Atlantic City Weekly

When I was a kid growing up in New York City and I brought friends over to my grandmother Nana Rose's house, she always made a point of feeding them -- meatballs, sausage and pasta with her delicious homemade sauce. Even if my little cronies weren't hungry, she insisted they eat something, which is probably why so many of them are so fat today.

When I visit a Korean friend of mine, we take off our shoes on the porch and enter the house with clean slippers or in our socks. That is his custom and I gladly adhere to it.

Both customs make sense to me. Offering food to a guest, even snivelly, unkempt kids, is a sure sign of welcoming. And taking your shoes off before you step on clean floors with all the horrible things you have stepped in on the streets is sanitary and smart. Why bring all those germs into the home?

Like the world at large, the world of the casino also has its behavioral norms although many casino players are not aware of them. These norms exist so that we can all take part in our enjoyable pastime of putting money in the machines and hoping that even more money comes out of the machines. While we are making our play for more coins, we should realize that the world of the slot machines is a world that has rules, although most are not written anywhere.

Sometimes some slot players get so wound up in their own little slot-playing world that they do things they will become ashamed of once they calm down. I saw a real fight -- with hair pulling, weak punches, and plenty of screams -- between an orange-haired grandmother and a blue-haired grandmother in an Atlantic City casino because blue-hair thought orange-hair had stolen her jackpot. Blue-hair was screaming, "That was my machine! That was my jackpot!" Orange-hair said something unflattering and (whamo!) fight night had arrived. They had to be separated by security guards and other players and there were blue and orange clumps of hair on the floor when it was all over.

First of all, no one can steal another's jackpot. Proper slot-playing manners dictate that once you have left a machine and someone else is playing that machine, the wins and losses belong to that other someone and not to you. The only exception to that rule is if the slot attendant or host locks up the machine for you so you can take a break or go to the bathroom. If you have the temerity to play a machine that has been locked up then you are doing a bad thing and you might find yourself in a fight like the aforementioned one.

On crowded evenings, it is the height of manners to only play one machine. If you wish to play two machines and the slot areas are jammed with people, then you should play both machines an equal amount of time. You should not play one machine a lot and the other every so often. That is rude. True, some people don't like to have other people sitting next to them when slot playing and I can understand that. However, in that case you have to make your casino visits at times when there are not so many people playing the machines.

When you have won a big jackpot and you have to be hand-paid cash, it is considered proper to tip the change person who gives you the money. I am not quite sure why they should be tipped since they had nothing to do with your winning, but this is one of those mores that slot players follow. What percentage of your winnings should you tip? I'd say a very, very small amount -- a real token tip.

Hovering behind people when they play or, worse, hanging over them is extremely annoying to slot players. No one wants a stranger breathing down his or her neck. It is also not proper to go up to a player and ask, "When are you finishing up with this machine because I want to play it." When a player is on a machine, it is their machine.

Slot players are often considered poor tippers in real tipping situations. If a cocktail waiter or waitress has served you, please tip at least a dollar. This was a major complaint that many cocktail servers had when working the slot floors, many players under tipped them or stiffed them completely. Unlike the change person who paid you your jackpot but otherwise had nothing to do with your winnings, the cocktail servers have worked directly for you. So tip them.

If you are a man who likes to play $5 and higher denomination machines, there is a good chance that you will be hit upon by the local "ladies of the night" (and mornings, and afternoons) because they figure you have money to burn. I am not going to moralize here, but suffice it to say going with these ladies is often a more dangerous gamble than playing the machines.

The world of the slot machines can be a fun experience and to make it more fun just obey the rules of the road.

Frank Scoblete is the No. 1, best-selling gaming author in America. His Web sites include www.goldentouchcraps.com and www.scoblete.com in association with CasinoCity.com. For more information, call 1-800-944-0406 or write to Frank Scoblete Enterprises, PO Box 446, Malverne, NY 11565.