Gaming Gurus: Strategy Expert Article Archive - Page 562

Is it safe to play poker online?

Most online poker players were merely annoyed when the failed politician, Bill Frist, used his position as Senate Majority Leader last year to ram his Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act through the Republican-controlled Congress. Sites run by publicly traded companies, including the largest, PartyPoker, stopped accepting players from the U.S...read more

Opulence has its place and price

Dear Mark: I am interested in how, or if, the casino's carpets guide visitors through the space, whether it aims to work sort of like Muzak, keeping their attention focused on the gambling options rather than on the floor; and, of course, if you think it's a successful move for casinos...read more

The Secrets of Qualifying a Shooter

Pssst… Wanna know a secret? How about the secrets of qualifying a shooter? When you're playing craps, do you ever walk up to a table and put your money on the layout in the middle of a roll? After all, dice have no memory, so what difference could it make? Well, it makes a big difference...read more

The Ten Commandments of Slot Machines, Part 2

Commandment #6: Thou Shalt Always Play the Least Number of Coins As a general rule of thumb most gambling authors recommend that you play full coin in the slot machines. Now this is good advice if the big jackpot line of the third (or full) coin is much larger because of the full-coin play...read more

Stat & Log Book; college analysis -- super football betting references

Two hot football reference sources -- favorites year after year -- have arrived at Gambler's Book Club this week. They are Marc Lawrence's Playbook Stat & Log Book (380 pages, 8x11 plastic spiral bound, $34.95) and Andy Iskoe's Pointspread Encyclopedia: College Football (142 pages, 8xll plastic spiral bound, $29.95)...read more

Hold'Em Poker Table Game Different from "Real Thing"

Readers take over the column this week with questions and comments, starting with this one about Texas Hold'em poker: "What is the difference between the Texas Hold'em in which you play against the dealer versus in a poker room?" - Terry B. When you play the game in a poker room, you're competing against the other players at your table...read more

Double double bonus poker

My video poker-playing friend Bob has mostly confined his play to three games over the years: Jacks or Better, Deuces Wild and Double Bonus Poker. "Jacks or Better, because the strategy is easy and there always seems to be someone who'll give you the 9-6 pay table," he explained...read more

A denomination dilemma

Hello, I have a very simple question that you probably have answered in the past. If I am playing $1 per pull on a slot machine, what denomination of coin is it better to play - pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, etc? Thanks. That's a simple question that doesn't have a simple answer...read more

Playing it smart - What "expected value" reveals about the quality of a gamble

"Expected value" is one of the clearest ways to gauge the quality of a monetary gamble. It's a cash equivalent dollars and cents that's widely used as a tool for making decisions in the world of business and investments; it applies to casino and other forms of betting as well...read more

Picking the Right Slot

You haven't seen much about slot machines in this column for the simple reason that I seldom play them. Why? Slot machines are not very good bets. Typical payback percentages are 96% (rare) down to 83% (typical of airports). 92% - 93% is common...read more