Casino German

What is Advantage Gambling?

Advantage gambling is the term applied to legal playing tactics used to gain a mathematical edge in gambling. A person who uses such tactics is known as an advantage player.

Usually, the term is used for games that pit the player directly against the house, such as blackjack and slot machines. It is used less often in games such as poker where players are up against one another and the casino merely takes a rake or commission.

In blackjack, popular advantage gambling tactics are card counting and shuffle tracking. Basic strategy does not qualify as advantage gambling since it only reduces the house edge; it does not give an advantage to the player. Card counting is different and poses a real danger to casinos, especially if done in a massive scale as did the MIT Blackjack Team. Shuffle tracking, on the other hand, is new and little is known about it.

Other games that can be manipulated by advantage gambling are video poker and progressive machines. A video poker game like Deuces Wild yields a positive expectation to the player if played with correct strategy. Slot machines and video poker that have progressive (growing) jackpots in them can eventually have such big prizes that a win would more than let the player break even.

Advantage players sometimes work in teams to "corner" video poker an slot machines that have progressive jackpots. The team members enter as strangers in the casino and then occupy the machines. They take turns playing until one of the linked machines yields the jackpot.

Needless to say, casinos are not too happy with advantage gambling even though it is not illegal. Depending on state laws, casinos may have a right to eject suspected advantage players or at least ask them to play a different game from the one they are taking advantage of. Further, casino staff can harass or distract advantage players to such an extent that they are unable to execute their strategy effectively. Casinos may also impose betting limits on suspected advantage gamblers.

Online gambling has its share of advantage players too. A popular method of advantage gambling online is known as bonus whoring or bonus hunting. This is when a player registers with one casino after another just to avail of their bonus money. When the advantage player has profited from the bonus, they will sign up with another casino and repeat the process.

An example of disastrous advantage play (for the casinos) is shown in the case of the MIT Blackjack Team. The MIT players used card counting so effectively that they wrested millions of dollars from many of the top casinos in Las Vegas. Eventually the casinos caught up with them and banned the MIT members from their houses forever. But their success is a testament to the power of advantage gambling and the threat it poses to casinos.