Sweepstakes sites offer legal online casino gaming in just about all US states (except Washington). Sweepstakes casinos allow players to play online sweepstakes games for cash prizes, with casino games that operate as mini-sweepstakes contests.
Relive the classic movie and win huge payouts with free spins and mega wilds in all-new casino slot machines. Collect millions of free credits every day and keep spinning to get bonus credits in one of the best free casino slot machine games around. Real money slot apps can deliver the action that slot machines provide without any of the hassle. As long as you have a connected device of some kind, such as a phone, tablet or smartwatch, you'll be ready to spin and win. And when we say win, we mean that you can indeed win huge jackpots as if you were playing in the casino.
Sites like Chumba Casino, LuckyLand Slots, and Funzpoints present the opportunity to play online slots and table games, with cash prizes rewarded. These sites don't operate like traditional real-money casinos.
Play money games and sweepstakes games are available at sweepstakes casinos. Play money packages can be purchased, and those purchases also award sweepstakes cash.
- A promotion with bonus spins is your best chance to play slot machine games, discover new titles and perhaps also win real money for free. Almost every online casino, at some point, will use free spins bonuses to convince you to sign up and have a look at their games.
- Win Real Money at Top Casinos. Many casinos offer players free spins, but trying to find a casino that does offer this type of promotion can be a daunting experience. With that being said we have complied a list of the best casinos where you can win real money on free slots. Here are the top ten casino sites that offer free spins as a bonus.
The sweepstakes cash can be used to play online casino games. When players win sweepstakes games, they can redeem their winnings for cash prizes.
Best Sites To Play Sweepstakes Online Casinos For Money
- Chumba Casino – Our pick for best sweepstakes casino for table games and slots
- LuckyLand Slots – Our pick for the best sweepstakes casino for slots
- Global Poker – Our pick for best online sweepstakes casino for online poker players. Learn more about Sweepstakes Poker here.
- Funzpoints – Our pick as the best alternative to sites like Chumba Casino for players looking for variety
Best Sweepstakes Online Gambling Sites
| Site | Our Pick For | Bonus Offers | Number Of Games | Where To Play |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ChumbaCasino | Good variety of slot and table games | $10 Bonus Package | 70 slots, 2 roulette games, plus blackjack | Play Now |
| LuckyLand Slots | Perfect for slot players | First Purchase $4.99 Package | 20 slots | Play Now |
| Global Poker | Option for online poker players | 20 Sweep Coin Sign Up Bonus | No-Limit Texas Hold'Em, Pot-Limit Omaha, Ring Games, Tournaments | Play Now |
| Funzpoints | Alternative to sites like Chumba Casino | $20 Deposit Match | 20+ slot games & Keno | Visit Site |
Most Popular Sweepstakes Casino: Chumba Casino
leads the pack as the most popular US-facing sweepstakes casino site. Players at Chumba Casino enjoy a variety of slots, as well as video poker, blackjack, and roulette.
The game selection at Chumba Casino presents the true casino experience to players across the US. Like most casinos, most of the games offered on the platform are slots.
Players enjoy more than 60 kinds of slots at Chumba Casino. These variants include five-reel, multiway win slots, as well as classic three-reel slots.
Progressive jackpot slots at Chumba Casino offer sweepstakes grand prizes that reach into seven figures.
Gold Coins And Sweeps Coins
The games at Chumba Casino include play-money games and sweepstakes games. For the play-money games, players purchase packages of 'Gold Coins' to use as currency for those games.
With Gold Coins package purchases, small amounts of 'Sweeps Coins' are awarded as a gift. Players use the Sweeps Coins to play in the Sweeps Coins games and earn cash prizes.
Players also acquire Sweeps Coins for free through various social media and mail-in promotions offered by Chumba Casino. With these special offers, players can play the Sweeps Coins games at Chumba Casino for free, with the chance to win cash prizes.
Why We Like Chumba Casino:
- It's a great US sweepstakes casino site for players living in states without legal online casinos for real money.
- Easy-t0-enter free sweeps cash casino with mail-in offers. Online purchases include Chumba Casino special offers like a $10 deal for 3M Gold Coins and 30 Sweeps Coins.
