Gaming Gurus: Strategy Expert Article Archive - Page 848

Ask Barney

What are the safest bets I can make in the casino? Betting the pass line with odds at craps; the even money bets at roulette (red, black, even, odd, 1st 18 numbers, 2nd 18 numbers); video poker with maximum coins; basic strategy blackjack; taking or laying the point spread on your favorite sports team; and bingo (believe it or not, it's the best game you can play for the money). What are the worst bets? Parlays and teasers at the sports book; proposition bets at the dice table; any bet at keno; the joker bet on the Big Six; betting that $1 on the progressive jackpot at Caribbean Stud; betting on a tie hand at baccarat; the five-number bet at roulette (0, 00, 1, 2, 3); and nickel slot machines...read more

Video Slots Dominate Casino Landscapes

The handwriting is on casino walls everywhere: Traditional spinning-reel slot machines are soon going to be placed on gambling’s “endangered species” list. Casino floors both in the Chicago-area and in gambling jurisdictions nationwide are being taken over by video slots that feature multi-line, multi-coin games with bonus features and interactive capabilities that give gamblers a playing experience the old generation of machines just can’t match. Williams Gaming, an Illinois-based electronic gaming device developer and manufacturer with corporate offices in Waukegan, began the revolution in 1997 when it introduced “Reel ‘Em In”...read more

Volatility is a Powerful Tool, but It Cuts Both Ways

You're headed for the casino. You have $100 in your fanny pack and a premonition you're gonna leave with $1,000 and a bellyful of U-Krak-Em crab legs from the buffet, compliments of the house. How plausible is the hope that you'll achieve your monetary goal, multiplying your stake by 10 rather than losing it? Absent house advantage, the "inverse rule" gives an elementary guideline...read more

Should You Chuck Chuck-A-Luck?

There's more than a touch of the old carnival huckster in any casino operation, pulling in the customers to play games that are weighted against them. Of course, the house edges that we talk about today in blackjack, craps and baccarat are slim indeed compared to some old carnival games...read more

Craps A to Z: "O" is For Outside

©2002 by Larry Edell Placing the outside numbers (4, 5, 9 and 10) offers higher payoffs than the 6 or 8 because they dot roll as often. But the vigs are higher too. For the 4 and 10 the casino advantage is 6.6% and for the 5 and 9 it is 4.4%. But is there is a way to bet outside so they produce better profits? Le⁴s find out. To turn these outside numbers into profit makers you need to buy them all instead of place them...read more

Odds and ends, plus a quick test

One of the truly great sportsbook managers has decided to hang it up and take a promotion. Joe Lupo, the Stardust race and sportsbook manager will be re-locating to Atlantic City and accepting a management position at the Boyd Group's new Borgata Resort...read more

Christmas Season in Reno

Thanksgiving Day is almost over as I write; a perfect weather day for all the turkey eating and pumpkin pie devouring... and the Christmas lights are already appearing. The tree is lit downtown, and the outdoor ice ink on the site of the old Mapes Hotel is in full operation...read more

Just Ask Scobe and AP

Dear Scobe and AP: Here's my story. In my last five visits to the casinos, I have lost each and every time. When I play blackjack, the dealer invariably beats my 20 with a 21, often making wild draws of little cards...read more

Gambling Wins Again At The Polls - Part II

The November 2002 voting will be remembered as one of the few times that the party in power in the White House also gained control of both houses of Congress in a midterm election. But the biggest winner may have been the gaming industry, which will see renewed growth in racinos, state lotteries and tribal casinos. Massachusetts: Mitt Romney (R.), the next governor, supports putting gaming devices at racetracks to help balance the budget...read more

Detroit's Crime Rate Declines

It is a common misconception. It rolls off the tongues of all the anti-gaming advocates effortlessly when they talk about the subject of casino gambling. If you bring casino gambling to a community, you will, it is observed, see an increase in crime...read more