High Edges

13 February 2020

By John Grochowski

Games with the lowest house edges give players the best chance to win, but there are winners on high-edge games too. There have to be, or no one would play.

Roger, an Illinois reader, went from exasperation to exultation – or at least to relief – in a January casino excursion in which a high-edge video keno game saved his day after bad runs at low-edge blackjack and video poker.

“I couldn’t believe it,” Roger said. “You don’t know what a reach that was for me. I play almost nothing but blackjack and video poker, but it was one of those frustrating days when nothing worked.

“I started with $500 and was down to $150 after blackjack and video poker. I needed to clear my head and think about what to do for the next couple of hours when I was meeting my wife at a restaurant nearby.”

Roger said he decided to play seven spots on a video keno game available on the same video poker game he’d been playing.

“I NEVER play keno,” he said. “It had probably been 15 years at least. But I decided to slow down and play cheap to extend my time.

“I chose a combination of family birthdays – mine, my wife’s, our two kids’. The combo was 2-8-22-28-30-74-78. You can probably guess, there are a couple of years in there. I bet four quarters, and the machine dinged on six of my numbers. It got every one except 22.

“The payoff was 348 coins per coin wagered, so 1,392 quarters. That’s $348 dollars so it got me almost back to even for the day.”

I asked what Roger did after the comeback. Did he keep playing keno? Did he go back to his usual games?

“First, I breathed a big sigh of relief. Truth be told, I don’t like keno that much, and I wasn’t going to keep playing. I needed to chill for a bit, so I sat down at the snack bar over a cup of coffee.

“When I’d relaxed for a bit, I went to blackjack and had a normal session, just about even.”

How did he wind up at keno? It started with a bad run at blackjack.

“I bought in for $200 and bet the table minimum of $10 a hand,” he said. “My first eight hands were losers, and what broke the streak was a push when the dealer matched my 20. Then I lost another three before I finally won one.

“In 20 minutes or so, my $200 was gone.”

Instead of reaching for his wallet, Roger headed to the video poker area.

Video poker was next. The best game in the house was 9-6 Double Double Bonus on quarters and dollars, with the dollar version having a progressive jackpot.

“I spent $100 on dollars, and it was a disaster,” Roger said. “I was done faster than on blackjack. So I moved to quarters. That started out good with four Kings for $62.50. But then that machine went cold, too, and before you know it, I was down to $50 on the game and $100 in my wallet. I decided to call the session right there.”

With losing sessions at his main games and a dwindling bankroll, Roger was looking just to survive his next couple of hours before meeting his wife. Then video keno saved his day.

“It made for a good story over dinner,” Roger said. “But it didn’t make a keno player out of me. Games with some skill and low edges are the ones I like.”


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