Gaming Gurus: Strategy Expert Article Archive - Page 225

Ask the Slot Expert: Which video poker paytable is best

Question: I have been going to Atlantic City for years. Most of the video poker machines that used to payoff are gone and replaced with penny machines. The casinos are beating the people and what is the casino control commission doing? Which in your opinion is the best video poker machine to play? Answer: Penny slots are taking up more and more of the casino floor...read more

Why craps is so exciting

I am guessing that many craps articles open with some form of the following sentence: “Craps is the most exciting game in the casino.”I know I’ve used something such as that opening many times. How can a gambling writer escape writing something such as that? After all, craps is the most exciting game in the casino! Nowhere do you hear the cries of joy or moans of agony as you do at the craps tables.There are a number of reasons craps is so exciting...read more

New Year's resolutions for gamblers

For 51 weeks of every year, I write about new games, strategies to get the most out of old favorites and how slot machines work, and I share stories from readers about their casino experiences.One week a year is reserved for my own little tradition for the new year...read more

Blackjack mini-tournament playing tips

Blackjack mini-tournaments are becoming quite popular. This is because they offer the player a chance to win a few hundred up to a thousand or so dollars for a modest entry fee of $25 or less. Also, the entry fees are usually returned to the player in prizes, so the tournament is a good deal from the player's perspective.The objective of blackjack mini-tournaments is simple...read more

Those pesky slot odds

QUESTION: My brother and I have been playing slots for donkey’s years, and we’ve been having the same argument about what “random” means all this time.He says that if you have a reel with nine 7s and one lemon, that means for the game to be truly random a 7 should come up nine times out of 10...read more

Ask the Slot Expert: Do low top jackpots on slots hit more frequently?

Question: I read your articles on 88 Fortunes. I hit the Major Jackpot recently at Mohegan Sun Pocono in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania. I was playing 68 cents and won $900 plus. I did not realize that I didn't have a shot at the Grand prize of $10,000 plus...read more

Gift of the Slots Magi

Slot machines have changed very little and a lot over the years that they have been in existence. This dichotomy is easily explained. People play the machines to win money, a given that has never changed; but the mechanisms of the machines have changed from simple mechanical devices to electro-mechanical devices to super-sophisticated computer-controlled devices that can even link up with other machines in other locations around a given venue or in multiple venues.The jackpots have gone sky-high over the years too and with computerized slots, millions of dollars can be on the line...read more

Successful slot machines

There are lots of ingredients that go into the success of a slot machine. A great theme to entice players to try a game is a start, and attractive graphics, animation and sound help, too.Ask game manufacturers, and they’ll tell you about the importance of having the right math model...read more

The next best in video poker

Casinos routinely change their inventory of slot machines. Usually this is done to add exciting new games or to eliminate games that aren’t played enough.Video poker games are also routinely changed. They may be moved to different locations...read more

About those side bets

QUESTION: I know side bets like Lucky Ladies, 21 + 3, Royal Match and so on have higher house edges than regular blackjack. Still, I can just play regular blackjack at those tables and not make the side bets. They don’t hurt me at all.My question is, why don’t they have side bets at every table? Then the house could make extra money from the players who don’t know any better or who want to chase the bigger payoffs...read more