Gaming Gurus: Strategy Expert Article Archive - Page 610

Treasure-hunting nickel machines

Dear Mark, In pai gow poker, what is the rank of the joker when it applies to a flush? For instance, let's say my five-card hand consists of an ace, jack, seven, five and four of hearts and the joker to complete the flush. The dealer has an ace, queen, Jack, 4, and three of spades...read more

Best Poker Story Ever

Everyone loves a good poker story, and here's the wildest one I ever heard. Nine people playing $30-$60 Hold 'em, one player so drunk he can barely sit upright. The dealer deals two cards face down to each player. The first player raises, the second player raises, the drunk raises...read more

Bits and Pieces from Indian Country - August 2006

Indian gaming is stuck in the same mire in Washington as the Internet; each congressman and representative is eager to show that he or she had nothing to do with Abramoff, his causes, or his associates. Indian gaming is also caught in the election rhetoric and politics...read more

Dopey Bets

My wife, the beautiful AP, has told me that I am losing my much-vaunted patience with gamblers. And, you know, I think she is right. I have become much less well disposed to players who claim that by some trick of betting or some system of placing bets that they can overcome the house edge at craps (or other games)...read more

Quicktakes: The month's trends in a glance - August 2006

A new month, a new war, and new record highs for oil prices. Actually, none of that is really new. We have a July every year, Israel has been at war since the founding of the state, and oil prices were higher thirty years ago if you adjust the price for inflation...read more

Blue Ribbon Hoops, Gordon Blue Book Hot Stuff

College basketball is just around the corner, and poker remains number one in the hearts and minds of millions -- so it¹s a perfect 1-2 punch when two terrific books arrive at Gambler¹s Book Shop the same week. The two hot titles are the 2006-07 edition of the Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook edited by Chris Dortch and staff (384 pages, 8x11 paperbound, $21.95) and Phil Gordon¹s Little Blue Book (379 pages, hardbound, $21). The Blue Ribbon book remains the hottest seasonal hoops reference source for bettors, fans, coaches, players and sportscasters for more than two decades (originally compiled by Chris Wallace in the late 1970s)...read more

You Can Buy Your Way to a Lower Edge, but Beware the Cost

Competent craps players know that taking or laying Odds on Pass, Come, Don't Pass, and Don't Come bets is a good idea. In general, Odds extra dough wagered to supplement these bets during "point" rolls give the house no edge in and of themselves...read more

Congress Passes Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006

On Sept. 29, the United States Congress passed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 as part of an overall port security bill. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., spearheaded the effort to gain passage of the measure before Congress recessed for the upcoming November elections...read more

Poker's 'World Series' Evolves into a Classic

There are other poker tournaments, but the World Series of Poker has evolved into the richest and most high profile of them all thanks to some clever marketing strategy on behalf of Harrah's Entertainment, which obtained the rights to the brand several years ago. This year's WSOP, which ran for seven weeks from June 26 through August 11 at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Vegas, brought out a total of 48,364 entrants for the 45 events, a fifty percent increase over last year. Huge growth was experienced in other categories as well: 8,773 players participated in the Main Event, the $10,000 No-Limit Texas Hold'em World Championship, which had a gross prize pool of $82.5 million...read more

A Shuffle Through the Gaming Mailbag

Q. I recently visited a casino that had an 80-for-1 payoff (400 for max coins) instead of the common 50-to-1 payoff for a straight flush on a 9-7-5 Double Bonus machine. All the other payouts were the usual ones I am used to. Do you sell a strategy card for this type of payout table (or know where I can get one)? The machine also had a "magic lantern" appear once in a while after the completion of the hand, and a "fairy" came out of it and changed some of the cards so that my hand improved...read more