Gaming Gurus: Strategy Expert Article Archive - Page 131

Ask the Slot Expert: Are real slot machines gone forever and only video game machines are the future?

Question: Are real slot machines gone forever and only video game machines are the future? Answer: When you enter any casino today, you see a sea of video slot machines as far as the eye can see. It may seem like real reel slot machines are gone, but many (most) casinos still have some on their slot floors...read more

Hypnotism of Slots

I enjoy going to the casinos during the weekdays, especially if I am trying to solve a problem about which I’ve been thinking.This latest trip I decided to test a theory I have about slot players and their mental machinations while engaging in their favorite activity...read more

Reel Spins

QUESTION: Does it help at all if I alter my timing in spinning the slot reels? I feel myself getting in patterns where I hit the button in the same rhythm time after time. Would it change things if every so often I took a sip of water or skipped a beat to watch the player next to me for a spin or two, or looked around to see if I could spot the cocktail waitress?ANSWER: Would it change things? Yes...read more

Pressing Craps Bets

The game of craps is exciting. It is a social game where players root for other players.The game of craps provides lots of action. There are many different bets and multiple bets can be made at the same time. Some of the bets have a low house edge...read more

The Question of Risk

House edges give us a basis for comparing one casino game to another, and for comparing different bets within the same game.But the edges by themselves don’t always give us a complete picture. Understanding your risk also must include speed of play...read more

Ask the Slot Expert: Free play or point multiplier?

Question: I'm not going to the casino as often as I used to. Should I go when I have free play or when there's a point multiplier? Answer: How about going when you have free play AND a point multiplier? Last week I wrote that casino marketing at the two casinos I've been playing at since reopening seemed to be internally coordinating their promotions more than before...read more

Fascinating

When I tell people that I enjoy casino gambling there are two general reactions, one good, one not so good.First let’s start with the negative; those people who look at you as some type of dimwitted sucker for enjoying playing games in the temples of Lady Luck...read more

The Royal Flush Flush!

QUESTION: I’ve noticed something playing video poker. Every time I get four cards in a royal flush, I get an adrenaline rush before I hit the draw button. Really, though, it doesn’t turn into a royal all that often. My last royal was a two-card draw, and the one before that was a surprise with three cards.I know that’s coincidence with small numbers of hands and all that, but how much better are my chances at drawing a royal holding four cards than with fewer?ANSWER: Each time you draw to a hand that gives you a shot at a royal, there is only one possible draw that will give you a royal...read more

Never Split Tens

How many times have you seen blackjack players split 10s in the casino?Over the years I’ve seen it too many times. I’ve come to a realization that only two kinds of players do it: card counters and foolish people. Card counters keep track of all the cards that have been withdrawn from the deck(s) and they know another high card(s) is coming and they are betting on two winning hands.If you aren’t a card counter, you must be one of the foolish people...read more

Ask the Slot Expert: Majority of respondents in Las Vegas Advisor poll back restricting smoking in casinos

Question: First, thank you for all of the great columns you've written over the years. I'm an avid video poker player and have learned a lot about strategy from you. I live near Chicago and my wife and I visit Las Vegas twice each year and since I retired I add a couple of more solo trips, too...read more