圍二)
All 2
1 to 180
0.46%
16.7%
All 3 (圍三)
All 3
1 to 180
0.46%
16.7%
All 4 (圍四)
All 4
1 to 180
0.46%
16.7%
All 5 (圍五)
All 5
1 to 180
0.46%
16.7%
All 6 (圍六)
All 6
1 to 180
0.46%
16.7%
Any Alls (全圍)
All x
1 to 30
2.78%
16.7%
This is a game in which no skill is required on the players’ part, and the house always has an advantage.
Pachinko (パチンコ) is a device used for amusment and prizes and is related to pinball machines. Although originally strictly mechanical, modern pachinko machines are a cross between a pinball machine and a video slot machine. Pachinko is said to have been invented sometime after World War II in Nagoya, though the date is sometimes questioned. The machines are widespread in Japan in establishments called “pachinko parlors”, which also often feature a small number of slot machines.
Fist of the North Star pachinko machine, with slot machine component in the middle
The player purchases a large number of small steel balls which are inserted, in bulk, into the machine. Originally, machines had a spring-loaded lever for shooting the balls individually, but modern machines use a round “throttle” that merely controls how quickly an electrically fired plunger shoots the balls onto the playfield. The balls then drop through an array of pins, and usually simply fall through to the bottom, but occasionally fall into certain gates which make the machine pay out more balls.
Classic pachinko machine
Most current machines include a slot machine (these are called “pachi-slo”), and the big winnings are ultimately paid not from the balls falling into gates, but from the slot machine matches that follow. In fact, in many modern machines the balls have nothing to do with determining winnings, which are based strictly on electronic random number generators.
The winnings are in the form of more balls, which the player may either use to keep playing, or exchange for tokens or prizes such as pens or cigarette lighters. Under Japanese law, cash cannot be paid out, but there is virtually always a small exchange centre located nearby (or sometimes in a separate room from the game parlor itself) where players can conveniently exchange tokens or prizes for cash. Such pseudo-cash gambling is theoretically illegal, but from the sheer number of pachinko parlors in Japan, it is clear that the activity is at least tacitly tolerated by the authorities. (In fact, no pachinko parlor without a cash payout window has ever been documented.)
Pachinko parlor at night
As a quasi-gambling activity, pachinko is widely held to have links to organized crime (specifically the yakuza). (There have also been rumors of links to the government of North Korea, which is thereby allegedly able to siphon funds from the sizeable population of Pyongyang-aligned ethnic Korean residents of Japan, but this seems an implausible and potentially racially motivated myth.)
Pachinko parlors share the reputation of slot machine dens and casinos the world over—garish decoration, over-the-top architecture, the smell of tobacco, the constant din of the machines, and players entranced for hours in their games.
Entrance to pachinko parlor in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan
American mathematician Dr. Edward O. Thorp is considered the father of card counting. His 1962 book Beat the Dealer (ISBN 0394703103) outlined various betting and playing strategies for optimal blackjack play. Although mathematically sound, some of the techniques described no longer apply as casinos took counter-measures (such as no longer dealing to the very last card). Also, the counting system described (10-count) is harder to use and less profitable than the point-count systems that have been developed since. A history of how counting developed can be seen in David Layton’s documentary film, “The Hot Shoe.”
Even before the publication of Beat the Dealer, however, a small number of professional card counters were beating blackjack in Las Vegas and casinos elsewhere. One of these early card counters was Jess Marcum, who is described in documents and interviews with professional gamblers of the time as having developed the first full-fledged point count system. Another documented pre-Thorp card counter was a professional gambler named Joe Bernstein, who is described in the 1961 book I Want To Quit Winners, by Reno casino owner Harold Smith, as an ace counter feared throughout the casinos of Nevada. And in the 1957 book, Playing Blackjack to Win, Roger Baldwin, Wilbert Cantey, Herbert Maisel, and James McDermott (known among card counters as “The Four Horsemen”) published the first accurate blackjack basic strategy and a rudimentary card counting system, devised solely with the aid of crude mechanical calculators — what used to be called “adding machines”.
