Gaming Gurus: Strategy Expert Article Archive - Page 217

Payback percentage and baseball back-to-backs

QUESTION: How is payback percentage on a slot machine calculated? I know I’m not really getting zero percent when I lose all my money, but I sure doesn’t feel like 90, either.ANSWER: Payback percentage is all money paid out divided by all wagers, with the result multiplied by 100 to convert to percent.For example, if players make $1 million worth of wagers in a machine, and it pays out $900,000, then you’d divide $900,000 by $1 million to get 0.90...read more

Ask the Slot Expert: Why are penny slots so popular?

Question: I hate penny slots, and that’s all I can find anymore here in Oklahoma. I’d love to go back to Vegas but I’m pretty sure the situation is the same there. I used to sit for hours enjoying huge banks of quarter and sometimes dollar machines, while waitresses occasionally brought me free drinks...read more

Our readers sound off

FROM CLIFF: I loved the idea you have when playing slots. If I decide to play slots I look for the jackpot payouts being the same per coin, like: 1,500, 3,000 and 6,000. I have hit many a time 1,500 and very happy with the hit!I have two stories where I hit right away and went home.First was sitting down to play Three Card Poker...read more

An automated argument

A couple of months ago, I shared a few stories from readers about player vs. player tension at the tables. That brought several responses, with the most unusual coming from Elaine, who describes herself as a longtime low-budget player.“You won’t believe this, but I actually saw a big argument over a payoff at an automated table,” she said.With that, she had my full attention...read more

Double Bonus Poker: 10/7/5 vs. 9/7/5

Over the last few decades, casinos have consistently chipped away at the returns for video poker. In the golden days of video poker it was very common to see video poker games that returned very close to – if not more than – 100%. Now it seems that the best games available in many casinos return less than 99%...read more

Reduced craps payouts

QUESTION: OK, I’ll admit it. I sometimes make the craps bets you and others think are nuts. I only do it when I’m winning and the shooter is on a roll. Then I try to spice up a nice session with some long shots. Hit a couple of 12s and a nice win becomes a big one.What I want to know is about payoffs...read more

Ask the Slot Expert: Calculating a slot machine's volatility

Question: I am a junior student of math from China. I have a term project to do statistical computation of a slot game when a paytable and reel strip are given. I learned some computations from books and your website. But I got stuck when tried to compute the volatility of a slot game...read more

What would you do if?

It's a simple question for you:The floor person takes the dice away from the shooter (for whatever reason: he isn’t hitting the back wall, he’s throwing the dice into the dealers’ chips; he’s obnoxious to other players) and the stick person passes them on to the next shooter...read more

Outrageous Sums

Sometimes they take a table in the main casino so everyone can see them and be awestruck by the outrageous sums they wager. Sometimes they sit quietly in the high roller room, away from other players, betting their outrageous sums.I have seen craps players with over $200,000 on the layout...read more

Blackjack: To be great or not so great?

A few weeks ago, I was called upon to speak with a park district group before they took a bus trip to a nearby casino. Most of them had played slots before and some had played other games, but I was asked to give a few basics for those who wanted to branch out.An older gentleman named Adam said he had tried blackjack a couple of times, just for low limits...read more