Gaming Gurus: Strategy Expert Article Archive - Page 124

Brenda Breaks the Bank

Tales of big wins I receive from readers nearly always come from slot or video poker players.That’s to be expected. A slot jackpot or a royal at video poker can make your day, while a big day at the tables usually means a long hot streak where everything seems to go right.Everything went right recently for Brenda, a reader who recently strayed from her usual blackjack play and wound up with a big day at Mississippi Stud Poker...read more

Ask the Slot Expert: Is what you win on the free games in China Street pre-determined?

Question: When playing Ultimate Fire Link, especially the China Street version, does it matter what you choose when given the option of how many free games to accept and what multiplier, or is that bonus predetermined before you even make the choice? Answer: I've never played this version of a Fire Link game...read more

Matthew says: Gambling is Wrong

[We’ve tackled serious ideas before on these pages but they usually deal with good or bad ways to play or what games are about. But what of the ultimate question for casino players; that’s right, the question of whether one should gamble at all? In this two-part column I have given two writers, Matthew and David, a chance to express their con and pro feelings about gambling casino playing...read more

Slot Raises

QUESTION: When do I know when to raise my bets on slot machines? I play all the lines starting at 1 cent per line, but when should I know to go to 2 cents or 3 cents a line. On a 40-line game, that means going from 40 cents to 80 cents or $1.20 for a spin.ANSWER: That is strictly between you and your bankroll.The odds of winning on a slot machine are the same on every spin...read more

Blackjack Side Bets

Across the country with a little over 900 casinos with blackjack tables you will find over 40 different side-bets available to the player at the table. With loads of players leaning and practicing “Basic Strategy” and others moving to different table games like Let-It-Ride, and 3-Card Poker, casinos began to introduce side bets to help keep players at the blackjack table...read more

Blackjack Bob's Rankings

Blackjack Bob and I found ourselves at different tables at the same casino recently. It was pure chance, but we took the opportunity to have lunch together.As usual, the conversation went off on a few tangents, but one of them involved top payouts and their frequency at different casino games.“You’re dealt a blackjack about once per 21 hands,” Bob said...read more

Ask the Slot Expert: Are video poker machines programmed to deal partial royals instead of some other losing hand?

Question: How do you explain drawing three or four cards to a Royal Flush seven to ten times in a few hour visit, sometimes three times on one machine, and not hit that Royal? Is the machine programmed to show you those cards instead of some other losing hand just to entice the player to continue the game? I understand this is an RNG, but this situation seems to be more prevalent than I have ever seen before. Answer: I can explain it, but I'm pretty sure you're not going to like the explanation. Let me start with my own experiences...read more

$lot $avings

I wish I could say that I did an exhaustive scientific survey of slot players and that my opinions in this column reflect such an amazing survey. I wish I had dozens of people working for me all over the country for a long enough period to nail down my thesis which I am about to give to you.I don’t.Except; what I am about to set out for you is correct as it is based on my 30 years of intense watching of slot players all over the country and with my personal discussions with scores of them about how they play their machines...read more

Bingo-style Slots

QUESTION: A few weeks ago, I played some slot machines that had bingo logos on them. Inside the logos, you could see numbers being added as the reels were spinning.I got paid off or not according to what happened on the reels and paylines, or in the bonuses...read more

Ace-High-High Hands in Double-Double Bonus Poker

[Most video poker players in today’s casinos use a playing strategy that I call the hunch strategy. They examine the cards that are initially dealt and decide which cards to hold and which to discard based on what they feel is the right move...read more