Gaming Gurus: Strategy Expert Article Archive - Page 243

About Three Card Poker

Three Card Poker has risen from brand-new game, struggling to carve a niche in casinos a couple of decades ago, to familiar favorite today.I’ve written of it often. Strategy is easy in the ante-bet portion of the game: Bet when you have queen-6-4 or better, fold when you have anything less...read more

Ask the Slot Expert: Did Tunica's casinos tighten their slots after the 2011 flood?

Question: I know there is no such thing as the RNG from all my research and reviews from slot machine programmers. With that said, I also have seen a massive decline in jackpot winners since the market crashed AND major floodings. The casinos have decreased their percentages favoring the players....this is absolute...read more

The fantastic four

The number 4 at craps can give you the “best of times” and the “worst of times” (to quote Charles Dickens). Everything depends on how you bet the number.All craps players know — or should know, or better know — that the best way to bet the 4 or any other point number is going by route of the pass line and come bets with full odds (or as much as you can afford in odds)...read more

Bad blackjack players and royal flushes

QUESTION: Playing blackjack, another player was really getting on my nerves. He kept hitting 12s. I know you guys say it’s right to hit 12 when the dealer shows a 2 or 3, but this guy hit 12 when the dealer had a 4. Not every time, just sometimes...read more

Casanova's favorite card game

Faro, pharaoh, pharaon or pharo were all the names of the late 17th-century French gambling card game known today as simply faro. It is descended from the card game of basset, and belongs to the monte bank family of games due to the use of a banker and several players.After being introduced by French immigrants in New Orleans, it became extremely popular in the U.S...read more

Deal Me In: A shorter timeline is no predictor of winning

Dear Mark: Any time I start playing slots, I always seem to win at the beginning, but end up going home a loser. I should just quit while ahead, but I do not because it takes me an hour to drive to the casino, and I do not want to play for just 15 minutes and leave...read more

About those slot machines

Slot machines are the most popular games in casinos, and slot players’ questions frequently show up in my e-mail.Mostly, the questions are “how do I win” variety. But here are a few I’ve been asked more than once that look beyond your results for one session.How much do slot machines cost? That depends...read more

Ask the Slot Expert: Turn in money you find in a casino

Question: This year I see a big change in the Konami Lion Festival machines at the Maryland Live casino. The machines pay differently and the reels drop differently. I believe Live has changed all the machines in the casino because MGM will open later this year near Washington, D.C. The casino tells me it has no control over the pay out or the way the machine operates...read more

What is better?

You are a casino player. You are aware that the house has the edge on every bet that you can make. You are aware that very few players ever beat the casinos in the long run. (This column is not about them.)But you do enjoy playing. You enjoy testing yourself against Lady Luck...read more

The reason you can take down don't bets

QUESTION: My buddy and I were playing craps, and a guy across the table looked at his watch and said he had to leave. He was playing don’t pass, and they just took his bets down for him and gave him his money. When I’m playing pass, they won’t let me take my bets down...read more