The way Sam Micco sees it, the proliferation of gambling classes at Las Vegas casinos is just another sign of the times.
”It`s like supermarkets,” said Micco, who supervises the gambling lesson program at the Las Vegas Hilton.
”In the old days, people walked in the store, picked up a box of cereal and walked out. Nowadays, they read the label, they want to know what`s in it.”
Almost every large hotel in Las Vegas now offers gaming instruction, but the Hilton was one of the first. Micco, a former dealer, has been giving lessons for seven years.
The Hilton has one of the more elaborate programs. A blackjack ”learning center,” clearly marked with a sign, is open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily;
there, students may place $2 bets (most tables at the Hilton require a minimum bet of $5) for up to an hour.
Craps, the most complicated casino game because of the variety of bets it allows, is taught twice a day-a beginning class in the morning and an advanced class in the afternoon. The roulette class is at 1:30 p.m. daily, and pai gow poker is taught at 4 p.m. A casino tour is offered every day at 5 p.m.
Attending all the classes would take up the better part of a day, and Micco prides himself on the quality of the Hilton`s instruction. ”I know a casino where they teach you craps, blackjack and roulette-all in one hour,”
he said, somewhat disdainfully.
Blackjack is the only game where students are required to bet real money; otherwise, offering continuous instruction would have been too costly for the hotel. Phony chips are used in other classes.
Micco, a 44-year-old Pennsylvania native, teaches craps; he says anyone who attends his two 45-minute classes will emerge with a working knowledge of the game.
Which game offers the best odds? ”Pai gow poker,” Micco replied quickly. ”It`s the easiest game to play and the easiest game to learn. The house has no edge in this game-they collect 5 percent (of each minimum $10 bet).”
Blackjack basics can be taught in 10 minutes; instruction also includes a system of money management-betting strategy.
”Money management is where it`s at,” Micco said of blackjack. ”If you bet the same amount all day, eventually you`ll lose all your money.”
The strategy recommended by the Hilton calls for increasing a bet by one unit each time you win until you have won four times in a row. However, Micco says this is a conservative system-serious gamblers usually are more aggressive in their strategy.
This raises the obvious question: How can you trust gambling instruction from a casino, which has a vested interest in your losing?
Micco laughed. ”If you have to take gambling lessons, then a casino isn`t worried about losing to you,” he replied.
Micco`s closing words of advice:
”Don`t drink and gamble. When you`re tired, go to bed-fatigue will beat you.
”You can`t come to this town and lose all the time. There are days when you`ll come to town and you`ll pay your dues. There are days when you`ll come to town and you`ll make money.
”If you come to Vegas and you gamble, gamble, gamble and drink, drink, drink, guess what-you`re going to go home a loser. But if you play golf, see a show, take a tour, make it a vacation, you`re going to go home a winner.”
