Gaming Gurus: Strategy Expert Article Archive - Page 401

A shuffle through the gaming mailbag

Q. I sometimes play in an Indian casino where they have the Class II games. You know, the ones that look like regular slots, except there's a little area where they show bingo numbers. I know you're really playing bingo against other players in those games, no matter what the rest of the game looks like...read more

Advice for the Owner of the New Golden Nugget in Atlantic City

The Trump name recently came off the Trump Marina casino in Atlantic City. It will now become The Golden Nugget. The casino owner, Tilman Fertitta, is a business and financial genius and certainly was well aware of the shrinking Atlantic City casino market when he agreed to purchase and renovate the aging Trump Marina...read more

Craps Was a Hazard Long Ago

Gaming historians argue the origins of craps and will continue to argue it for all time. Archaeologists discovered dice the were made of bones in Egypt. Ancient games dating back to 3000 BC were played with five- and six-sided dice. Many people mistakenly deduce that craps must have started during the days of King Tut or Moses...read more

What do those "suits" do?

I received an interesting question from a blackjack player who wanted to know "what all those people in suits that work in the pit do." Most of the time a blackjack player interacts with only one casino employee, the dealer, whose job is to ensure that the game is run by established procedures, and to provide customers with a pleasant gaming experience...read more

A shuffle through the gaming mailbag

Q. I have heard a couple things concerning video poker. First is that royal flushes hit roughly every 48,000 spins. I also have heard that when a machine is not being played, that it still continues to "spin" maybe hundreds of times per minute...read more

Is playing a found ticket a crime?

In my June 8, 2011 column, I printed a letter from Ginger, who was afraid that a casino might come after her because she found a ticket worth about $20 and played it after the rightful owner failed to claim it after 15 or so minutes. I received this letter chastising me for my reply. "I think you acted in a reasonable manner...read more

Don't play when blackjacks pay 6-5

As rules change in blackjack, so does our best strategy. In a six-deck game, basic strategy calls for doubling down on 11 against any dealer face-up card if the dealer hits soft 17, but not to double down against an ace if the dealer stands on all 17s. In a six-deck game, we'll never split a pair of 4s if we're not allowed to double down after splitting pairs, but will split 'em against a 5 or 6 if we can double...read more

When can I put down a pass bet?

Dear Frank: I have not seen anything about when I can bet the pass/don't pass line. Is it permitted after the point is established? I know I can't take a pass/don't pass bet off the table. Thanks, Ron Dear Ron: You can put down a pass and/or a don't pass bet when the shooter is coming out...read more

Playing Pick'Em Poker

It was just like old times, staying and playing in Las Vegas with my dad Jerry and brother Jay. It used to be an annual tradition, until Jay's kids and mine got to the age where school activities were taking too much of our time for a guys-only getaway. We were staying at Boyd Gaming's Fremont in Las Vegas' older, downtown area...read more

Golden Touch dice control class in Vegas in June by Melissa A. Kaplan

Most casino players know that the game of blackjack can be beaten by the use of card counting. There's nothing illegal about that, even though the casinos are not happy that some players have figured out a way to beat one of their games. Now a second game has been added to the arsenal of advantage-play for those who wish to get an edge over the house at the game of craps...read more