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John Grochowski Gaming Guru - Page 110  The house has the edge in 21 + 38 May 2012
Calculating odds in casino games is mostly pretty straightforward arithmetic. There are different degrees of complexity, and there certainly are traps. Goodness knows I've fallen into a few myself.
The devil is in the details, and a reader named Jason missed a fine point recently when he e-mailed me to say he thought players have an edge on the blackjack side bet 21 + 3. ... (read more)
A shuffle through the gaming mailbag3 May 2012
Q. I saw a craps game with cards. It used two cards instead of a dice roll. You played just like at a craps table with 10 times odds. It had the same craps layout. What do you think of this game? What are the odds?
A. The came is called Card Craps, and it's primarily used in markets such as California ... (read more)
Roulette: when double-zero beats single-zero1 May 2012
Nearly all bets at double-zero roulette wheels give the house a 5.26% edge, the exception being the five-number-bet on 0, 00, 1, 2 and 3. That one bucks a house edge of 7.89%.
All bets at single-zero roulette wheels have a house edge of 2.7%. There is no 00 to worry about, and no five-number bet with a ... (read more)
A shuffle through the gaming mailbag26 April 2012
Q. I've been playing the slots for 40 years and have played in 96 casinos, by my count. I have a question that I've never been able to get a response to, even from IGT.
We're told to check the payout schedule on the back glass on every machine. Fine. If you hit three bars, a standard payout is times 10. ... (read more)
When to buy numbers at craps?24 April 2012
Among the dozens of betting options at the craps table, among the most commonly played are the place bets. They're wagers that the shooter will roll the number of your choice before rolling a 7.
You're paid at 7-6 odds on winners if your number is 6 or 8, 7-5 if you bet on 5 or 9, and 9-5 if you bet on 4 or 10. ... (read more)
A shuffle through the gaming mailbag19 April 2012
Q. You always mention that the payback percentage for dollar slots is better than the 50- or 25-cent slots. How about in a multi-play slot machine where you can choose $1, $.50 or $.25? Does the payback change as you change the denomination, or are you getting a lower payback for dollars because you can play the smaller denominations also?
A. ... (read more)
I came to gamble17 April 2012
My old friend Jim and I see each other only a couple of times a year nowadays, but we keep in touch. He plays a little blackjack and dabbles in other table games, so when he was going to be visiting in March we planned a day at the casino.
It was one of those up and down days. Neither of us were getting terrible cards, but they weren't great either. ... (read more)
A shuffle through the gaming mailbag12 April 2012
Q. You always mention that the payback percentage for dollar slots is better than the 50- or 25-cent slots. How about in a multi-play slot machine where you can choose $1, 50 cents or 25 cents? Does the payback change as you change the denomination, or are you getting a lower payback for dollars because you can play the smaller denominations also?
A. ... (read more)
Hitting big jackpots makes lasting memories10 April 2012
Big jackpots don't come along every day. They're rare treats, and players remember the tiniest details of how they happened.
The largest jackpot I ever won in a casino was a modest $8,000 for a royal flush on a $2 video poker machine. I rarely play the biggest jackpot games, but this was a big enough win ... (read more)
A shuffle through the gaming mailbag5 April 2012
Q. I have read, and understand what you have said about the random number generator. However, I vacationed many times in Mesquite, Nevada. The most recent was in January. I have played in the keno tournaments before, and the prize for winning first place was $325 in "Keno Bucks" (that you can only spend by purchasing more Keno tickets). ... (read more)
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