- Chumba Casino free sweeps and daily login bonuses mean there's always ways to play for free.
- 70 slot games, roulette, and blackjack
Other Top Sweepstakes Casino Sites for 2020
LuckyLand Slots
LuckyLand Slots operates in a similar way to Chumba Casino. Players sign up in just a couple of easy steps, either by creating a new account, or signing up through Facebook.
Upon signing up, LuckyLand gifts players with an amount of Gold Coins for use in the site's play money games. After account verification, new players are also gifted with SC 10, a $10 USD equivalent of Sweeps Coins.
Players can switch between the Gold Coins and Sweeps Coins games at any time. Prizes won in the Gold Coins games are redeemable for real US dollars.
Funzpoints
Operating under the sweepstakes casino model, Funzpoints offers play money casino games, as well as the 'Funzpoints Premium' playing experience. Sites like Funzpoints offer a variety of slot games for players in states that don't offer online casinos for real money.
Players use Funzpoints Premium points to play on the site's sweepstakes casino games. They redeem the Funzpoints Premium Points for real US dollars at a rate of 100 points to $1 USD.
New players get 250 premium points just for signing up at Funzpoints, with no purchase necessary.
Can I Win Real Money Playing At Sweepstakes Casinos?
How Does The Currency System Work At Sweepstakes Sites?
Players win cash prizes at sweepstakes sites like Chumba Casino. Directly depositing money at a sweepstakes casino site isn't possible, however.
Sweepstakes casinos offer two different sets of games; play money games and sweepstakes games. Upon registering for a new account at LuckyLand Slots, the site awards new players an amount of 'Gold Coins,' which are the currency used for the play money games.
Players purchase Gold Coins packages to increase the amount of currency a player has for the play money games. With Gold Coins purchases, an amount of Sweeps Coins is awarded.
The Sweeps Coins can then be used to play in the sweepstakes games, with prizes redeemable for cash prizes.
LuckyLand Slots Currency System
For example, when players at LuckyLand Slots click on the 'Buy' tab at the top of the screen, a menu for Gold Coins purchases appears. Various Gold Coins packages are available for purchase, with each package offering an amount of Gold Coins, as well as a Sweeps Coins gift.
One of the more generous packages offers players 80,000 Gold Coins, as well as a gift of SC 20.49, for a purchase of $19.99 USD. The SC 20.49 is used to play in the Sweeps Coins games.
After meeting the playthrough requirement, Sweeps Coins can be redeemed for real US dollars at a rate of SC 1.00 for $1 USD.
Aside from free social media and mail-in offers, Sweeps Coins can only be obtained by purchasing Gold Coins packages. Players cannot deposit an arbitrary amount of USD and receive an equivalent amount of Sweeps Coins.
How Do I Enter Without Depositing?
Sweepstakes casino sites always present ways to play the sweepstakes games without depositing any money. Platforms like Chumba Casino are required to offer free Sweeps Coins through various promotions to legally operate in the US.
Promotions offering free sweepstakes games credit can generally be redeemed through mail-in or social media offers.
Chumba Casino Free Sweeps Coins Offers
At Chumba Casino, for example, detailed instructions for obtaining free Sweeps Coins are available from a link in the main lobby.
At the top of the screen, under the Sweeps Coins/Gold Coins balance, players click on the 'Sweeps Rules' link. The link brings up the official rules in which Chumba Casino operates.
As outlined in these rules, the purchase of Gold Coins packages is one way to get Sweeps Coins. There are a couple of other methods to acquire Sweeps Coins for free.
Mail-In And Social Media Offers For Free Sweeps Coins
Players 18 and over with a valid Chumba Casino account can receive SC 5.00 at any time through a mail-in offer.
To redeem the offer, players must provide full name, address, and the phrase 'Sweepstakes Credits' on the front of a stamped #10 envelope. Players then send the envelope to Chumba Casino's Sweepstakes Department.
The address for US players to send the envelope to is listed in the 'Sweeps Rules' section. Upon receiving the envelope, Chumba Casino will credit the SC 5.00 to the player's balance.
