Gaming Gurus: Strategy Expert Article Archive - Page 422

The slot machine Martingale

His eyes were feverish; his hands trembling. "Oh, my lord!" he thought excitedly. "I have found a surefire way to win at gambling. It is so simple; I am amazed no one ever thought of this before! I am brilliant!" He turned to his wife, "Honey, we are going to own the world! This betting system will always win; it has to always win...read more

Baccarat Has a Loyal Following

The game of baccarat has a long history. For decades it was segregated from the main casino floor and played in an upscale room with upholstered chairs and tuxedo-clad hosts. A favorite of high-rollers, baccarat is veiled in romance, legend and lore, but today it has been adapted to mainstream casino gambling. Baccarat is a card game that requires no skill...read more

A shuffle through the gaming mailbag

Q. I play almost exclusively video poker (on a "keep perspective and play for fun" basis only). I have wondered if it is worth the effort to try to find the machines that pay the best odds, and what the best way to do that is. What do I look for? The full house odds, the straight odds, the flush odds, or a combination of all? A...read more

Reactions to banned for taking money left on machines

Hi John, It was interesting reading the question and the response to this. I understand the original writer went to several machines to collect leftover money and that's what got him into trouble. But what about when you go to a single machine (with intent to play) and there is credit left on the machine? Usually I see this in amounts less than the smallest denomination or on occasion, less than the max bet. Do you print the credit out and leave the ticket there? Do you call an attendant over to reset the machine? Give them the voucher? Or just throw in your cash and play it out? Is there a legal or ethical obligation, or just call it a windfall and spend someone else's two bits? Ian Dear Ian, There is a clear-cut answer...read more

Taking Advantage of an Advantage: Part 1: Introduction, References

In 1956 J. L. Kelly published a paper [3] in which he suggested an "optimal" betting system for positive games. This paper was a very technical piece of work and was generally unknown to the gambling community until the publication of Beat the Dealer [5] by Dr...read more

Rolling Them Bones

Casino dice are very different from dice used in games like monopoly and backgammon. To begin with, casino dice are much larger, about 3/4 to an inch square on all sides and the edges are very sharp and pointed and are manufactured to very high standards...read more

Card counting basics

Many players are confused as to just what is card counting and how it works. This time, I'll explain the basics of card counting. It's possible for a blackjack player to gain the long-term advantage over the casino. This means you will win more money than lose over time...read more

Craps and cruising

I have never given much thought to cruising. That's never been my idea of a vacation; rocking, rolling and perhaps losing "it" on the wavy waters. On occasion in the past two decades, I have been invited to speak on this or that cruise and my wife, the beautiful AP, and I have always turned down such proposals...read more

Craps Has a Language All Its Own

If you've ever had the desire to learn the gambling world's most colorful "foreign language" and read some delightful anecdotes connected with it, there's an old gambling book you should look up. A number of years ago, David Guzman and Christine Fagans teamed up to write A Guide to Craps Lingo from Snake Eyes to Muleteeth...read more

Scoblete's 'Slot Conquest'

The year 2010 was a busy one for Frank Scoblete, one of gambling's most prolific, as well as entertaining, writers. He rolled out four books through his new publisher, with Slots Conquest ($16.95, Triumph Books) rounding out the quartet late in the year. Like everything Scoblete writes, it's fun to read as well as informative...read more