Gaming Gurus: Strategy Expert Article Archive - Page 337

Changing Denominations Doesn't Matter

Last week I was on a business trip in the South and stopped by one of the casinos on the Mississippi River. I decided to play a little video poker and I sat down at one of the multi-denomination/multi-game machines. The first thing I do when I sit down at one of these machines is check out the denominations of the machine...read more

Parlaying the 12 at craps

Several years ago I was one of about a dozen presenters at a weekend forum on casino games. It was there that I met Paul, who was attending my session on baccarat. He explained that he usually played video poker along with a little blackjack, but was looking for a third game to spice things up.It seems the third game he settled on was craps, as I found out in August when he approached me at a casino coffee shop...read more

Ask the Slot Expert: Should I play more lines on a slot machine or more coins per line?

John, Love your column. Always look forward to it, and to your great input. Told my friends about you. My question is: Are the odds better if you play 100 lines (max) x 2 cents (least), 50 lines x 5 cents, or 25 lines x 10 cents, and so on, on any one machine? I would appreciate your feedback as I do your wisdom. Sincerely, Slot Starvin' Marvin Dear Marvin, Thanks for the kind words about my column. Most multi-line/multi-coin (video) slots are straight multipliers (that means there's no bonus for playing more coins), so the number of coins you bet on a line and the number of lines you play do not affect the long-term payback...read more

How to get airfare comped

If you are a moderate high roller who is RFB at a casino, more often than not the casino won’t pay your airfare because of how comp ratings are done.Casinos rate players based on the player’s “theoretical loss” for the time they played. A theoretical loss is the mathematical probability that if you bet this way for an extended period of play, you will lose X amount of money...read more

How A Video Poker Machine Work?

Dear Stickman, I usually play video poker in Atlantic City casinos. My game of choice is the Joker's Wild variant which uses a standard 52 card deck plus two wild cards. In AC, the top payout on this type of machine is five of a kind, usually 4000 coins when 5 coins are played...read more

Even money is uneven for the player

QUESTION. I have to disagree with all the experts who say you shouldn’t take even money when you have a blackjack and the dealer has an ace up. I always take even money. This way, I always win the hand, and the object is to try to win every hand...read more

Handling a slump

Handling a slumpposted by Chip on the Golden Touch Craps private members-only websiteHi all, Chip here.I am a controlled shooter and I am posting here for the first time in a while. I was fortunate to be with the GTC group in Tunica and made some money...read more

The blackjack shoe

The blackjack shoe used today to hold the decks of cards at the blackjack table has a long history. It has its roots in Cuban casinos in the 1950s.Long before Castro outlawed gambling in that country, gambling was a big draw for glamorous Havana hotels...read more

Best Jacks or Better video poker games

If there were two identical slot machines side by side and I asked you which machine was “looser” (i.e., paid out more), would you be able to tell me? The answer is no, because there is no information on the face of a slot machine that gives you a clue as to what the machine is programmed to return to players...read more

A shuffle through the gambling mailbag

QUESTION. If the casino makes a higher percentage on slot machines rather than on blackjack, why then, when we get coupon books, why do they always give coupons that can only be used for blackjack but not for the slots as well?ANSWER. You’ve put a bit of a twist on the issue of perks and comps for table players vs...read more