In addition to mail-in offers, the Chumba Casino Facebook page also regularly offers free Sweeps Coins promotions.
Winning Cash Prizes Without Depositing: Step-By-Step Guide
With free Sweeps Coins offers in place, players win cash prizes at Chumba Casino without ever purchasing a Gold Coins package.
For example, after registering for an account at Chumba Casino, a player could then redeem the SC 5.00 mail-in offer. That SC 5.00 isn't withdrawable as real US dollars but is eligible for withdrawal after a player reaches the 1x playthrough requirement (wagering a total of SC 5.00).
A player could use that SC 5.00 to play the Western Gold progressive slot, for example. The Mini jackpot on that slot can pay SC 400 or more at times.
A new player could redeem the free mail-in Sweeps Coins offer, use the free SC 5.00 to play Western Gold, and win the SC 400 jackpot. That SC 400 is then redeemable as $400 in cash prizes, without the player ever spending any money on the site.
Purchases And Cashouts At Sweepstakes Casinos
Typical Purchase Methods
Players purchase play money packages at sweepstakes casinos using many of the same methods used to deposit at real-money casinos.
At Chumba Casino, for example, players click on the 'Buy Now' tab at the top of the screen, which opens a menu of various Gold Coins package offers. One such offer is a 35,000,000 Gold Coins package, which comes with a gift of SC 104.00, for a $100 USD purchase.
Clicking on that offer brings up a 'Payment Methods' menu. Purchase methods include online banking, debit/credit cards, Skrill eWallet, instant ACH, and Paysafecard.
Online Banking
Players purchase Gold Coins packages directly through a valid bank account. This option is available for bank account holders of virtually every bank in the US.
Debit/Credit Cards
Debit and credit cards issued by Visa, MasterCard, and American Express can be used to purchase Gold Coins packages. This method is usually instantly approved, with the Gold Coins and gifted Sweeps Coins immediately available for use.
Skrill, Instant ACH, And Paysafecard
Instant ACH and Paysafecard purchase methods are linked to the Skrill eWallet purchase option. To use any of these three methods, players must have a valid Skrill account.
How To Cash Out Cash Prizes
Chumba Casino allows players to redeem Sweeps Coins for cash prizes. Cash prizes go directly into a player's valid bank account or Skrill Wallet. Sweeps Coins redemptions can also be converted into a gift card. To cash out, a player's Sweeps Coins balance must be at least SC 100.
To redeem Sweeps Coins for cash prizes, players click on the 'Redeem' tab at the top of the screen. Clicking this button brings up the following requirements for redeeming Sweeps Coins:
Government Issued Photo ID
Acceptable ID includes a valid driver's license, passport, state-issued or national ID.
Proof Of Residential Address
Players use documents like utility bills and bank statements to meet the proof of address requirement.
Bank Statement
Players must provide a valid bank statement with account details for the bank account they wish to use for cashouts. The bank statement must include a current address and be issued no more than three months before the date of verification.
Chumba Casino uses NetVerify to confirm these documents. Once verified, the casino issues players a PIN for all future withdrawals from Chumba Casino.
Sweepstakes Casinos: Blocked And Allowed States
Chumba Casino, LuckyLand Slots, and Funzpoints are all legally accessible to players in virtually every US state, as well as Washington DC. Sweepstakes sites are a good option in states like California, Florida and Texas, where online gambling is more restrictive.
The only exception is Washington state, which deems sweepstakes casino sites illegal. Players in Washington state are restricted from making any purchases, based on IP address location.
In all other US states, however, sweepstakes casino sites operate legally. Players in any of these states can purchase Gold Coins packages, play the sweepstakes games, and redeem sweepstakes credits for cash prizes.
Comparing Sweepstakes Casino Sites To Traditional Online Casinos
What's The Same?
Sweepstakes casino sites offer many of the same games enjoyed by players at legal, real-money online casinos. Like their real-money counterparts, the virtual landscape of a sweepstakes casino looks a lot like the floor of a land-based retail casino.
