The 7 Players You Will Meet at the Casino
Which one are you?
If you’ve never been to a casino before, you might not know what to expect when you get there. Or rather, who. Because while you’ll have learned all about table games such as Blackjack or Craps from watching Hollywood movies, watched poker play out in television ads, or seen the spin of the roulette wheel throughout your life, the only real unknown is the person you’ll meet when you get there.
As it turns out, there are many different types of people you’ll meet at your local casino, and below we’ve broken down seven player types you might recognise from members of your own friend group, as well as your own family.
1. The Tourist
Having just arrived in the town, city, or even country, one of the first thoughts of this person is to find their nearest casino. Unless we’re talking about a professional (we’ll get to them later), the tourist is likely to be wearing an extravagant outfit, drinking plenty and going all out for a good time.
Also, thanks largely to a mindset which dates back centuries, they will also have already lost their money in the form of their mentality. When on holiday, people usually apportion a percentage of their expenditure to loss, whether this is in the form of spending more on dinner per night than they might usually do in a week, paying over the odds for plastic trinkets which will break on the return journey home or setting aside funds for spending at a casino.
The loss is expected, and they know that they’re not going to win. Play your best against these types and you’ll likely be good shape at the end of the night. Just don’t take the shirt off their back, Hawaiian doesn’t suit you.
2. The Regular
The regular casino-goer will often do several things that stand out, but only to the keen observer. Regulars often know where they are headed in a casino, which are traditionally built to confuse and disorient you, keeping you in the building. There’s a reason the entrance is a glittering neon sign and finding the exit is like escaping the Hampton Court maze.
Casino regulars will often bet quickly and decisively, knowing what they like, such as a particular pattern at roulette or splitting a pair in blackjack. You can learn a lot by watching them but be warned — they don’t always win and shouldn’t be considered professionals — yet. It might just be their favourite haunt on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
3. The High Roller
Again, we’re teasing you for those pros to look out for. The High Roller is nothing of the sort. They’ve made their money outside the casino and are spending it in the casino — that’s a major difference.
The high roller is frequently to be found winning big on the roulette wheel — if you ever hear a huge cheer after the silver ball finds their slot, it’s likely to be a high roller. The money they win often means a lot less to them, however, either because they’ve made their fortune already and/or the money simply doesn’t have the same value to them when they win it.
While High Roller types are fun to watch, they’re not the types to emulate, and in poker games are often the ‘mark’, nicknamed ‘Whales’ in high roller buy-in poker events. Can you harpoon them? Just stay your course and remember how they value their chips, and therefore each bet they make.
4. The Professional
The professional casino-goer is few and far-between these days but can still be found. Expect to see them rock up with a very decent gambling bankroll. This could be from dabbling in both online casino and land-based play. They aren’t likely to be throwing small amounts at a game. It’s more likely that they’re happy to leave with something smaller from each mini-session at a table game after starting with ten times that amount to start with.
Being a professional casino-goer isn’t about running up a huge amount then cavorting with your friends for the rest of the night. These pros are often lone wolves and treat the games they play as jobs and therefore won’t take as much pleasure from the short-term dopamine boosts that amateurs often feel the thrill of.
The casino professional should certainly be watched out for in skill games such as poker, but if you notice the way they’re taking a blackjack or roulette table to the cleaners by employing a certain way of playing, they can add an element of learning to your night out if you pay attention.
5. The Birthday Party
Everyone enjoys a good birthday party, and the casino is one of the most popular party destinations in the modern day. Frequently appealing to groups of men aged 18–40, birthday parties in a casino often end with most members of the party having empty pockets.
The birthday boy or girl themselves are often a little more protected from losing by their friends, but these players a frequently made to pay for it. A lot of fun to be around, a birthday party at the casino can be a profitable party to encounter at the poker table, especially if they’re all playing a cash game and you join in the ‘shark seat’. You could easily be on the receiving end of some presents instead.
6. The Work Outing
Many work outings that start or end up at a casino end in very drunken nights which is a key facet of this sub-section of the casino population. Work nights out are often free bars, but while this doesn’t apply to the casino, plenty of business nights out end with an amount being given to each employee to bet, and it is assumed, to lose.
A little like the tourists we encountered first, the work outing party member is a big spender and has disposable income, along with the potentially lucrative offering of drinking contributing to them being a hugely profitable player to take on in skill games.
7. The Saturday Night Special
The casino tourist is a common player, and so are work outing or birthday players, but on Saturday night, a lot of these people are combined into the vast majority of the casino-going public.
The ‘Saturday Night Special’ might refer to a gun in etymology, but the bang for your buck in a casino often comes from the special atmosphere of those who enjoy the casino all wanting to be around each other on a hugely social atmosphere.
The casino is a great environment for anyone who is professional, of course, as many players will be there for the buzz and in the company of their friends. But a casino isn’t just for pros, and most of those at tables games such as roulette, blackjack and poker will be there for a good time.
