Gaming Gurus: Strategy Expert Article Archive - Page 340

It's good to get beat bad!

When Patrick Farrell of Farmingdale, N.Y., saw the river card complete his straight flush to the 8 of spades, he had every right to be elated. A nice $620 pot was at stake in the $1-$2 No Limit Hold’em game at the Tropicana in Atlantic City.What he got was so much more.It turned out that while Farrell was sitting with 4-5 of spades and watched as 6-7-8 filled the board, Eric Zendle of Cockeysville, Md., was sitting even prettier with 9-10 down...read more

Ask the Slot Expert: Can the casino control who hits jackpots?

When a casino chain orders the same slot machines from a particular manufacturer, would the payback percentage be set in the order and that particular payback percentage machine(s) be distributed among the properties throughout the U.S.? I ask this because it seems the win percentage on a particular game I was playing recently in Las Vegas at a national casino chain was no different than the same game at my local property...read more

Pass up the Captain's craps Supersystem

Dear Frank:I was playing craps in wheeling W.V. where there was a gentleman playing who was a local (the dealers called him by name). He was playing craps and on the come-out roll he placed a pass line bet and a don't-pass bet. Once the point was established he would pick one of the bets up and place it as odds bet on the other...read more

Best video poker play and being a comp wizard

QUESTION: Please explain a piece of video poker strategy to me. I’ve heard that when you have a low pair and a high card, like two 6s and a jack, you’re supposed to keep the pair and throw away the jack. That doesn’t make any sense to me. Don’t you have a lot more chances to draw a winner if you hold the Jack? You get four cards, and only one of them has to match up to win...read more

What casinos don't want you to know

Some things the casinos love to tell players (like who hit the jackpot on their slot machines). However, other things they would rather not say (“don’t ask, don’t tell”). What are their secrets? Read on to find out what they would rather you not know.Single-deck blackjackWow! Many casinos are bringing back those good ol' single-deck blackjack games...read more

Deal Me In: A low house edge and EZ to play

Dear Mark: Do you know of a game called EZ Baccarat? Please let me know the percentages for the casino. Also, what is the house edge for the casino if I bet the Dragon 7 and the Panda 8? John A.EZ Baccarat, also known as "No Commission" Baccarat, is played in the same manner as traditional baccarat...read more

Those killer soft 17s at blackjack

I was playing blackjack, whiling away the time before lunch at a $10 table while my wife played penny slots. It was a pretty non-descript six-deck game, with the dealer hitting soft 17 but double downs allowed on any first two cards. Players could split pairs up to three times for a total of four hands.The most unusual thing about the game came after I’d been playing for about 10 minutes...read more

Ask the Slot Expert: Will all slot machines be video in the future?

John: Thanks for all you write regarding casinos and slots -- you have been a superb mythbuster in this area. Here is my question designed to bring relief to many slot players -- I think: (A) Does the RNG function to first determine a certain payout for a spin on a machine, which is then reflected in the symbols that come up (which would naturally take into account the number of lines bet in order to show the correct result to be paid), or (B) Does the RNG determine the symbol placement first (which then results in a bigger/smaller win depending upon how many lines were bet)? The reason I ask this question, and why it is important, is to determine whether I should feel bad when I bet my last 3 cents on a 30-line penny machine and the symbols which show up are a loser for my 3 lines, but would have paid me big bucks if I had bet all 30 lines (and hit the RNG at the same exact time, of course)...read more

Back and forth on Triple Double

Dear Frank:I have a question I hope you can answer. If one is playing a multi-game video poker machine, are the cards you draw the exact same for every game? In other words, if I was playing Jacks or Better and was dealt a royal flush, had I been playing Deuces Wild, would I have drawn those same cards.Thank you!JimHi Jim:No...read more

Missing those real coin slots

QUESTION: I miss the coins in the slot machines. There was nothing better than a big win and hundreds of coins pouring out. Is there any chance we could get those kinds of games back into casinos?ANSWER: Unlikely at best. There are too many advantages for casinos in paying off in tickets rather than coins or tokens...read more