Cashing in on Chips

If you’ve ever forgotten to cash in a casino chip, that little plastic disc might just be worth hanging on to. There is a growing market for collecting casino chips with the rarest examples being traded for thousands of dollars. Those with an interesting history tend to fetch the highest prices. In December 1946, the infamous Bugsy Siegel opened The Flamingo, the first luxury casino in Las Vegas. It was a flop and closed in March 1947. Anyone who’d slipped a chip into their pocket with the hope of playing with it on a return trip would have been disappointed and maybe annoyed that they couldn’t get their money back. However those original chips are extremely rare. Players who pocketed a $5 dollar chip now have a small piece of history that’s worth around $16,000. Read more

The Man who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo

A diet of chicken washed down with white wine and crème de cassis were the perfect recipe for winning at roulette in 1891.  Charles Deville Wells, from  England, arrived in Monte Carlo on July 19, 1891. Aften eleven hours of gambling at the roulette tables he turned his stake of 100,000 francs into 250,000. Read more

Swimming with the Casino Whales

Captain Ahab hunted whales with a passion. For him the prize catch was Moby Dick, the biggest ‘fish’ in the sea. Nowadays casino operators are also fishing for whales. The ‘whales’ they are trying to lure are the elite in the hierarchy of casino players. They are the high rollers with the biggest bankrolls who gamble around $100,000 per bet. Read more

Can I have your autograph? 

When you sign your name, the squiggle you make on the paper is unique to you. The same applies to roulette dealers when they spin the ball. They each have their unique signature. Their spin, like a signature, is for the most part consistent. This is because, like signing your name, spinning the ball is mostly done sub-consciously. Finding a dealer’s signature is the key to predicting the winning number. Read more

Take a tip from Murphy 

Murphy’s law states ‘If anything can go wrong it will go wrong’. It’s creator, U.S. Air Force Captain Ed Murphy, could easily have been talking about horse racing. You spend hours studying the form, sorting out the best jockey and assessing the weights. You pick out the most promising horse. Confident in your selection, you place your bet. Since it can’t fail to lose, you bet a pot of money on it.  Then you sit back and wait for it to pass the winning post. Suddenly just when you least expect it up pops Murphy’s Law. Read more

Getting an even chance with the odds

The ancient Greeks, experts in many branches of mathematics, failed to recognise the connection between gambling and maths. Instead they relied on Hermes – the god of gambling for luck. When a pair of dice was thrown they thought all numbers had an equal chance. Thanks to the calculations of Blaise Pascal in 1654, today’s craps players know that a seven in the most likely score. Unfortunately so too do gambling operators. They use computers to calculate odds ensuring they give themselves huge profits. However even with modern technology, the gambling operators can be as clueless as the ancient Greeks. Read more

Stepping out of stepping up

Casinos employ lots of techniques to make you lose more money.  A subtle method is called stepping up. It’s used when players start winning a lot and is common on roulette. It’s an effective way for casinos to recoup losses and is so deftly implemented that players don’t realise what has occurred until it’s too late. Read more

Poker - Learning to swim before you sink

After serving an apprenticeship at the kitchen table, graduating to a card room is the next step for many poker players. If that transition makes you feel like you’re small fry being fed to the sharks, before taking the plunge, you may find it helpful to enter a few poker tournaments. Read more

About Belinda Levez

Belinda Levez is a former croupier with London’s top clubs and author of gambling books including the highly successful series of How to Win books. In this site she shares her inside knowledge to help you maximize your winnings. Read more