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John Grochowski Gaming Guru  My Last Column14 January 2024
By John Grochowski Blackjack Bob never was one to beat around the bush, so the first words out of his mouth as we sat down to a late-December breakfast were, "So what's this nonsense about retiring?" I'd alerted him earlier that after just about 30 years, I was ending my weekly syndicated casinos column. Full retirement? No, not yet. I'll still be writing an article or two a month for magazines and/or a blog. But I'm jumping off the weekly deadline dash. This is the last in a series of columns that began in early February, 1994, in the Chicago Sun-Times. Bob shook his head. "Well, at least you're not walking away altogether. But 30 years? We've seen some changes." Indeed we have. What we play has changed, and so has where we play with the spread of casinos coast-to-coast as well as online play. When I started all this, video slots were just a gleam in game makers' eyes. Player rewards programs were in their infancy. Comps had long been reserved for table players, the rise of slots brought early "slot clubs" to track play and reward players. Primitive early clubs developed into today's sophisticated rewards systems. "Don't forget our favorite, blackjack," Bob said. "When we met, it was still easy to find games where the dealer stood on soft 17, and it wasn't all that rare to find even single- and double-deck games with favorable rules. And don't even get me started on 6-5 payoffs on blackjack. That abomination hadn't started yet." Yes, I said, blackjack rules are tougher than they were 30 years ago. On the other hand, players are better. When I started all this, I used to include soft 17 as one of the hands players misplayed most. Now, I rarely see a player stand on soft 17. Players hit, stand, split and double closer to basic strategy than they once did. "True enough," Bob said. "Why do you think that happened?" The easy availability of information on the Internet was a game changer, I think. Anyone who's really interested in improving their game can find strategy tables online. We've seen software that enables players to practice and that warns players when they make mistakes. Now, such practice is available online. That's a far cry from when I learned basic strategy. I dealt myself hands with a physical deck of cards and checked my plays against a basic strategy table in a book. "Hah!" Bob said. "I did the same thing. "I don't think I've ever asked you. How did you start writing about gambling in the first place." I'd done a couple of Las Vegas travel articles in the Chicago Sun-Times in the early 1990s. Late in 1993, the managing editor sent a memo saying there were suddenly several riverboat casinos in the area, and asking how we could get consumer information about gambling in the paper. My response was, "this is what you should do and this is how you should do it." I found out later they had talked with someone outside the paper to do a weekly column, but they decided to go with my ideas, provided I could sustain a column through a six-month ad contract. Turns out the column expanded to twice a week for about half its run, and I wrote more than 2,000 of them. "Let's get to the important bit," Bob said. "Does this mean we part ways now?" I laughed and told him of course not. We can still play blackjack together and have our chats and meals. I just won't be writing about him anymore. Except for this one last time. 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. Tough Blackjack Hands7 January 2024
QUESTION: Basic strategy for blackjack says I should split a pair of 9s when the dealer has 6 or lower, and also against 8 or 9. I get why I should split against low cards and get more money on the table against weak dealer hands. I also get why I should stand against 7, when my 18 beats dealer 17, and against 10 or Ace, when I want to avoid betting more against strong dealer hands. ... (read more)
Roulette versus Slots31 December 2023
QUESTION: I read the house has a 5.26 percent advantage on roulette, and I guess the house edge on slot machines has a wide range depending on what you're playing and where you're playing. What if I know the slot machine I'm playing also has a 5.26 percent house edge. If I bet the same amount, say $5 per ... (read more)
The New "Old" Days24 December 2023
A long time ago -- nearly 30 years, in fact -- I often crossed path with a video poker player named Paul. He'd attended a seminar I gave and always seemed happy to see me when we were at the same casino. I ran into Paul in October at an Illinois casino. It was the first time I'd seen him in seven or eight ... (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 |
