Gaming Gurus: Strategy Expert Article Archive - Page 86

Is He Diamond Jim Brady?

Reader Brady got lucky and drew a big, winning video poker hand during an early May morning. He just isn't sure how to feel about it."I should know better by now," Brady said. "I've been playing video poker long enough, almost 40 years. Since I retired last year, my wife and I play just about every week, but I changed video poker machines without checking the game."That can be a problem...read more

Is Pick'em Poker the Game for You?

Most video poker fans prefer variations of draw poker.These include Jacks or Better, Bonus Poker, Double Bonus Poker, Double-Double Bonus Poker and Bonus Poker Deluxe.Others prefer video poker games that have wild cards, such as Deuces Wild, and Jokers Wild.All of these games deal five cards...read more

Mini-Baccarat

CINDY: My play of mini-baccarat has had a lot of ups and downs. Yet, it is one of the easiest games to play. It’s flipping a coin with an added option.ABBY: A bad option too.CINDY: That's the “tie” bet that has an outrageous house edge of 14 percent...read more

Ask the Slot Expert: Monty Hall plays Survivor

The current and prior seasons of Survivor added a twist that illustrates the Monty Hall Problem. Survivor has two types of challenges. In an endurance or last-man-standing challenge, the last person still standing on a buoy or balancing a ball on a plank wins...read more

Magic!

There was a time when everybody celebrated Christmas or, at least, our society assumed everybody celebrated Christmas. It was a magical time of year and, as a kid, I believed in magic. Heck, there had to be magic; I could see it in the world round me, couldn’t I?There were glowing lights of all colors throughout the avenues and in the stores and store fronts in Brooklyn where I lived my early years...read more

Triple Play and Taxes

QUESTION: I had a great hand on Triple Play Poker, and it left me with a tax question.I was playing 8-5 Double Double Bonus on a quarter Triple Play Machine. I was dealt Ace-Jack of clubs and a bunch of low cards, so I drew three cards.Miracle of miracles, the bottom hand brought the other three Aces, the middle hand brought the 10, King and Queen of clubs, and the top hand brought Jacks of spades and hearts.That gave me four Aces for 800 credits ($200), a royal flush for 4,000 credits ($1,000) and three Jacks for 15 coins ($3.75).An attendant congratulated me but told me I had to sign a tax form before she could pay me.That didn't seem right...read more

The 8/5 versus 7/5 Debate

Stickman,Consider this hand: 9, T, J, Q, 9 unsuited.The right play on a Jacks or Better, or 8/5 Bonus Poker game is to hold the low pair over a four-card open-ended straight. However, on 7/5 Bonus Poker, why is that incorrect?Why on 7/5 Bonus Poker is a four-card open-ended straight preferable to a low pair?DanHi Dan,That is a very good question.Since the only thing that has changed is the pay table, the answer has to lie there...read more

Controlling the Dice

CINDY: What is the most controversial aspects of craps right now and since 1990 or so?ABBY: Whether some players can actually control or influence the dice. I think for the last three decades that has been a major source of discussion among craps players and gambling writers.CINDY: I know there are also camps among those who teach this aspect of the game and some of these camps do not like others of these camps...read more

Ask the Slot Expert: My take on Three Card Poker

Question: What is your take on Three Card Poker? It seems like a game that seems to be one a lot of people play. The tables seem to be full. Answer: I usually stay in my lane and stick to writing about slots and video poker, but I'll give you my thoughts on Three Card Poker. Three Card Poker was created by Derek Webb, an international poker player, in 1994...read more

Shotgun Slots

The wonderfully funny comedian Bill Burr did a set about guns in one of his Netflix specials. In it he went to a gun shop to buy a gun because he didn’t feel safe in his new Los Angeles neighborhood.The owner of the shop recommended that Mr...read more