Gamble to Win: Four Sucker Bets to Avoid

If you want to gamble to win, avoid the "sucker bets." What exactly is a sucker bet? Wikipedia offers a good definition: "Sucker bets are often created to lure inexperienced players into betting against large odds, blinded by the offer of fast money." In casino gambling, the game itself may be the sucker bet or it could be an individual wager. In both cases, the premise is the same - you can bet with little money and they hold the promise of huge win. As a first time gambler, these bets are hard to resist, but resist them you must. The odds are overwhelmingly against you and in favor of the casino sending you home with empty pockets. If you want to gamble to win, here are the top four sucker bets to avoid.

#1 Sucker Bet - Keno

Sucker bet number one is Keno. If you've ever bought a lottery ticket, you've essentially played Keno. How'd that work out for you? Not so good, right? The odds against you winning a substantial sum at Keno aren't as bad as most lotteries, but they are huge. That makes Keno my choice as the #1 casino sucker bet. According to a Keno odds website, the odds of picking 6 numbers out of 80 for a $1500 win are around 1 in 7751. There is absolutely no strategy you can employ to improve your odds of winning. It may take you hours to lose all your money at keno because of the slow pace of the game and small wagers, but lose it you will. Run don't walk away from the Keno room.

#2 Sucker Bet - Roulette

Sucker bet number two is Roulette. It's a lot like Keno in that it's a game of picking a single winning number out of 38 numbers (1-36 plus O and OO), thus the odds of winning are 1:37. To make the game more attractive to the gambler, Roulette allows a few 50/50 bets (red or black, odds or evens, numbers 1-18 or 19-36). These pay even money (your bet $1, you win $1). Playing these even money bets on Roulette aren't so much sucker bets as they are an act in futility. In the long run, the best you can hope for is to break even. If your feet are killing you and you need to sit down and chill without losing a lot of money fast, betting the minimum on these 50/50 bets will let you do that. If you want to gamble to win, however, Roulette is number two on my list of sucker bets to avoid.

#3 Sucker Bet - Jumbo Jackpot Slots

Sucker bet number three is the jumbo jackpot slot machine, known as the Wide-Area Progressive. These are the ones that display an ever-increasing amount of the big jackpot on an LED sign to entice slot players with dreams of getting a life-changing win. A few of these machines have paid out jackpots of a million dollars or more. Know this, before they paid out that one million, they first took 80 million from the sucker bettors. These progressive machines are taking a percentage of every bet wagered on every machine in every casino that is attached to a large electronic network. It could be dozens of machines or it could be hundreds. If the numbers of that ever-increasing jackpot are ticking up at a dizzying pace, there are probably hundreds of players just like you hoping for lightening to strike and give them the big win. I won't go so far as to say that you should NEVER play these machines, because I can't dismiss that one-in-a-million chance that you might hit the big jackpot. I'll turn my head and pretend I don't see you risking ten bucks for a chance at a miracle. Just don't make a habit of playing these machines. Only a sucker would waste their entire gambling stake on one of them.

#4 Sucker Bet - All Slot Machines

Sucker bet number four is actually an extension of number three. All slot machines have the potential of making a sucker out of you. It's just a matter of degrees. Like Keno and Roulette, slots are a game of random chance, but with an important difference. The casino actually has the ability to override a winning number coming up and giving you a sizeable payback. In addition to the computer chip that controls the random number that corresponds to a winning or losing combination of symbols, there is also a chip that regulates the overall percentage of wagers that will be returned to the bettors. In the current casino environment, that percentage is somewhere around 85%. In theory, for every $100 you bet, the casino will keep $15 and return $85. That doesn't sound so bad. But that's not how it works. That 85% payback usually applies to a bank of machines giving and taking thousands of dollars over an extended period of time. Out of a bank of 6 machines, for example, 2 of them might take all your money, 2 might take half your money, and 2 might pay out 50% more than they take in. Over the long haul, the casino's take may amount to only 15%, but four out of the six players will lose much more than that. I will admit that slots can be fun so long as they allow you to play for awhile without taking all your money. If it's the only casino gaming you enjoy, at least read this article entitled "Slot Machines: Play Smart to Win."

Casino Winner or Loser?

It's really up to you which you'd rather be. The first time you walk into a casino just remember this - the casino is counting on you to be a sucker, as opposed to an educated gambler with a close-to-even chance of being a winner. It's all about the money, my friend - your money - and the casinos are in business to help you lose it as quckly as possible. Your mission (should you decide to accept it) is to learn to play casino games like Poker, Craps, or Blackjack which, when played wisely, offer gamblers the best chance of winning. Take my advice and leave those sucker bets alone. You can thank me later.