Okay. Right up front, I’m the kind of person who goes into the casino with $20 bucks, plays the quarter or nickel slots, and leaves when my $20 bucks is gone (or, on a good night, if I double my money). I’m not exactly high stakes.

But even as a novice, I can appreciate the fact that shipboard casinos are getting bigger and better and more like those that can be found on land.

Few people actually cruise to gamble, but shipboard casinos are a big part of the nighttime social scene (some ships assure this by making sure you have to walk through the casino on the way to the theatre or, in some cases, the dining room). It’s fun to stop and watch, even if you don’t partake.

There are differences between shipboard casinos and their land-based cousins, though. These include:

• Friendly dealers. The pace is slower at shipboard casinos, and you’re not necessarily expected to know how to play the game (the dealers will take the time to teach you the rules).
• No freebies. You don’t get free drinks like in Las Vegas.
• Limited hours. You can’t play all night. Shipboard casinos are not open at ports of call, and usually close by 3a.m.
• Wage limits. Maxium bets are usually no more than $200 (minimums at poker or blackjack usually $5).

Where are the best shipboard casinos?

Those on Carnival ships are very Las Vegas, bright and gaudy, and the bigger ships like Carnival Destiny and Carnival Triumph have huge ones with more than 320 slot machines and more than 20 tables. Royal Caribbean’s new Voyager of the Seas, the world’s biggest cruise ship, not surprisingly also boasts the world’s biggest cruise ship casino. You step over a plexiglass floor filled with "buried" treasure to get inside. The others in the RCI fleet also offer the appropriate amount of Vegas-style flash.

The Atlantis Casino, on the Grand Princess, the world’s second biggest ship, offers an impressive 13,500-square feet of gaming space, and the casinos on the other newer Princess megaships are none to shabby either. Wonderful casinos can also be found on the newer Celebrity ships and on Crystal’s Harmony and Symphony, the latter operated by Caesar’s Palace. Even budget ships like those of Commodore, Premier and Regal, offer fun, smaller casino settings, though without the glitz. Luxury ships like those of Seabourn and Cunard have upper crust casinos (think Monte Carlo).

Typical offerings at shipboard casinos include slot machines _ usually quarter and dollar and sometimes nickel and half-dollar too; progressive slots (sometimes, as in the case of Carnival, linked to the entire fleet); blackjack or 21; roulette, craps; and Caribbean stud poker. On some newer ships, including Celebrity vessels, you can even gamble from the comfort of the bed in your cabin thanks to interactive TV, and video slots (there is a lockout feature to keep youngsters from partaking). Cruise ships also offer bingo as a standard feature. You buy into the game for about $5. Most winners take home less than $100.

Another popular shipboard gaming activity is horse racing. No, not with real horses, but with toy horses, mounted on poles, that move along a track with a roll of the dice. Passengers make wagers, usually $5. You can also get together a group to "own" a horse for around $100. It’s typical to dress your horse up in a costume, with the winning costume taking 10% of the pot. It’s all very silly, but people really get into it. On some ships there are also live horse events. No, not with real horses, but on video. You bet much the same way as you would on land.

By the way, while cruise ships operate as virtually cashless societies, you use your shipboard credit card instead of cash, gaming activities are an exception. That’s why if the ship has an ATM, it’s usually located convenient to the casino. You can also usually get cash from the casino’s cashier using a credit card.