Gaming Gurus: Strategy Expert Article Archive - Page 236

More and more new games

Ultimate X has been an enormous video poker success, the leader in that segment of multi-hand games that requires an extra bet to get a bonus feature.It’s a success worth building on, and International Game Technology is looking to do just that with Ultimate X Bonus Streak and Ultimate X Spin Poker...read more

Ask the Slot Expert: Do royal flushes really happen every 40,000 hands?

Question: I am a regular reader of your column and want to express my appreciation for you and its contents. I am a regular player of 88 Fortunes and here are three reasons why: September 2015 - Hit the Grand for $12,000+ playing $1.76 at the Eureka Casino in Mesquite Nevada...read more

Confessions of a craps player

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

Making the right move

QUESTION: At Mississippi Stud the other night, one man obviously was playing for the first time. He caught on fast enough, but a player next to him was helping him along.On one hand, the new guy had a $5 ante, saw his cards and then made a $5 raise...read more

Those don't bets at craps

Hi Stickman,I have a quick question – can I make a don’t pass bet after a come-out roll?~ JackHi Jack,First off, rarely have I played don’t bets while at the craps table. It is just not what I want to do when playing with a table full of other players...read more

Even more new table games

Among the many considerations that go into designing a new table game is whether it looks both intriguing enough and easy enough that players will give it a try. There’s no point in offering a game that scares off players.So most new table offerings are new riffs on familiar concepts...read more

Ask the Slot Expert: Are casinos afraid of players winning on slots?

Question: You wrote: Based on reports from 88 Fortunes players, it's possible to hit the Grand jackpot on less than a max-coin bet. Also, your choices during the pick-em bonus round are irrelevant because the program running the machine has already chosen which progressive you will win. If you’re tapping which coin to pick (until you pick three like coins), how could your choices be irrelevant? If the machine has already placed the minor, major, etc...read more

Monster Mash

I have certain predilections when it comes to playing games in the casinos, and the biggest one has to do with the number of people playing when I want to play.I do not like crowded casinos, crammed with people who are drinking, eating, talking, drinking some more, loudly voicing their joy or misery over what is happening to them as if others of us give two cents that they lost their last dollar.Take craps, a great game, and the one that I would say is the most exciting game in the casino...read more

Slot odds and bonuses

QUESTION: Tell me something about slot machine odds and bonuses.I was playing for a while and it seemed like the bonus wasn’t happening very often. I spotted a guy with name tag that said slot supervisor, and asked him how often bonus was supposed to come up...read more

Why blackjack card counting works

Blackjack is different from other games in the casino.Cards have a “memory.”We know that if all the aces are removed from a single deck we know there can’t be any more blackjacks until the deck is reshuffled. In all other games it doesn’t matter what happened before, it has no bearing on the next play...read more