Gaming Gurus: Strategy Expert Article Archive - Page 345

What to do if the casino raises the blackjack table minimums

If you play much low-limit blackjack, no doubt something like this has happened to you.I’d arrived at a casino about 9 a.m., figuring I could take advantage of early-day sparse crowds and low table minimums. I found a $10 table and bought in for $200, with four $25 chips, 19 $5 chips and five $1 chips, so I had a little starting change to tip dealers and waitresses.It was a pretty ordinary session, up a little here, down a little there, and after a couple of hours I was ahead by $7.50...read more

The 5-Count does alter a craps game

The 5-Count Does Alter a Craps Game by John “Skinny”FROM SKINNY:I have been mulling something over from time to time. Based on the research by mathematician Dr. Donald Catlin (columnist for Casino City Times), "The 5-Count [Frank Scoblete’s craps method] selected the skilled shooter 10.7 percent more often than it selected the random shooter." More about that later.I have been agreeing with the statement about the 5-Count that it does not alter the odds in favor of the player...read more

Little Bets Can Pay Off In a Big Way

A lot of betting goes on in casinos. I think it’s time casinos empower employees to make some bets of their own.The employee wagering I’m writing about is not what you’re thinking. I’m suggesting that casinos let employees take some small chances on customer service innovation and then see what happens.The Wall Street Journal recently published a book review of “Little Bets.” Reviewer David A...read more

Deal Me In: Finally, a use for a kicker

Dear Mark: I like to play Double Double Bonus Poker. What is the best pay table that I should be playing on? Nancy S.I am glad to see, Nancy, that you recognize that getting the greatest return out of any video poker game, you need to find the optimum pay table first.Double Double Bonus Poker is a video poker game based on Bonus Poker, which is a hybrid of Jacks or Better...read more

Can dice control be proven?

The concept of dice control or precision shooting or rhythmic rolling (all synonyms) is perhaps the most controversial topic in the field of craps. Can a shooter change the nature of a craps game by his throwing technique?First brought to the modern casino world by the late, legendary Captain from Atlantic City who believed that certain shooters, ones he called “rhythmic rollers,” changed the nature of the game from random to controlled...read more

Those horrible 6-5 blackjack games

QUESTION: I can understand your warnings to blackjack players not to play when blackjacks pay 6-5 instead of 3-2. You don’t want to settle for less than the usual payoff. But what about a single-deck game? I'd always heard single-deck was the best game...read more

Are there signature numbers in craps?

There is always a lot of well-meaning talk in craps circles about signature numbers, meaning those numbers that are appearing with a tremendous frequency during the short run of a session or several sessions. Many of the "experts" are deep believers in the power of signature numbers.Now, there is little doubt that certain skilled shooters, using just about any set that SmartCraps recommends to them individually, will tend to hit some numbers more than other numbers or with much greater frequency than even a high SRR would indicate...read more

How good was "the Arm" at dice control?

I know them. I have played craps with them. They are the best dice controllers out there today. Two of them, the Dominator and Jerry “Stickman,” have become widely known in dice control circles because of their amazing skill at avoiding the seven and/or hitting specific numbers.These two are among the Golden Touch dice controllers that serious craps players wish to emulate, and with good reason...read more

The Ultimate Progressive Video Poker Machine!

Hi Mr. Stickman, I was walking through one of the downtown Las Vegas casinos and noticed someone had just hit a royal flush on a progressive video poker bank of 25¢ Double Bonus video poker machines. The winner had saved the King, Jack and Ten of Diamonds and ended up drawing the Ace and Queen of diamonds. I walked around the casino for a while looking for some good games...read more

My jackpot was stolen

Walking the aisles at a busy casino, I saw the lights flash and heard the music change to celebration mode -- surefire signs that someone had just hit the jackpot.I walked toward the winner to see what was going on, and it turned out that a woman who appeared to be in her 40s had just lined up the three doubler symbols on a Double Diamond reel-spinning game...read more