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John Grochowski Gaming Guru - Page 102  Blackjack machines and live dealers10 February 2013
QUESTION: I was playing at one of those blackjack tables that you touch the screen to bet, but there’s a dealer with real cards. Even though the cards were real, the screen lit up with a total for the hand. How do they do that? I was talking with the dealer, and he thought they were a halfway station to fully automated games, and that one day he’d be out of a job. ... (read more)
The odds at craps is a great bet7 February 2013
Craps players have long known that the combination of a pass line bet backed by free odds is one of the best bets in the casino. The pass line alone is no slouch, with a 1.41% house edge. But the free odds themselves have no house edge, so the overall edge on the pass-odds combo drops to 0.8% with single odds, 0.6% with double odds, 0.3% at 5x odds, 0.2% at 10x odds and 0.02% at 100x odds. ... (read more)
Solitaire and four to a royal flush3 February 2013
QUESTION: I’m not sure if this is a casinos question or not, but here goes. In the solitaire game that comes as part of the basic software package on most computers, there’s an option for Vegas scoring. Do you know of anyone who offers solitaire as a gambling game? How does it work? ANSWER: I’ve been going to casinos since the 1980s, and I’ve never seen solitaire offered as a casino game. ... (read more)
Continuous shuffle machines and Wheel of Fortune31 January 2013
The effect of the continuous shuffler on the house edge is tiny. On his website, www.wizardofodds.com, Michael Shackleford calculates that in a six-deck game, it decreases the house edge by two one-hundredths of a percent. However, because there is never a stop to shuffle the cards or even to cut the cards, you play many more hands per hour with a continuous shuffler. ... (read more)
"Show and tell" at Caribbean Poker and "put" bets in craps27 January 2013
QUESTION: I was playing Caribbean Stud, and people were looking at each other’s hands. The dealer warned everyone to stop. Then the pit boss came over and said that wasn’t allowed, and if he saw it again, he’d void the hand and maybe even ask players to leave the table. Can you tell me why? It’s not like this is draw poker. ... (read more)
WMS goes for video poker gold24 January 2013
WMS Gaming’s bid to break into the video poker market has gone live. Machines marked “Multi-Game Poker” went onto Las Vegas casino floors at Harrah’s and Caesars Palace in mid-December. I happened to be in Las Vegas at the time, so I went to Harrah’s to check them out. Labeled “Multi-Game Poker,” the ... (read more)
Paybacks at video poker and craps20 January 2013
QUESTION: I know that when I play video poker, I can’t expect the advertised payback percentage every time. Sometimes I’m going to hit some big hands and win, and sometimes I’m going to hit nothing and lose. But on the average, when I don’t hit anything really big, like a royal, what’s a reasonable return to I expect? ANSWER. ... (read more)
Caution is wise in casino play17 January 2013
All year long, I write about casinos and casino games, pointing out what’s new and cool in the games people play and examining the strategies that give us the best chances to win. Early in each year, though, I like to strike a cautionary note. It’s far too easy to get caught up in the atmosphere, betting credits and chips rather than dollars and cents, and spending more than we ought. ... (read more)
Double Double toil and trouble13 January 2013
QUESTION: I play dollar Double Double Bonus Poker at a casino that has it two pretty interesting ways. It has 9/6 DDB with three progressives, on the royal, aces with kicker, and aces without kicker. It also has 9/5 DDB with just one progressive on the royal, but it has a $50,000 jackpot for a sequential royal. ... (read more)
A different view of craps edges10 January 2013
With its array of one-roll bets and wagers that take multiple rolls to decide, craps gives us an opportunity to look at the house edge in a couple of different ways. We can look at the edge per decision. That’s the common way of doing it, the way that tells us the house has a 1.41% edge on the pass line, 1.52% on place bets on 6 and 8 and a whopping 16.67% on any 7. ... (read more)
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