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I know this, not that

22 June 2017

QUESTION: You write about so many games, but I can’t help wondering about the games you don’t write about. You rarely write about keno, and you never write about bingo or Texas Hold’em. Why can’t you work them into your mix?

ANSWER: I write about keno occasionally, mostly when a reader has a specific question. It’s a game of pure chance and I’m afraid I don’t have a lot to say about keno except “here are the odds.”

Bingo and the poker-room games such as Texas Hold’em, Omaha and seven-card stud are outside my expertise, and I don’t want to give anyone bad information. I’ve always focused on games available on the main casino floor.

There usually are separate rooms for bingo and true poker – as opposed to the poker-based table games such as Caribbean Stud and Three Card Poker that are played in table game pits. Many casinos don’t have bingo at all, and some don’t have poker rooms.

I do know that both are games with variable odds. Your chances to win at poker depend on the relative skill of players in the game. Bingo odds vary with the specific game called and the number of players in the game. If a game is going to be called until there is a winner, you have a better chance of winning if you’re one of 20 players than one of 100.

I play Hold’em from time to time – enough to know I wouldn’t want me as a guide through the game. There has been a great deal written about Hold’em from actual experts. You’re far better off getting your information from them than from me.


QUESTION: I have to tell you this one. I was playing video poker in a long row that was kind of divided. To the left of center, the games were all progressives with reduced pays – 8/5 Double Double Bonus, 8/5 Jacks or Better, 9/6/4 Double Bonus and so on. To the right were higher paying games with no progressives – 9/6 Jacks or Better, 9/6 Double Double Bonus, 9/7/5 Bonus Poker. All great games.

All the good games were full, but I got a seat at a progressive right on the dividing line. I was playing 8-5 Jacks or Better with a progressive slowly. I was hoping the 2-for-1 pays on two pairs would keep me going while I bided my time, waiting for one of the others to leave.

The guy next to me was playing 9-6 Double Double Bonus and he got a royal flush. He was playing quarters, same as me, so he won $1,000. He said, “I can’t beat that. I think I’ll go try something else.” I asked, “Don’t you want to try for another one one?” and he said, “No, it just paid big. It’ll go cold now.”

You’ve written enough about the odds not changing that it didn’t scare me off. I hit the cash out button at the same time he did, and I just slid over to his machine.

Guess what happened? It took all of five hands before I got a royal, too. Mine was in diamonds. I held queen-jack and drew ace-king-10.

I don’t know if those qualifies as one of your close together jackpots stories since it was two different players, but I’m glad I got the chance to move.

ANSWER: Congratulations! That sounds like a close encounters of the winning kind qualifier to me. And you are correct. Past results do not affect future odds. Once you’ve drawn a royal, the odds of drawing another are the same as after any other hand.
John Grochowski

John Grochowski is the best-selling author of The Craps Answer Book, The Slot Machine Answer Book and The Video Poker Answer Book. His weekly column is syndicated to newspapers and Web sites, and he contributes to many of the major magazines and newspapers in the gaming field, including Midwest Gaming and Travel, Slot Manager, Casino Journal, Strictly Slots and Casino Player.

Listen to John Grochowski's "Casino Answer Man" tips Tuesday through Friday at 5:18 p.m. on WLS-AM (890) in Chicago. Look for John Grochowski on Facebook and Twitter @GrochowskiJ.

John Grochowski Websites:

www.casinoanswerman.com

Books by John Grochowski:

> More Books By John Grochowski

John Grochowski
John Grochowski is the best-selling author of The Craps Answer Book, The Slot Machine Answer Book and The Video Poker Answer Book. His weekly column is syndicated to newspapers and Web sites, and he contributes to many of the major magazines and newspapers in the gaming field, including Midwest Gaming and Travel, Slot Manager, Casino Journal, Strictly Slots and Casino Player.

Listen to John Grochowski's "Casino Answer Man" tips Tuesday through Friday at 5:18 p.m. on WLS-AM (890) in Chicago. Look for John Grochowski on Facebook and Twitter @GrochowskiJ.

John Grochowski Websites:

www.casinoanswerman.com

Books by John Grochowski:

> More Books By John Grochowski