Gaming Gurus: Strategy Expert Article Archive - Page 155

Betting styles

Readers’ tales of big wins almost always come from slot players, with video poker players making up a substantial minority. Rarely do they come from table players.That’s normal given the nature of the games. A huge win on the slots can strike in a single spin...read more

The 6/8 progression

Jerry -I’ve been playing a slow negative progression only playing the 6 and 8 in craps and seem to be doing quite well with it.Basically, I am seeking a constant profit with each winning roll of the dice. My theory works like this:Level 1: 24 on 6 and 8, if lose move up to 60 each, if lose again move up to 180...read more

A rule for 6:5 blackjack games

QUESTION: Knowing that we must avoid 6:5 blackjack payoffs should be rule No. 1 for players, but let's assume we have a need to play (whatever the reason) and that's the only game in town, there is really no such thing as "even money" anymore, is there?As an example, we bet $10, have a blackjack and the dealer shows an ace...read more

Ask the Slot Expert: When casinos discourage players from playing

Not much changed the first two years I lived in Las Vegas. The video poker inventories at the casinos I play in stayed pretty much the same, as did their slot clubs. The floodgates opened this past year, however, and there were video poker changes (mostly downgrades but one upgrade!) or slot club changes or both at almost every one of my casinos...read more

Coming from behind

There have been great team and individual comebacks in sports and politics. Who can forget the Boston Red Sox versus the New York Yankees in 2004 when the Red Sox were behind three games to none? All the Yankees had to do was win one game. Instead the Red Sox won four games in a row, defeating the Yankees in the division series...read more

Happy New Year!

As 2018 morphs into 2019, I begin my 26th consecutive year of writing casinos columns on a weekly — and sometimes twice weekly — basis.It’s been a long, strange trip filled with change in games and technology.But there have been constants. For me, one is my annual tradition of New Year’s resolutions for gamblers.The tradition started because of a phone call I received within a few months of my first column...read more

Laws of gambling

There is an endless amount of laws out there that effect our everyday living. For example, there is the Law of Gravity, the Law of Motion and many other phenomenal laws of nature. Closer to home are federal laws, state and local ones, and even walking laws — you don’t want to get a ticket for jaywalking.There seems to be some type of laws for almost everything we do today...read more

Doubling soft 17 hands

QQUESTION: I read something you wrote about doubling down on soft 17 vs. the dealer’s 3, 4, 5 or 6, and something about it just seems off kilter to me.In every case, you said the average profit per dollar of your original wager when you double was very nearly twice the profit when you hit...read more

Ask the Slot Expert: Betting advice for Dragon Link games

A few odds and ends to close out the year. Question: I just got back from a short trip to Vegas where I played bubble craps at several locations. Coincidentally, I read your column both before I left and after I returned. Several observations about malfunctions: In the past the machines seemed to automatically re-roll after one of the dice was tilted against the wall of the pit...read more

Buried treasure

She sits at the machine figuring this is why she came to the casino. She works in an insurance company and, while her job makes her a good living, it is kind of dull. She has about 10 years before she can retire and take as many cruises as she likes...read more