Page 137 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Southwest USA & National Parks

GA MBLING IN LAS VEGAS  135

Poker
There are several different
versions of poker, including
video poker, played in Las Vegas
casinos. It is important to know
the hierarchy of poker hands to
play any of these: starting with
a pair as the lowest hand, and a
royal flush as the highest.

Caribbean Stud Poker
A type of five-card stud poker
played on a table with a layout
like a blackjack table, where the
aim is to beat the dealer. There A croupier setting up roulette in a private gaming room
is a progressive jackpot where
winnings increase according to that will come up on the spin which hand will be closest to 9:
a player’s hand. Players win all or of the wheel. Bets are placed the player’s or the banker’s.
part of a progressive jackpot on the table, which has a grid You can bet on either hand.
with a Royal Flush, Straight marked out with the numbers
Flush, Four of a Kind, Full and a choice of betting Keno
House, or Flush. options. The highest
payout odds are 35 to 1 One of the easiest games to play,
for a straight bet on one keno is a close relative of bingo.
Pai Gow Poker
number such as 10 black. Out of the 80 numbers on a keno
Combining the ancient You can also make a “split ticket, players may choose up to
Chinese game of Pai Gow bet” on two numbers, 20. A range of bets is possible,
with American poker, this which pays 17 to 1 if and winning depends on your
game includes a joker in either number comes chosen numbers coming up.
the standard 52-card pack. up. The most popular The prize depends on the
The joker is used as an ace Casino poker bets are the outside amount of numbers matched.
or to complete a straight or chips ones, which are those
flush. Each player has to placed in the boxes
make the best two-card and outside the numbered grid.
five-card hand possible to beat These only pay even money,
the banker’s two hands. but allow you to cover more
numbers such as Odd or Even,
Red or Black, First 18 Numbers,
Texas Hold ‘Em
or Second 18 Numbers. You
This is the most popular form can also make a Column Bet A screen showing a keno game in progress
of poker played in the poker covering 12 numbers, which at Circus Circus
rooms of Las Vegas casinos. It pays 2 to 1.
is also the game of the famous Race and Sports Book
World Series of Poker that is
held each year at the Rio. Baccarat Giant video screens adorn
Players are dealt two cards and A variation of chemin de fer, these areas of the casino,
they must make their best hand baccarat is played at a leisurely where you can bet on almost
from five communal cards dealt pace with eight decks of cards, the any sport. The race book is for
face up on the table. deal rotating from player to player. betting on thoroughbred horse
The object of the game is to guess racing and features live
coverage from
Roulette racetracks across the
This is quite a simple game US. The sports book
but with a great variety of covers the main
bets. A ball is spun on a wheel sporting events
containing numbers 1 to 36 taking place around
divided equally between red the country, as
and black, plus a single and well as the major
a double zero, colored green. tournaments staged
Each player’s chips are a in Las Vegas itself.
different color so they can be Watch the progress
easily identified on the table. of your team on the
The aim is to guess the number Two cards in each hand of baccarat nearby TVs.
The flame-colored hoodoos of Bryce Canyon

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