Gaming Gurus: Strategy Expert Article Archive - Page 346

Can you be banned for progressive betting?

QUESTION: I don’t count cards, but I do play a progression, raising my bets after I win. I was at a $5 table, and did a progression that maxed out at $40. After an hour or so, I noticed a guy behind the table looking right at me, and another guy came up behind me...read more

Ask the Slot Expert: Why was money withheld from my jackpot?

Anyone who has played the slots can tell you it's no pRNG when the same numbers comes up 3-4-5 times in a row just above the line or just below the line. How can that be RNG or pRNG? If it happens once, OK -- but not when you go to a different machine and it's the same thing. You're making a mistake if you're assuming that having the same symbol land above or below the payline on multiple spins means the RNG has returned the same result on each spin. First, most symbols appear at least twice on most physical reels...read more

The language of craps

All gambling games have their special languages. For example, in blackjack you can hit, double down, split and stand. You can even insure a hand. In roulette, you have “inside” bets and “outside” bets. Some roulette games even have a concept called “surrender.” In Pai Gow you have “lop lop” hands – you don’t want those as they are almost sure losers.But no game comes with so many special names, nicknames and phrases as does craps...read more

Fantastic Video Poker Find!

Hi Stickman, I've found the BEST 6/9 machines I've ever encountered, but I need your help in figuring out the return for them. They are IGT Money Maker machines located in the Finger Lakes racino (just outside Canandaigua, NY), a bank of 10 quarter machines on one side and 10 dollar machines on the other side. They have a paytable similar to a standard 6/9 machine, with two exceptions: 1...read more

How bet size and other factors affect your chances of extending your bankroll

Casino aficionados who are in the hole but not broke often don’t quit to cut their losses but stay in action, hoping to climb back out. The question therefore arises of gambling in a way that minimizes risk of going bust. The answer involves choosing what to play and – when there’s a choice – propositions on which to bet and/or strategies to follow, as well as the size bets to make.Notwithstanding premonitions commonly claimed post facto by winners of big jackpots, nobody can predict how they’ll fare in any particular instance...read more

The slots aren't just the machines

To players, slot machines are the easiest game around. Bet your money, start the reels spinning and wait to see if you win or lose. No muss, no fuss, no strategies to learn, no glares from other players if they think you make a mistake.To manufacturers and casino operators, it’s a much more complex business...read more

The new blackjack systems

QUESTION. I was playing at one of those blackjack tables that you touch the screen to bet, but there’s a dealer with real cards. Even though the cards were real, the screen lit up with a total for the hand. How do they do that? I was talking with the dealer, and he thought they were a halfway station to fully automated games, and that one day he’d be out of a job...read more

The Iron Cross melts

This was posted by John “Skinny” on the Golden Touch Craps private members-only web site.To Poster: DB+W, an Iron Cross supporter:I understand your point regarding the Iron Cross. I even agree with part of what you are saying about getting paid on more bets during an extended roll as opposed to having neutral or standoff rolls...read more

Everything you need to know about playing cards

Playing cards have been known to make an excellent feeler gauge since they are so precise in thickness, varying from .010 to .011, depending on the make of the cards.In October 1492, sailors aboard Columbus’s ships threw away all their playing cards thinking they were bringing them bad luck...read more

Deal Me In: I stand corrected

Dear Mark: In your answer about Las Vegas casinos and the rumor that suggested that casinos pump something through their ventilation system, that is actually a fact. The Venetian and the Palazzo do inject aroma/scents into their ventilation system...read more