Gaming Gurus: Strategy Expert Article Archive - Page 352

Ask the Slot Expert: Can identical slots have different bonus probabilities?

I have two slot machine questions that I've wondered about for some time. It seems like you'd be the perfect person to ask. 1. When slot manufacturers construct the slot games, do they or the casino purchasers determine what the min/max payback percentage figures will be? In the tribal compacts that I've read the minimum payback for "non-skill" slots is in most cases 80 percent...read more

The house has the edge in 21 + 3

Calculating odds in casino games is mostly pretty straightforward arithmetic. There are different degrees of complexity, and there certainly are traps. Goodness knows I've fallen into a few myself. The devil is in the details, and a reader named Jason missed a fine point recently when he e-mailed me to say he thought players have an edge on the blackjack side bet 21 + 3...read more

The misleading language of gambling

Some philosophers have stated that if you don't have a word for something then that something doesn't exist. This may or may not be true. But what about its corollary, having a word or words and expressions for something that doesn't exist? What if that non-existent something makes people do foolish things? Stupid things? Things that will hurt their supply of money? What if the expression is really an equivocation? It means one thing but the reader takes it to mean something else. We can put aside questions of things which may or may not exist that we actually have words for, such as ghosts, angels, demons, flying saucers and aging actresses who don't get facelifts...read more

Three Card Flushes

When playing 9/6 Jacks or better Video Poker it is tempting to hold a three-card Flush. After all there are still ten suited cards in the deck so this seems like a reasonable play. Unless there is a possible Straight Flush draw, however, it is the wrong play...read more

Jest for Fun

A guest checked into a Las Vegas motel and was getting ready for bed when he noticed a small book on the night table entitled "The Bedside Companion." On the contents page was a list of articles to read for certain occasions. "If you are depressed and down in the dumps, read page 37...read more

Deal Me In: Making doing OK even better

Dear Mark: In today's article in the Detroit Free Press, you answered a question about playing craps. You mention the pass line wager and a place bet on the 6 or 8, giving the house edge of about 1.5 percent. You then state that this is lowered even more when taking odds...read more

What does royal flush cycle mean?

A royal flush cycle is the mathematically calculated average number of hands it takes to hit a royal flush using perfect strategy. The number of hands in a royal flush cycle varies slightly from game to game. For Jacks-or-better, the royal flush cycle is 40,391 hands, whereas a full-pay Deuces Wild game it's 45,282 hands (See Table 1)...read more

A shuffle through the gaming mailbag

Q. I saw a craps game with cards. It used two cards instead of a dice roll. You played just like at a craps table with 10 times odds. It had the same craps layout. What do you think of this game? What are the odds? A. The came is called Card Craps, and it's primarily used in markets such as California where dice games are illegal. The only cards used are aces through 6s, mirroring the 1 through 6 spots on the faces of a standard die...read more

Ask the Slot Expert: VLT video poker tips

Any tips for VLT video poker machines? Mike Dear Mike, Yes, one tip. Treat them like slot machines. Unlike the Class III video poker machines you find in Las Vegas, Tunica, Atlantic City and other places, VLT video poker machines do not determine the results of hands played on them...read more

Roulette: when double-zero beats single-zero

Nearly all bets at double-zero roulette wheels give the house a 5.26% edge, the exception being the five-number-bet on 0, 00, 1, 2 and 3. That one bucks a house edge of 7.89%. All bets at single-zero roulette wheels have a house edge of 2.7%...read more