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John Grochowski Gaming Guru  Triple Play and Taxes15 May 2022
By John Grochowski QUESTION: I had a great hand on Triple Play Poker, and it left me with a tax question. I was playing 8-5 Double Double Bonus on a quarter Triple Play Machine. I was dealt Ace-Jack of clubs and a bunch of low cards, so I drew three cards. Miracle of miracles, the bottom hand brought the other three Aces, the middle hand brought the 10, King and Queen of clubs, and the top hand brought Jacks of spades and hearts. That gave me four Aces for 800 credits ($200), a royal flush for 4,000 credits ($1,000) and three Jacks for 15 coins ($3.75). An attendant congratulated me but told me I had to sign a tax form before she could pay me. That didn't seem right. I had three hands and none were over $1,200. If I was playing a single-hand game and got those results on three hands in a row, I'd have just gotten the credits on my meter with no tax form. The attendant said the IRS didn't look at it that way, and I'd have to sign for a $1,203.75 jackpot before she could pay me. Obviously, I wasn't going to walk away from the money, so I signed. But is that really the rule? ANSWER: Congratulations! That's two miracle draws at once. With that start, the royal was a 1 in 16,215 shot. Same deal on four Aces: 1 in 16,215. As for the tax issue, the attendant got it right. The IRS regards your bet as a single play, and all winnings are counted toward your total return on that play. Your win surpassed the $1,200 cutoff, so the casino is required to have you sign a tax form before you can be paid. QUESTION: I just read your article on "Charlies" in blackjack, and it reminded me that back in the old days there was a casino in Las Vegas that did pay on six-card Charlies. It was the Las Vegas Club downtown in the days when they used to advertise the most liberal rules in blackjack. I guess that was back in the 1980s. ANSWER: You are correct. It was the Las Vegas Club downtown that advertised the world's most liberal blackjack rules, and it did pay on six-card Charlies -- six cards with a total of 21 or less. In recent years, the Plaza in downtown Las Vegas has paid six-card Charlies while advertising "The World's Most Liberal 21." The Plaza game is based on the Las Vegas Club model, but there are differences. At the Plaza, the house edge against a basic strategy player is about 1.3 percent, while in the old Las Vegas Club days, the edge was only about 0.2 percent. The main culprit is the payoff on blackjacks. The Las Vegas Club paid the standard 3-2. The Plaza pays 2-1 if both cards in a blackjack are the same suit, but pays only 6-5 on other blackjacks. Only a quarter of blackjacks are suited, so you're getting the reduced payback 75 percent of the time. Las Vegas Club dealers stood on all 17s, while Plaza hits soft 17. Plaza offers late surrender, but it's watered down from the Las Vegas Club version that allowed players to surrender after hitting, so if you hit 5-3 and drew an 8 for 16, you could surrender. At the Plaza, you can surrender only on your first two cards. The Plaza does pay six-card Charlies as well as allowing double downs after any number of cards and putting no limits on the number of times you can resplit Aces. This article is provided by the Frank Scoblete Network. Melissa A. Kaplan is the network's managing editor. If you would like to use this article on your website, please contact Casino City Press, the exclusive web syndication outlet for the Frank Scoblete Network. To contact Frank, please e-mail him at fscobe@optonline.net. Table Game Jackpots8 May 2022
There once was a clear division among casino games: Jackpot hunters flocked to the slots, while table players tried to grind out profits. Caribbean Stud Poker and Let It Ride broke the mold in the 1990s. Let It Ride pays 1,000 on royal flushes. Caribbean Stud pays 100-1 on royals on main game and jackpots that sometime reach hundreds of thousands of dollars on a side bet. ... (read more)
Where's My "Charlie"?1 May 2022
QUESTION: I had one of those hands that made me wish they really paid Charlies. The dealer had a 10 up. I had a 2 and a 4. Next was a 3, then another 3. Four cards, and I only had 12. Then I drew another 2, then an Ace. So that's six cards and 15. The dealer still has that 10 up and I'm thinking, wow, I have to draw a seventh card. ... (read more)
Pick Up Fallen Card or Leave the Game?24 April 2022
QUESTION: I was playing blackjack at a two-deck pitch table. You know the games. Instead of cards dealt from a shoe and immediately turned face up, the dealer holds the cards and deals face down. That's my favorite way to play if the rules are reasonable and minimum bets fit my bankroll. At $25, I'm in. ... (read more)
Craps SystemsCraps players love systems, trying to mix and match bets in hopes of finding the magical formula that will beat the casino. Just about any system will work sometimes, and when a player wins with a system, it encourages another try, and another, and another. In the long run, of course, the casino comes out on top. ... (read more)Multi Strike PokerIt was a Friday morning in Joliet, and I'd been playing a little video poker aboard Empress II, waiting for the 11 a.m. opening of Empress I and its video poker room. Soon, if it hasn't already happened by the time you read this, Empress' new barge will open, ending such little scheduling inconveniences, but on this day, I found myself passing time with a little quarter Triple Play Poker. ... (read more)Comps - The BasicsA colleague of mine likes to refer to casino comps as "free stuff." And for those who know their basic strategy in blackjack, optimal strategies for certain video poker games and who know how comping systems work, the "stuff" really is free--the value ... (read more)Basic Strategy for Spanish 21In the last couple of weeks, we've looked at basic strategy in blackjack. Sit down at most blackjack tables in any jurisdiction, play basic strategy and you'll narrow the house edge to a half-percent or so, perhaps a little more or a little less depending on house rules. ... (read more)Single-Deck Basic StrategyThose whose casino memories stretch back far enough may recall a time when the standard "Las Vegas Strip" blackjack game was dealt from a single deck of cards, with the dealer standing on all 17s. That started to change in the 1960s as operators grew ... (read more)John Grochowski |
John Grochowski |
