Gaming Gurus: Strategy Expert Article Archive - Page 491

Do slot machines remove outcomes after they're chosen?

Hi John, I would like to to thank you for your no-nonsense attitude to answering questions. I have two simple questions. First, when the slot chooses a particular outcome for display, is this choice removed the pool of future choices until all choices have been played and the machine has to start a new cycle of all available choices? I know it randomly goes and chooses what will be displayed, but I am curious if the pool of choices diminishes as choices are displayed...read more

Hitting a royal the hard way

There is nothing more exciting than hitting a royal flush when you play video poker. The payout is big ... $1,000 if you are a quarter player, or $4,000 for a dollar player. But royal flushes aren't so easy to hit even when you hold four to the royal and you need just one card on the draw to fill the royal...read more

Slot memories

Gambling writers, especially writers about the slot machines such as me, often overlook the very people who play the machines. We focus on the new machines, good strategies, machine-selection principles, the RNG, money management or the history of the machines, among other things...read more

Golf trivia, betting, hustling — it's all in these books

There's nothing like a game of golf. The game attracts people from every occupation. Some use the game to relax, others enjoy a friendly bet. But for those who wager, it's imperative to know when or if to agree to play. Books help in that department. Being knowledgeable is important -- knowing a little about the game's history, being able to "talk the talk" and knowing when you're being hustled are vital...read more

Blackjack Player an Ace at Tracking Cards and Running Track

It really wasn't that long ago that Ryan Board, a native of Crown Point, Indiana who now makes his home in downstate Illinois, was making a name for himself as a star athlete in track and field at North Central College in Naperville. He was an all-American in the 10,000 meter run in 1996 and 1998, the year his team captured the national championship. While he still holds an interest in running, his primary focus these days is teaching people not only how to play blackjack, a game which always held his fascination, but how to play it on an expert level. Frustrated by losing sessions playing basic strategy, he dedicated his time and efforts to learning how to count cards...read more

A shuffle through the gaming mailbag

Q. This isn't really about a casino game, but I have a question about odds. My brother-in-law and I were cutting cards to pass time before the start of a game we were going to watch on TV. High card wins, and the first to win 10 times is the overall winner...read more

Can counterfeiters use bill changers to pass their counterfeit bills?

John: For a person that would rather talk to a teller at a casino than use the automatic bill exchangers, I use the machines very little. Then the question popped into my head: What prevents the counterfeiters from breaking down larger bills and receiving good money? Or does the machine already address this problem? To me, this would be too slow and maybe obvious for a counterfeiter to keep returning to the machines. Always enjoyed your columns, especially the slot questions...read more

What's the big deal about betting the hardways?

Dear Frank: I have a question on bets with big house edges, like the field bet, and the hardways, etc. If I am betting black on the passline (with 5x odds) and I play the hardways for five bucks, how is it that bad? I mean the house edge on the pass line for a $600 bet is 0.3%, which is two bucks, and the house edge for a hard way for five bucks is 11% or 55 cents, why is it so bad? Just a thought...read more

Interpreting House Edge, Part II

Last month we observed that one must be careful when interpreting the house edge. This month the lesson is that one must take care when calculating it. A common wager at Craps is to place both the six and eight. When placing the six, for example, one is wagering that the shooter will roll a six before rolling a seven...read more

21 things you should never say or do when you play blackjack

The casino game of blackjack has its procedures, codes of conduct and playing strategies. The procedures are essential to ensure the security and integrity of the game. The codes of conduct encompass the playing etiquette so you don't attract the ire of your fellow players, or the dealer...read more