Gaming Gurus: Strategy Expert Article Archive - Page 183

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

Ask the Slot Expert: Do I win less when I use a player's card?

Question: My wife thinks that the casino can regulate how much it will let you win based on your card being in the machine or not. She thinks she wins more with her card out of the machine than in. Is there any correlation to this myth or can the casinos assist winning or not winning when your card is in the machine? Answer: The use of a player card affecting slot machine results is a frequently believed myth...read more

The Quotable Captain: Mistakes

(The late Captain was my mentor in gambling. I’ve written six books about him. This series contains some of his quotes, ideas and advice. This particular article concerns how the Captain views learning from mistakes.)The Captain: “I made every mistake a gambler could make.” — The Captain’s Craps Revolution (1993)The Captain believed that you learned from your mistakes as long as you took the time to think about them and try to rectify them...read more

Top 10 unwritten rules of poker

Tipping the dealers is common poker etiquette in most rooms. (photo by Wikimedia Commons)Although poker in all of its different variations is a game with well-defined and clearly explained rules, there are still some things that you should know that you won't find in the rulebook.Adopting the 10 unwritten rules of poker found below will help you better experience any live setting and prevent you from crossing the line and upsetting other players, which is usually not something you want to achieve.10...read more

They are out there

Casinos attract players from such a broad cross-section of the population that it would be surprising if they didn't also bring a broad sample of quirks.From time to time, readers tell me about a few of the odd things they've seen at the table...read more

Having fun with slots

Ah, slot machines with their lights flashing and melodies playing – row after row of these ubiquitous machines crammed in every imaginable space on the casino floor. They are by far the most popular game in casinos today. And why not? At what other casino game can a gambler simply drop in a few coins and have the possibility of winning thousands – or even millions – of dollars?Today’s wide selection of slot machines is a far cry from the machines of a few decades ago...read more

Five-card draw video poker

QUESTION: Why are video poker games five-card draw? Casino card rooms don't even offer five-card draw. Why isn't a more popular game like Hold'em the base for video poker?ANSWER: The short answer is that five-card draw has resonated with video players and Hold'em has not...read more

Ask the Slot Expert: Should I play multi-hand video poker?

Question: Single play or multiple on video poker? I usually play 9/6 DDB or 8/5 DB at $0.25 ($1.25 per hand). I haven't played any multiple play, but wonder if it is worth it to start. Where can I find out more info and what I'm looking for in a pay table to be equivalent to 98% payback or higher? Would it be worth it to play $0.10 multiples in video poker, and what paytable is best? Answer: The best things about plain, old multi-hand video poker are that it requires no strategy changes from the single-hand game and you can use the tables that give the long-term paybacks and strategies for video poker paytables to know the long-term payback of the paytables on the machine you're considering playing...read more