GAMING GURUS: LATEST FROM OUR STRATEGY EXPERTS

How Can Slots Be Random and Pay Back a Set Percentage?

Sir, Love your articles and read them all. My question is and I know you have heard it before, but how can the RNG be what it is and yet the casino knows exactly what the payback is, 97.8, 98.6, 95.5, etc. over a certain period of time? How can something be random all through its play and still know what to hold for the casino's percentage? I have a hard time understanding how this could be...read more

Deal Me In: Those thinking machines have still not arrived

Dear Mark: If a machine has just paid out a jackpot, would you recommend moving to another machine being that the machine now has to recoup its losses? Dale M. Far too many players erroneously believe that any machine that has just hit a jackpot won't hit another anytime soon because the machine has to re-prime the pump and win back the money it just forked out...read more

Father-in-Law Wins Big Playing Wrong Game

I've written about my 91-year old father-in-law Pete's adventures in video poker before. He is a converted slot player whom I taught video poker on my computer using commercially available video poker training software. He also brings his video poker strategy cards with him to the casino when he plays, just in case...read more

Catching up with Joe Cada

One year ago this week, Joe Cada celebrated his 21st birthday. He went out to a local bar in his hometown of Shelby Township, Mich. to savor his first legal cocktail with a group of friends and it was a satisfying feeling for Cada, but not for the reasons you may think. "I was excited to be 21, but not because I could go to a bar," Cada told Casino City...read more

Crazy Gambling Letters from Nutty People # 10

Dear Mister Frank Scobelette: I fellow the advice of if you see a horn you bet a horn at craps. I think this is good advixe since a horn is a horn is a horn if you didn't know it Mr. Frank Scobelette. You can't blow your money on a horn because this thing repeats itself all over the game and when it comes up you have to jump on it to make a lot of money...read more

Questions from Readers

It's a good time to answer some questions that readers have been kind enough to send along. "My wife and I are going to Vegas in November and would like to play some blackjack. We are both novice players and are looking for a recommendation on a good blackjack book." – Chris Many outstanding books about blackjack are available...read more

A Shuffle Through the Gaming Mailbag

Q. I recently saw 21+3 blackjack games for the first time. The side bet on the player's two cards plus the dealer's up card combining for a flush, straight or three of a kind, paid 9 to 1. I assumed with that payoff, the real odds are probably more like 10 or 11 to 1, maybe even higher...read more

Top-10 questions and answers from the WSOP final table

By now you've likely heard all about the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event. You know that Joe Cada became the youngest player to win the event. You know that it was the longest final table in WSOP history and – thanks to ESPN – you're well aware that there were a number of crazy hands and twist...read more

Pai Gow poker is for friends

For as long as groups of friends have been making trips to Las Vegas and other gambling destinations, finding the game that everyone wants to play has been the Holy Grail. Among buddies, bankrolls and interests will vary. Some friends prefer to play blackjack...read more

ESPN gets plenty of dramatics for final table telecast

ESPN got its wish when the World Series of Poker Main Event final table unfolded in dramatic fashion. But in a bit of twisted irony, the excessive amount of extraordinary hands that played out during what was the longest final table in WSOP history made Jamie Horowitz and his crew's job that much m...read more