As with most casinos, slots are the most popular and widely offered game at sweepstakes casinos. Table games like roulette and blackjack, as well as video poker, are found at sweepstakes casino sites as well.
Chumba Casino Game Selection
Chumba Casino, the most popular US-facing sweepstakes casino platform, offers more than 60 different slot variants. The menu includes progressive jackpot slots, with grand prizes that can be redeemed for seven-figure cash prizes.
The platform's slot selection includes multiway five-reel slots, as well as classic three-reel slots. All of Chumba Casino's slots can be played at denominations as low as SC 0.01, up to high limit, big jackpot games that allow for SC 25 or more to be wagered on a single spin.
Other games at Chumba Casino include Blackjack and American Roulette. Video poker players are also in luck, as Jacks or Better video poker is also on the menu at Chumba Casino.
What Sets Sweepstakes Casinos Apart?
Casino gamers can find just about all of their favorite games on sweepstakes sites like Chumba Casino. With many different slot variants, table games, and video poker available, the experience of playing at a sweepstakes casino is a lot like playing on a real-money online casino platform.
For ease of access and scope of availability, however, sweepstakes casinos are in a category of their own.
Ease Of Access And Scope Of Availability
Sites like Chumba Casino and LuckyLand Slots can be played directly from a desktop browser, with no download required. The amount of time required to set up an account is minimal. New players can go from discovering a sweepstakes site to playing in less than a minute.
New players 18 and over with an existing Facebook account can simply log into a sweepstakes casino site through their Facebook account, and start playing immediately.
Legal, real-money online casinos currently operate in only a handful of US states. For most of the US, sweepstakes sites are the go-to option for legal casino gaming.
With both play-money and sweepstakes games available to virtually all of the US, sweepstakes sites offer the easiest and most accessible way to enjoy legal casino gaming.
Five Minute Guide To Sweepstakes Casinos
Playing Sweepstakes Slots
With numerous slot variants on the menu, sweepstakes sites offer an authentic casino experience.
Fans of the world's most popular casino games find progressive jackpot slots, as well as numerous versions of five-reel, multiway slots, at sweepstakes sites like LuckyLand Slots. Classic three-reel slots can also be found.
Stampede Fury At Chumba Casino
The Stampede Fury progressive slot is linked to the biggest progressive jackpot at Chumba Casino. Playing Stampede Fury (or its sister slot, Reelin n' Rockin) offers the chance to win a Grand Jackpot that sometimes reaches over seven figures in Sweeps Coins prizes.
Stampede Fury is a five-reel, multiway slot offering 243 ways to win. To hit the Grand Jackpot, players must spin and land on six or more coin icons.
Lining up six or more of the coin icons activates the Fireshot Jackpot, which holds the coin symbols in place. Players then must spin coin symbols into all 15 positions on the slot to hit the progressive jackpot.
Neon Valley At LuckyLand Slots
The largest progressive jackpot found at LuckyLand Slots comes via the Neon Valley slot.
This five-reel game is played with a wild west poker theme, with players trying to line up three bull icons for a shot at the Grand Jackpot.
If three bulls are spun, players then try for the Grand Jackpot, which can go into the five-figure territory or bigger.
Crude Tycoon At Funzpointz
The Crude Tycoon slot is one of the featured games at Funzpointz. This five-reel, multiway slot allows players to bet on up to 20 lines.
Full of multipliers and wild symbols, Crude Tycoon offers numerous ways to win. With all of the different winning possibilities, this slot never gets boring.
Blackjack At Sweepstakes Casinos
Slots may rule the virtual floors of sweepstakes casinos, but classic games such as blackjack are at the disposal of players as well.
At Chumba Casino, Las Vegas-style blackjack is one of the games available away from the virtual slot floor.
Blackjack At Chumba Casino
Chumba Casino Blackjack offers the same rules and payouts seen in classic blackjack at retail casinos.
Blackjack pays 3-to-2 at Chumba Casino, with wagering available from SC 1 up to a max of SC 100. The dealer must stand on all 17s.
The blackjack experience at Chumba Casino offers the thrill of one of the most popular casino games in the world, with the ease of playing at a sweepstakes site.
