GAMING GURUS: LATEST FROM OUR STRATEGY EXPERTS

The Horror of Slots

When it comes to slot play you will occasionally hear a winner scream out loud his or her joy at seeing the money roll in. More often than not you won’t hear anything as many slot players can actually be the silent types.There must be thousands upon thousands of interesting or bizarre stories surrounding the slot machines...read more

Top 10 teams to win the 2021 NBA Finals

It is extremely early to do so, but that makes it a good time to have some bold predictions for the upcoming NBA season. After the Los Angeles Lakers won their 17th title in franchise history last week under the COVID-19-free “bubble,” tied for most all-time with the Boston Celtics, odds were posted at sportsbooks all over the world for the 2021 NBA season, which likely won’t begin until January...read more

Taking Down Pass and Come Bets

QUESTION: A short time ago you wrote about players who picked spots to take down place bets on 6 and 8 in craps. There didn't seem to be any advantage to it, but whatever floats their boat.It started me thinking about taking down other bets...read more

It's All Gambling

The word “gamble” derives from the Anglo-Saxon word gamenian which means to “sport or play:”Gambling is one of the few social activities that occurs in nearly all cultures and more importantly in almost every period of time. In fact, when we look back over thousands of years of history, we find gambling in all the great civilizations and at every social level.The Egyptians gambled, along with the ancient Chinese, Indians, Romans, Greeks, the Hebrews, plus North and South American Indian tribes, in the new world...read more

Casino City’s Friday Five: Live poker comeback edition

Cards are going back into the air in casinos across the U.S. Just two weeks ago, we saw that Beau Rivage Resort & Casino was welcoming back guests into the poker room. This week, we have another prominent casino in a major market doing the very same...read more

Slot Misconceptions

Game themes change, bonuses change, but slot machine misconceptions are forever.I know, because I see them in my in box all the time. We can't see the inner game being played on the random number generator, so our minds try to fill in the gaps.My mid-September email brought a note from a slot player who was trying to apply his old three-reel slot system to video slots.Truth be told, the system didn't really work on three-reel slots, but let's let Liza explain."When is it the right time to raise your bet on the slots?" Liza asked in her email...read more

Ask the Slot Expert: In video poker, sometimes the first play you see isn't the best play

Synergy Blue develops skill-based video machines. I spent a good deal of time playing its Mahjong game before COVID-19 shut down Red Rock. The pod of four machines were there on a trial basis. They had stickers saying that you could not redeem free play on them -- a sure sign that there is something unusual about the financial arrangements with a machine...read more

Women and Craps

They make up a slight majority of blackjack players. They make up a majority of slot players. They are about 50 percent of roulette players and baccarat players. They play Pai Gow Poker and all of the carnival games. Without them there would be no casinos throughout the land...read more

Top 10 tips for playing poker for a living

There is a world of difference between playing poker for a living and recreational approach to this game. If your goal is to have fun at the tables, you do not need to do or learn much and can enjoy poker whenever you feel like playing.One of the first things you should master is the math of the game...read more

Raising Bets at Blackjack

QUESTION: I read that blackjacks happen an average of once every 21 hands. That seems like good information.If you don’t get a blackjack for a while, when’s the right time to raise your bet? After 10 hands? More? Less? It seems like you should bet more when the chance of getting a blackjack is 1 in 11 instead of 1 in 21.What about when you’ve just had a blackjack? Should I lower my bet back down to my base? Should I use a sliding scale, like $10 bets after I’ve just had a blackjack, $15 if there have been five hands without one, $20 after 10 hands and so on?I want to bet my most money when the bigger payoff is most likely.ANSWER: That’s a worthy goal, but counting hands between blackjacks won’t get you there.Blackjacks do happen an average of once per 21 hands, but that’s an average, not a guarantee...read more