Gaming Gurus: Strategy Expert Article Archive - Page 356

Tom and Ray's Proposition Bet

If you are a regular reader of this column, you know that I occasionally discuss a particular proposition wager, sometimes called a sucker bet. One of the classics is discussed in the archived article called "An Earful of Cider"; you might check it out...read more

Jest for Fun

A seventh-grade English teacher asks a pupil, "Billy, what is an effigy?" Billy: "I don't know." Teacher: "An effigy is a dummy. Now, Billy, can you use that word in a sentence?" Billy (thinks): "Oh, my father is a blackjack dealer in a casino...read more

Deal Me In: Splitstown revisited

Dear Mark: In today's column, you discuss the answer to the question of splitting 10s. You touched on the subject of "putting your stellar hand in unwarranted jeopardy." I think that is the main reason not to split 10s, and although I recognize that any player’s actions have little effect on "taking the dealer's bust card," I still go into a tizzy when someone splits 10s, and more often than not, I will leave that table...read more

Dumb luck

I've won a lot of money gambling in casinos over the past 30 years and I've never attributed my success to being a "lucky player." No, I've been successful because I've disciplined myself to use math-based strategies so that I only play games where I have the edge over the casino...read more

A shuffle through the gaming mailbag

Q. I have read, and understand what you have said about the random number generator. However, I vacationed many times in Mesquite, Nevada. The most recent was in January. I have played in the keno tournaments before, and the prize for winning first place was $325 in "Keno Bucks" (that you can only spend by purchasing more Keno tickets)...read more

Ask the Slot Expert: Slot trouble down under

I have a question for you. I play the 'slots' or poker machines as we call them in Australia a lot. I play a particular machine I like at a particular club I like. Over the years, these machines have been good and bad to me, but we used to get 'free spins' quite often, not that they all paid a lot, but they were there. There are six machines in the line where I play. Lately -- say the last six months these machines have all decided that free spins were not going to come so often any more...read more

Hitting hard 17

There are certain plays in blackjack that will draw attention in the pit. "Splitting 10s," I've heard the dealer call out to the pit supervisor. Or "Doubling on hard 12." The pit supervisor might just glance over and nod, taking note of the player making the odd move...read more

Do roulette dealers have signatures?

Casino dealers often get into the same easy rhythm when they deal and this is true of roulette dealers as well. They pick up the ball and spin it the same way every time, and they also give that ball the same "oomph" as well. The ball will tend to spin around the roulette wheel the same number of spins as it did the previous spins and it should therefore land approximately the same number of pockets from where the dealer picked up the ball...read more

How do you know when you've played your bankroll through once?

Frank, I enjoyed your article in the recent issue of Strictly Slots regarding money management. I am going to try that next time I go to the casino but had two questions. 1) Would this work for video poker as well? I assume it would but you would probably have to slow down or figure approximately how many hands per hour you play...read more

Deal Me In: Whoever said you had to have fun?

Dear Mark: Assume a gambler had the discipline to walk into a casino, sit down at the blackjack table, and make one $100 bet, win or lose, then walk away. Of course, the gambler would have enough money to cover any splits or double downs. Would that not be better than sitting there making $10 bets for several hours...read more