JJTT

I was wondering how many people out there have won playing in the ship-board casinos? Do you think the odds are about the same as Vegas ? I'm looking for your opinions. Thanks!

Hold

Numerous people have asked this same question with two basic themes in the replys in the past.
First, yes you can win. Second, no the odds are not as good as Vegas.
You are on a ship in the middle of the ocean and cannot walk out of their casino and into someone elses down the street like you can in Vegas, so no, they are not going to give you competative odds like the casinos in Vegas.
But again, to be fair, if no-one ever won, people would catch on and stop going and I have heard of people winning on the board, sometimes nice jackpots.
I guess if you like Casinos, have fun and consider your losses as "entertainment" costs and your wins as successes.
Have fun.

Leona

On last month's cruise, I saw two people each win a $1,000 jackpot on the same slot machine!

Joybye

Last year we cruised on the Star Princess. I love to play slots and was doing very well on the $1 machine I was playing. I pushed the cash out button and the machine ran out of money. I had won around $300 and had to wait for an attendant to come and fill the machine so I could get all that I had won. While waiting, I put a $20 bill in the machine beside me and hit the spin button one time and hit for $5000.00! I felt so lucky...it was also on my birthday! So, yes, you can win in a cruise ship casino. I also saw other people winning some big payoffs.

Wolfdog

The best games in Vegas, in general, are at the outlying casinos. They don't have the glitz and glamour to draw players, so they have to offer good games like full-pay video poker. The ships are like the Strip casinos. Why should they offer good games when the sucker players are going to come anyway. This said, I once advised a lady friend of ours on how to play the shipboard slots(after telling her she should not play at all), and she came home with a $1000 jackpot. Luck can happen, even in the worst casinos!

spur

Wolfdog,
Can you advise me how to play slots to hit $1000? Need it ASAP as I will be on my next cruise in 2 days!

Wolfdog

There's no get-rich-quick strategy for slots - especially bad ones. The casino "hold" is quite large on a ship, I suspect. This means you will need a larger bankroll to survive the many more downs than ups. And I also suspect the ship's slots have a low hit frequency built into the program. This means a very few players will get very large hits, but most every one else will pay for it. And I won't go into the ramifications of a non-regulated casino, which I suspect they are.
Nonetheless, I would advise a hit-and-run strategy, whereby you play from 5 to 10 spins, usually at full-coin, and depending on how large the jackpot is. Once you get more than a minimal hit, start your count over. If you don't get a decent hit, move to another machine. This is much more basic than I would use in Vegas, but it will help you conserve that extra-large bankroll you'll need. Oh, and one more thing; use the button, not the handle. Too many germs. And ditto to what "Hold" said. Good luck.

SUNSHINE1223

I found the slots get looser as the cruise wears on. I plaid 25 cent machine in the Mediterranean this past May and won over 900 quarters. Then I was playing the $1 machines and that was loose also. I won about $500 overall. In Dec 04 I won about $600 on the $1 pink panther machines. It was alot of fun.

jean253

I have won about 4 times, but on a Mexican Riviera cruise in Jan I won $1250 & they made me sign a W2 tax form this was a first I thought that when you are in international waters no US tax was due ?

Wolfdog

The slots won't go into a prolonged "looser" trend. Rather, they go in cycles, which are random and completely unpredictable. To make a machine looser, they would have to change the computer chip, a very regulated process in mainland casinos and usually not done unless a casino is altering their entire strategy. Instead, they usually just move machines around or move them out entirely. However, as I stated in an earlier post, shipboard casinos may be completely un-regulated to the point they can change chips at will. But I doubt they go that far because, you see, with the chip they have chosen, they are guaranteed a percentage profit over the long term, even if they pay several jackpots in a day.
As for the W2G, you probably noticed the casino did not open until the ship entered international waters. You generated a W2G because the ship was registered in the US, or is based at a US port.

seasonless

Gambling on a ship is different from the U.S. Consider this, the ship is of foreign registry, therefore, not governed by US laws. There is no casino control commission as in the US. If you feel you've been cheated at the tables, there's no recourse. (I've seen many questionable calls/payoffs by a dealer or coupe.) Save your money and take a gambling trip to Vegas or Atlantic City.

seasonless

Here's something to ponder for those who have seen big hits in the casino. How much did the winners have to invest before they won?

Wolfdog

A very good question. The key to gambling is money management(even more than knowledge of the game). When my wife and I go on a gambling trip, she is the banker. I or she borrows $100 from the "bank", as needed. And we keep this money separate from all other trip expenses. At the end of each day, we pay back the bank, if we're ahead. If one or both of us is way ahead(in other words we're using the casino's money), we might play riskier games like reel slots. Mostly, though, we stick to full-pay video poker and hold the free drinks to a minimum. This is the main reason one or both of us comes home a winner on 2 out of every 3 trips!