Gaming Gurus: Strategy Expert Article Archive - Page 553

A Mystical Malfunction

On nearly every slot machine in nearly every casino, you'll see this phrase, or something similar: "Malfunction voids play." Few of us ever run into a malfunction that makes a difference. I've been doing this for a couple of decades, and have never had a payoff voided by a malfunction. At the Sandia Casino in Albuquerque, N.M., Gary Hoffman has encountered the dreaded malfunction in a big way, and he's going to court to try to collect the nearly $1.6 million he didn't win. In August, 2006, Hoffman was playing a Mystical Mermaid video slot machine with a top jackpot of 50,000 nickels --- $2,500...read more

Playing it Smart - How do you figure what you earn in comps at Craps?

Most casino gamblers know the house has an edge on every bet. That edge is usually expressed as a percentage. You can picture it as the average the joint will earn per dollar wagered over an extended period. This is important to the bosses because it's the source of their profit...read more

What Are the Benefits of Having a Casino Host?

Good morning, Frank, I have a question about casino hosts. What are the benefits of having one? Do you have to have a certain Player Card Tier to get one? How should I ask for one? Thanks! Carmine Hi Carmine: The host can make all your arrangements for you, such as room, restaurant reservations, etc. You do need to be in a higher bracket to get a host but even $25 players can get one...read more

Talk Too Much and Argue with Myself

It is okay to talk to yourself, say the experts, but watch out if you start answering yourself. But what if you actually argue with yourself? Could I be a little unstable? My favorite casino game is craps. It is a glorious game with lots of table action, personal interaction, myriad betting possibilities, and opportunities to make gobs of money in a short time...read more

Deal Me In: Too good to be true?

Dear Mark: Could you please give me some information on "Let It Ride." I tried it recently and liked it, but I had the unpleasant feeling that something this easy couldn't be "too good to be true." Tom Z. Let It Ride is a variation of five-card stud poker where the player wagers on a poker hand consisting of three cards in the player's hand and two community cards in the dealer's hand. Play begins with each player making three bets of equal denomination in spaces labeled (1), (2) and ($)...read more

Key Poker Concepts Must Be Understood to Win

Poker is becoming as American as baseball and apple pie. New players are flooding to the card rooms in droves, wanting to test their poker savvy against the other gamblers. But if they don't understand and use some key poker concepts, they'll be making lots of bad decisions – which will cause their chips to evaporate at the table. Following are some key concepts that must be understood and used in order to win at poker. 1) Best in, Best out – It should seem so logical, yet so many new players don't appear to recognize it...read more

Crazy gamblers

On the boats that leave Florida ports and head out to the three-mile mark so that people can gamble without disobeying American laws, a curious phenomenon occurs every day. When the time for play is almost about to end, an announcer gets on the loudspeaker and says, "Ladies and gentlemen, there will be only three more hands or decisions for today...read more

Woman's bingo win leads to $1 million payday

Bingo is one of the oldest and most popular games in the world. Playing bingo is arguably the most socially gratifying experience among all games of chance with appeal that transcends age and gender. The game occupies a niche in the world of casino gambling, but because it pales in comparison to other games as a revenue generator and, more importantly, because a bingo hall takes up a lot of valuable space, its availability is limited. Bingo halls are an integral part of the gaming mix at "locals" casinos in Nevada, but here in the Midwest you'll only find them at land-based Native American properties. One of the biggest can be found at Potawatomi Bingo Casino in Milwaukee, Wisconsin...read more

Terms of (casino) endearment

Dear Mark: Often you, as well as other gaming writers and newspaper articles related to casino gambling, freely use gambling terms, and do so without including a definition. Here are but a few that I have seen of late that I would like an explanation of as to what they mean: pay cycle, handle, hold and the payout percentage...read more

Progressions and volatility in gambling

When we talk "volatility" in casino games, we're often talking about electronic games. Reel-spinning slot machines concentrate more of their returns in fewer big wins than video slot machines, which bring more frequent small wins. The reel-spinners are more volatile. Same deal in video poker...read more