Gaming Gurus: Strategy Expert Article Archive - Page 758

Playing Slots Online

Hi, John, Enjoy your column and find it very informative. I have a question with regards to playing the slots on-line. Do you recommend this, and if so, how does the financial end of it work? Can you rely on the casino to pay your winnings if, in fact, there are winnings? Also, can you withdraw those winnings (if any) whenever you want to? Thanks again, Marji Dear Marji, Financial transactions with online casinos are pretty much the same as those with physical casinos...read more

Think You Know Blackjack?

So you've been working on your blackjack game lately and you've gotten to where you're practically a pro at it, right? Sure you are -- you and every other "also ran" at the table. The truth is, about 49 out of 50 blackjack players are sadly misguided -- and that's why they lose...read more

Four Card Poker – Finally

For those of you who have been waiting for my promised Part Three of Four Card Poker….HERE IT IS! I apologize for the delay, but I wanted to make sure I had the strategy as close to perfect as possible. When you consider that, with 5 cards to the Player, 1 Dealer up-card and 5 Dealer down cards, there are more than 167 Trillion possible hands, hopefully, you'll excuse my tardiness. In Part One, I reviewed the Basic Strategy provided by Shuffle Master...read more

Scobe's Quick Tips, Series 2: #5 and #6: Who Plays Craps?

Quick Tips #5: Craps is still a game largely favored by men. According to a 2003 survey conducted by Harrah's, only 1 percent of women casino gamblers play craps, while 4 percent of the male casino gamblers play craps. Fully 81 percent of women gamblers prefer the machines to the table games, while 67 percent of the men play the machines. Quick Tips #6: Contrary to popular belief, the biggest percentage of craps players is not found in the 60 set, where fewer than 2 percent of the group play this game...read more

Watching Racehorses; New Gangster Book New Arrivals at GBC

Anyone who enjoys post parade inspection handicapping (also known as the body language of horses) and wants to know more -- in this case, what the Australian bettors focus on -- will find plenty of food for thought in Geoffrey Hutson's Watching Racehorses (A Guide to Betting on Behaviour) (234 pages, paperbound, $19.95), while more than a dozen organized crime bad boys are profiled in a new compilation edited by Lawrence Block titled Gangsters, Swindlers, Killers and Thieves (The Lives & Crimes of Fifty American Villains) (287 pages, hardbound, $26)...read more

Where Are the Loose Machines?

John, Is it possible that the 'slots magazine' referred to in a earlier letter is "Strictly Slots" which also has a companion magazine "Casino Player"? Great column, always look forward to reading, Bob Dear Bob, Thanks for the kind words. I had the same thought about the magazine, but I don't see any way that someone could think that Strictly Slots magazine was just called Slots...read more

Tax Facts are Surprising

There are many challenges that the Michigan gaming industry faces these days. Last year, the Michigan Lottery introduced video Keno and pull-tab games in Michigan bars and restaurants. This, coupled with the pending talk of Racinos at the various horse racing tracks, provides a new level of competition for Michigan's 20 existing casinos...read more

The Casino's Way of Getting to Know You

Just how much do the casinos know about you? If you're a slot player and you use a player's club card, it's a cinch they know quite a bit. Player's clubs are great, and if you attend the casinos with any degree of regularity it is essential to become a member and use your card if you want to derive as many perks and as much value as you possibly can in return for the dollars you wager. But there's an important trade-off: Player's clubs exist primarily for the benefit of the casinos themselves...read more

Schlesinger's "Blackjack Attack' Revised, Updated, Better Than Ever

If the game of blackjack is to survive, and at least help encourage beginners to mid-level experienced players to move up a notch in skill and confidence, then there will be more books like the newest edition (3rd) of Blackjack Attack (505 pages, hardbound, $39.95) by the respected player-author Don Schlesinger...read more

Wild Hold 'Em Fold 'Em, Fortune Pai Gow Wager, Boston 5 Poker

It's no secret that space devoted to table games has been shrinking for years, as slot machines and other electronic games take an ever-increasing share of gaming floors in every casino jurisdiction in the United States. Fortunately for table players - and the folks who devise new games - table pits are still large enough in northwest Indiana to try something a little different. A prime example is Majestic Star in Gary, with both the room and inclination to break out new games...read more