Gaming Gurus: Strategy Expert Article Archive - Page 197

23 facts about blackjack

1. Blackjack originated in French casinos around the 1700s, where it was called "vingt-et-un" (twenty-and-one).2. Emperor Napoleon played and enjoyed it more than any other card game.3. There are approximately 140 countries in the world with casinos that offer blackjack.4. The proper name of the game is “21”; the name “blackjack” was only added as slang in the 1920s.5. The object of the game is not to get 21; the real object is to beat the dealer.6. 20 is the second-best hand in the game.7. 16 is the worst hand in blackjack, followed by 15 as the second-worst hand.8. 11 is the third-best hand in blackjack.9. Mathematically, in 100 hands, the dealer will win 48 hands, the player will win 44 and there will be eight ties...read more

Tracking and no tracking

QUESTION: Why does tracking cards work in blackjack, but tracking doesn't work in other games? If it matters what happens in blackjack, why wouldn't it give you an edge to know how many rolls since the last 7 in craps or how many spins since the last bonus round on slot machines?ANSWER: Counting cards in blackjack works because the odds are constantly changing...read more

Gambling and the Law: States grandfathered-in under PASPA

The Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act freezes sports betting into whatever form it took in 1991. It allows states to continue whatever form of sports wagering they had a quarter of a century ago. But Congress expressly barred states from legalizing any new form of sports wagering.There is a general assumption that PASPA allows only the states of Nevada, Delaware and Oregon to have legal sports betting...read more

Ask the Slot Expert: Are Vegas casinos more flexible with found money?

Question: Late last year we were at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and came across a slot machine with $20 credit. After reading all the stories about being busted for stealing money, we found a slot host and reported it. He told us it is yours now...read more

A simple gambling question

Simple Gambling Question: Please explain to me what the best progressive betting system is in order to beat the house.Simple Gambling Answer: Do you want the bad news first or do you want me to explain and then hit you with “there is no best progressive system because none can beat the house”? Yes, you can have some that are less dangerous than others (I’ll grant you that), but in the long run you are going to lose more money using a progressive system than not using one.Let’s take a simple example since I am answering everything simply in this column...read more

Frequency of blackjack hands

Blackjack hands don't occur with equal frequency. You'll see 20 a lot more often than a staring hand of 5 or 6, and blackjacks more often than other two-card hands that include an ace.The frequency of 10-value cards makes a major impact. Because we treat 10, jack, queen and king as interchangeable 10s, there are four times as many 10s as any other denomination...read more

Gambling superstitions

According to the Study of Public Opinion Research Center in 2011, 54% of adults believe in at least one common superstition. Gambling, in particular, has an extraordinary number of superstitious beliefs. Why? An activity completely dependent on luck naturally leads people to create superstitions which could control the outcome in their favor.Gamblers, as a group, are probably the most superstitious people in the world and they will do almost anything to improve their chances of winning...read more

The Three Card Poker problem

QUESTION: In Three Card Poker, how should I divide my bets between ante-play and Pair Plus?Should I bet equal amounts on them? Should I divide my bets so my Pair Plus is twice my ante? The latter is kind of my working theory, since whenever I bet after seeing my cards, that would bring my ante-play combination up to the same amount as the Pair Plus.ANSWER: Given the current state of the game, I'd put my full bet on ante-play and skip Pair Plus entirely.The house edge on ante-play is 3.37% of your ante or 2.01% of total action, once the play bet is taken into account.On Pair Plus, the most common pay table available today has a house edge of 7.28%...read more

Ask the Slot Expert: How does the amount of money played on a machine affect the RNG?

Question: I understand how slots use the RNG. How does this interact with how much money players over time are putting into one particular machine? Does a machine that is played a lot by many people have a higher chance of paying out over time than one nobody seems to play? I'm trying to figure out if more popular machines have a better chance than ones that rarely get played and to understand how the RNG interfaces with total dollars put into a machine over a period of a week, month, etc. It seems that a lot more money going into a specific machine would affect its payout frequency versus one that is rarely played. Answer: Consider this experiment: You have two pairs of dice, one red and one blue...read more

Stop signs

My little village has many stop signs. I like that. Stop signs protect the elderly crossing the streets; they protect the kids playing stickball or wiffle ball; and they protect the cars’ drivers so no one is plowing through intersections just waiting to smash themselves and everyone else...read more