Busted Out Finding a Good Game

While I've been in Las Vegas this week I haven't wagered a single cent. It's not that I can't afford it or believe gambling is wrong. Years ago I really enjoyed playing. And I still do today... or I would if the games were any good.

Everyone knows casinos exist to make money. The games they offer all have proven house edges. I don't object to the house offering the game to make money. It's entertainment at a price. I do object when the house shifts the rules of the game to make its edge over players ridiculous.

Twenty years ago, Blackjack games in Vegas and Reno offered solid basic strategy players a house edge less than 0.5%. The best ones had house edges of less than 0.2%. Craps had a house edge of 1.4% on come/pass bets and fair money on "odds" bets. Roulette wheels were mostly "double zero", with a house edge of 5.4%, while a few offered European style or "single zero" tables with a house edge of just 2.7%.

Last night one colleague and I went looking for "good" games to play. "Good", as in Craps or preferably Blackjack offering the rules that were common in town 20 years ago. They basically don't exist on the Strip anymore. Our hotel's casino, and two three others we walked to, offered only Crapless Craps, 6:5 Blackjack, and Triple-Zero Roulette.

— "Crapless" Craps is a simplification of the game where you either roll a 7 first, or establish a point and try to reroll it before a 7. A roll of 11 no longer pays out immediately, and rolls of 2, 3, and 12 don't crap out. It's simpler but it increases the house edge on the basic Come/Pass bet from 1.4% to a whopping 5.4%.

— 6:5 Blackjack works like traditional Blackjack, except when a player has a "natural" blackjack (first two cards total 21) the house pays 6:5 instead of 3:2. This small change increases the house's overall edge by more than a point. Basic strategy players who used to face a house edge of, say, 0.4% now face worse than 1.5%.

— Triple zero Roulette worsens the already punitive house edge of the double-zero game's 5.4% to a whopping 7.9%. Seriously, who wants to lose an average of 8% on every single bet?

This is the main reason I don't like Vegas anymore. Other things like crowds, traffic, and expensive restaurants? I could somewhat ignore them to focus on gambling, but the gambling just isn't worth it now.

Next: Leaving Las Vegas... Boulevard

Leaving Las Vegas Boulevard

Las Vegas, NV - Fri, 11 Mar 2022, 5:15pm

This afternoon I left Las Vegas... Boulevard. I checked out of my hotel at 11am, my business trip nearly complete, but instead of heading to the airport to fly home I transitioned to the leisure part of my combination work-leisure trip. I stowed my bags with the bellhops and walked out onto the Las Vegas Strip for one last time this week.



I walked out to get lunch. Sure, there are multiple restaurants at the Aria hotel where I was staying, but they're expensive. I wanted to spend less of my company's money; plus, I was in the mood for simpler food. Everything at the Aria is very rich.

I came back to the hotel after lunch to work for a few hours from the business center. Sometime after 4 I called it enough of a day, collected my bags, and hired a taxi to the airport. This edition of Planes, Trains, and Automobiles didn't actually involve a plane, though. I rode to the airport rental car center to pick up a car for the next 24 hours.

With car keys in hand I drove to a Holiday Inn Express a few miles west of the Strip. I was pleasantly surprised to find I'd been upgraded to a suite!



Of course, a suite at the Holiday Inn Express is still the Holiday Inn Express, so it's plain middle-class accommodations instead of the swank of fancy hotels like the Aria.

Oh, and this suite has a view of the Strip, like my room at the Aria!



Well, okay, it's not like the view from my room at the Aria, but it is a view of the Las Vegas Strip. It's just not a good one. 🤣

Next: Take a Hike!