What is Advantage Play?

Some skilled gamblers, card counters, or sports handicappers make bets in a manner which is known as "advantage play". Advantage play is generally a slow, methodical process, that exploits weaknesses in house casino games or sports betting lines so that the player comes out ahead in the long run.

Definition of Advantage Play: Advantage Play is implementing skills that give the player an edge in the long run. Advantage players use card counting and shuffle tracking in Blackjack, sports handicapping knowledge for sports betting, or hunt down online casino bonuses that can be exploited.

Thoughts on Advantage Play:

1. Advantage play requires that the player learn a gambling skill, and therefore advantage play is something that takes place over many months of practice. Having a lucky night at the local casino is not advantage play: it is just a lucky night. Real advantage play is putting the odds of winning in your favor by using advanced skills that most other recreational gamblers don't know.

2. If you want to be an advantage player in sports betting, you need to learn sports handicapping techniques or horse handicapping techniques. These abilities will allow you to exploit bad lines or other weaknesses that are offered by an unknowing online or offline sportsbook. This is also know as "spotting a bad line".

3. Card counting in blackjack is not illegal, in fact, courts ruled that obvious card counters can't be asked to leave a casino in New Jersey. Despite this fact, if casinos suspect a blackjack card counter, they may employ other legal techniques of confusing or limiting the ability of the counter, such as shuffling the decks more often, cutting the deck deeper, or restricting betting limit.

4. It's also possible to be an advantage player at Video Poker, using what is known as "perfect strategy", a table that describes how the player should based on the cards dealt to him or her in a given hand of Video Poker. It's important to stress that you use the correct perfect strategy table for each variety of Video Poker ( ie. Jacks or Better, Dueces Wild, etc.). In some cases, certain Video Poker games might have a high house advantage, in which case there is no strategy available for the player to even the odds.

5. There is no "advantage play" for lottery style games. These odds of winning these games are exponentially stacked against the player, and there is no known formula or scientific analysis that has found a way to win the lottery on a consistent basis. The inferences in this case are obvious.

6. Some advantage players hunt through online casino bonuses, hoping to exploit bonuses that have weak roll over requirements, or bonuses that can be used with table games like Craps, Baccarat, or Blackjack. As with video poker perfect strategy, you have to carefully select casino bonuses that are possible to exploit. If you choose a bonus that has an inordinately high number of "play through" requirements, you will probably not be able to "beat the bonus".