Gaming Gurus: Strategy Expert Article Archive - Page 125

Streaks

During any blackjack session you will sometimes experience a “streak.”In the beginning of a session, you might see periods of give and take or back and forth between you and the dealer in the types of cards received. Then something seems to happen and the dealer will start to get great hands and win maybe four or five hands in a row.On the other hand, you might begin to get great hands like 20 or a lot of blackjacks in a short period of time...read more

Wild Kings Joker's Poker Question

QUESTION: I've been thinking about the Joker's Wild Kings or Better strategy problems you wrote about several weeks ago. One of the hands was 10 and Queen of diamonds, 2 and 4 of spades and 5 of clubs.You recommended holding the Queen and 10 instead of discarding all five cards...read more

Ask the Slot Expert: Why do you play Deuces Wild?

Question: You mention playing Deuces Wild almost exclusively. I, and your readers, would find it very interesting why you chose that particular game. Maybe in a future column you could touch on that. At the Indian casino here I play Triple Double almost exclusively...read more

Don't Get Killed

I recently had a young man of about 24 tell me that I was nuts to think that craps players should only make the lowest house-edge bets when these bets are “dull.” He wanted what he called “exciting times” at the tables and that occasionally he got them.I asked him he got those “exciting times” a lot or only rarely...read more

BJ Bob and Hitting 17

It had been about eight months since Blackjack Bob and I last spoke in person, rather than on the phone or via Zoom. On an unseasonably warm early November day, we masked up, kept our distance and had lunch at a nearly empty outdoor venue."I just had to tell you, I saw one of the weirdest things I've ever seen in a casino," he started...read more

Muggsy's Corner

QUESTION: Do you know a craps bet called Muggsy's Corner? I found a craps discussion online that mentioned it, then I found a play-for-free site. I was wondering if it was worth my while.ANSWER: Muggsy's Corner was designed as a replacement for the Big 6 and Big 8 bets that are in the corners of most craps layouts...read more

Best Progressions Part I

[Many gambling pundits advocate betting progressions as a method to increase winnings – or conversely to reduce losses. This advice can work for the game of craps only if the shooter is a controlled shooter. A controlled shooter can reduce the occurrence of 7’s or increase the occurrence of other point numbers from random.Against a random shooter, there is no betting method that will improve the lot of the gambler at a craps table...read more

VP Strategy and Hand Frequency

Nearly all video poker games -- and all of the most popular ones -- start with five-card draw. And even though the base game is the same, the frequency of hands differs.That's something I've explained often to players who wonder why royal flushes come up more often on one game than another...read more

Ask the Slot Expert: Was that really a missed royal?

How many times has this happened to you? You hit the Deal button and your final hand has four cards of a royal flush. You grumble a bit, maybe curse out the machine, and say, "Another missed royal." But did you really just miss out on a royal? Anytime I end up with four cards to a royal in my ending hand, my gut reaction is to think, Ugh...read more

Some Questions About Slot Machines

QUESTION: I have been told that slots are run by a random number generator but I have no idea of what that means. When I press play on a machine aren’t the wheels or video symbols that determine whether I win or not and not just some computer? Truth be told I am confused...read more