Gaming Gurus: Strategy Expert Article Archive - Page 821

Why "the Book" Says What It Does for Aces, Eights, and 11s vs Aces

Every blackjack buff has heard the hortation: "always split aces and eights regardless of the dealer up-card; always double on totals of 11 except against aces." Yet many bettors question it. Realizing that a 10 in the hole renders any choices moot, they wonder about wasting twice as much money in tight spots with the weak splits, or giving up the premium with the strong double. The bottom line, for beavers eager to skip the dull details, is that Basic Strategy optimizes statistical expectation in each situation...read more

The Secret to Remembering Pass Line Odds

When you play craps, you probably know the payoffs for most numbers on place bets. For example, the odds on the six and eight are 7:6 (bet $6, get $7), the odds on the five and nine are 7:5 (bet $5, get $7) and the odds on the four and ten are 9:5 (bet $5, get $9)...read more

Hot Action, Cool Games

Summer is official, at least I think it is official. The temperatures in Reno have been approaching the 90 degree mark, and the forecast for Memorial Day sounds like the perfect day for everything and anything. It's supposed to be around 72 degrees, light wind, and no precipitation.....read more

Scobe's Quick Tips: #30 and #31

Scobe's Quick Tip #30 Getting comps from the casinos is great -- as long as you don't play more than you usually would just to get those comps. Just play your normal game your normal way and the comps will come...read more

How's Your Poker Opponent Doing in the Game?

A prime reason why poker is such a mentally challenging game is because your opponents can play their hands any way they please. In blackjack, you never have to worry that the dealer might decide to stand with 15 against your 14 if he happens to have a 10 underneath his 5 showing...read more

Scobe's Quick Tips: #28 and #29 (Craps - Avoid Placing the 4, 5, 9 or 10, Casino Money Management)

Scobe's Quick Tip #28 At craps, avoid Placing the 4, 5, 9 or 10, unless you can buy them for $25 and $50 and only pay the commission when you win. Otherwise the casino edges on these bets is just too big to overcome in the long run...read more

Ask The Slot Expert

Dear Mr. Robison, Is there any slot machine where you play for gold or silver tokens instead of normal coinage? Thank you,John Handy Dear John, Anchor Gaming used to make machines called Silver Strike that paid silver collector's coins for certain combinations...read more

Warren's New Omaha Poker Book; Cincy Kid; Horse Sense by Sugar Arrive at GBC

Some poker experts believe Omaha hold'em poker will be the hottest game of the century‹even surpassing the popularity of Texas hold'em. Yet the question persists daily -- "What have you got new on the game of Omaha?" Ken Warren, who also wrote the Winner's Guide to Texas Hold'em Poker, has now penned Winner's Guide to Omaha Poker (215 pages, paperbound, $19.95) and it's just what a lot of people are looking for...read more

Book Takes Video Poker Players on Wild Ride

Bob Dancer, one of the world's foremost authorities on video poker, is not only a teacher. He practices quite efficiently what he preaches. His new book Million Dollar Video Poker (published by Huntington Press) is a fascinating personal account of how he parlayed his drive and skill to beat a game he calculated as beatable. Dancer is no average video poker player, to be sure...read more

Super Aces

Royal flushes at video poker are fairly rare events, occurring once every 40,000 hands or so, depending on the game. That top jackpot--$1,000 for a five-coin bet on a quarter machine or $4,000 on a dollar machine--is neither large enough nor frequent enough to account for video poker's popularity...read more