Gaming Gurus: Strategy Expert Article Archive - Page 533

The IRS Doesn't Play Games with Gambling Winnings

Now that income tax season is over, it's time to start planning for 2008. If you're a recreational casino gambler, this can mean some unusual record keeping, especially if luck is on your side and you win a jackpot playing the slot machines. Collect a slot jackpot of $1,200 or more and the casino is obligated to notify the Internal Revenue Service of your good fortune in the form of a W-2G (certain gambling winnings)...read more

A shuffle through the gaming mailbag

Q. What can you tell me about Blackjack Switch? I saw a table and was intrigued, but couldn't bring myself to sit down and play without learning more about the game first. I guess I lack a little of that gambling spirit. A. If the gambling spirit includes going into a game unprepared, I guess I lack it too...read more

Playing It Smart: Can you save more by betting more? Part 4: Blackjack

Blackjack players not only can keep the edge extremely low, but sometimes switch it to their side. This, by choosing games with the best rules and following optimum playing and betting strategies. None of these things come free, though. Lowering house advantage, and flipping it so solid citizens are favored, generally require raising the amount of money up for grabs. The number of decks from which cards are drawn affects edge...read more

How do they get machines to hit jackpots on commercials?

Have you ever watched a casino commercial where the jackpot for a slot comes up, 7-7-7? How do they fix that machine to do it? Just the fact that they can fix a machine to do it is a little bit disturbing. That means that they can control a machine, maybe any machine, to win or possibly to lose. Thanks, Mike Gee, Mike, that's quite a leap to make from something you saw on a commercial...read more

Advice for the husband of a slot-playing wife

Dear Frank: I just joined the Golden Touch Craps private site (www.goldentouchcraps.com). Do you have any advice for my wife who is a slot player and really continues to lose? She is losing all my craps money! Sincerely yours, William Dear William: You are now a member of the "Slot-Playing Spouse Club," which entitles you to all the malafits and angst of seeing whatever money you win at craps being eaten by those hungry, vicious one-armed bandits. Even if you can't convince your wife to give up the machines, there are some facts she should be aware of before she plays them...read more

What are the secrets of Oscar's grind?

Pssst… Wanna know a secret? How about the secret of Oscar's Grind? Oscar's Grind is a very basic system that seems to work well if you adhere to a strict win goal and a loss limit. It is sold via mail order for up to $50 because it usually works if you follow the instructions. Wanna know how craps pros maximize their winnings by using Oscar's Grind? Let's find out now just how they do it – and how you can do it too! You start out on the pass line...read more

Internet Gambling and the Presidential Race

For far more than 200 years, the federal government has let the states decide what their public policy toward gambling will be. Neighboring states, like Utah and Nevada, can adopt prohibition or casinos, and the federal government's role has been to either step aside or, if asked, to help a state enforce its laws. That relationship changed on October 13, 2006, when Pres...read more

Deal me in: That sweet edge and how to find it

Dear Mark: Is there any point when the player actually has an edge in video poker over the house? Vic D. There is, Vic, but you'll need to master this combination. Play on a full-pay machine, use an optimal playing strategy against that select machine, play progressives over a certain amount, and take full advantage of the goodies casinos give away. Full-pay machines are machines that pay out more for certain winning hands than do other comparable ones...read more

Do I have to bet on every roulette spin?

Dear Frank: I have read numerous roulette systems where they instruct you to wait 3 to 4 consecutive misses of your sector after you hit a number in your given sector. So if I hit a 3 I cannot play any of the 9 numbers that make up the lower right-hand sector again until that sector misses 3 or 4 consecutive spins. My question is, will the casinos allow you to sit there and not play while waiting for this to occur or do Nevada gaming laws allow such type of play? If you are allowed to sit there and wait, is this also true for other games, for example, craps and blackjack? Yours truly, John Hi John: There are no laws that require you to bet every decision...read more

Horseshoe Hammond's present as vibrant as its future

Rick Mazer, senior vice president and general manager of Horseshoe Casino Hammond, is a very busy man these days as he coordinates activities leading up to this summer's much anticipated opening of the new $485-million casino complex. Equally engaged with a multitude of important tasks is Penny Parayo, the property's vice president of slot operations...read more