Gaming Gurus: Strategy Expert Article Archive - Page 113

You Can't Take Them Down

QUESTION: Please explain something to my friend who was playing slots while I was playing craps. We hadn't set up any time to leave, but it had been a couple of hours, my friend lost a little money and came to the craps table to say, "Let's go."I said OK, I just had to wait for my last bets to be settled...read more

Ask the Slot Expert: Changing payback on a slot machine

Question: Hope you are doing well. We are fine and glad to have received our vaccinations. There’s been a number of emails recently regarding whether the casinos can change the machine’s hold (the flip side of payout) and/or have a different payout for different denominations on the same machine...read more

Crowded or Not Crowded?

I prefer going to casinos during the week as opposed to weekends. I don’t like being packed with other people in a place. If I play craps squeezing into a table is uncomfortable and, yes, annoying. Shooting the dice with someone buffeting you is unpleasant.The more players at a table, the better the chance some of them do not know the “rules” and procedures of the game, such as not putting your hands over the table or not throwing in late bets or not messing with the shooter...read more

Top 10 underrated poker moves for Texas Hold’em

Poker pro Tadas Peckaitis (photo by Flickr)While it is not possible to cover all of the strategies in a single article since there are many books written about this subject, I will do my best to give you tips on how to play Texas Hold’em in various situations to avoid common mistakes and take advantage of your opponents.However, before jumping into specific moves, let’s start with a concrete starting hand that many players end up leaving their money on the table.10...read more

Weird Blackjack Play

For the last year, Blackjack Bob and I have been keeping in touch via phone, texts and the odd videoconference.Now that we are both vaccinated, we took the plunge and did the grand catch-up over breakfast."You know," Bob said, "We've been playing blackjack in casinos for about 70 years...read more

Hold Advice for Jacks or Better

Hi Jerry,I hope you're doing well down there.I have a sample here to ask you about for the game of Jacks or Better. The sample is:As, Ks, Jc, 10c, 9c.What would be the best hold, the second-best hold, and the third-best hold?Thanks again for your feedback and I look forward to hearing from you.Stay safe and wishing you the best,JodyHi Jody,Here are the top three holds along with some explanation as to why they are ranked as they are.Since you didn’t mention the pay table of the game, I included the numbers for both the 9/6 and the 8/5 Jacks or Better games.Best Hold:Jc Tc 9c – returns 3.5754 (9/6 game) / 3.3811 (8/5 game) credits on average for a five-credit bet...read more

Craps Odds on the Do and Don't

QUESTION: I've been looking at craps charts online, and I get that the house edge is lower at 1.36 percent on don't pass than the 1.41 percent on pass.What I don't get is that when you take odds on pass or lay odds on don't pass, the house goes down even more on the don't side...read more

Ask the Slot Expert: Does a slot machine automatically raise the payout amounts when one bets more?

Question: Is there a way to find out the total payout percentage for a particular casino I visit? I live in Idaho, and I am pretty sure there are only three casinos in the state. A small town just across the border between Idaho and Nevada gets quite a lot of business...read more

Size Does Matter

I have five stores to which I go and all five sell lottery tickets; three stationary stores, a 7/11 and a liquor store (I want you to know that I only go in there for scientific purposes). I am not a big lottery player; I buy one ticket when the lottery gets to a half billion dollars...read more

Video Poker Multipliers

When I play video poker, I usually search for no-frills games with the best pay table.I do love multi-hand games with bonus multipliers, though, so I'm eager to try Super Times Pay Super Stacks, one of the latest games to come out of International Game Technology's partnership with Action Gaming.Games with multipliers usually have lower base pay tables than their no-frills cousins...read more