Gaming Gurus: Strategy Expert Article Archive - Page 751

Three faces of eight

Dear Mark, I have not seen any basic blackjack strategy that suggests doubling down on a hard eight. All I have read or seen on basic blackjack strategy states you only hit the hard eight. Do you have a professional's view of the decision to double down on eight? I do not remember you addressing this issue...read more

How Vig Collected only on Wins Enhances Buy Bets

The vigorish -- or "vig" -- on Buy bets at craps is normally 5 percent of the wager, rounded down to the nearest whole dollar. That's $1 on bets from $20 up to but not including $40, $2 starting at $40 and up to but not including $60, and so on. Most casinos collect the vig up-front...read more

Patriotic Slots Offer All-American Jackpots!

Q. What's red, white, and blue--and green? A. The jackpot you win from a slot machine with an all-American theme! The Fourth of July is today and you can celebrate liberty and justice for all by exercising your legal right to enjoy casino gambling! There's no better way to do that than by playing a slot machine featuring a patriotic theme...read more

Know When to Fold'em

In my May article on dealer qualification, I indicated that I would address the topic of folding at a later date. Folding can be quite complicated. In regular Poker, for example, your position at the table, the actions of the other players, as well as the strength of your hand all contribute to the decision...read more

Playbook Magazine -- A Jillion Angles; 10 Years of Spreads

Marc Lawrence's Football Handicapping Yearbook (247 pages, magazine, $8.95) has arrived at Gambler's Book Shop and it's a beauty. In addition to the magazine, purchasers get a bonus a 136-page magazine called Insiders' Football News which covers 12 major conferences and an features in-depth analysis of the top 25 college teams. Lawrence's magazine, highly sought-after annually because it contains thousands of betting angles and 10 years of spreads and totals for each pro team (no totals for colleges), has plenty of room to keep records of each game played...read more

"Pointspread Playbook" -- Three Years of Angles, Trends for Spreads and Totals

For more 20 years, "Al O'Donnell's Pointspread Playbook" (111 pages, 8x11 paperbound, $19.95) has been one of the most sought-after guides and references for pro football handicapping. The 2004 edition has arrived at Gambler's Book Shop and like an old friend, it's as good as ever. The green-and-white-covered work contains three years of pro spreads and totals for each team, showing how a team did at home, away on what date, against what opponent and whether the game went over or under the bookmaker's line. You can quickly spot in O'Donnell's summary, for instance, that Oakland was 3-12-1 against the spread, "largely due to their failing to cover in their first eight contests," and "As a favorite in '03 the Raiders failed to cover in all four tries ..." Looking at Seattle, the book tells us immediately that last year on artificial surfaces, Seattle went under in 9 of 10, at home 7 of 8, on the road both visits. For each pro team you have a page that shows the 2004 regular season schedule, including date, where the game will be played and importantly, if the game is a conference battle, inter-conference, divisional and when the Open Date (bye) occurs, with room to keep records like score, whether the team covered or if it went over or under, plus the type of surface the game will be played on. How do teams do Monday night? O'Donnell shows you home teams have won 60.5 per cent straight up in the past 34 years...read more

Ask Frank: Double on 12 in Blackjack?

Hi, Frank, When I have a 12 and the dealer has a 3 showing, should I double down? All I need is an 9 or under to have a good chance of beating him. I was sitting in the last seat next to the dealer. It worked for me at Foxwoods. I got bad vibes and stares from the other players though. ...read more

Penny Slot Paybacks

My sister, her husband, my husband and I enjoy taking gambling trips. We all like to play the slots. Our favorite is the Cleopatra video. In most casinos we needed to wait for a machine to be open. They seemed to be very popular. However, in the last few months these machines seem to be disappearing...read more

Expert Play Begins Long Before Popping In Coins

Not many people show up at a golf course before they have had lessons to prepare them for the intricacies of the game. Ditto for hang gliding, duplicate bridge or table poker. However, these same people are drawn to playing Video Poker machines before they even know the least bit about them...read more

Mike Ditka Rolls the Dice on New Career

There's no doubt about it. Eighteen years after leading the Bears to the Super Bowl Championship and taking Chicago on one of this city's wildest sports rides ever, "Da Coach" still has what it takes to captivate an audience. It matters not that most kids graduating high school this year weren't even born that Sunday in January, 1986, when the Bears took home the crown, or that today's college-age men and women were too young to remember. "Iron Mike" Ditka, whose exploits as an all-pro tight end for the Monsters of the Midway came when the Bears gridiron home was still Wrigley Field, was cheered during his playing days by young adults who are retirement age today. Da Coach, who'll turn 65 this October, was the center of attention for a packed house that spanned all age groups for the grand opening of "Don & Mike's" Sports Bar at the Majestic Star Casino in Gary, Ind., last Saturday (May 22). His gait may be slowed by hip replacement surgery, but the trademark wit and wisdom from this one-of-a-kind "tell it like it is" kind of guy is as snappy as the days when he sparred with the press and won the hearts of "Grabowski's" everywhere. The ribbon cutting for the casino sports bar that bears his name and that of Don H...read more