Gaming Gurus: Latest From Our Strategy Experts

Leisurely Games

I can break the casino games down to high-energy casino games and leisurely casino games. Two of the high energy games are craps and blackjack.When you play craps, you are usually at a crowded or relatively crowded table with players making multiple bets...read more

Random Roulette Numbers

QUESTION: My wife and I like to play roulette together. Low stakes, just having a good time.We amuse ourselves with number selection. We both like family birthdays. She's a history teacher and sometimes she picks historic dates. I once had a big win playing uniform numbers of the 1993 Toronto Blue Jays.At a family birthday party, we told about our number method...read more

Tough Players Nearby

From Jennifer:Hi Stickman!Long time reader, first time reaching out!I have been following your articles and am playing video poker more and more so thank you! I would like to get your viewpoint on something that has been bothering me and I am hoping you can help.Sometimes while I am playing the people around me will start asking me questions which is not as bad as those who smoke and blow the smoke my way or hold their burning cigarette near my machine...read more

Casinos During Holidays

CINDY: I like to spend time in the casinos during holiday seasons, Christmas, New Years, and the like. The casinos in every way are retreats from the real world of work and obligations. That is the casinos normal day or weekend. All that with great shows and great decorations, you escape in the casinos on any day or night...read more

Ask the Slot Expert: Understanding why some video poker players don't follow the strategy

In my column a few weeks ago, I wrote about advising my cousin that she probably shouldn't hold a suited Ace-10 when playing video poker. There may be a paytable for which the mathematically derived strategy says to hold the combo, but I've never come across one. I came across a similar, but completely different, situation playing NSU yesterday...read more

More Long Lasting Casino Games

Last issue I tackled why slot machines were hands down the top games in the casinos. Fully 60 to 90 percent of casino revenues will often come from those former “one-armed bandits.”Today I will take a look at the next two longest lasting games in today’s casinos: blackjack and craps.BLACKJACKBlackjack in some form or other has been played in the casinos since the late 1800s...read more

What Players Say

If winning was the only thing that went into a fun casino trip, most of us would stop going. With the exception of a few advantage players such as blackjack card counters, nearly everyone has more losing sessions than winners.But service, amenities, and game selection count, for better or for worse.I emailed a number of regular players to ask them what was important to them besides winning in making a fun day at the casino.KARA: You caught me at just the right time on this...read more

When Things Go Bad

From Sarah:Hey Stickman!Thank you for your expertise about video poker and your articles, they have really helped improve my game! I have a question for you, I haven’t gotten 4 of kind in a long time (and I mean a LONG time!). I am tempted to switch games to one that favors 4 of a kind – what do you think? Thank you again for your help!SarahHi Sarah,It is gratifying to know that my articles have been of some help in improving your video poker game.Video poker – in fact, virtually all gambling – is made up of streaks...read more

Good Friends, Bad Friends, Casino Friends

CINDY: I have several good friends that have been friends of mine since high school. Even when we went to college we stayed in touch. Now we see each other a couple of times a month. A good friend always has your best interests at heart as do you for that person.ABBIE: What about bad friends?CINDY: A few of those over the years...read more

Ask the Slot Expert: A slot machine design puzzle

I was never asked to solve a puzzle during a job interview, fortunately. According to William Poundstone in How Would You Move Mount Fuji?: Microsoft's Cult of the Puzzle -- How the World's Smartest Companies Select the Most Creative Thinkers (There should be a limit on the number of sub-titles in a book's name.), one of the questions you might be asked in a Microsoft interview was: How would you move Mount Fuji? I'm not interested in how you would move Mount Fuji...read more