Other Casino Games At Sweepstakes Casinos
Paintball Keno at Funzpoints
Funzpoints' version of Keno takes the vintage casino game and presents it with a new spin. Players choose up to 10 numbers in four different colors, for a maximum amount of 40 numbers.
Payouts are based on how many numbers of each color are drawn. Bonus flag icons are also placed randomly on the board, multiplying payouts.
American Roulette At Chumba Casino
American Roulette is another classic casino table game on the menu at Chumba Casino. This game plays much like it would at a land-based casino. This includes zero and double zero on the board and multiple ways to wager.
Jacks Or Better Video Poker At Chumba Casino
Players looking for video poker at Chumba Casino will find one of the most popular versions of the game on the menu. Jacks or Better plays like a virtual, single-player five-card draw game, with the Royal Flush offering the ultimate payout.
How Do Bonuses Work At Sweepstakes Casinos?
Chumba Casino New Player Bonuses
New players signing up at Chumba Casino start with SC 2 to use in the sweepstakes games on the site.
New players receive 2,000,000 Gold Coins and Bonus 2 Sweeps Coins free along with a $30 Gold Coin package, including 3,000,000 Gold Coins and Bonus 30 Sweeps Coins, for just $10 on your First Purchase.
LuckyLand Slots New Player Bonuses
Upon signing up at LuckyLand Slots, new players get an SC 10 balance for play on the site's Sweeps Coins Games.
The platform's first purchase bonus offers SC 10 for a $4.99 USD purchase.
Sweepstakes Casinos FAQ
Three major sweepstakes casinos are available to US players. Chumba Casino, LuckyLand Slots, and Funzpoints are all US-facing sweepstakes casino platforms.
Casinos like Chumba and the others are available in virtually all of the US, with 49 states and Washington DC allowing players to legally access sweepstakes casinos. The only exception is Washington state, which outlaws sweepstakes casinos.
The minimum legal age to play at US-facing sweepstakes casinos is 18. This age applies no matter where a player is located.
Online sweeps casinos don't require players to provide identification to play. But to cash out from a sweepstakes casino, players must be able to provide documentation of age, identity, and location.
Yes. The selection of slots at the three major sweepstakes casinos includes five-reel, multiway win games, as well as vintage-style three-reel slots.
These online sweepstakes slots are much like the slots found on the floor of a land-based casino. Sweepstakes casinos offer progressive jackpot slots that pay up to seven-figure grand prizes.
Slots are the main attraction at sweepstakes casinos, much like real-money retail and online casinos. Most of the games found at sweepstakes casinos are slot machines.
Players also find games like blackjack, roulette, and video poker at Chumba Casino. Funzpoints offers Keno and LuckyLand Slots offers instant win scratch-off games.
No. None of the US-facing sweepstakes casinos offer live dealer games yet. Live dealer games, for now, are only found at legal real-money online casinos.
Yes. Sweepstakes casinos legally operate in California. California players can play in sweepstakes casino games and redeem prizes for real US dollars.
There are no legally operating, state-regulated real money online casinos in California, making sweepstakes casinos the best options for California players.
Yes. Texas is one of 49 US states that allow sweepstakes casinos to operate legally.
Much like in California, sweepstakes casinos offer the best solution for Texas players looking for legal online casino gaming.
Learning how to win money in a Las Vegas casino isn't the hardest thing in the world to do. People win money in Vegas casinos every day, in fact.
Looking to visit an online casino instead? Check out one of the sites above!
But the odds are against you.
That's why the casinos are still in business and make so much money. They've designed the games and payouts so that you can't win in the long run. They even have a word for the mathematical disadvantage the games offer you—it's called 'the house edge.'
The good news is that the house edge is a long-term phenomenon. Anyone can win money gambling in the short term. In fact, if they couldn't, the casinos would go out of business because no one would play there.
Some gamblers do a better job of winning money at Vegas casinos than others, though. This post looks at what they do differently so that you can do it, too.
1- Build a Gambling Bankroll
The first step to winning money in a Las Vegas casino is having a gambling bankroll. This is money that you've set aside for the purpose of gambling with. It should be money you don't need for other purposes.
