Gaming Gurus: Strategy Expert Article Archive - Page 699

Recuperating

An appendicitis attack had sent me to the hospital, and now I was home: appendix-free. I recuperated for two weeks. There was nothing to do but watch TV, watch the girls out by the pool, watch the neon marquee at the Sands every night, which I could see from my apartment window...read more

Luck be a lady tonight

Dear Mark, I have a question that perhaps you have answered, and if you have, I apologize for asking again. Our local casino has on the blackjack felt "Lucky Ladies." This is a side bet where you are hoping for a natural 20 on the first two cards...read more

Bits and Pieces from Indian Country - February 2005

While the governor in Florida does his best to stop the passage of the slot legislation in Florida, saying that he doesn't want to be defined by gaming, there are those that think his resistance is simply a ploy, and his real purpose is to prevent Indian gaming in Florida...read more

Bits and Pieces of Indian Country - December 2004

Indian gaming celebrated twenty-five years of success and growth. Wait a minute: 25 years? That means that Indian gaming began in 1979. That isn't possible; IGRA was passed in 1988, right? Not according to the Seminole Tribe of Florida...read more

Bits and Pieces from Indian Country - January 2005

After just one year as head of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, fondly known as the BIA, Dave Anderson is resigning. He is going back to being Famous Dave, America's best cook (his words), and an Indian business man, trying to offer a positive role model and business opportunities...read more

Bits and Pieces from Indian Country - November 2004

The battle has been joined in California; Governor Arnold sent a cease and desist letter to several tribes warning them that their Class II games are not Class II, but Class III. Not surprisingly, the tribes disagree. Morongo has built a full 1800 slot machine casino around the Class II lottery games...read more

Quick-takes: The month's trends in a glance - February 2005

February was not a bad month for the economy, and if you measure the economy on stock prices, it was a pretty good month. The stock market has been flirting with record highs since the middle of February leading one to think better times are indeed on the way...read more

Some Gambler's Ruin Questions

One of my readers, Ralph Scalitzia, sent me the following email after an earlier response to one of his questions: Dear Dr. Catlin, Thank you very much for your help and informative replies. What I am interested in knowing is which of the following betting scenarios has the lowest Gambler's Ruin probability: Case (1): Initial capital 50, goal 51, betting one dollar at a time...read more

The Parity Hedge System

Hello, Frank, I was on an Internet site and they were talking about a system called "The Parity Hedge System." Supposedly some nuclear physicists came up with a system that gave the player a small mathematical advantage through some algorithm...read more

The Inside Scope on the New Slot Floor at Wynn Las Vegas

Hi, John, Can you please explain in layman's terms exactly how and why certain slot machine jurisdictions use the "finite number of outcomes" selection process to determine winning combinations - similar to lottery "scratch-off" cards - instead of Vegas-style, where, in theory, huge jackpots can be hit and then hit again much sooner than mathematically expected? I recall reading somewhere that the "finite" method "re-populates" the universe when some portion has been exhausted...read more