Gaming Gurus: Strategy Expert Article Archive - Page 4

Ask the Slot Expert: Should I increase the line bet or increase the denomination?

Modern life has many age-old questions. Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Is it live or is it Memorex? What was the best thing before sliced bread? When does it stop being partly cloudy and start being partly sunny? Is it better to increase the line bet or increase the denomination? As usual, I let things go to the last minute and now I'm scrambling to re-qualify for an upper tier at one of my slot clubs...read more

Ask the Slot Expert: A better example of the dark side of Quick Hit

Last week I wrote about the dark side of Quick Hit slots and other games with scatter pay symbols. You can land two symbols that are part of a paying combination on a payline and have your payout ruined by a scatter pay symbol landing on that payline...read more

Ask the Slot Expert: The dark side of Quick Hit slots

I made my triumphant, in my mind at least, return to my movie theater after a two-week trip to New Jersey and Cancun. I was very disappointed that none of the theater employees noticed that I hadn't been there for over two weeks. On my way out of the casino-- Let me digress here and mention how surprised some people are at the differences in non-gambling activities offered by Strip and locals casinos...read more

Ask the Slot Expert: A tale of two cashless systems

I'm usually one of the first to try new technology in the casino. A number of years ago, Red Rock rolled out Cardless Connect on its slots. Riding the wave of using an app on your smartphone for practically anything, you could use the Stations Casino app on your phone instead of your players card to log in to a machine...read more

Ask the Slot Expert: I see casino equivalents in everyday things

Sometimes I think that maybe I've been writing about gaming for too long. I see parallels between practically anything in real life and the casino. For example, I binged a Brit game show called 007:Road to a Million a few months ago. I mentioned it in some columns...read more

Ask the Slot Expert: How does a casino determine its return to player

Question: I never thought much about Return to Player (RTP) regarding slot machines. Only when seeing stats a while ago about the various percentages in casinos on the strip, downtown, or off strip, did I realize how little I know about it and am curious. For example: How do casinos determine their RTP, does it change, and if so what factors usually impact the RTP? In conjunction with that, does geography or foot traffic in the Las Vegas area or anywhere we have casinos affect setting a casino's RTP? Does a state gaming commission follow casino RTPs or produce annual stats? Is it easy for a player to find out what a particular casino's RTP is, and if so where would they find that information? Would appreciate information on this topic. Thank you for your informative and, lots of times, amusing articles! Answer: Channeling Roseanne Roseannadanna, "You ask a lot of questions for someone from New Jersey." I have no idea where you're from, but that's the quote. I had a fortunate incident concerning your questions today...read more

Ask the Slot Expert: Steve Wynn - not the first

One of my favorite programs is Connections, written and presented by science historian James Burke. An underlying theme of this program and his other programs is that the image of the lone inventor, tinkering away in his or her garage, basement or laboratory and single-handedly creating an invention or making a scientific discovery is a myth...read more

Ask the Slot Expert: How do you choose when your choice doesn't matter?

Rarely in life do you have to choose between two options and it doesn't matter which one you pick. Door A or Door B. They're both either a year's supply of tuna fish or new cars. Pick one or the other. It doesn't matter. How do you choose which one to pick? Playing NSU Deuces, you'll find many instances in which the strategy gives you the choice of holding two sets of cards, each with the same Expected Value (EV). Consider this hand: 5♣ 7♦ 8♣ 9♥ J♣ The strategy says you should hold one of the two inside straights...read more

Open and inside straights in Jacks or Better

Open and inside straights and straight flushes were the topics of a recent article, with a following article having a quiz on inside and open straights on a jacks or better game.Now how about looking at some hands on a NSUD game? NSUD stands for Not So Ugly Deuces (or Ducks)...read more

Ask the Slot Expert: Stealth-mode video poker

Question: I always turn the sound down (if possible) to its lowest setting on VP machines. If I have a substantial hit like a Royal, I don't want to advertise it to anyone nearby. You never know who it is that may be lurking around you...read more