GAMING GURUS: LATEST FROM OUR STRATEGY EXPERTS

Covid Laughlin

The Covid-19 pandemic hit the world hard. Virtually no individual or business has been immune to its impact. Now that the country is starting to open up a bit, I thought I would take a tour of some casino destinations and report my observations.This is the third in a series of articles on the current state of casinos...read more

Casino City’s Friday Five: Masks are back in Las Vegas edition

This week, land-based casino gaming in Virginia is moving in the right direction and we have some more World Series of Poker Online bracelet winners. We also have several major jackpot wins to report on as well as the return of the dreaded face coverings in Las Vegas.Let’s begin with some payouts:5...read more

Back to Back Baby

QUESTION: I have a back-to-back jackpots story for you, and it's kind of a weird one.I was with a group of friends, 10 in all, and we scattered to different games. I'll play slots with others, but I really like video poker.I didn't bring a ton of money with me, and I like the multi-game machines, so I started on nickel Super Times Pay, with Triple Play Double Double Bonus Poker...read more

Ask the Slot Expert: Covid restrictions coming back to Las Vegas?

Last week I wrote that the script of the nightly Covid update on the local news has changed. Before reopening on June 1, the reporters introduced the update by saying that the statistics (7-day average of new cases, positivity rate) were declining and were the lowest numbers seen all year...read more

Make a Killing: Slots or Table Games?

The greatest fantasy of casino players (and lottery players) is to make a killing. To tear to shreds the casino’s house edge and come home with wheelbarrows of money. “Look everyone, I killed ‘em. All that money is now mine!”Most players never get to say that...read more

Top 10 under-the-radar poker controversies of the last decade

Phil Hellmuth got serious flak for speaking out of turn. Poker is an inherently exhilarating game with a lot of ups and downs. Those who play it are often headstrong, resilient and temperamental. Naturally, when you put hundreds, sometimes thousands, of such players in the same room, tensions can run high.Making matters more intense, if you promise these same players high-stakes, multi-million dollar prizes, incidents and controversies are bound to happen...read more

Play This Machine, Not That Machine

In more than 30 years as a player, I've received a lot of advice, some good, some bad, some indifferent.It was the bad advice that had my wife and I laughing a few weeks ago when the conversation turned to slot tips. The tips may not have been good, but they were memorable.PLAY THIS MACHINE! On a 1980s trip to Las Vegas, Marcy and I were walking the slot aisles in a casino near the north end of the Strip when a couple toting plastic buckets filled with quarters came rushing up to us. Big grins were on their enthusiastic faces and the woman pointed and shouted, "You have to play that machine!" Joining in the moment, the man said, "We have to go to the airport now, but we've been playing for three days...read more

Doing It Right: Slots, Video Poker and Mini-Baccarat

ABBY: In a past article, we discussed the fantasy of letting it all hang out when playing. Neither of us can do that because we feel doing so is a waste of money.CINDY: But how do we go about playing the games we like? We are traditional players so we only put a few dollars here and there in slot machines and video poker...read more

Casino City’s Friday Five: World Series of Poker and jackpots edition

The 2021 World Series of Poker Online events continue on but those aren’t the only headlines for the WSOP this week. Before we go into more details on that, we also have several jackpot winners at Treasure Island in Las Vegas, a new casino opening and another major mega-dollars merge and acquisition from the gambling space.Let’s begin with some lucky winners:5...read more

Slot Payback Percentages

QUESTION: I don't get slot machine payback percentages. When a casino says its games pay 90 percent, why don't I actually get 90 percent. I put $20 in a penny slot, I'm not cashing out $18. More often than not, I'm cashing out zero. Isn't that zero percent?ANSWER: Did you bet your entire $20 without a single payoff? That would be a zero percent payback.But that's not what happens...read more