Gaming Gurus: Strategy Expert Article Archive - Page 792

Scobe's Quick Tips: #63 and #64 (Side Bets, Cheat Sheets)

Scobe's Quick Tip #63 Side bets for those jackpots at Caribbean Stud and Let It Ride are not the best use of your gambling dollar. Those one-dollar bets face approximately a 25 percent edge which means if you make 60 of them in one hour, your expected loss is $15 per hour! For more on these games read Frank Scoblete's Bold Card Play: Best Strategies for Caribbean Stud, Let It Ride and Three Card Poker. Scobe's Quick Tip #64 Just because something seems complicated doesn't mean it is...read more

Give Yourself to a Great Holiday Treat!

The Date is December 6. The Place is Isleta Casino Resort, Albuquerque, New Mexico. The Event is Frank Scoblete's Gamblers Jamboree with Jean Scott (Queen of the Comps, author of The Frugal Gambler), Dr. Henry Tamburin (best-selling author and blackjack expert), John Robison (video poker expert and author of The Slot Expert's Guide to Playing Slots), John Grochowski (gaming columnist for The Chicago Sun-Times and author of The Casino Answer Book), Bill Burton (author of Get the Edge at Low-Limit Texas Hold'em and gambling guide for About.com), and Dominator, one of the world's greatest dice controllers, with the Golden Touch Craps dice control crew of Billy "the Kid" Stansfield, Howard "Rock 'n Roller" Newman, Daryl "No Field Five" Henley, and Arman "Pit Boss" Pirim...read more

Heard it on the River

Nice move by the MISSISSIPPI GAMING ASSOCIATION and FITZGERALDS hosting the recent Small & Disadvantaged Business Opportunity Forum in Tunica Resorts recently. The MGA and Executive Director ANDY BOURLAND are playing a leading role in assisting minority businesses to get a piece of the casino pie...read more

Posting Odds, Slot Systems

Dear John, Is there a way to determine the odds of hitting a specific slot jackpot? Do you have any idea of the chance a player has of hitting the Betty Boop Progressive quarter machine? I assume it is easier to hit the Payday progressive, which has a smaller jackpot, but would like to know the true odds. The people of New Jersey are informed of the odds of winning the lottery games run by the state...read more

Bits and Pieces from Indian Country - September 2003

California continues to dominate the Indian gaming landscape.  California has the largest population, the greatest potential for new Indian casinos, and the most challenging political environment.  Gray Davis may not, in fact it is unlikely he will be, the governor of California by the time this is published.  The next governor may or may not be willing to renegotiate new compacts.  New compacts may or may not expand the number of slots allowed per tribe or location and may or may not give the state a larger share of gaming revenue.  Stay tuned.  In the meantime, two compact have been negotiated and approved, thought it wasn't a simple process and the opposition came not from the neighboring cities, but from other tribes. Gov...read more

Break Away from Slots and Get in the Game!

In last week's column I stressed the importance of declaring your independence from slots on your casino adventures in an effort to become a well-rounded player who seeks to derive the most fun and value from the money you allocate for gambling. Today we'll take a look at roulette, the best "breakaway" game for slot players to try...read more

Quick-takes: The month's trends in a glance - September 2003

The Dow Jones may have closed down from its high of 9659 during September to 9275, down 248 from August, but most of the economic news was better. The gross domestic product grew significantly during the quarter, consumer spending (though confidence fell), housing and job markets improved, while summer gasoline prices pushed the Consumer Price Index up...read more

New craps books published

Two new craps books have arrived at Gambler's Book Shop. They are "Powerful Profits from Craps" by Victor Royer (236 pages, paperbound, $14.95) and "Beat the Craps Table" by Martin Jensen (139 pages, paperbound, $9.95). Royer's book with an eight-page index (so you might find topics like Free Odds, Hardways or the Martingale more easily) also contains a craps quiz on some of the author's lessons or concepts worth learning...read more

A Comparison of Chicago-Area Casinos - Part 3: Other Table Games

The comparison shopping among Chicago area blackjack games I wrote about last week was a relatively easy process--house rules at Harrah's and Empress in Joliet and Trump in Gary yield relatively low house edges, those at Grand Victoria in Elgin and Hollywood in Aurora yield high house edges, and the rest fall in between. Comparing other table games is much more a matter of splitting hairs. There's much less variation in the house advantage than in blackjack. Double-zero roulette is double-zero roulette, and mini-baccarat is mini-baccarat, no matter where you play them. Determining which casino has the best table offerings other than blackjack requires weighing several things...read more

How Smaller Bets with Bigger Edges Shape Session Outcomes

Some gamblers have the scratch to play for high stakes. But many folks can't afford the minimum wagers required at most casino table games today. They therefore find themselves avoiding the punting palaces altogether, bypassing the tables for the slots, or blithely betting beyond their budgets or bankrolls. High limits are not just that the bosses are greedy...read more