Gaming Gurus: Strategy Expert Article Archive - Page 292

All-star video poker

When I’m looking for a video poker game, the first thing I do is to check out the pay tables. If I see high pay tables, I play, and if I see low pay tables, I move on to other games.I don’t stop to worry about how the pay tables got there and who set them up, but it’s a concern for casino operators who are always looking for ways to save time and money.International Game Technology, which dominates the video poker market with a share estimated at 95 percent, has moved to ease set-up with its All-Star Poker II and All-Star Poker III units...read more

Ask the Slot Expert: What happens to the slot machines when a casino closes?

On Wednesday I received another sad e-mail from the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort in AC advising me that it is closing. Here is my question: Several other casinos in Atlantic City have closed recently. What happens to all of the slot machines? I would love to buy one and put it in my sunroom as a piggy bank for my wife and myself...read more

The bus people

The “bus people” is a common phrase in Atlantic City because so many of the weekday players come from different areas of the Northeast on buses for single-day visits. You see those buses tooling along the Garden State Parkway and the Atlantic City Expressway in the midmornings, bringing players to the casinos, and in the early evenings, bringing them home to rejoice in their good fortunes or complain about their poor luck.One thing is certain: The bus people love to play, and many come down once a week for the opportunity...read more

Where are the good machines located?

QUESTION: The new Race Ace slot machine you described sounds like fun, and I’d like to give it a go. However, when you’ve written about skill games in the past, I’ve never been able to find them in casinos. Do you know who will have Race Ace?ANSWER: I’m afraid I’m not going to be much help here...read more

Fun new table games

Casinos use hundreds of new slot machines every year. Games rise to popularity, hit their peak, decline and are replaced by new themes in a matter of months.Table games are different. Blackjack and craps have been favorites for generations, and probably will be for generations more...read more

Switching Casinos for Better Slot Club Points

Dear Stickman,During my May visit to the Atlantic City, I decided to try my luck at one of the four full pay Jacks or Better video poker machines.Recognizing that these were dollar machines, I wrongly assumed that they would accumulate player points at the same rate as the other video poker machines in that casino...read more

Ask the Slot Expert: Reaction to 'You cannot call yourself a slot expert'

I too believe that there is a lot more to the story about random number generators, near misses, etc. for regular slots — and also how cards were and are being dealt in video poker. (And I have been a casino marketing director for almost 15 years.) And if there was one gaming writer who questioned this the validity of how slot machines/RNGs work — then obviously where there is smoke, there is fire. The fact that a gaming writer was stonewalled or his sources clammed up when he asked real questions adds even more credibility to his claims — and I suppose with lack of industry cooperation is why he is no longer publishing in print or online. ...where's there is smoke, there is fire....and when you send smoke down a rabbit hole, they run out!!! It's time the "scams" or whatever truths they are hiding about slot machines get exposed to the light of day. I assume the reason you and Scoblete didn't follow him "down the rabbit hole" is that you want to keep making a living doing what you do — which may not be the outcome your colleague achieved. Maybe we need to get some investigative reporters on this.....read more

The grinding

I think many casino players are aware that the house has the edge on just about every bet they can make; but these players are not fully aware of exactly how the casino does this. Sadly, they play many of the games poorly because they cannot see the hidden costs of what they are doing...read more

The Big Wheel

QUESTION: When I first started going to casinos, everybody used to have one of those money wheels, with the different dollar bills in the slots. I never played it very much, just a flutter here or there, but to me, it looks like I expect a casino to look, and when I see one it gives me a casino feel.You don’t see them that much anymore, and I was wondering why...read more

How to hold onto your video poker profits

Have you ever talked with a friend on the telephone and gotten the feeling that something is wrong with them, but they aren’t telling you? This happened to me recently. I finally asked my friend point blank, “Is something wrong?” That’s when he opened up and told me what happened when he’d played video poker recently.Before I get into Al’s story (not his real name), let me give you some background.Al is a recreational casino player, who visits casinos about 2-3 times per month...read more