Gaming Gurus: Strategy Expert Article Archive - Page 494

Paybacks changing based on coins played on a slot machine

In a recent response to a reader you wrote, "Let's say you're going to play 100 spins and the one-coin payback is 92% and the two-coin payback is 95%." I was unaware that a single machine would have different payback tables merely based on the number of coins inserted...read more

The Foxwoods Oz commercial

Hello Frank, I read and enjoy your articles published on Casino City Times. You recently wrote an article about commercials you hate and I just had to respond to one of them, since I am an employee (dealer actually) at Foxwoods in Connecticut...read more

Follow-up to the four-card flush flaw

The odds of hitting *any* kind of flush from four cards should be 9/47 or 5.222 to 1. Out of all 714 four-card flush combinations (for one suit), 36 are straight flush draws and 4 are royal draws. The odds of hitting the straight flush with a straight flush draw is 47 to 1 for insides and 23.5 to 1 for outsides...read more

These Tough Blackjack Pairs Need to Be Split

I was playing blackjack with three other people at the table and was dealt a pair of 9s against the dealer's 8. I split them just like I was supposed to, made a 17 on one 8 and ended up busting the other. The dealer had a pat 18 and so I lost both bets, where I would've pushed had I not split to begin with. First base commented, "Well that was just plain greed right there." I softly replied that it was a good split, didn't elaborate and the game went on...read more

Clarke's Vegas confidential packed with 'sinsational' tales

Norm Clarke, gossip columnist extraordinaire, whose work appears daily in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, has written his best book yet -- Vegas Confidential: Sinsational Celebrity Tales (232 pages, paperbound, $15.95). Colorful, packed with photos of celebrities, wannabe stars and those who don't shy away from cameras, Clarke's tome combines stories, gossip, goofy episodes and backstage antics...read more

How much of a casino edge is acceptable at blackjack?

Frank, I'm a Speed Count player who's experienced great success using your system. I love knowing that I'm an advantage player and not a ploppy. My question is this: I didn't see the hotel we usually stay at in Vegas on your list of the best blackjack games in this month's edition of Casino Player...read more

Frank Scoblete on Playboy Channel on Sirius/XM 99

Gaming's #1 author, Frank Scoblete, and his partner Dominator, the world's greatest dice controller, are doing the Playboy thing again. After Playboy magazine ran a major feature about them for the October issue which had one of the largest newsstand sales of all time, both will be featured guests on the Playboy channel on Sirius (and Best of Sirius on XM) 99...read more

$50 Million Renovation Will Bring Joliet a Whole New Empress

Take a good look at the Empress Casino & Hotel in Joliet, Illinois the next time you visit. A little over a year from now you won't recognize the place according to general manager Frank Quigley, who has announced a $50 million renovation project designed to reenergize the property. The main entrance, pavilion and casino will be completely transformed into something entirely different from what it is today...read more

Playing It Smart: Can you believe 'the book' on how to play proper blackjack?

Even blackjack buffs who know their Basic Strategy inside and out sometimes balk at a few of its dictates. They're aware that "the book" says to hit 16 against a dealer's 10-up and 12 against 2-up. The most astute recognize that these hands are underdogs either way so it's a question of magnitude rather than kind...read more

2008 Global Gaming Expo, part 1

The Global Gaming Expo has been a must on my yearly calendar ever since its inception in 2001. The American Gaming Association's annual trade show, which had its 2008 run Nov. 17-19 at the Las Vegas Convention Center, has full days of conferences as well as a display floor of slotmakers, table games designers, chair manufacturers, security systems vendors and anyone else connected to the casino industry show off their products. G2E is also a place to renew acquaintances with old friends and sources in the industry, and make new ones...read more