Gaming Gurus: Strategy Expert Article Archive - Page 337

A 'taxable jackpot' is a bit of a myth

Dear Mark: What does the term "taxable jackpot" mean? J.N.If you win $1,200 or more on a single spin (including the original wager), the casino will issue you a W-2G. Ill-advisedly, many players have been told that a $1,200 win is the "taxable jackpot" threshold for what they are on the hook to Uncle Sam for...read more

Even money: Yes or no?

In the never-ending quest to get an edge over the casino, players try any number of tricks. Most of them don’t work. A few do, in the less-than-a-handful of games where players’ actions can alter the outcomes.Blackjack is one of those games, and not long ago I had the opportunity to see two advantage seekers meet head-on...read more

Ask the Slot Expert: How do video poker machines deal cards?

I feel that I have a pretty good knowledge of video poker and I play it frequently, but I do have a few questions. As I understand it the chances of actually being dealt a Royal Flush is 1 in 650,000, but what are the odds of drawing into a Royal Flush? Second question: When playing video poker, the first five cards are dealt and the next five are in waiting...read more

Odds, slots and calling off bets

Dear Frank:I know you said the dice have no memory but I have to ask you when you are on a hot roll and one of your dice leaves the table, do you ask for the same dice?RODear RO:Sometimes I do and sometimes I don't. I think following the culture of the game -- and asking for the same dice is part of that culture -- is probably correct...read more

Two-to-one payouts on video poker and blackjack

QUESTION: I recently found a strange variation on video poker. It was a quarter 7/5 Double Double Bonus Poker game, except with an eight-coin maximum bet instead of the usual five. At the top of the pay table, there was some serious weirdness...read more

Facebook Might Hurt Casino Marketing

Casino marketing will be disrupted by Facebook’s new Graph Search for five important reasons and casinos need to take countermeasures now by improving their customer service.Graph Search is a search tool that sifts through people’s Facebook profiles and allows users to conduct complex queries related to their friends.Twenty years ago when my company started helping casinos measure, manage and improve their customer service, I said that a guest can leave the casino and tell family, friends and co-workers about their gaming experience, good or bad...read more

Some big questions about video slot machines

Way back in the late 1990s, as video slots were first gaining a foothold on casino floors, players used to ask the same question, over and over.“How can you tell when you’ve won with all these crazy paylines?”That was back in the days of five-line and nine-line games, revolutionary in their times...read more

Ask the Slot Expert: Slot players should learn to play table games

Just read the letter that John sent you about slots on 11/14/12. It seems that John is a pretty sharp guy as far as asking questions about slots. If he could only channel that by learning to play basic strategy in blackjack where the house edge is one-half percent over the player, or even learn to count cards where he would actually have an edge over the house, he would be a lot better off...read more

Controlled craps shooting takes plenty of practice

Hello Frank,I enjoy reading the articles that you have in various magazines and CasinoCityTimes. When I come across something you have written on craps, I always read it.I am a few months into my dice influence practicing and really enjoy it...read more

50/50 games and meteors

QUESTION: How close to a 50-50 bet is blackjack? By that I don’t mean a zero house edge, I mean how close do players come to winning 50% of the hands. How does that compare to other casino games?ANSWER: Disregarding pushes, basic strategy players at blackjack win about 48% of hands...read more