From the early days of card-counting, some players have been hugely successful, including Al Francesco, the inventor of blackjack team play and the man who taught Ken Uston how to count cards, and Tommy Hyland, manager of the longest-running blackjack team in history. Ken Uston, though perhaps the most famous card counter through his 60 Minutes television appearance and his books, tended to overstate his winnings, as documented by players who worked with him, including Al Francesco and team member Darryl Purpose.
In the 1970s and 1980s, as computing power grew, more advanced (and more difficult) card counting systems came into favor. Many card counters agree, however, that a simpler and less advantageous system that can be played flawlessly for hours earns an overall higher return than a more complex system prone to user error.
In the 1970s Ken Uston was the first to write about a tactic of card counting he called the Big Player Team. The book was based on his experiences working as a “big player” (BP) on Al Francesco’s teams. In big player blackjack teams a number of card counters, called “spotters”, are dispatched to tables around a casino, where their responsibility is to keep track of the count and signal to the big player when the count indicates a player advantage. The big player then joins the game at that table, placing maximum bets at a player advantage. When the spotter indicates that the count has dropped, he again signals the BP to leave the table. By jumping from table to table as called in by spotters, the BP avoids all play at a disadvantage. In addition, since the BP’s play appears random and irrational, he avoids detection by the casinos.
With this style of play a number of blackjack teams have cleared millions of dollars through the years. Well-known blackjack teams with documented earnings in the millions include those run by Al Francesco, Ken Uston, Tommy Hyland, various groups from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and, most recently, a team called “The Greeks”. Ken Uston wrote entertainingly about blackjack team play in Million Dollar Blackjack (ISBN 0897460685), although many of the experiences he represents as his own in his books actually happened to other players, especially Bill Erb, a BP Uston worked with on Al Francesco’s team. Ben Mezrich also covers team play in his recent book Bringing Down The House (ISBN 0743249992), which describes how MIT students used it with great success. See also the Canadian movie The Last Casino.
The publication of Ken Uston’s books both stimulated the growth of blackjack teams (Hyland’s team and the first MIT team were formed in Atlantic City shortly after the publication of Million Dollar Blackjack) and increased casino awareness of the methods of blackjack teams, making it more difficult for such teams to operate. Hyland and Francesco soon switched to a form of shuffle tracking called “ace sequencing”. This made it more difficult for casinos to detect when team members were playing with an advantage. In 1994, members of the Hyland team were arrested for ace sequencing and blackjack team play at Casino Windsor in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. It was documented in court that Nevada casinos with ownership stakes in the Windsor casino were instrumental in the decision to prosecute team members on cheating charges. However, the judge ruled that the players’ conduct was not cheating, but merely the use of intelligent strategy.
“Black Book” is the nickname frequently used to refer to a list of persons who are unwelcome in casinos. The name comes from the fact that the persons listed in the “book” are essentially “blacklisted”. The term can refer either to such a list officially maintained by a particular Gaming Control Board, or to the Griffin Book, whose information is shared by casinos throughout the gaming industry.In the former case, persons listed are generally suspected of having, or known to have, ties to organized crime. Casinos are obliged by gaming regulations to exclude all such persons from entry, and can be subject to sanctions from the Gaming Control Board for failure to do so. In the latter case, listed individuals are generally suspected of being, or known to be, either advantage players or outright cheaters at the casino games themselves. Thus, casinos find it in their own economic best interest to exclude such individuals.
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A set of Chinese dominoes. The top double-row of tiles lists the eleven matching pairs, in descending value from left to right. Below them are five non-matching pairs, worth less than the matching pairs, and also in descending value from left to right. The Gee Joon tiles, lower right, are the highest pair of all.
One dollar chips from various Las Vegas casinos.
A set of injection molded ABS poker chips “hot-stamped” with denominations 100, 50, 25 & 10
A standard 300 piece set of ABS plastic chips
Fist of the North Star pachinko machine, with slot machine component in the middle
Classic pachinko machine
Pachinko parlor at night
Entrance to pachinko parlor in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan
