Gaming Gurus: Strategy Expert Article Archive - Page 146

Ace-High-High Hands in 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

Good Vibrations

When I hear from readers about their first casino trips, their stories are a mixed bag.I’ve hear from players who had some nice wins the first time out, others who didn’t win anything and some who had no idea what was going on around them.Over the last few months, several tales on the positive side have crossed my in box...read more

Ask the Slot Expert: Determining the outcome of a play on a machine with cascading reels

Question: I changed my name legally. I do not want any association with my previous name. Does not seem too difficult except maybe the Social Security number. If I win a jackpot at a casino I had previously won at with my previous name, will they question the two different names and same Social Security number? Answer: I was in a similar situation a few years ago after moving to Las Vegas...read more

Dicers' Slots

Thirty days have September … April, June and November. All the rest have thirty-one except…Oh, for crying out loud. What’s with February? Seriously? You have to break the rhythm of the lines to get this month into the pack. Is it that important a month?What’s with 28 and then 29 days? Couldn’t a better way be found to get the year to look like a year? Weird; February is a weird month.Speaking of weird, I know I tend to be a stick-in-the-mud when it comes to casino gambling, especially when it comes to a game that can go as fast as slot machines...read more

Splitting Fives at Blackjack

QUESTION: I saw something that struck me as weird when playing blackjack. Another player seemed to be on basic strategy all the time until he was dealt 5-5 against a dealer’s 6.I couldn’t believe it when he split the 5s. I said, “That’s unusual,” and couple of others questioned on what that was really what he wanted to do...read more

Are you giving your money away at the casino?

ABBY: Is it me or are there a lot of people, including people who write about casino playing, that are off the wall with their methods of play and opinions about how the games are structured?CINDY: Yes, I am not sure why either. The math of the games is clear...read more

High Edges

Games with the lowest house edges give players the best chance to win, but there are winners on high-edge games too. There have to be, or no one would play.Roger, an Illinois reader, went from exasperation to exultation – or at least to relief – in a January casino excursion in which a high-edge video keno game saved his day after bad runs at low-edge blackjack and video poker.“I couldn’t believe it,” Roger said...read more

Ask the Slot Expert: How do you calculate win on slot machines and table games?

Question: I am wondering if you can clarify the IRS rules on gaming deductions. I have been audited for 2016, in which I claimed to be a professional gambler on my taxes. I have an EIN number. My IRS auditor says I can't claim mileage from my home to the casino because casino gaming is considered a form of entertainment. My tax accountant and I both felt it is a legal deduction, so we appealed...read more

Longer or Shorter

One of the opening scenes of the 1995 movie "Casino" has Robert De Niro as Sam “Ace” Rothstein explaining how the casino makes money. A mega-high roller has just won millions from his casino and Rothstein and company want to get that money back...read more

Picking the Cards

QUESTION: Is it really possible to get an edge on any machine games? Does strategy make a difference on video poker or video blackjack, or is the machine just going to deal paying hands when it wants to?ANSWER: “Want” is not part of the equation for an electronic gaming device...read more