Gaming Gurus: Strategy Expert Article Archive - Page 649

How to Practice Blackjack

There is an old joke about an out of town concert pianist asking a local New Yorker, "How do you get to Carnegie Hall?" The local answers, "Practice, practice, practice". Now you ask the question "How do you win at blackjack?" I answer, "Practice, practice, practice"...read more

The ups and downs of the suitcase man

Dear Mark, On one episode of the television show CSI, Grissom talks about a guy who goes into a Las Vegas casino and bets one million dollars on one roll of the dice and loses. Is that a true story? Ralph S. Ground zero for plenty of Las Vegas legendary lore was Binion’s Horseshoe Casino, a favorite amongst folks whose preference was no-frills gambling with some of the best odds in town...read more

Basic Strategy Is the Only Way to Play

Did you know that in blackjack there are 340 different starting hand situations? For example, if your initial two cards total 12, and the dealer has a 6 showing, that's a hand situation. And so is a 14 against a dealer's 10. That's what I mean by a starting hand. Almost a third of these hands practically play themselves with almost no thought on your part, like when you've been dealt a 3 and a 4 against a dealer's 10, or a 19 against a 5...read more

How Do You and the Captain Bet?

Hi, Mr. Scoblete, I read many of your recent articles and the one about the Captain and Jimmy P. rolling 180+ numbers in craps was fascinating to me. I have one question about your/Captain's betting since you are both controlled throwers...read more

Baseball Insight Annual; Big Book of Blackjack New at GBC

Two important books -- one for the baseball bettor who wants a log of lines and totals from every regular season game in 2005 and another offering advice and history of blackjack, have arrived at Gambler's Book Shop. The 2006 Baseball Insight Annual (200 pages, spiralbound, $32.95) by Phil Erwin will clearly help the novice or seasoned pro get a feel for which pitchers may perform against the opposition in 2006...read more

Casino College Attracts Gaming Employees

TUNICA, MS---With the continued and rising popularity of poker, a natural offshoot has been the demand for more good dealers to handle the new playing pressure on poker rooms in casinos and other legal poker rooms and that role is being fulfilled by the recently opened Casino College of Mississippi. The College, located in Robinsonville in Tunica County, is officially licensed by the Mississippi Gaming Commission, and to date several hundred students have been graduated from the facility or in the process of doing so...read more

Some Adults Are Not Allowed to Bet

Many casinos, state lotteries, bingo halls and racetracks won't let anyone under 18 participate in gaming. This does not present any legal issues, since in every state the age of majority is 18, meaning anyone younger is legally a minor. But gambling is also often barred to individuals older than 18, but younger than 21...read more

Drooling Dogs, Pecking Pigeons, and Sanguine Slot Zealots

Pavlov used food to do it with dogs. Skinner used bells to do it with pigeons. Casinos use multi-line slot machines to do it with gamblers, which may or may not be the same as using bells to do it with pigeons. "It," in all three cases, being reinforcement for behavioral training and eliciting of desired responses. What if you started playing a machine and hardly got any hits maybe you averaged one every five spins or less...read more

Harrah's Sambas Into Mardi Gras Opening

NEW ORLEANS…Mardi Gras has kicked off in New Orleans just about six months after Hurricane Katrina devastated this historic and wonderfully old city in conjunction with the simultaneous re-opening of Harrah's Casino here. The event, ushered in by the pulsating beat of a samba band, brought a sense of hope that the city was really on its way back to a promising future even though the recovery has been laden with problems...read more

Touring the New Blue Chip Casino

When you walk in the front door at the Blue Chip Casino in Michigan City, Ind., what do you see? Everything. No longer do you have to walk through a narrow opening to get to the slots and tables. No longer is your first view just the restaurant doors and the big counter that used to be in front of the casino entrance...read more