The reason you need a gambling bankroll is because you can't win money without first risking money. That's how gambling works. And if you don't set aside money for this purpose, you're liable to bet money you can't afford to lose just to get into and/or stay in action.
How big a bankroll do you need?
If your goal is to stay in action forever at a negative expectation game, you need an infinitely large bankroll. Luckily, that's not the goal for most thinking people.
You should base the size of your bankroll on your goals. Which games do you want to play? How much are you planning to bet at that game? How much time do you want to spend gambling?
If you want to play blackjack for $100/hand, you need more than $200 to get in any time at the table. Lose 2 bets in a row, and you're out of action almost immediately. That's no fun. Most people want to spend more than 5 minutes at the gambling table.
With a blackjack bankroll of $200, though, you might be able to play for an hour or 2 at the $5 tables.
Frank Scoblete offers interesting bankroll management advice for gamblers who play casino games. These are usually based on what it takes to make a quick win. Some of his money management techniques are misleading, as they don't increase your probability of winning. But his bankroll management advice can help you avoid going broke before getting your fill of fun at the table.
Scoblete suggests having a bankroll of 1000 units for a casino visit, and dividing it up as follows:
- 800 units for blackjack
- 130 units for craps
- 10 units for roulette
- 10 units for baccarat
- 40 units for poker
- 1 unit for video poker
- 9 units for sports betting
According to Scoblete, this works out to this much gambling on your gaming activities:
The majority of online slots have the same RTP for all kinds of bets. However, some slots derived from land-based slot games add significant disadvantage to certain bets. In this case you should always choose the bet type without the disadvantage. I will use two examples to demonstrate this fact.
- 4 hours a day for blackjack
- 2 hours a day for craps
- 1 hour for all the other games
Obviously, you can see that blackjack and craps are far and away his recommended games. In this respect, at least, Scoblete is on the money. These are probably the best 2 casino games you can play, especially if you can avoid the sucker bets at the craps table.
More about those in the next section…
2- Stay Away from the Sucker Bets
Some casino games offer nothing but sucker bets.
But what's that mean?
A sucker bet is a bet that only suckers make because the house edge is so much higher than it needs to be. An example of a sucker bet is the game of keno, which usually has a house edge of 15% or higher. (And I'm being generous with that number—most keno games have a house edge of 25% or more, making it marginally better than the lottery, but not by much.)
Some gamblers think American roulette is a sucker bet because of its house edge of 5.26%. If you're playing in a casino that offers both American roulette and European roulette (which has a house edge of 2.70% or 1.35% depending on the rules), American roulette is certainly a sucker bet. But if American roulette is the only option available, and if you really enjoy the game, it's not really a sucker bet.
Other casino games, though, have multiple betting options. Some of them have a low house edge, while others have a ridiculously high edge. Craps is the best example of this kind of game. The basic bet in craps is the pass line bet, which has a house edge of 1.41%.
But the proposition bets at the craps table have house edge figures well in excess of 10%. You'd have to be a sucker to place a bet at a table that will result in 7X or 8X the losses in the same time.
How do you know which games and which bets are the sucker bets?
Just spend some time researching the house edge for various games. Baccarat, blackjack, craps, and video poker traditionally offer the best odds. Slot machines and keno are on the other end of the spectrum, offering the worst odds in the casino.
Most of the other games are somewhere in between.
Of course, unless you're an advantage player (like a card counter), all casino games have a negative expectation. This means if you play long enough, you'll eventually lose all your money. From the perspective of an advantage gambler, who only bets when he has an edge, all these casino games offer sucker bets.
But for the recreational gambler, your goal should be to get maximum game fun for the least amount of money. Your goal should also be to walk away a winner if you can.
Your best chance of doing so is to stick with the games with the best odds.
Poker games are another thing, entirely. That's a game of skill, and I encourage you to learn to play poker and play it well. Since you're competing with other poker players for their money, you don't have to worry about a house edge. You just need to be more skilled than most of the other players at the table.
