Gaming Gurus: Strategy Expert Article Archive - Page 487

Interpreting House Edge, Part I

In general terms the house edge is a statistic that tells you how much of the money that you wager is going to be retained by the casino. There are some technical issues that mathematicians love to squabble about, that is, how should one handle ties and should the figure be based on the ante or the actual amount wagered...read more

Everyone has a system

In a sense, I am a casino gambling systems seller. Now, if you are going to quote that first sentence please make sure you use "in a sense" or the whole point of this column will be the opposite of what I intend it to be. A gambling system is a patterned way of approaching a game...read more

Smart Play Makes Casino Outings More Fun

All games should be played using the best strategies to help you come out a winner. This is especially true for casino games because of the fact your hard-earned money is at stake. Here are a few pointers for beginners and casual casino-goers to keep in mind the next time they tackle the slots or give the roulette wheel a spin. Inexperienced players are naturally attracted to the new-wave video slots with multi-line, multi/coin play functions...read more

How do advantage players get the advantage?

Casinos make money by paying players less than the true odds of winning a wager. The red-black bet in roulette pays 1-1, even though the true odds are 20-18 against the player. The pass line bet in craps pays 1-1, but true odds are 50.7-49.3. I've mentioned that before, and it was on the mind of a reader named Marcus when he phoned to ask a question. "I had a talk with a host who told me they were worried about advantage players," Marcus said...read more

Have casinos tightened their machines?

Dear John, Love your columns. Is it me or does it seem that the casinos are tightening up their machines in this economy? I am a medium roller and have had zero luck recently (past 7 or 8 months or so) in my weekly casino visits (which have now become bi-weekly and even monthly) and get an eerie feeling that the casinos have programmed their machines not to pay out as prodigiously as in years past due to the state of the present economy...read more

Can you be successful in craps without being a controlled shooter?

Dear Frank: I have read your book Beat the Craps out of Casinos dozens of times. I must admit it has enlightened me on the beauty of the game of craps. Since reading your book, I have been to Vegas three times (over nine months) and I have religiously followed the 5-Count...read more

Is it legal to copy slot machine EPROMs?

Hi, Is it legal to copy an Eprom of a game you already own for a backup in case you were to, say, break off a leg of a chip? I don't know for sure if this changed with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998, but software users used to have the right to create backup (archival) copies of any software they purchased...read more

Dice Pilot's Betting System

Recently I received a request to analyze a betting system from a Golden Touch dice control student. Hi Stickman, I just got back from Vegas this weekend with a successful trip playing with Mad Money, Section8, Rafter, Rough Roller and Dave DaPorker....read more

They drive me crazy!

I am very tolerant… well, most times… well, occasionally. Oh, OK, OK, I've lost all my tolerance, to tell you the truth. I've gotten grumpy in the last few decades. Things that never bothered me now bother me. Maybe it has to do with the fact that I was expecting global freezing in the 21st century based on the books I read in the 1960s such as Future Shock which speculated that we'd better get our long johns ready for a long, brutally cold future, and now Al Gore and his zealous crew are telling us that we are all about to fry due to global warming! Now that can make even the most tolerant of us lose a large part of our tolerance, can't it...read more

16 Isn't So Sweet at the Blackjack Table

There's something about being dealt a hard (no ace) two-card 16 (10/6, 9/7) that makes me feel uneasy at the blackjack table. It's the hand I'm most uncomfortable with, no matter what the dealer is showing for an up-card. Basic strategy dictates that you stand when the dealer's card is a deuce through 6, and hit when it's a 7 or higher...read more