Gaming Gurus: Strategy Expert Article Archive - Page 625

Heard It On The River

Check out the photograph on the front page of this issue with a cast of questionable characters that look like they just got in town from New Jersey. Is it Tony Soprano and his gang? Who is the babe? Sure looks like them and it works as the graphic to illustrate a feature story on the appropriately named BA DA BING Blackjack Tournament at GOLD STRIKE There is $125,000 on the line, not to mention first place for $50,000 and that kind of money will attract a lot of players, like tournament pros KEN SMITH, of BLACKJACK TOURNAMENTS...read more

More on slot cycles and randomness

The paper the other day said that an 80-year-old lady won 10 million dollars on a 5-cent video poker machine in Atlantic City. She wanted to play the Wheel of Fortune, but there were no seats. So on her way out, she saw a seat at the poker and sat down...read more

Come Fly With Me

Here's a Frank Sinatra story that's never been printed. It was told to me by the late entertainer Sonny King, and I dedicate it to Buddy and Carol Braune from Texas, two dear friends who want to hear more celebrity stories. Sinatra was performing at the Cal-Neva Lodge at Lake Tahoe, and King joined him for lunch one afternoon in the hotel's coffee shop...read more

Winning a Texas Hold'em Pot: What Are Your Odds?

Everybody wants to play Texas Hold'em these days. Just playing Hold'em, though, is one thing and winning at it is another. New Hold'em players who take up the game from seeing it on TV get the impression that you've got to see the flop with almost any two cards...read more

Romancing the slots

Dear Mark, All too often I am able to line up two of the highest jackpot winning symbols but never the third. Sometimes the third will appear, but not directly on the line needed for me to win the machine's highest award. My question is: is the casino doing this to induce play, or is it just a coincidence? Sue L. We've all been there, Sue; Treasure Chest, Treasure Chest, and then ...read more

Reading a Strategy Table – Part II

Last week I began reviewing the strategy table for full-pay jacks or better, line by line. This week, I'll cover the next dozen or so lines, examining the key strategy points that can be learned by learning a strategy table. Last week I reviewed all of the pre-draw hands with an Expected Value greater than 1.0, which will be winning hands in the long run for the Player...read more

Mind Your P's and Q's

I witnessed something the other day at a poker table that absolutely appalled me. A player had been losing consistently and went "on tilt" and started steaming. Now, I've seen this happen before, but this gentleman went to the extreme. Several times he threw his cards into the muck with such force that twice they went off the table...read more

Frank Scoblete's WCC to crown World Champion

It's never been done before but Frank Scoblete's WCC (World Craps Championships) in Las Vegas will have 10 tournaments spread out over two full days on July 22 and 23 with the 10th tournament crowning the World Craps Champion, who will win The Captain's Trophy in honor of the man who started the modern-day dice control movement in the late 1970s and the man who holds the world record for the most numbers thrown in a casino (www.goldentouchcraps.com/captainrolls147.shtml)...read more

Pains in the You Know What

Craps is a thrilling game but some craps players can be very annoying. I actually have a litany of the behaviors of some craps players that drive me crazy - which in my case is not that far of a drive! In the past few months I have spoken with dozens of craps players and I've asked them to tell me what bothers them at the tables...read more

Bits and Pieces from Indian Country -- May 2006

Senator McCain has truly taken possession of Indian country - I fully expect him to appoint himself king or head chief, or assume some other pompous title. The current hearings have pushed many tribes that had been thinking about an off-reservation site for a casino to submit proposals to beat the cutoff date for "grandfathered" applications that will not be covered by the pending legislation...read more