Gaming Gurus: Strategy Expert Article Archive - Page 594

Lawyer's Poker

The idea behind Lawyer's Poker: 52 Lessons That Lawyers Can Learn from Card Players (Oxford University Press: 2006) by Steven Lubert is simple: Take a bunch of poker stories and a roughly equal number of lawyer stories and mix them together to teach lessons about playing poker, practicing law and living a moral and fulfilling life. Just in case anyone doesn't get the point, the 52 lessons are numbered from one to 13 in four categories, Diamonds: Maximizing Your Winnings, Clubs: Controlling the Opposition, Spades: Digging for Information, and Hearts: Ethics and Character. The four of spades, for example, is "Get What You Need." Lubert first describes the climatic scenes in Rounders, where Mike McDermott, the Matt Damon character, discovers that his opponent, KGB, has a tell...read more

Does It Pay to Push Your "Hot Streak" in Poker?

The slick dude with the baseball cap and sunglasses sat behind a mountain of chips down at the end of the poker table. He had won four of the last six pots and was pushing everybody around for the past hour. The other players were scared to go up against him...read more

Free trip to the chow line for system player

Dear Mark: I have been working on a system for roulette for the past six months. I have run it in practice mode for 5,000 individual spins on my computer, and 500 times on a live game. At present, I am showing a 2% edge against the house...read more

Frugal Video Poker (The Book)

Back in February of 2004 I wrote a review entitled Frugal Video Poker, which was the name of a computer program written by Jim Wolf and marketed by Jean Scott (you can check out my review in the archives on this site). Now Jean has teamed up with Viktor Nacht and written a book with the same name. Video Poker is one of those casino games that require a lot of study and practice if you want to play it well...read more

Are You a Psychic?

Many gamblers wish they were psychics. They wish they could with mind-power get on the flow of the cards or the dice and be able to predict that this or that will happen because that or this has just happened. The fact of the matter is this: gamblers are not psychics; they are losers...read more

Guaranteed play is gambling's ultimate package deal

An innovation developed by International Game Technology (IGT) in partnership with Walker Digital Gaming is about to make betting less of a gamble and more of a package deal by guaranteeing video poker players a set number of hands for their money. The concept is called "Guaranteed Play"...read more

Why strings of losses don't, yet do, better your chances

Gambling gurus say no matter how often you take a shot at winning a bet and fail, the chance on your next try stays the same. But common sense says the more you play, the higher the likelihood you'll score. Just as 10 lottery tickets give you a better chance than one, so wagering on a single number at roulette on 10 spins gives you a greater chance at winning than going for only a single coup...read more

A shuffle through the gaming mailbag: Guaranteed play video poker

Q. I was interested in Guaranteed Play Video Poker. You wrote that players are guaranteed a set number of hands, and said you got 100 hands for a $20 buy-in. How will casinos make up for that guarantee? Will they cut the pay tables way down? Answer...read more

What cards to hold

If I told you to follow a particular strategy just because I said so, how many of you would follow it? I don't ask this question to find out how many of you trust me. Quite frankly, I wouldn't follow a strategy anyone gave me without understanding the reasoning behind the strategy...read more

A slot manager writes

Dear John, As a slot manager at a large Midwest casino I enjoy reading your column every chance I get. There are many "slot experts" out there but you are by far the most accurate I have seen on the Internet. I especially like your analogies using coins and dice to explain the randomness of random number generators and the predictability of overall game outcome. I thought would write to weigh in on one of your columns: Common Experiences with Random Events...read more