Gaming Gurus: Strategy Expert Article Archive - Page 177

Ask the Slot Expert: Cruising to video poker profits

Question: Part 1: Regarding your comments about cruise ship casinos For what it is worth, I would offer the observation that several land-based casinos offer promotions that include cruises and Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) has been a popular partner...read more

The music of the machines

Before the slot machines became “paper machines” — that is, when real coins went in and came out, and the noise of those thousands upon thousands of coins going in and coming out filled the casinos, sometimes backed up by the occasional screams of joy from slot players who had hit jackpots — I could hear a kind of music, a kind of celestial symphony as I walked through a casino, except this symphony was not in the stars but indoors.I sometimes called it the “sound of the slots,” but I realized it contained far more than just machine sounds...read more

Stay clear craps

Way back in the 1990s, I met Brett at a seminar. He was a slot player — strictly three reels in those days — and he wanted to learn something about table games.It took him a couple of decades, but he's finally giving craps a try. He contacted to ask about hop bets."You probably don't remember this," he said, "but when you taught us the pass line, I was the only one who couldn't get it at all."I had to admit I didn't remember...read more

Casino chips

Casino chips (also known as casino or gaming tokens, checks or cheques) are small discs used in lieu of legal currency in casinos. Injection-molded plastic or compression-molded clay tokens of various denominations are used primarily in table games today, as opposed to metal coins, used primarily in slot machines.The manufacture of casino chips today includes some percentage of earthen material such as sand, chalk and clay, similar to that found in cat litter.Money can be exchanged for chips in a casino at the casino cage, the gaming tables, or at a cashier station...read more

Doubling 11 versus a 10

QUESTION: Why should I double down on 11 when the dealer has a 10 up? It seems to me the dealer is trending to a really good hand, with a 20 likely and possibly a blackjack. This seems like spitting into the wind.ANSWER: At nearly all U. S...read more

Ask the Slot Expert: Lack of replacement parts another reason old slots disappear

Question: Regarding a recent question about slot paybacks on cruise ships and your statement that generally the video poker machines have worse pay tables than land-based casinos, I can attest that it is true. Having sailed on many different ships, the VP tables are "not playable" by Vegas standards...read more

Same or different?

Here is a question I’ve pondered: Do you prefer to go to the same casino(s) time and time again, or do you prefer to spread your play around and visit many casinos for the first time? Of course, it is possible that you might like to do both.DARREN: I enjoy going to the same two casinos...read more

Paul talks video poker

I first met Paul, a big video poker fan, when I was giving a daylong seminar for a park district in the Chicago suburbs.Over the years, Paul contacted me frequently with video poker questions. Sometimes, he has stories, and he had a fun tale of a big comeback for a winning session when he reached me in early September."You know me," Paul started...read more

Comps 101: Hard vs. soft comps

Unless successful at advantage play, most of us engage in negative-expectation gambling. I’m not an advantage player, but I do focus on maximizing the value I receive in comps to help make up for any losses I may face from my play. In order to be effective at this, it’s important to understand the casino’s cost structure for the comps you seek.On a very basic level, comps can be broken down into two categories: hard comps and soft comps.Hard comps come at an actual monetary cost to the casino...read more

Regression and slot graveyards

QUESTION: I have a question about regression as it applies to gambling, but what leads me into it is baseball.Whenever a player or team has a hot streak, I read the statheads start talking about regression. When the St. Louis Cardinals went 22-6 in August, I heard they were due for regression...read more