And if allowing the computer to randomly determine an outcome (such as the fall of a roulette ball) for in-game gains is gambling, then everyone who plays F:NV is a gambler. Every time you go into VATS and see a % chance to hit, you're gambling. Every time you walk across an area where you might have a random encounter, you're gambling. The only significant difference is that the casino stuff has the trappings of real-world gambling.
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That said, I don't do the actual gambling minigames too much in F:NV.
I have one character who I role-played as a savage ex-raider. She was only really interested in killing and plundering. No interest whatsoever into learning the rules of some "game". She never gambled at all.
I have a social character with a 10 LK who enjoyed the slots for a couple minutes before she was banned from every casino. (The Ultra-Luxe took longer; they don't have slots that I could find.)
I have a wandering gunslinger who is also a sharp Caravan player. He's a bit too dusty and road-hardened (and unlucky) to play those fancy casino games though.
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As for the gameplay: long story short, I like Caravan, I like the slot machines, Blackjack is kinda boring and Roulette really svcks.
Caravan is really fun when you get into it. I've read that you can totally ruin it for yourself by building the "perfect deck" of only 10s, 9s, and 7s, but come on, how boring is that. I build my deck with every card I have available. Makes it so I actually have to think with every play and I can even lose once in a while. I love the rule structure (except the loophole for building cheese decks) and it's a very engaging game. My gunslinger plays it at every opportunity. I do wish you could watch your opponent while you played like in Dead Rising 2. Playing cards in DR2 was awesome just for that even though it played kinda slow.
Slot machines are fun in the same way that real slot machines are fun I guess, except in real life I don't have 10 LK. Without that certainty of the big payouts coming, pretty boring. Decent interface though.
Blackjack is pretty dull and slow paced. Would be a lot more visually interesting if you could at least see the dealer instead of a flat tabletop with ghost cards floating around.
Roulette is horrible. Having all my bets pulled off the table after each spin and having to tap 40 keys to bet again and spin again is really just awful design. A terrible chore to wade through and no visual excitement here either. I want to get that 10 spins achievement, but god, it's going to be something I just want to get over with rather than something fun to do in the game.
