Gaming Gurus: Strategy Expert Article Archive - Page 226

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

The cost of blackjack decisions

When we play casino blackjack we are always trying to improve our odds and ultimately win more hands from the casinos. To help us better understand "the odds," Edwin Silberstang, the author of "Playboy's Guide To Casino Gambling, Volume Two, Blackjack," explains the science of odds in blackjack as "gains and losses" to the player...read more

What's so free about free odds?

QUESTION: Why are free odds in craps called “free”? You still have to pay to make the bet.ANSWER: The “free” is meant to designate that the bet pays at true odds and that there is no tax, commission or other method of giving the house an edge...read more

Ask the Slot Expert: When to play video poker aggressively

Question: I read with great interest your article about those who succumb to "Royal Flush Fever" and toss away a high pair, or other a winning hand, to go after the rare royal flush hit. May I suggest that once you have hit one of these long shots, you are "infected" for life and it is hard to play sensibly from then on? My infection happened in 2008...read more

Slots vs. table games

Slot machines and table games are two very different things – and the casinos know this quite well. Slot machines are the cash cows of casinos, bringing in often more than twice as much money as table games.It is easy to get a good idea of why such a case holds true...read more

Some views on 'good games'

Not too long ago, I answered a reader’s question about whether blackjack with 6:5 payoffs on 21s was still the lowest-edge game in the house.I told him paying 6:5 instead of 3:2 on blackjacks increased the house edge by 1.4%, and that by itself is higher than the house edge on the best craps bets, on banker or player in baccarat, and on many video poker games...read more

Stump and amaze your friends

The next time you belly up to the bar with a friend or co-worker who thinks he knows everything about the game of blackjack, ask Mr. Know-It-All a few of these questions.QUESTION: How did the game of blackjack get its name?ANSWER: When “21” was initially introduced in the United States in gambling houses, it wasn’t very popular...read more

The problem of fatigue

QUESTION: I play a lot of blackjack, often in the $50 range. On innumerable occasions I have seen players who were hundreds or even thousands of dollars ahead go away empty-handed because they simply could not leave at a timely point, apparently having set no “win” targets or “stop-loss” points, or else just plain unable to stop.Player fatigue is also an important factor in judgment...read more