Sports betting is another thing, too. The bookmakers set up the odds so that they're going to make a profit, so it's hard to get an edge, but they're not perfect. If you're better at picking winners than they are, you can get an edge over the books, too. In fact, if you're really good at handicapping, your best chance of leaving the casino with a lot of money is by putting money into action in the sports book.
3- Stick with a Strategy for the Game You're Playing
Most games have no strategy other than avoiding the worst bets at the table. Some games require you to make decisions about how to play your hand, though. The latter are the games with the best odds.
No matter which kind of game you play, you should go into it with a strategy and stick with that strategy. Ignore your hunches and psychic insights about what's going to happen next. Just make the best possible bets you can.
Roulette is a game with a simple strategy. Most casinos in Las Vegas offer what's called 'American' roulette. Every bet on that roulette game but one offers a house edge of 5.26%.
There's one exception:
The 5-number bet has a house edge of 7.89%. Since that's significantly more than all the other bets at the table, the best strategy is to never make that bet.
You can then decide how you want to bet on the other roulette numbers based on your tolerance for risk and your desire for a big payout. If you like frequent small wins, stick with the even-money bets. The probability of winning those bets is close to 50% (47.37%), but you only win even money.
On the other hand, if you don't mind losing for a while, you can place a single number bet. That pays off at 35 to 1, but the probability of winning that bet is only 1/38, or 2.63%.
You can also place a plethora of bets with payouts and probabilities between those 2 options.
With a game like blackjack, though, the house edge varies based on how well you play your hands. In blackjack, there's a mathematically correct move to make in every possible situation. This is called 'basic strategy.'
A player using basic strategy in blackjack only faces a house edge of 0.5% to 1%. If you ignore basic strategy and just play your hunches, you're probably giving the house an extra 3% to 4%.
That's a huge difference. If you're going to play blackjack, you should at least learn a simplified version of basic strategy to keep the house edge as low as possible
Also, even if you use perfect basic strategy in blackjack, the house still has an edge. Play long enough, and you'll lose all your money.
But when you reduce the house edge as much as possible, you increase the probability of walking away from a Las Vegas casino as a winner.
You can find detailed articles about every casino game you can imagine on this site. Those articles all cover the appropriate strategies to use for these games.
4- Quit While You're Ahead
No one can win money in a Las Vegas casino if they continue to play. Since the casino games have an edge, you're likelier to lose than win, and every bet you make brings you that much closer to the long run. The Law of Large Numbers suggests that the more trials you get involved in, the closer your actual results will mirror the mathematically expected results.
This means that if you hit a big win early in your casino visit, it's a good idea to set aside at least some of those winnings rather than gambling them all. I once won $6000 on a slot machine on my 6th spin of the reels. I immediately cashed out and set $3000 aside to make sure I could go home with a profit. (My bankroll for the entire trip was $1000, so I still had about $4000 to play with for the rest of my stay in Vegas.)
You'll find some writers talking about money management and the importance of setting win goals and loss limits. An example of a win goal is someone with a $1000 bankroll who decides he'll quit once he's ahead by $200. That's a win goal of 20%.
A stop loss limit, on the other hand, is an amount of money you're willing to lose before quitting. With a $1000 bankroll and a 20% stop loss limit, a gambler would quit when his bankroll got down to $800.
Here's the thing about win goals, stop loss limits, and money management:
None of these techniques change the house edge. No matter when you walk away from the tables, unless you walk away permanently, the house edge will eventually come into play in your casino game hobby.
Yes, you should quit when you get ahead.
Or at least set aside enough winnings that you can go home a winner.
Just realize that this concept doesn't increase your chances of winning money in a Las Vegas casino in the long run. It just makes sure that you sometimes go home a winner. You'll go home a loser more often, but not as often if you occasionally quit while you're ahead.
5- Don't Be Afraid to Go Big or Go Home
The last time I visited the Winstar, I had a small bankroll of just $200.
But I also had a plan.
I was going to bet $100 on odd. We chose that because my traveling companions and I decide that we were all odd people, so that might be lucky for us. (I didn't have the heart to tell them that the odds of winning were 47.37% regardless of whether we bet on odd or even.)
