Gaming Gurus: Strategy Expert Article Archive - Page 548

You can't time your luck in gambling

I ran into an old acquaintance the other day who was telling me he's considering playing poker as his main source of income. He said he's been going into the card room each day with a goal of winning just $200 and then quiting. Some days it happens in the first hour, and other days it takes all night...read more

Table Maximum at the Roulette Table

Dear Frank: If a roulette table has a $500 maximum for inside bets, does this mean on one number or spread around? For example can I play $20 on 25 numbers? Thanks, Jeff Dear Jeff: Casinos all have their own rules but it is in the casinos' interests to allow you to bet that $500 on as many numbers as you wish since the casino cut on roulette is 5.26 percent...read more

New Craps Bets Help Take the Sting Out of the 7

The number 7 in the game of craps is a double-edged sword. On the come-out roll it's a natural winner, but unless you are playing the "don't" (betting against the pass line) every other time the number appears during a roll spells disaster. The dread number has mathematics in its favor...read more

G2E 2007, Part 4: What's New at IGT?

Have you ever played video poker, drawn a hand like three 8s, a 5 and a 3, and thought, "Hey, that's four 8s --- 5 plus 3, right?" I know I have, and apparently International Game Technology is thinking right along with players who harbor such wishful thinking. The world's largest slot machine manufacturer, the Reno, Nevada-based IGT dominates video poker like the Yankees have dominated baseball history or Harry Potter has dominated kids' best seller lists...read more

Can a casino play off a jackpot?

Would it be legal for a casino to over and over reset the bonus? Like when someone wins 1,000 on the Wheel of Fortune and then the casino comes around and spins it around to be on 40 so it looks as if no one has hit the machine? Thanks. I haven't heard of casinos moving a bonus wheel, but I have heard of them playing off a jackpot when a player leaves a machine with the jackpot combination on the payline. Because some players won't play a machine when a jackpot is displayed, and because changing what is displayed has no effect whatsoever on future spins, I don't have a problem with a casino's moving the wheel...read more

Where should controlled shooters stand at the craps table?

Mr. Scoblete, I recently obtained the DVD on craps [Golden Touch: Beat Craps by Controlling the Dice!]. It says where the four best places to stand are (stick right one and two; stick left one and two), but doesn't say if you can stand anywhere else and still use the controlled dice system. Thank you, Gene Dear Gene: As someone working on learning dice control, you want to give yourself the best chance to win and the best chance to win is to stand as close to the back wall as possible...read more

Jest for fun

* * * * * "Did you see much poverty when you were in Atlantic City?" "A lot. In fact, I brought some home with me." * * * * * It's easier to win a big jackpot than to know what to do with it. * * * * * They say money talks in a casino...read more

Odds to improve your hold'em hand by the river

First things first. A few weeks ago, this column provided a Hold'em odds chart for taking your hand on the flop and improving it right on the very next card (the turn). That's valuable information, since you can sometimes correctly call the smaller bet on the flop to try to improve, but if that misses, you should not call the bigger bet on the turn. Regrettably, though, I included a silly error in the last entry of the chart...read more

Those magnificent, infernal machines!

Machines wash our clothes, dishes and cars; take us from point A to point B, either on the ground, in the air, on or under the water. Machines add up our columns of numbers, divide, subtract and multiply them. Some do our taxes. Machines monitor our hearts and blood pressure...read more

"Automatic Win" Catching on at Area Blackjack Tables

Frank Mugnolo, president and CEO of Casino Gaming LLC in Broadview, a southwest suburb of Chicago, had an idea a few years ago. It was a new blackjack bet. Not a gimmicky, budget-busting side wager, rather an option which players could exercise in select situations at the tables. Here's the premise: If a player is holding a two-card 20 (10/10 or A/9) and the dealer is showing a 10-value up-card (no blackjack), the player could elect not to play out the hand in return for keeping the original bet and being paid half its value in winnings. He called his bet "Casino Surrender" and began to market it to casinos around the country in the spring of 2005...read more