Gaming Gurus: Strategy Expert Article Archive - Page 472

New Empress Casino Making Most of a Tough Situation

Maybe it was because my expectations were too high, or perhaps I didn't know what to expect, but I came away from last Thursday's re-opening of Empress Casino in Joliet with mixed feelings. That may be too harsh a judgment to make on a day that was extremely busy and in light of the extraordinary effort it took to completely remodel the gaming barge just a little over three months after a fire destroyed the pavilion. Nobody knows better than executives with Empress and parent company Penn National Gaming that to operate a casino in what has become a sophisticated gaming market without the amenities of a pavilion puts the property at an extreme disadvantage. In a year and a half there will be a new pavilion, re-branded in a Hollywood Casino theme, but in the meantime the gaming barge is all they have. Recreational gaming enthusiasts have come to expect a total entertainment experience from the casino properties they visit, and that's exactly what Empress has in mind when the pavilion eventually is rebuilt. The gaming barge itself is huge, 50,000 square feet of floor space over two levels, but it is obvious that maxing out the gaming positions while at the same time incorporating a buffet and an expanded VIP lounge and high limit room created a negative impact on the comfort level of guests. The top level is so jam-packed with slot machines that navigating the casino floor is a challenge...read more

Dealing with soft 17 and soft 18

There are times I'm tempted to break blackjack players into two groups. Of course, there are way more than two groups — card counters vs. non-counters, pleasure players vs. money players, basic strategy players vs. hunch players and novices. But given a familiarity with basic strategy, I can pick out those who have really studied the charts from those who have just glanced them over on the basis of two hands: What does the player do with soft 17, and what does the player do with soft 18? Soft hands are those in which an ace is counted as an 11...read more

How is video poker dealt?

John, I am a slot manager working in a California casino and I frequently read your column to get information for my staff. I have written to you before and I was honored that you included one of my answers in one of your columns. I have a question regarding how video poker hands are dealt...read more

The zig-zag system zigs back

How can I find your report on the Susan Applegate slot system from August 14, 2004? I just received the offer from her and sounds too good to be true (and I know how the saying goes!). Richard Dear Richard, My review of Applegate's Zig-Zag System was posted on March 14, 2004...read more

How can this jackpot be random?

Dear Mr. Robison, After reading many, many articles on the "as random as possible" aspect of RNG, I feel I have a good understanding of how it works. This being the case, I am stumped by one seemingly contrary occurrence and I hope you can explain it. In various casinos -- Green Valley Ranch being one of them a few years back -- there were groups of slot machines that were "guaranteed" to hit prior to reaching a certain jackpot, say 50K...read more

Take Down the Eight on the Comeout?

I recently received the following letter from one of my readers. I'm very interested in the effect on the house edge calculation for a placed 6 or 8 when one is left up on the comeout with a pass line bet. If, say, a $6 place bet on the 8 is left up with a $5 pass line bet, the total amount at risk is $1 and the payoff for a win is $7...read more

College football spread analysis; pot limit Omaha split book instructive

Andy Iskoe's newest football statistical study is packed with all kinds of statistical revelations, his latest focusing on colleges (147 pages, 8x11 plastic spiralbound, $29.95). This book, along with Dan Deppen's Pot Limit Omaha 8 Revealed (186 pages, paperbound, $29.95), should keep sports bettors and poker players busy during the waning days of summer.Iskoe's Pointspread Encyclopedia — Vol...read more

Good betting choices for advantage-play craps players

Many players in the dice control community attempt to formulate and then justify odd betting choices, thinking that they are prescribing excellent wagering schemes when, in fact, they advocate idiocy. One such formulation is called the "see a horn, bet a horn" principle that advocates betting the horn with its 12.5% house edge should you see a streak of such horn numbers, those being 2, 3, 11, and 12...read more

Gaming Industry Takes Responsible Playing Seriously

The vast majority of people who go to casinos participate in gaming as a form of recreation and entertainment. For some, however, it is a vice that can ruin relationships and create financial hardship from which many cannot escape. Even though the casino industry profits from the money that people lose playing games of chance, the majority of funding for the National Center for Responsible Gaming (NCRG) is provided by commercial and Native American gaming companies and slot machine manufacturers. Surprised? Start up money for the organization was donated in 1996 with a 10-year pledge of $875,000 by Boyd Gaming Corporation, owner of Par-A-Dice Casino Hotel in East Peoria, Illinois, and Blue Chip Casino, Hotel & Spa in Michigan City, Indiana. Harrah's Entertainment, Inc., which owns Harrah's Joliet Casino & Hotel and Horseshoe Casino Hammond, contributed $400,000 in 2008. Last month the NCRG took a bold step forward in the study of gambling disorders by announcing the creation of the nation's first Centers of Excellence in Gambling Research at Yale University and the University of Minnesota...read more

The math of match play

All casino games are math problems at heart, even if you can't see the arithmetic going on or use it to your advantage. Slot machine industry professionals, including manufacturers and the casino slot directors who decide which games you see on casino floors, talk about games having the right math model...read more