Introduction to Some Casino Games You Might Not Know
Chuck-a-luck
Chuck-a-luck, or birdcage as some people call it, was once quite a popular among a segment of the dice-rolling population until craps came along and swept it into the wings.
Today it is still played, not much, but enough to justify its existence. Most of its patrons are greenhorns taken in by the simplicity of the rules and by the pitchman's logic of "three winners and three losers every time."
Here is the way it works. The layout shows the numbers 1 through 6, and players put their bets on any of these numbers. Three dice are shaken up in an hour-glass-shaped cage. If the player's number appears on one of the three dice he wins and is paid off at even money. If his number appears on two of the dice the payoff is at 2 to 1, and if on three it is 3 to 1, all very fair. But let's look more closely. Suppose each of the six squares is covered with bets of a dollar. The numbers 2, 5, and 6 show up on the three dice and each player gets $2 back. Fine. Next roll two 3s and a 5 appear. Now the player betting the 3 receives his double payoff, $3, the player betting the 5 gets his $2. Only $5 has been paid out of the $6 bet, with the house keeping the extra $1. And if three 3s should appear the house will pay out only $4 (3 to 1 to one player only), keeping $2 and making the house advantage in this case a rollicking 40 percent. In most people's opinions chuck-a-luck is more a game of the carnival than of the casino. The only ones who disagree are those who run the casinos.
Big Six
Big six is more or less chuck-a-luck on a wheel. The most common type of wheel, there are some with different designs that have even higher house percentages, is an ornate, eight-foot-high carnival wheel with a Masonic-looking star in the center. The rim of the wheel is apportioned into fifty-four equal sections, each showing a different possible combination of three dice. The wheel is spun. The players put their bets on the same type of six-number layout used in chuck-a-luck. If their number shows on the pictured dice when the wheel comes to a stop they win at the same schedule as in chuck-a-luck.
The big drawback with big six is that there are only six sections on this wheel which do not show a pair, twenty-four which do show pairs, and twenty-four with three losers every time" only six times out of fifty-four. On all other spins one of two players come into the money while the rest win nothing at all. The house takes 22 percent. Might as well play the slots.
Wheel of Fortune
Like the big-six wheel, the wheel of fortune has variations in design and house percentage, depending on where you play. The most common stands about eight feet high and is divided into fifty-four sections. In fifty-two of these sections greenbacks are displayed under glass, ranging in denomination from $1 to $20. A flag and a joker fill the remaining slots. Players bet on which bills the indicator will point to when the wheel comes to a stop. The payoffs equal the value of the bill, for example winnings on $1 are 1 to 1, on a five-dollar bill, 5 to 1, and so on, with the joker and the flag both paying 40 to 1. In downtown Vegas minimum bets are 25 cents, on the Strip a dollar. The general odds on the wheels action look like this:
Bill Payoff Real Odds House Edge
$1 1-1 53-24 11.1%
$2 2-1 53-15 16.7%
$5 5-1 53-7 25.9%
$10 10-1 53-4 18.0%
$20 20-1 52-2 22.0%
flag 40-1 53-1 24.0%
joker 40-1 53-1 24.0%
|
RSS