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Alan Krigman Gaming Guru - Page 27  Playing It Smart: How to make a mint in the casino on a small stake30 May 2008
Anyone can get off the casino bus with $100 and get back on with $100,000. But few do. This, because the probability is slim. In a "fair" game, no house edge, the probability of this particular feat is one out of a thousand. And the only constraint is that you spend as little or as much time as needed to reach your goal or go bust first.
... (read more)
Playing It Smart: When it comes to slots, what you see isn't what you get27 May 2008
Picture a slot machine with three reels, each having 10 symbols and 10 corresponding points at which to stop. If each symbol was unique, the machine could display 10 x 10 x 10 or 1,000 combinations. The probability of any one combination would be (1/10) x (1/10) x (1/10) or 1/1,000. This equals 0.1 ... (read more)
Playing It Smart: Why you rarely get what you expect at craps19 May 2008
Say you throw the dice randomly 36 times. According to the laws of probability, you'll expect to get six sevens, five sixes and five eights, four fives and four nines, three fours and three 10s, two threes and two 11s, and one two and one 12.
Payoffs for the various bets and characteristics of the game ... (read more)
Playing It Smart: How much better are six decks than eight in blackjack?13 May 2008
Blackjack is a game of fine distinctions. Sure, standing with 10-10 versus 10 is a no-brainer compared to splitting or hitting. Both intuitively and statistically. For reference, the math says standing wins 55.80 cents/dollar while hitting or splitting lose 44.02 or 84.76 cents/dollar, respectively. ... (read more)
Playing It Smart: Can you save more by betting more? Part 4: Blackjack5 May 2008
Blackjack players not only can keep the edge extremely low, but sometimes switch it to their side. This, by choosing games with the best rules and following optimum playing and betting strategies. None of these things come free, though. Lowering house advantage, and flipping it so solid citizens are favored, ... (read more)
Playing It Smart: Can you save more by betting more? Part 3: Craps29 April 2008
Casino craps accommodates a variety of bets, having house advantages or edges ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous. Minimizing the edge is an art that involves choosing which bets to make and exploiting the benefits of extra money on the table.
Edge, of course, isn't the only bet selection criterion. ... (read more)
Playing It Smart: Can you save more by betting more? - Part 225 April 2008
Casinos grab all the money when bettors lose, but pay somewhat less than a fair share when they win. Averaged over many coups, the bosses bag the difference. The phenomenon is commonly described in terms of edge or house advantage, a percentage of the cash patrons put at risk on one or another proposition.
... (read more)
Playing It Smart: Can you save more by betting more?14 April 2008
Some casinos are willing to trim their house advantage if you bet more money. The bosses don't offer this in a rush of generosity, philanthropy, or shameless pandering to fat cats. It's simple arithmetic. On a $1 bet with 2 percent edge, the house averages 2 percent of $1 or $0.02 per wager. If a casino ... (read more)
Playing It Smart: Probability and payoff ratio are the tails that wag the casino dog1 April 2008
When casino gamblers grumble about house advantage or edge, they're usually thinking of the probabilities associated with a particular bet. Edge and probability are related but aren't the same. A casino can have an edge even though a solid citizen has a better chance of winning a wager. And a player could have an edge on a bet when a casino will be victor more often than vanquished. ... (read more)
Playing It Smart: Does edge really make a difference for the average gambler?25 March 2008
Casinos earn their money by means of the statistical advantage they hold on the bets they book. And, whatever the casinos take to the bank is nothing more or less than the amount bettors leave behind. So this edge is also the mechanism by which players lose.
But the effect is a matter of averages over many coups. ... (read more)
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