Gaming Gurus: Strategy Expert Article Archive - Page 834

The casino advantage, and then there is the graveyard advantage

Dear Mark, If the casino advantage on a game like blackjack is under 1% for those of us who use perfect basic strategy, how come I have read the house "drop" is reported at around 15% at blackjack? Gary O. The casino "advantage" in all games is correctly called the house percentage...read more

Nothing Is Certain Except Death and More Taxes

State legislators are playing a kind of Russian Roulette with gaming taxes, only the victims are casino workers, investors, owners and their patrons, who did not even know they were playing the game. The rules of the tax game are simple: A state legislature first legalizes some form of casino gaming, starting with a reasonable tax rate...read more

Mailbag

    Every now and then I receive questions from readers about the mathematics of gambling or just a question about some specific aspect of a gambling game.  This month I want to devote my column to answering questions from two of my readers: Maxine Nelson from Tampa, Florida and Carl Huzzen from Annandale, Virginia.  Nice to hear from you both.     To begin with, Maxine had two questions.  The first was in reference to the Florida Lottery's list of ball sets in use on specific lotto drawing dates.  This list is published on their web site, specifically the link flalottery.com/MachinesAndBallSets.do.  Occasionally the words "Travel Set" and "End Travel Set" appear on the list and Maxine wanted to know what this meant.  I thought I knew the answer, but just to make sure I wrote to the Florida Lottery and asked them.  They graciously replied and confirmed that occasionally they take the lotto drawing "on the road" for promotional purposes and that they have a special set of balls and equipment for this purpose.  Easy enough.  Maxine's second question was harder.  I'll use her own words (slightly edited): If and when I do have a winning lottery ticket, I read that I should not sign it and instead take the ticket to an attorney ASAP.  Once you sign your own name on the winning ticket you are at the mercy of the state's Lottery rules.  Your name will be made public and you'll have to go through their little publicity show -- getting your picture taken holding a goofy oversized check with the winnings on it.  Once your name is made public you are going to be hounded night and day by all kinds of scam artists (that would be a nightmare).  If you have the law firm handle your winnings, you are listed as a trust and can remain anonymous.  Is that true, Don? Good question, Maxine...read more

Jack The Gambler

I was playing craps the other day and witnessed a total meltdown. This non-descript guy, I'll call him Jack, in his mid-30s bought in at a $10 minimum table a few minutes after I got there. He pulled out $300 and asked for $100 in $5 chips and the rest in $25...read more

Reno, Reno, Reno

Well, it wasn’t much, but we did have a little bit of snow, and maybe a little more on the way... as soon as I start talking about sunshine, it figures we are going to get some snow! There’s a great multi-casino promotion going on that every guest in town should know about......read more

Bits and Pieces from Indian Country - February 2003

Tribal sovereignty is the foundation of Indian gaming.  Before a "tribe" can assert sovereign rights it must be "federally recognized."  As one would expect, the recognition process is contentious one.  February saw two competing proposals, one to place a moratorium on recognition and one to speed up the process.  And to take it to an entirely new level, Senator Daniel Inouye from Hawaii is proposing "tribal status" for indigenous Hawaiians. Senators Renew Call For BIA Overhaul.  Connecticut's two U.S...read more

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

The threat of war is shaping the economy, depressing the stock market, impacting investment and consumer confidence and pushing the states' budget crisis to greater extremes.  The Dow Jones Industrials ended February at 7884, down 169 points from the beginning of the month.  The threat of war is also affecting fuel prices; gas prices have reached the $2 level, with some predictions for $3 by summer.  Fuel prices raise all travel costs, and, by virtue of their impact on home heating and normal driving, reduce individual and family disposable income, the source of all gaming revenue.  That kind of news not only depresses stock prices, it also depresses people.  Consumer confidence fell to a ten year low. Wall Street's Angst War.  …Stocks have fallen in seven of the previous eight sessions due to fears of terrorism and war.  …The Dow and S&P 500 were headed for their fifth straight losing week, while the Nasdaq was aiming to claim it first weekly gain in five weeks.  …Concerns about war have been the biggest drag on the market so far this year, stripping the Dow of about 1,000 points since Jan...read more

Scobe's Quick Tips: #14 and #15 (Three Coin Slot Machines, Caribbean Stud Side Bets)

Scobe's Quick Tip #14: On three-coin buy-a-pay slot machines, that is, machines that reward you with extra payline combinations for extra coins, it is always best to either play one coin or full coin. Studies by John Robison have shown that playing two coins is the very worst way to play the machines as you are increasing your risk but not substantially increasing your possibility to win. For more information on slots, read Break the One-Armed Bandits! by Frank Scoblete, The Slot Machine Answer Book by John Grochowski, and The Slot Expert's Guide to Playing Slots by John Robison. * * * * * Scobe's Quick Tip #15: It is always a bad idea to place a jackpot side bet at games such as Let it Ride and Caribbean Stud as the casino usually has a double-digit edge on these bets. The only time Caribbean Stud is worth attempting is when the jackpot reaches over $300,000 -- which has happened in the last ten years about as often as full eclipses of the sun...read more

Ask The Slot Expert

John Robison, I like to work with some of the various math problems as they relate to slot machines. I have a question about some of the new machines and I wonder if you could help me with it. I have calculated the probability for obtaining, say, 3 Jackpot symbols on a one-line 3-reel slot, assuming of course that we know the number of stops on the Virtual Reels and the number of Jackpot symbols per reel. But, there are getting to be a lot of new machines where you can play multi-lines...read more

Slots of Fun in Illinois and Indiana

Illinois or Indiana? It's a question many Chicago-area casino gambling enthusiasts face every time they plan an outing. Casino options in both states are equally accessible for a majority of residents, but as we discovered last week, there are some differences in the two jurisdictions that can have an impact on where people ultimately decide to go. Current legislation prohibits Illinois casino license holders from exceeding 1,200 gaming positions...read more