That was half my total bankroll for the trip on a single bet. I wanted to go big or go home. I was going to use the other $100 to bet on craps, actually, but I was just going to stick with the $5 bets.
But it was a Saturday night at the Winstar, and they only recently started offering real roulette and real craps. Prior to this change, they generated results using playing cards instead of wheels and dice.
As a result, the tables were so crowded I couldn't get anywhere near them. I wound up playing Lightning Sevens and The Big Lebowski slot machines, instead.
I still broke even for the night, but that was all luck.
Still, there's much to be said for making one big bet instead of making lots of small bets. I've written about something called 'maximum boldness' in gambling before. The idea is that making a single big bet on a negative expectation game offers you a better probability of doubling your money than making any combination of multiple, smaller bets.
This is because of the Law of Large Numbers, which I think I've already mentioned.
Here's the easiest way to understand it, though:
You goal is to make $1000 on a single bet in roulette. You choose black (or any other even number.) You have 2 possible outcomes:
- You could win $1000.
- You could lose $1000.
Possibility #2 is more likely, but those are still the only 2 possibilities.
Now suppose you make 2 bets of $500 each. Here are the possible outcomes:
- You could win both bets, for a $1000 profit.
- You could win bet #1 and lose bet #2, which results in you breaking even.
- You could win bet #2 and lose bet #1, which also results in you breaking even.
- You could lose both bets, for a $1000 loss.
The likelihood of these events varies, but you're more likely to lose both bets than you are to win both bets. That's obvious. But you also have 2 other possibilities which are also pretty likely.
And obviously, the more bets you make, the more possibilities are out there. Suppose you make 4 bets of $250 each:
- You could win all 4, doubling your money.
- You could win 3 and lose 1, which would result in a profit.
- You could win 1 and lose 3, which would result in a loss.
- You could win 2 bets and lose 2 bets, which could happen in multiple ways, and you'd break even.
- You could lose all 4 bets.
The reason casinos make money is because they're in it for the long run.
Wanna beat the casinos?
Decide to get happy with wins in the short run.
6- Spend Some Time Doing Other Things in Las Vegas, Too
It's hard to win money on any kind of gambling if you're tired or bored. Gambling is supposed to be fun. If you're gambling compulsively to the point where you're uninterested in any other activity, you're in trouble.
Luckily, in Las Vegas, you can find lots of things to do. Heck, just walking around Downtown or the Las Vegas Strip can be loads of fun. There are free shows right on The Strip, too—the water fountains at the Bellagio and the pirate show at the Mirage cost you nothing. You can even go see circus acts at Circus Circus.
Spend some of your entertainment money on other forms of entertainment. Think about hitting a couple of the cool museums in town. Whether you like organized crime or nuclear experiments, Las Vegas has a museum to help educate you about it.
And you won't find a better selection of shows anywhere on the planet.
The number and variety of bars and nightclubs is staggering. So is the number of restaurants.
Don't just gamble.
Enjoy some of what else Vegas has to offer.
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7- Learn How to Play Poker, Please
If I could convince you of one thing, it's this:
If you want to win money in a Las Vegas casino, stay away from the 'casino games' entirely and play poker.
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Not all Vegas casinos have cardrooms, but find one that does. Learn how to play poker and learn how to play the game well.
The skill element is what sets poker apart from the other games. The casinos take a 5% cut of every pot, which means you can't just sit down and break even.
But it takes less study and effort than you might think to become a break-even poker player. With a little effort, you can make a long-term profit at the Texas holdem tables.
90% of poker players don't profit, but that means 10% of the players do. That's a bigger percentage of Vegas winners than you'll find playing slot machines, I promise you.
Conclusion
Anyone can come home after winning some money in Las Vegas. People do it every day. It's easier to pull off if you stick with the games offering better bets.
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Of course, learning the right strategies for the games you're playing helps, too. Being able to distinguish between good and bad bets is one critical skill. But in games like blackjack and video poker, you must be able to make the decisions offering the best expected value, too.
Finally, if you really want to win money in Las Vegas casinos in the long run, become a solid poker player.
