Gaming Gurus: Strategy Expert Article Archive - Page 267

Indian strategy card

I was recently traveling in Washington State and stopped by an Indian casino to partake in some of their gaming. The state has two types of gambling: card rooms and Native American casinos. The card rooms have a variety of games, all dealing with playing cards...read more

Deal Me In: Player strategery

Dear Mark: I like to play penny slots. My system is that I only lose five dollars from my highest credits. For example, I insert $5, lose it, then move to another machine. I will either win a little, or only lose five dollars from the highest credit score...read more

The mystery of craps

Writing this column brings me in contact with players of all skill levels, and what seems obvious to a casino veteran often is a mystery to a beginner, or to a player whose experience falls in different games.Solving the mysteries of craps can be particularly perplexing, as a reader reminded me with her tale of playing on her own for the first time.“I’d played a few times with my boyfriend helping me, and I thought I had everything right,” Lisa explained...read more

Ask the Slot Expert: Can a casino collect a marker from a gambler's estate?

If someone owes the casino, say, $100,000 or better, then refuses to pay, the casino would normally sue to get the money back. However, if in the middle of these proceedings the person makes an unexpected departure from this world, can the casino sue the estate or do the casinos have some sort of insurance for this problem? Laws differ from state to state, so I'll just deal with Nevada...read more

Hot, cold and virtual games

FROM SNAZZIE: I love your column. I agree with you that charting dice is a losing system. I have seen times when a dice table is "cold." That is when I am betting the pass line with odds and those seven-outs will happen all too frequently.There may be eight or nine players at a table and no player will make a point...read more

Can I be a professional?

QUESTION: I can usually get a royal flush every 30 days. Can I be a professional player? I play video poker every day.ANSWER: How often you get royal flushes gives me nowhere near enough information about how good a player you are, but I’ll get back to that in a minute.Playing video poker professionally takes not only skill, knowledge, discipline and the right temperament, it takes an enormous bankroll...read more

Craps percentages on $44 inside

Hi Stickman,Is the house edge on 44 inside at craps calculated as follows?18 ways to win $14 - 6 ways to lose $44 divided by 24 (number of possible decisions) x $44? I got (252-264)/1056 = 1.14 percent. Most writers claim this is a bad bet to make but it is better than betting just the 6 or 8, so would you mind showing me my error.Thanks,BillHi Bill,You pose an interesting question.Let’s just look at it from a high level first.Think about what is going on...read more

The break-even point in video poker

Most of the questions I received about progressive video poker machines have to do with the break-even point. A reader will ask, “How big does the jackpot have to be to reach 100 percent payback?” And I can answer: The expected return with expert play reaches 100 percent with an 8,666-coin royal at 8-5 Jacks or Better, 5,763 coins at 9-7-5 Double Bonus Poker or 9,515 coins at 8-5 Double Double Bonus Poker, to name a few.A player named Mike came at progressives from a different angle.“Every video poker pay table has different strategies, right?” he wrote in an e-mail...read more

Ask the Slot Expert: Taxes on slot winnings for Brits

Love your column. I have been reading all your articles since my first trip to Vegas back in 1998 and I have learned so much from you regarding slots. Keep up the good work. My query is two fold. I play the slots a lot at home in the U.K...read more

The horror of card counting

FROM FRED: I read your short article on blackjack today. I wanted to ask you if you are taking into consideration the multi-decks that casinos use today.I was not sure when you wrote this article, so if everybody at the table has pat 19s, 20s and blackjacks this round, the next few rounds are not likely to be very good for the players...read more