I am first and formost a blackjack player while in "Las Vegas"! Very little slot play and no craps (yet)!..

Question #1...Do very many of you truly understand what's happening when you push the button on these "Cartoon Slots"??
I can't seem to get the knack of two or three of them, let alone as many different ones as everyone seem to like and play often???

Question #2...I have decided to start learning the crap tables! What is this that I read about odds of 2x,10x,100x,etc? If one can obtain 100x odds, why would anyone stop at a table that only offered 2x odds?

I would appreciate any detailed (?) help on this odds crap...Thanks....

Irish,

I can't help you with the question on the slots.

On craps, your odds bets are made a true odds. In other words, the casino edge is zero. The 2x, 5x, etc tells how large your odds bet can be in relation to the base bet your getting odds on. The trouble with 100x odds is that if you're playing at a $5 mininum bet, your 100x odds bet would be at minimum, a $500 bet.

irishmick-

As to Question #1 about the cartoon slots -

We were in Las Vegas a few weeks ago. My husband was waiting in line at the car rental desk at the Rio and I sat down in front of one of those cartoon slots to wait for him. Things were taking a long time at the rental desk, so I had lots of time to examine the slot machine.

I don't play slots, but I also had observed so many people playing these newer machines. On this machine, you could play 9 different pay lines. Some of the pay lines were all zig-zaggy and looked like lightening strikes. In addition to the number of pay lines (from 1 to 9) you also could bet from 1 to 5 coins on each line. There were about 4 different pages of pay tables explaining all the different ways to win.

From what I observed, people do seem to enjoy playing these machines. But, I really doubt that they understand the pay tables and pay lines. I think they put their faith in the machines and hope that if they hit something that gives them a pay back, the machines will give it to them.

I do like the "cartoon slots" as you have called them. I call them "silly nickels", but now, they have penny and two cent slots as well.
Each machine is played the same, no matter what the theme is. I'll try not to confuse you too much!
You have a choice of playing from one to twenty lines, depending on the machine. That is pretty much like a regular slot machine. You have the most chances of a win by playing all of the lines. You also have a choice of playing from 1 to 20 coins per line on each spin. Most of the original ones have nine lines, and the highest amount of coins that you can play are nine per line. Now, that people like them, the number of lines, and coins per line, have increased. There are usually three ways to win on these machines. They are usually five reel machines.
One way is to get three like symbols in a row, on a payline, from the left hand side of the screen. Each symbol pays differently for three of them. One may pay 5 coins for this combination, and another may pay 5000 coins for five of that symbol lined up. That is coins, per coin played, per line. On the 5000 coins symbol, you would win 5000 for one coin per line played, and 25000 coins for five coins per line played.
The second is to get Scatter Pay, which is three designated like symbols, either on a payline, in a row, or anywhere on the screen, depending on the machine.
The third is the big bonus game. On some machines you have to get three of a particular symbol on a payline, in line, from the left side of the screen, to get to the Bonus game. Some machines, like the Frog and the Prince, you have to get three frogs, one each, on each of the three center reels. Some you just have to get three of the bonus symbols anywhere on the screen. You can look at the Pay Table on the machine, and it will tell you how many coins you win for each coin you have played, per line, for each symbol. There is usually one symbol designated as a "wild card" on each machine.
Once you have figured one of those machines out, you have figured them all out, with some slight differences.
Have I confused you enough?

GamblinTater: Thanks for the information! I seem to have many of the basics down pat? number of lines, amount bet, etc. I guess that I will stay somewhat confused on these? About a year ago; I was nosy and asked about ten women at different cartoon machines as to how they had won x amount of credits. I don't think that one of them was able to give me a straight answer? Ifg I do play them? I will just do so because I like the graphics and sound track on some of them??

senatorjim: thanks for the craps info!..
LBinStL: I think that you are right?.....

We love to play craps.

The odds on craps only matter according to what you like to play. We don't exceed more than 2X or 3X behind the line, so those places that offer 10X or 100X don't mean anything to us.

As you know, the most important part of the table is the minimum! We like to play at $2 or $3 minimum tables just for the convenience of choice when perhaps your chips are getting low. We will normally play $5 or $10, but not when they put the minimum at those amounts.