Gaming Gurus: Strategy Expert Article Archive - Page 75

What is Luck?

You constantly hear casino players talk about “good luck” or “bad luck” and the belief on their part is that there is such a thing in the universe as luck and that sometimes that luck is good for them and sometimes that luck is bad for them.But luck seems to be spoken off as if it is some kind of force that decides who gets this, that or the other thing...read more

Two High Card of Different Suits in Video Poker

Imagine you're playing video poker and the deal brings two high cards of different suits. Do you pick one to hold or hold both?The decisions are among the most frequent players have to make. The answer usually is to hold multiple high cards, though there are some strategy differences between games and pay tables.That would have surprised a video-poker playing acquaintance I met early in my career."If I'm dealt a Jack of clubs and King of hearts, I pick just one to hold," he said as a veteran explaining what to him was obvious...read more

Feedback Jacks or Better

From Ray:Hi Jerry,The slight variations in strategy were very interesting, and I have a couple of follow-up questions and comments.First, I think there was a misprint in the Bonus Poker explanation. The 4th line reads Th and should probably read Jh (saving the card that would be a winner if paired, not the other).Now, it seems that the main reason the best hold in JoB should be the suited jack and ten is because a flush pays more (6) than in BP (5)...read more

Cheating III

CINDY: Last week we shared with you one of our experiences with a cheater.ABBY: Actually a few cheaters.CINDY: True. A player, a dealer and at least one of the floor people. The dealer would pay out a blackjack for the player when the player only had a 20.ABBY: This was a single-deck game from the olden days...read more

Ask the Slot Expert: When do casinos send taxes withheld to the IRS?

Question: On jackpots we always have federal taxes taken out, whenever possible. My question: Casinos take it out at the time of the win, when do they forward it to the IRS? Answer: Casinos report taxes they have withheld from gambling winnings on Form 945, along with taxes withheld from pensions, Indian gaming profits, and dividends and other distributions by an Alaska Native Corporation. The form is filed yearly, but casinos have to send the money withheld to the IRS monthly, if the total for the year is $50,000 or less, or semiweekly otherwise. My guess is that casinos make semiweekly deposits. Question: Re your column about kiosks printing a new ticket instead of dispensing coins: This is how the local Indian casino here in Prescott, AZ handles the coin issue...read more

Slots versus Roulette

Slot players don’t have a better chance to win than, say, a blackjack player or craps player or roulette player, right? Machines are greedier than table games, right?I am not so sure. Of course, slot machines do take between eight and 15 percent (more or less) of the money played in them.But most slot players are playing 25 cents or $1.00 as their minimum bet...read more

Playing Money Won

QUESTION: My son and I were talking about politician, years ago, who was accused of embezzling government funds. It was claimed some of the money was used to play slot machines and records from one of the casinos showed more than a million dollars in bets on slots.My son said that didn't mean he actually had a million dollars to bet on slots, but my impression at the time was of running a million through the games...read more

Jacks or Better versus Bonus Poker Part V

[An article promoting full-pay (8/5) Bonus Poker as a good alternative when full-pay (9/6) Jacks or Better cannot be found was recently posted here. The article stated that in addition to a good return (99.17 versus 99.54 percent) and low variance, playing strategy is also nearly identical.]I thought it might be interesting to explore playing strategy differences and similarities.This is the fifth of several strategy quizzes on the differences (or lack thereof) between the strategy for various hands played on full-pay Jacks or Better and full-pay Bonus Poker...read more

Cheating Part II

CINDY: Last week we discussed a “past poster” couple who hit the casino for two big shots and then melted away. It was pretty fast in the scheme of things and they got away with it. A past poster makes the winning bet after the bet has already won by quickly placing the bet on the betting square or circle and gets paid as if that bet actually won.ABBY: It is one of the oldest cheating tricks in the casino...read more

Ask the Slot Expert: The more hands in the slot pie, the smaller your slice

Question: I haven’t read every article you’ve written, and perhaps you’ve answered this question before. I have heard that it is harder to win on slot machines with popular names -- like Wheel of Fortune, The Walking Dead, the Elvis slot, and such, because they are required to pay a royalty to the people that own the rights to that name or TV show, etc...read more