Gaming Gurus: Strategy Expert Article Archive - Page 2

Ask the Slot Expert: On the slot floor, sometimes the grass is greener on the other side

A long time ago, in a casino far, far away... Actually, it was in The Mirage about 30 years ago. I was walking through the casino with my cousin's boyfriend. As we passed a bank of upright video poker machines, he said, "I like to play those Draw Poker machines." Draw Poker was the name on the top glass. I was just starting to get into video poker at this time...read more

Ask the Slot Expert: Advantage slot play for everyone

In my unpublished book on video poker, which may never get to the printed page, I wrote that the casino will let you get the edge over it, but it won't make it easy. Card counters at the Blackjack table can determine when the odds have shifted in their favor and thus raise their bets. (A quick aside: One of the gaming writers I know was an accomplished card counter, but he was too married to the numbers...read more

Ask the Slot Expert: Here yesterday, gone today - Part 2

Last week I asked you to think about things that used to be on the casino floor but are not there today. My example last week was the Cash/Credit button on some slot machines. Someone realized that slot players could play faster if machines didn't have to drop coins for a win and players didn't have to insert coins for each spin...read more

Ask the Slot Expert: Here yesterday, gone today

Jack White's keyboard player had a short organ solo in the middle of White's first song on the April 4, 2026, Saturday Night Live. I wanted to watch him play, but a few seconds into the passage the director cut to a shot of the drummer, who was just providing a background beat. I get mad when a director cuts away from a musician who is doing something musically significant to a shot of a bandmate playing accompaniment or, worse, someone in the audience...read more

Ask the Slot Expert: Going beyond just seeing the future on a slot machine

Last week I described a parlor trick in which, under certain circumstances, you could see into the future on a slot machine and know whether you were going to get a bonus on a spin before the machine has revealed that result. Let's take it one step further this week. I'll begin by describing an experiment. Scientists showed test subjects randomly chosen images...read more

Ask the Slot Expert: Seeing into the future on a slot machine

One tip that gaming writers give to help players stretch their bankrolls is to play more slowly. Do anything to slow down the rate of play. Things like: taking a sip of your beverage or looking around the casino at regular intervals (possibly can be done), pausing between plays (very difficult not to speed up to the casino's rhyhym), or dropping coins instead of using the credit meter -- I guess that last idea is a bit out of date. I don't know if anyone ever followed these suggestions, at least not unless they were 50% through their vacation and 90% through their bankroll...read more

Ask the Slot Expert: Superstition or routine

The reporter asked Shaun White, three-time Olympic gold medalist, how he dealt with the pressure of competing at the Olympics. He said that he tried to treat the Olympics like any other competition. He had the same routine at the Olympics as he had at any other competition...read more

Ask the Slot Expert: In video poker strategy charts as in Slopestyle, order is all that matters

Athletes competing in Slopestyle events at the Olympics qualify for the finals by finishing in the top 12 in the qualification round. They are ranked using their better score of two runs. The higher the athlete's rank, the better the athlete's placement in the starting order for the final. While waiting for a competitor's score, the expert commentator said that the number didn't really matter...read more

Ask the Slot Expert: A quirk about when I sometimes stop playing a machine

I've always enjoyed playing with numbers and looking for patterns in them. The number of my first house was 413, 4=1+3. My next house was at 1023, 1+0+2=3. Another was at 2244, 44 is twice 22. My current house is 2401. Having a pattern in the house number isn't a requirement. It bothers me when a Jeopardy contestant wagers an amount not divisible by 200 on a Daily Double...read more

Ask the Slot Expert: To be progressive or not to be progressive

Question: There are 3 new machines in Mesquite, NV, that have progressive 5 play for dollars. But only 3 of the lines are progressive, the other 2 lines remain at $4000. Is this legal? Answer: I don't know of any regulation that this situation violates...read more