Gaming Gurus: Strategy Expert Article Archive - Page 309

Payouts

In the decades when three-reel games ruled slot floors, it was easy to know how to get the most of out the games. It took maximum-coin bets to get the highest payback percentages, and average returns were best at highest coin denominations...read more

Ask the Slot Expert: Stopping the spin on a slot machine

I love to read your columns online. Your experience and knowledge are often helpful in the casino. Last weekend I was in a casino playing a "Double-Triple Bonus" one-line slot game. The player next to me was playing very quickly and often stopping the reels while they were still rolling. After a while I casually asked him why he did that and doesn't it possibly make you miss a winner? He told me that he had read somewhere that when he pushes the stop button, the result was already determined. He also went on to show me that wins only come when the symbols on the reels roll a certain way...read more

Safest bet in the history of the world

The Mayans predicted that the world would end on or around December 21, 2012. Whew! Escaped that one!Hold on. The Mayans aren’t the only ones who predicted the world would end today, tomorrow or the next day, or next month, or next year, or the next decade, or the next century or the next millennium...read more

The joy of pai gow poker

QUESTION: I’ve been playing pai gow poker a lot lately, and find that I can play for pretty long. It’s not the most exciting game in the world, since there are a lot of pushes where I win one hand and the dealer wins the other. But I can make my money last while my wife is at the slots, and I’ve had some nice streaks.My question is about royal flushes...read more

The ultimate blackjack quiz #2

This is the second part of a blackjack quiz prepared by my friend Fred Renzey, a contributing writer to my Blackjack Insider (BJI) e-newsletter and author of "Blackjack Bluebook II." Be forewarned, this is a challenging quiz.1. When you have Ace-7 against a 9, if you stand, you’ll win the hand 8 times out of 20...read more

Those great BIG wins

I’m not a high roller by any means, and there are no $20,000 slot jackpots or $10,000 runs at the craps tables on my resume. Mostly, I stick to $5 and $10 tables, and 25-cent video poker. When my wife and I play together, it’s usually on penny slots.So when people ask about my largest casino win, it’s easy to pick one...read more

Ask the Slot Expert: Slot machine hit frequency

What penny slot machines have a high frequency of paying? Is that set by individual casinos or by the machine's manufacturer? I ask because you said that Cashman pays about 50 percent of the time. I would say that every penny slot machine that is a multi-line/multi-coin machine has a high hit frequency (more than 20 percent)...read more

Hedging bets at craps

FROM JOHN: You have a couple come bets with full odds established. Is there a way to protect them from a seven on the next come out roll once the shooter made his point?FRANK RESPONDS: When you start splitting the game into pieces as you have done, it seems as if there are ways to “protect” your bet...read more

Come-out bets versus put bets

QUESTION: I made a mistake at craps table, and now I’m wondering if it really was a mistake. I bought in, and bet on the pass line. The next roll was a 6, and I was getting ready with the odds, when the dealer paid me. It turns out I hadn’t noticed it wasn’t the come-out, that there was already a point, and it was 6.I didn’t know you could bet pass when it wasn’t a come-out...read more

The ultimate blackjack quiz

I have composed and also read many “blackjack quizzes” during my career, but the one that I found to be the most challenging was prepared by my friend Fred Renzey, a contributing writer to my Blackjack Insider (BJI) e-newsletter and author of "Blackjack Bluebook II." Here is his quiz; give it a try, but be forewarned, it isn’t easy.1...read more