Gaming Gurus: Strategy Expert Article Archive - Page 620

New Game Capitalizes on WSOP Popularity

A new game with a popular theme that resonates boldly with gamblers and at the same time introduces the bonus round concept to video poker play is now available. World Series of Poker (WSOP) branded machines featuring a "Final Table Bonus" that WMS Gaming rolled out at last year's Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas are popping up in Harrah's branded casinos nationwide, including the Chicago area. Harrah's, owner of the WSOP, has a 90-day exclusive on the games but they will soon be available in other casinos. The game's debut coincides with the 2006 World Series of Poker at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas...read more

You Can Learn Some Subtleties of Blackjack from Two-Card 15s

A starting total of 15 in blackjack is no cause for joy. If it's "hard" -- 10-5, 9-6, or 8-7 -- expectation is negative even though executed optimally. That is, players expect to lose more than they win. Soft 15 -- A-4 -- is a bit better...read more

The World Craps Championship

It was Saturday, July 22, about 8:30 in the morning as I pulled up at the Atrium Suites hotel in Las Vegas, ready to roll in Frank Scoblete's World Craps Championship. In the corridor outside the ballroom were some old friends. Fellow authors Scoblete and Henry Tamburin --- I always enjoy our get-togethers...read more

Heard It On The River

The player was a PLOPPY, as gaming author FRANK SCOBLETE likes to call buffoons who clog up blackjack tables everywhere. This particular ploppy had invaded my space on a table recently as I was undergoing a rare win streak and he promptly started telling me where I made the wrong moves while on the other hand asking the dealer what he should do...read more

Decoding reel strips

John, I came across this website selling old slot strips. I was wondering if you can perform some "fortune" telling and explain to us the deference's in the two strips. One has straight across winnings, and the other has patterns of /\ and \/ and — for the Double Diamond Deluxe...read more

Winning Your Blackjack Hands Isn't Supposed to Be Easy

I was at a $25 blackjack table the other day and the player next to me had just lost about four hands in a row. Out of frustration, he raised his bet from $25 up to $100 on the next hand and was dealt 17 against the dealer's 4. He stayed pat of course, and the dealer went on to make 18. "Geez! How do they get so lucky? She's supposed to bust there!" complained the player. The truth of the matter is that the dealer is not supposed to bust when she has a 4 up -- and the player is not supposed to win when he has 17 against a 4...read more

Bits and Pieces from Indian Country - June 2006

Indian gaming is an amazing phenomenon. The number of casinos and the amount of revenue generated in just 18 years since the National Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed is startling. California and Connecticut are well-known stories; Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun are the largest casinos in the world, paying hundreds of millions of dollars annually to the state...read more

The Secrets of Chuck-A-Luck

Pssst... Wanna know a secret? How about the secrets of the dice game Chuck-A-Luck? Chuck-A-Luck (also called Bird Cage) is becoming popular once again, and several casinos have a chuck-a-luck game, but it is usually found in the slot machine area rather than with the table games...read more

Quick-takes: The month's trends in a glance - June 2006

The stock market raced toward record highs, but then got dizzy at the heights and fell back - way back. Gaming stocks did very much the same thing - and, as they say on the Street, the investors took their profits and sold their holdings...read more

Faire sauter la banque

Dear Mark, I once heard that "breaking the bank" had something to do with a misbehaving roulette wheel that paid off vast sums of money to the person who figured out that it was malfunctioning. Is that where the term "breaking the bank" came from in relation to casino gambling? Mel G...read more