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Alan Krigman Gaming Guru - Page 46  Are There Conditions Under Which Insurance Is a Good Bet?28 June 2004
Most blackjack players have heard "you're not supposed to take insurance."
Many do, anyway. This auxiliary bet, equal to half your original wager, is offered
when the dealer shows an ace. The payoff is 2-to-1 if the dealer has a 10 in the
hole. Therefore, a win nets you even money on blackjacks of your own, and pushes
other hands. ... (read more)
Does Scouting Video Poker Machine Payouts Make Sense?21 June 2004
Video poker veterans often discuss jacks-or-better, nothing-wild machines in terms
of the returns paid on full houses and flushes. A "nine-six" game, for
instance, returns 9-for-1 on a full house and 6-for-1 on a flush. Likewise, an
"eight-five" machine gives back eight times the bet on a full house ... (read more)
Match Play Can Give You an Edge, Even in Extended Sessions14 June 2004
Match play is funny money casinos use to reward and encourage patrons who gamble
at appropriate levels. In general, bettors can augment their wagers with up to
an equal match play amount. Wins are paid based on the sum of the two elements.
And they get back their initial cash outlays, but not the match play tokens, with
the earnings. ... (read more)
When Higher Edge Is a Small Price to Pay for Lower Limits7 June 2004
A variation on blackjack is appearing at casinos across this great nation of ours,
with rules that players find mostly quite favorable. Mostly. The niceties include
things such as fewer than eight -- sometimes only one or two -- decks, resplitting
of pairs, and relatively low limits. The bad news is a ... (read more)
The Casinos Don't Offer New Games To Give Patrons a Break31 May 2004
Applying nebulous qualitative reasoning to precise quantitative quandaries sometimes
yields correct conclusions. Often, not. The latter is usually the case in gambling.
And this can be costly to players who think they don't have to do their homework.
An example involves a game generally called "crapless ... (read more)
At Blackjack, Splitting Pairs Is Rarely Splitting Hairs24 May 2004
Splitting pairs is a powerful tool for blackjack buffs. However, as is often true
in the casino, there's a price to pay. Splits require second wagers, equal to
the first. And some solid citizens hesitate to go out on the limb. Either because
they're scared by the sum that will be up for grabs, or due ... (read more)
A Roulette Strategy That Wins Three Times More Often Than It Loses17 May 2004
Make believe you come to a $5 double-zero roulette table with $360. You know this
game has a usurious house advantage. But you play it because it's not intimidating,
the pace is relaxed, and you use a strategy that usually gives you a few hours'
action on your money and yields a small-to-modest profit most of the time with
only an occasional wipeout. ... (read more)
How Edge at Blackjack Is Trimmed to the Bone10 May 2004
If blackjack players stuck to the same strategy used by dealers, hitting anything
below 17 and standing above, chances of reaching various totals would be the same
on both sides of the table. The casino's edge in the game would be based entirely
on the rule that players lose immediately if they bust, ... (read more)
Would Craps be Craps with Eight-Faced Dice?3 May 2004
What if dice had eight identical faces instead of six? It's certainly feasible.
Think of an Egyptian pyramid with a square base and four matched triangular faces.
Now join two pyramids base-to-base and you get an octahedron with eight identical
faces. Engrave the faces with from one to eight dots and presto. ... (read more)
Why Players Seem to Do Worse at Games that Should be Better26 April 2004
Blackjack and craps are casino games which let players make wagers having extremely
low house advantage. With Basic Strategy, blackjack buffs can cut the edge to
roughly half a percent depending on the rules in force. Betting Pass and Come
or Don't Pass and Don't Come, then taking or laying Odds, craps fans can trim
the edge below this level. ... (read more)
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