Tips for Cruise Ship Gaming

One of the most underrated aspects of cruise ships is the casino gaming, which is always a big attraction to passengers. And while having the opportunity to play casinos games on a cruise ship is definitely fun, the one big problem is that most of the passengers aren’t experienced players, and surrender a big edge to the casino. So anybody who’s planning on going on a cruise any time soon should keep the following tips in mind.

Since most people don’t go on vacation cruises solely to play casino games, cruise lines feature pretty tight slots games – knowing most people won’t care. It’s not uncommon for casino slots games to have payout percentages of 75% or lower, which is extremely low when compared to regular casinos and online slots. Considering that many online slots games have 95% payout percentages or higher, you’d be smart to avoid playing cruise ship slots and bring your laptop along instead.

In poker and blackjack tournaments, players can consistently make long-term profits because they’re competing against other people, rather than against a house edge. This being the case, you can really gain a big edge over people on cruise ships because the majority of them are casino fish. Most cruise line passengers have very little experience at poker and blackjack tables, and are just playing for fun. So you’ll have a big advantage over these players if you study some poker and blackjack strategy before leaving for the cruise.

Some people complain that cruise ship casino games are extremely frustrating because the beginning players make such poor moves. For example, sometimes a poker player will go all-in with 9-7 offsuit, and still beat your pocket aces, or make a stupid hit in blackjack that helps the dealer beat everybody. But the key thing to realize is that, as long as you make decisions with positive expected value, you’ll be a profitable player in the end. Plus letting rookie cruise ship players bother you will only cause you to make terrible moves.

While many casinos keep their table betting minimums the same throughout the day and night, cruise ships try to capitalize on peak gaming hours by raising minimum bets. For example, if the minimum roulette bets are $5 during the day, they might jump to $10 or even $25 during the night. In any case, you should have a bigger bankroll if you plan on playing casino games at night because of the increased bets. Assuming you don’t have a very big bankroll to begin with, only play cruise ship casino games in the day.

Staying on the bankroll theme, cruise ships present a difficult challenge to casino players because there are plenty of ATM’s throughout the gaming floor. After all, cruise lines want people to be able to withdraw as much money as possible, so the process is made very easy. You may have already dealt with this dilemma in land-based casinos, but the feeling is intensified on cruise ships. For those who have trouble with bankroll management, you can always attempt the risky option of not carrying any credit or debit cards onto the ship, and just bring cash.

Advice about not playing casino games when you’re drunk is overstated far too often. However, this point can’t be stressed enough when you are on a cruise ship because alcohol is flowing everywhere. In fact, you have a better chance at winning over the long-term with cruise ship slots than you do at finding sober people onboard. Long story short, you should save the drinking for after you’ve finished playing casino games. Of course, it may not hurt to take a drink or two when you’re being comped.