Gaming Gurus: Strategy Expert Article Archive - Page 623

If You Don't Know the Right Soft Doubles, Don't Do Them

There's no question about it. Not one blackjack player in 30 knows which soft hands to double down with and which ones to just hit. This is true at any stakes. Soft doubling is when you double down with an Ace and a small or medium card in your hand. At the $10 tables many players have no idea what soft doubling is, so they never do it...read more

Poker's handy glossary

Dear Mark, I am surprised at how many players truly don't know the hand rankings when playing poker. For example, a flush versus a straight seems to fool a lot of players. Anyhow, how about a list of hand rankings and some examples so that we can laminate them and post it for our always-friendly Thursday night game? Stan K. Yep, Stan, you pegged that one...read more

Pay Attention to Pot Odds When Playing Live Poker

Lately, I've been playing poker a little more frequently and have tried to pay attention to what, as a novice, I feel is an advanced concept but which experienced players consider rather elementary: winning at poker means winning money, not pots. Now, think about it...read more

For Slot Players Only

This article is for slot players only. If you are a table game player - go away. We know what you think of slot players; that they are silly playing a game where the house has edges between five and 15 percent and where the speed of the game is such that it is just about impossible to win in the long run or the medium run or almost any run...read more

Innovative Poker Tournament Book by Snyder a Valuable Tool

Arnold Snyder, better known for books on blackjack (Blackbelt in Blackjack, The Big Book of Blackjack) has a solid follow up to his most recent text on poker (Internet Casinos & Poker Rooms), with The Poker Tournament Formula (366 pages, paperbound, $19.95)...read more

Reading a Strategy Table - Part III

I've spent the past two weeks dissecting the strategy table for full-pay jacks or better. Besides teaching each one of you how to play this popular and easy to find version of the game, the goal of this series of article has been to teach each of you how to analyze a strategy table...read more

Playing Etiquette Applies to Casino Gambling

You wouldn't drive off the tee while another foursome was still on the fairway, nor would you make your approach on the bowling lane at the same time the player to your right was lining up a shot. Proper playing protocol counts in casino gambling, too...read more

Slot Club Cashback May Be More than Just Icing on the Cake

Experienced slot buffs always have their "club" cards firmly inserted into the machines whenever they play. And, why not? The cards do have a downside. They let the bosses amass detailed data on their patrons. But they're also keys to the world of goodies given away by casinos as marketing incentives...read more

Reader Survey Results - Part 2

Trying to compare commercial, state-licensed casinos and Native American casinos in a readers poll wouldn't be the easiest of tasks. For one thing, the difference in customer base would skew results far in favor of the commercial casinos. I've had good times at Chip-In's Island Resort on Michigan's Upper Peninsula, for example, but it's difficult to imagine Chip-In winning any readers' poll categories against the much larger commercial casinos in Detroit, simply because the Detroit casinos draw from a larger population with more potential voters. In their annual readers polls, Midwest Gaming and Travel and Casino Player magazines skirt the issue by placing tribal casinos in their own categories...read more

Does the RNG control free spins too?

My wife and I like to play the penny and nickel slots. On a game such as "Twilight Zone", when you get the bonus free spin games, does the RNG apply on those "free spins" too? Or does something else come into play? Thank you, Bob Dear Bob, The RNG is used to determine the results of the free spins too...read more