Blackjack
Blackjack is the most popular table game in Las Vegas. In most casinos you will see twice as many 21 tables as any other game. It is one of the simpler games to learn and play. The dealer gives each player two cards and himself one card up and one card down. Everyone plays against the dealer. The object of the game is to draw cards that add up to 21 or as close to 21 as possible without going over.

Tens, Jacks, Queens, and Kings count as 10; Aces count as either 1 or 11, as you prefer. Other cards play at their face value. You are given a chance to draw extra cards, one at a time, to get closer to 21. If you "bust" (go over 21), you lose and the dealer collects your bet. If your count is nearer to 21 than the dealer's, you win. If it is less than the dealers, you lose. A tie is a standoff and results in a "push" (nobody wins).

Craps
Las Vegas is an exhilarating city and a great deal of the excitement comes from the casinos. The lights sparkle, the slots chirp and ping, there are people pushing carts full of money around you, while others are handing out free cocktails. It gets your adrenalin pumping and fills your mind with dreams of a big payoff and early retirement. If there is one area of a casino from where the energy seems to flow, it's the craps tables. "Horn bet, " "Press my eight, " "Little Joe, " "Boxcars." You may not know what they mean, but you can tell by the way they're being said; these players are into the game.

Don't let the strange terms intimidate you, there's practically an entire dictionary of craps slang, but you only need to learn a few terms to play the game. Craps is relatively easy to learn and some of the best odds are on the simplest bets.

Roulette
Roulette comes from Europe and both the secret agent and the game carry an air of continental sophistication. Despite the mystique, roulette is one of the easiest casino games to learn and to play. All you have to do is have a hunch. Will it be odd or even? Red or black? 21 or 12? Once you have played your hunch, there is nothing left for you to do except wait for the sliver ball to settle into one of 38 slots on the wheel.

Slot Machines
More money is bet on slot machines than all the table games combined. This is very different from the early days in Las Vegas when there were just a few slot machines off in a corner of the casino. In the 50s and 60s slots were provided as way to keep women entertained while their husbands and boyfriends gambled at the tables. Today, most of the casino floor is dedicated to slots and the biggest payoffs come out of those machines. The slot machines have also evolved. Fruit and gold bars are still found on some machines, but today they compete with Wheel of Fortune, I Dream of Jeannie, and Austin Powers. Today's slot machines are designed for all bankrolls. Somewhere between pennies and $500 tokens you should be able to find a denomination that makes the game exciting, but won't break your bank too quickly. The choices are almost endless. You can play one line at a time or nine lines at once. Do you like those spinning reels or is a video display more fun? Bells, chimes, and music are among the sounds you can choose from or there are machines that will talk to you. Or, have Elvis talk to you, "Hello Baby."

Bingo
Players can buy cards with numbers on them corresponding to the five letters in the word B-I-N-G-O. Numbers are drawn, for example B-2, N-16 or O-68 are then drawn at random until one player completes a "Bingo" by covering five numbers in a vertical, horizontal or diagonal row on one of their cards.

Bingo in Las Vegas takes the game a little further however. Many variations including "Letter X" "Coverall" "Six Pack" and "Indian Style Papoose" bingo are offered. Some properties offer special payouts as high as $10,000 and there are progressive jackpots that start at $100,000.

Rules, payouts, and variations vary from property to property. Bingo brochures detailing particular games and payouts are available at each location.

Big Six
Wheel of Fortune combines with Keno in a game affectionately referred to as Big Six. In the game, a dealer spins a wheel festooned with US currency and eye-catching icons. Players who correctly select where the wheel will stop win. Players make their bets by placing their chips in the corresponding boxes - marked with the same currency and symbols that are on the wheel as they are on the table. The odds for each payoff correspond to the chance that it will turn up on the wheel.

Baccarat
Baccarat is played with eight decks of cards. The cards are shuffled by the croupier and then placed in a box called the "shoe." Players may gamble on "bank' or "player" at any time. Two cards are dealt from the shoe and given to the player who has the largest wager against the bank, and two cards are dealt to the croupier acting as banker. If the rule calls for a third card, the player or banker or both, must take the third card. In the event of a tie, the hand is dealt over.

The object of the game is to come as close as possible to the number 9. To score the hands, the cards of each hand are totaled and the last digit is used. All cards have face value. For example: 10 plus 5 equals 15 (score is 5); 10 plus 4 plus 9 equals 23 (score is 3); 4 plus 3 plus 3 equals 10 (score is 0); and 4 plus 3 plus 2 equals 9 (score is 9). The closest hand to 9 wins. Each player has a go at dealing the cards. The shoe passes to the player on the right each time the bank loses. If the player wishes, he or she may pass the shoe at any time.