Gaming Gurus: Strategy Expert Article Archive - Page 132

How to Be Successful at Video Poker

Video poker is among the most popular of casino video games. The reasons for this are many. They include:• Relatively low house edge – sometimes even a player edge.• You can play alone - without other people watching and commenting on your play.• The pay table which determines the house edge and volatility is displayed so you can determine the best game.• You have a say in the outcome - player decisions affect results.• Playing strategies that maximize returns are available.But many players – possibly most players – lose far more than they should...read more

Making It Easy

A few months ago, when we were still crowding into live casinos, I relayed reader tips to help make a day out go a little smoother.They weren’t earthshaking strategy tips that will help you win. Instead, they were little peace of mind tips: Put low denomination chips on the outsides in the craps rack to protect your higher value chips, or leave the blackjack table before you’re down to funds for a last bet so you never play without being able to split or double.One large fellow suggested prioritizing comfort and choosing tables with at least a couple of empty seats...read more

Ask the Slot Expert: Week 2 of Phase 2 in Las Vegas

We're nearing the end of the second week of limited casino reopenings in Las Vegas. There is no date yet to further ease restrictions. As expected, the number of positive cases has increased since reopening and Nevada reported the largest single-day increase in cases on 6/15...read more

When a Friend is Not a Friend

Julius Caesar had a slight problem with his friends. They killed him. I know, this is not what you want from your friends, your assassination. That shows you what they really think of you as in they think that you are better off dead.Casino players also have to be careful of the friends with whom they go to the casinos...read more

Low Rolling Craps

QUESTION: Assume I can’t afford to back my pass or come bets with odds. You can assume that because it’s true. I buy in for $100 at a $5 table if I can find one, or sometimes $200 at a $10 table, and that buys me a little time with pass or come with no odds and place bets on 6 and 8.Is that the low roller system you’d use? Is it the same live or online?Also, my father-in-law likes to mix in one-roll props...read more

The new world of casinos

ABBY: I think for aficionados of casino play the past few months have been very difficult. It has for me and that is for sure. I truly miss going to the casinos and since the epidemic I have not really ventured out very much.CINDY: I didn’t realize how much of our leisure time was taken up with playing in the casinos...read more

This New Casino World

Like many of you, I have friends of longstanding I haven’t been able to see face-to-face during the healthcare crisis.Ellen is a longtime reader who first contacted me way back in the ’90s to ask about player rewards.In mid-May, she reached out again, this time to tell a story about what she’s been up to since the healthcare crisis led to shutdowns of live casinos.“When I go to casinos, I still play slots,” she said via email...read more

Ask the Slot Expert: Did the Mississippi Gaming Commission allow returns on slots to be changed after Katrina?

Question: We gamble in the Mississippi/Louisiana area, mainly the Beau Rivage and Golden Nugget Lake Charles. Have comped rooms at both places till the end of June, that's great but..... Wondering if the odds of return will change on High Limit machines, or any machines, because of such a long shut down...read more

Angels and Demons of Slot Play

They hover in, over and around those machines, airy beings floating their powerful ideas into your mind. They are the good voices and the bad voices; the ones telling you to play, play, and play some more; and the ones that tell you to take a break, don’t chase your losses; wise up.These are the angel and demon voices of the gambling game...read more

The Cut Card Effect in Blackjack

QUESTION: I recently heard of something called “the cut card effect” that raises the house edge a little when a cut card is used in blackjack.Why would that make any difference? Isn’t the proportion of the cards the same? Does it apply to online blackjack?ANSWER: Last question first: Most online blackjack games have a fresh shuffle for every hand...read more