May 8th, 2010 by Beat Casinos, How To Beat The Casinos, www.howtobeatthecasinos.com

America’s commercial casinos saw big declines for the second straight year last year. Overall, US casino revenue declined 5.5% nationwide last year to US $30.74 billion. That’s still a whole lot of revenue – but the trend is downward. The US recession has certainly played a part in this, but my guess is that this figure has also been eaten into by Macau’s transformation from a back street style gambling area into a VIP gambler’s paradise! If you’re an international player like myself, why fly all those miles to America to get security screened, x-rayed and treated like a criminal, when Asia is within a 6 hour flight for about 65% of the world’s population? Somehow I think the new casinos in Singapore will do well also, once they’ve had a chance to establish themselves. Genting Highlands in Malaysia is doing well. Asia is the new gambling mecca: it will continue to grow.

According to the official statistics, over a quarter of the American population gambled last year. But here’s the issue: they risked a lot less in each session. Over 40% of visitors to Atlantic City for example budgeted only $100 for their day stay in that market. That’s well down on previous years. Overall Atlantic City received 13.2% less gaming revenue than the year before. Nevada was down 10.4%. Pennsylvania casinos actually made 21.6% MORE revenue in the US last year, but most of that is probably because there were two new casinos opened in that state (there are now 9 in total).

I could claim that some of this USA casino revenue decline is because players have read my How To Beat The Casinos blog and know that you can make big gains from small stakes – but I suspect it’s more likely that these USA casino players have simply not got the same amount of money to play with as before. And maybe that’s a good thing. Casinos are ENTERTAINMENT, not investments, and so prioritising the payment of bills etc BEFORE gambling will always be something I will personally support.

I’ve written for a long time now about how casinos must constantly strive to provide good entertainment value for their customers. So many casinos seem to be “tightening the screws” these days, and I’ve definitely noticed that as a VIP player from the reduced comps I’m attracting – despite my bigger and higher level play. Casinos, if you keep on tightening your services, if competition continues to reduce as it has in Vegas (with Harrahs owning a large majority of the strip), and if your comps get worse from year to year, then don’t be surprised when your players no longer wish to play. Myself included. The deals online with free cash, great bonuses and the like are just TOO GOOD to justify us remaining in land based casinos. I wish almost daily that the US government would overturn the online gambling ban – as USA casino players could then benefit from the great casino offers online, just as the rest of us players can.

Casino marketers in the USA, follow this advice: Give better comps to your players, more free drinks, more free shows, better buffets and the likes to your players, and things might come right. Continue to be tight-fisted, bottom-line driven casino operators who treat your customers like dirt, and expect further revenue declines. The US casinos are no longer recession proof. Customers ARE voting with their wallets. Other casinos are gaining your customers. Act before its too late.

May 1st, 2010 by Beat Casinos, How To Beat The Casinos, www.howtobeatthecasinos.com

If you’ve been reading my blogs for a while, you’ll know that I’m a big fan of Betfair. I’ve been playing with Betfair for about 10 years now (and coincidentally, they’re celebrating their 10th birthday year) and have always found them to be highly professional, great value gaming operators, with a range of innovative betting products and games to play. It’s no wonder that Betfair have just reached their 3 millionth customer!

David Yu, Betfair’s CEO said: “Reaching our three millionth customer is a significant achievement of which I am extremely proud. Our continued growth is a testament to Betfair appealing to a wider range of people than ever before. The fact that we have passed this milestone in the year we celebrate our tenth birthday is symbolic of how far we have come in that time.”

The IT systems at Betfair are the envy of many corporates. Betfair currently processes around 6 million wagers A DAY – and has handled over 500 MILLION WAGERS in the last year. That’s impressive! My congratulations go out to the Betfair teams. Long may you continue to grow!

Have you tried Betfair Casino yet? Join up via the links in this blog and get your up to 250GBP bonus now – and I’ll also give you 20GBP of my own money win or lose via paypal. Just email me at davewestlondon@yahoo.co.uk when you’ve made your Betfair deposit and met all playthrough requirements, and I’ll send you 20GBP as a thank you!

May 1st, 2010 by Beat Casinos, How To Beat The Casinos, www.howtobeatthecasinos.com

I was shocked today to discover that the Crown Casino in Melbourne still allows smoking its Mahogany Room vip area. Wow, that’s really behind the times. Being an internationally rated casino vip player myself (and having been to many casino vip rooms around the world), I’m well aware of the traditional clientele. On the whole, a typical casino vip room contains: high-spending Asian baccarat players, loud and out there roulette players, quiet and serious (traditionally white middle-class style) blackjack players, and the various wives and girlfriends and mistresses of said players, who sit drinking wine and champagne and spin the slots. And I’m well aware that for some of these demographics, smoking is considered socially acceptable.

But personally, I hate it. The casino I mainly play in these days used to be a complete cess-pit of smoke and tar, and I used to hate going home with clothes smelling like I’d been in a fire… then the Government passed no smoking legislation, and for the first time in years I was able to breathe normally and actually enjoy playing the casino games. It was great. I’m not judging people who smoke, or restricting their opportunity to do so – but personally, I won’t be playing in any casino vip rooms that allow smoking, out of principle.

My concern is not so much for other vip casino players – after all, we can all just walk out if the smoke gets too much. But the dealers can’t. They are forced to stay in these smoke filled environments at close to minimum wage. The costs to their health are huge – smoke inhalation toxicity is cumulative over time – and I’ve heard of several previous casino employees (in a number of casinos) that have had serious health issues due to their exposure to the smoke. Personally, I think that’s unfair. These huge casinos make massive profts, but do nothing to protect their staff from clear harm. Or is that just my opinion?

As much as I like the Crown Casino in Melbourne Australia, don’t expect me to be frequenting the Mahogany Room anytime soon. If other vip rooms are smoke free, count me in. But I won’t be gambling in a cess-pit. Been there, done that – and I have no intention of doing it again.

May 1st, 2010 by Beat Casinos, How To Beat The Casinos, www.howtobeatthecasinos.com

So you want to beat blackjack? You want a blackjack game that is truly beatable in a land-based casino? Well, I’ve found one. Yes, the Tuscany Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada is offering a great blackjack promotion, that will give you $100 cash once you reach 30 blackjacks in their blackjack pit. Every blackjack that you get is recorded by the blackjack pit boss, and once you have had 30 blackjacks, they give you a $100 chip from the chip tray. Even better: this promotion can be used over and over again.

I’m not sure how long this great blackjack promotion will last so take advantage NOW!

The current minimum bet to qualify for the blackjack promotion, I believe, is $10 per hand – this may change over time, so check with the Tuscany Players Club. The chance to get a blackjack is roughly one in 23. On that basis it takes $230 play to get a blackjack, or about 30 x $230 = $6900 play to get 30 blackjacks. At a house edge of say 1/2% depending on the number of decks you play and the current house blackjack rules, then the average net spend for you when playing should be around $34.50. If you’ve only got to spend $34.50 to get $100, then that’s a fantastic bargain!

Patience is the key here. It might take you minutes or many hours to get all those blackjacks (because we’re dealing with a random game here), and you’ll want to play at low limits (the lower the better) – but if you’re patient and disciplined, you can make some good cash. Of course, being Las Vegas, you’ll also be getting free drinks, and earning points and comps with your Tuscany Casino Players Card, so the real return is even higher. I’m surprised the Las Vegas Tuscany Casino haven’t put the minimum bet up higher for this promotion. Possibly they will in time. Milk it in the meantime while you can!