Gaming Gurus: Strategy Expert Article Archive - Page 129

Hitting Choices in Blackjack

QUESTION: I’m a stubborn old coot and I refuse to bust with 16, and I don’t really like to hit 15, either. I’ve played blackjack for a long time. I went to Las Vegas for the first time in 1956. I’ve just seen too many busts with 16.I just don’t see that I’m any worse off waiting to see if the dealer will bust...read more

Video Poker Variance

There are four factors to be considered when choosing a video poker game to play – return, variance, playing strategy, and game availability.Probably the least understood is variance.Definition:Simply put, variance (sometimes called volatility) is the measure of the intensity of swings in the player's bankroll while playing the game...read more

The Nature of Paybacks

Given optimal strategy in video poker, you’ll see full houses just about as often as flushes and flushes just about as often as straights.Paybacks differ widely. The goal of designers is a game that’s fun to play, attractive to players and makes a profit for the house...read more

Ask the Slot Expert: Do casinos ever bring back slot machines?

Question: Is it possible for a casino to obtain a slot machine that was taken off the casino floor due to leasing reasons? Venetian recently took out Michael Jackson's Wanna Be Starting Something and I'm a big MJ Fan lol. Every time I try to play the new slot machines I just get sad because all the other slots are really boring...read more

Penny Pinching

Einstein is credited with saying the following: “Craziness is defined as continuing to do the same thing time and again expecting different results.” Whether he said or wrote this, or whether it is a false citation doesn’t matter; the sentiment certainly makes sense...read more

My Second First Time

QUESTION: Do you ever get any fun stories about first times in casinos?I’ve been thinking about mine since casinos are starting to reopen. When I can convince myself it’s safe to go back, I’m going to treat it as a second “first time,” as if everything is fresh and new.My real first time came on my 21st birthday, just after midnight...read more

Enjoying and Exiting Craps Games

The oldest confirmed record of a game of chance where dice were used was in 1573 B.C., by the Egyptians. The so-called Theban dice, as they are known, are resting today in the Egyptian museum in Berlin.The modern game of craps is truly an American game first developed on the Mississippi and other inland steamboat rivers of the 1800s...read more

Kay's Video Poker

Kay is a veteran reader of this column and she says she loves to play video poker.“I learned toward the middle of the 1990s and put in a lot of practice time with software that dings when I make a mistake.“The game I love is 9-6 Double Double Bonus, and that’s the strategy I have down pat...read more

Ask the Slot Expert: Help analyzing a video poker situation

I'm not sure how to analyze this video poker situation. I don't think we ever considered an analogous situation in any of the Probability and Statistics courses I took (and have mostly forgotten). And even though analyzing gambling games led to the creation and development of Probability Theory a few centuries ago, video poker wasn't one of the games the mathematicians considered...read more

Interview with a Blackjack Bully

I think this column will be a first for any gambling writer. That’s right; I am going to interview a blackjack bully.Blackjack players and other gambling writers have often decried those blackjack bullies who feel free to give other players advice...read more