Friday, June 25, 2004
Learn to handle chips and cashLearn to handle chips and cash
June 25, 2004
One of the first things gambling beginners should learn is how to handle cash and chips carefully around the casino.
First rule: Use a casino's valet parking or get cash when you arrive.
Second rule: Avoid carrying cash when you leave. Casino parking lots are dangerous places everywhere, including Detroit.
If you use the valet, you can bring your cash with you. If you want to walk outside the casino, pick a busy area.
Make a pickpocket's job harder by keeping your money in a deep, buttoned or Velcro-closing pocket or by wrapping your sturdy purse strap tightly around you. Don't count solely on a firm grip.
Conversations, spilled drinks, fights, sexy clothes and apparent heart attacks have all been used to distract targets, so if something distracting happens, grip your money more firmly.
You can get cash at a casino, but avoid the outrageous fees on the credit-card cash-advance machines. ATMs are better, but daily limits could be too low for your purposes.
Hopefully, you'll be faced with the problem of carrying cash when you leave the casino. To solve this problem, many casinos allow you to place money on deposit and draw it down when you need it.
This cuts down both on theft and on those moments of madness when, after four hours of making $10 bets, you decide to make a single $200 bet as you're leaving.
You don't need to buy chips as you enter the casino. Start the gaming process by placing the cash you want to exchange for chips on the table outside the betting area. The dealer will understand that you want to buy in. If you're not sure what the safe (non-betting) zone is, wait your turn and ask the dealer where to place your money to buy chips and where you should place it to bet.
Don't be offended when the dealer won't take cash from your hand. House rules prohibit that, to cut down on player shenanigans and dealer theft.
When you buy chips, the dealer usually will give you an appropriate mix. For example, if you buy in for $100, the dealer will probably give you 10 red $5 chips and two green $25 chips, unless you request a different mixture. Sometimes the dealer will just inquire "all red?" or "all green?" If you sit at a $25 minimum table, you won't be given any red chips unless you request them.
If you win, or at least have some chips left when you leave a table, you should ask the dealer to "color you up." When you color up, you are exchanging small-denomination chips for larger ones.
For example, instead of walking off with 17 red $5 chips and one $25 green (totaling $110), the dealer will give you one black $100 chip and two reds. Three chips are much easier to carry than 18.
Coloring up is smart even if you intend to make small bets at your next stop. It's easy to drop a bulky collection of chips or have them knocked from your hands. The mid-trip count of how you're doing also helps you watch your budget.
Avoid the one downside: Don't bet that $100 chip just because you have it in your hand. Think of it as a pile of $1 bills and you'll treat it with more respect.
June 25, 2004
One of the first things gambling beginners should learn is how to handle cash and chips carefully around the casino.
First rule: Use a casino's valet parking or get cash when you arrive.
Second rule: Avoid carrying cash when you leave. Casino parking lots are dangerous places everywhere, including Detroit.
If you use the valet, you can bring your cash with you. If you want to walk outside the casino, pick a busy area.
Make a pickpocket's job harder by keeping your money in a deep, buttoned or Velcro-closing pocket or by wrapping your sturdy purse strap tightly around you. Don't count solely on a firm grip.
Conversations, spilled drinks, fights, sexy clothes and apparent heart attacks have all been used to distract targets, so if something distracting happens, grip your money more firmly.
You can get cash at a casino, but avoid the outrageous fees on the credit-card cash-advance machines. ATMs are better, but daily limits could be too low for your purposes.
Hopefully, you'll be faced with the problem of carrying cash when you leave the casino. To solve this problem, many casinos allow you to place money on deposit and draw it down when you need it.
This cuts down both on theft and on those moments of madness when, after four hours of making $10 bets, you decide to make a single $200 bet as you're leaving.
You don't need to buy chips as you enter the casino. Start the gaming process by placing the cash you want to exchange for chips on the table outside the betting area. The dealer will understand that you want to buy in. If you're not sure what the safe (non-betting) zone is, wait your turn and ask the dealer where to place your money to buy chips and where you should place it to bet.
Don't be offended when the dealer won't take cash from your hand. House rules prohibit that, to cut down on player shenanigans and dealer theft.
When you buy chips, the dealer usually will give you an appropriate mix. For example, if you buy in for $100, the dealer will probably give you 10 red $5 chips and two green $25 chips, unless you request a different mixture. Sometimes the dealer will just inquire "all red?" or "all green?" If you sit at a $25 minimum table, you won't be given any red chips unless you request them.
If you win, or at least have some chips left when you leave a table, you should ask the dealer to "color you up." When you color up, you are exchanging small-denomination chips for larger ones.
For example, instead of walking off with 17 red $5 chips and one $25 green (totaling $110), the dealer will give you one black $100 chip and two reds. Three chips are much easier to carry than 18.
Coloring up is smart even if you intend to make small bets at your next stop. It's easy to drop a bulky collection of chips or have them knocked from your hands. The mid-trip count of how you're doing also helps you watch your budget.
Avoid the one downside: Don't bet that $100 chip just because you have it in your hand. Think of it as a pile of $1 bills and you'll treat it with more respect.
