Gaming Gurus: Strategy Expert Article Archive - Page 259

Keno: A fun, old game

Keno is considered to be one of the oldest of all gambling games. Its history can be traced back almost 2,000 years to the Han Dynasty of China.The original game required you to pick 10 Chinese characters out of a total of 120. Chinese laborers who came to the United States in the mid-1800s to build the railroads brought along the game, which was called Chinese lottery.It thrived in many towns of the West but was very difficult for Americans to understand and play it...read more

Deal Me In: IRS proposes altering slot machine reporting requirements

Dear Mark: If the automatic W2-G reporting on a slot machine is for a jackpot of $1,200, does that hold true for higher-denomination machines as well? Bill W.Yes, Bill, and it may get worse. The IRS is now floating a plan for a bigger share of your jackpots: the meager ones.At present, the fortuitous player winning a $1,200 jackpot will find that the machine automatically shuts down until a casino employee arrives with your W2-G.Earlier this year, as part of an expansive rewrite of gambling tax law, the IRS put forward the idea of lowering the mandatory reporting minimum for slot machines to $600...read more

IRS wants to change rules

The IRS requirement that winners of jackpots of $1,200 or more on electronic games sign a form W-2G before the casino can make payment has been with us since 1977. It affects big players far more than the low rollers.Now the IRS is floating proposed changes that would affect more players, more often...read more

Ask the Slot Expert: Are electronic craps games fair?

There is a craps slot machine at Red Rock Casino-Resort that has two large dice in a glass dome on a vibrating table in the center of a circle of maybe eight stations. To roll the dice, the designated player hits a button on their station, the vibrating surface responds with a big bump, and the dice clatter around and land on whatever number...read more

Placing the 4 versus come betting

FROM MARK: On a recent trip to Atlantic City I was playing $10 on the pass line with $100 odds. When the 4 was the point my friend said I was better off placing the 4 for $110 then playing the pass line.His logic was when the point hits you won $10 on the front and $200 on the back for a win of $210...read more

Deal Me In: Video blackjack paybacks are based on skill and rules

Dear Mark: I like playing blackjack on the video machines at the casino because I can take my time. However, I don’t like losing all the time. Are my odds better at the table? Are the blackjack video machines just a random number generator programmed for say 90% payback or can they alter payout based on how the customer plays? Raylon R.All video blackjack machines, Raylon, use a random number generator (RNG) software algorithm to determine the game’s outcome...read more

Taxes and video keno

QUESTION: In your answer to the electronic roulette winner (who had to sign a form W-2G for a $1,240 win even though a $745 bet left not much profit after taxes), you left out a very important point.If you are not a resident of the state where the taxes were withheld, you can file a tax return for that state and get your money back...read more

Video poker strategy quirks

Recently I played video poker with an old friend of mine. We sat next to each other playing full-pay Jacks or Better which, combined with five times bonus points, made this game a positive expectation game. My friend is a casual player who does not really practice strategy but instead tries to use reason to determine the best plays.As I observed his play, I realized his method worked quite well for him – except for a few select situations.When dealt Ac Kd Jh 5s 3h he held the three high cards where the proper play is to hold just the king and jack...read more

Those party pits

I like the idea of party pits in casinos, though I’ve seen so many with 6-5 payoffs on blackjacks that I rarely play in them.You know the drill. Party pits are supposed to be more relaxed and fun than regular pits. Rather than just dealing the cards as quickly as possible and running an efficient game, dealers are supposed to put on a smile, interact with the customers and let the players … well … party.It was at a party pit that had celebrity impersonators as part of the fun that Kayla had an out-of-the-ordinary experience that led her to contact me with her story.“Most of the time it just the dealers in loud costumes trying to be unnaturally cheerful with recorded music blaring – kind of fun, actually – but every so often a celebrity impersonator would climb up on a platform in the center of the pit and lip-sync to the music,” she said...read more

Ask the Slot Expert: Rigged slot machines at Town Pump in Montana?

I am convinced that the casino games operated by Town Pump in Montana are rigged. When I play, I never expect to win all the time, but to lose all the time is a different story. These places have "players' clubs" that undoubtedly track everything you do at a machine and form a pattern on when/if you win...read more