Advice for the husband of a slot-playing wife

Dear Frank:

I just joined the Golden Touch Craps private site (www.goldentouchcraps.com). Do you have any advice for my wife who is a slot player and really continues to lose? She is losing all my craps money!

Sincerely yours,
William

Dear William:

You are now a member of the "Slot-Playing Spouse Club," which entitles you to all the malafits and angst of seeing whatever money you win at craps being eaten by those hungry, vicious one-armed bandits.

Even if you can't convince your wife to give up the machines, there are some facts she should be aware of before she plays them. Slot machines are fast games, having about 12 decisions a minute and 720 decisions in one hour. If she is betting three quarters on each and every spin, facing about a 10% house edge, which is not uncommon, then she would lose about $54 per hour. If she were playing one-dollar machines, she could be facing house edges of about 8%, which would come to losses of $172.80 per hour.

If your wife likes to play those giant progressive machines, she could face a house edge of about 15%. Now if she plays these machines consistently, buy a tent because you might just be living outdoors soon.

Tell your wife to cut back on how much she plays in the following way:

1. Find equal distribution machines. The jackpot line on these machines are merely multiples of each other (1 coin= $1,000; 2-coins = $2,000; 3-coins = $3,000), you get no benefit from playing maximum coin in such machines. This immediately reduces her expected losses by one-third.
2. Even if she can't find equal distribution machines, the increase in the jackpot line (1 coin + $1,000; 2 coins = $2,000; 3 coins = $4,000) is not enough to really throw your money away on such machines.
3. Avoid all progressives. The house edge on these is just too great.
4. Slow down. Play a spin every 6 seconds, instead of every 5 seconds, and you'll also see a nice reduction in losses.

The excitement of gambling is still there playing as I am suggesting.

Now as for your craps play — bet the best bets and play the 5-Count on all shooters.

All the best in and out of the casinos!

Frank Scoblete