Gaming Gurus: Strategy Expert Article Archive - Page 94

Texas’s poker clubs are in trouble

A little-known fact, known by few: Texas has poker clubs. These are by no means just a couple of tables in the back of a bar. The Lodge Card Club in Round Rock outside of Austin has more than 60 tables.The games — mostly Texas Hold ’em, naturally — are played for cash...read more

Going for the Gold

QUESTION: I don’t want to rain on your parade but I do take exception to gambling writers who are always lamenting those of us who enjoy “going for the gold” when we play the casinos’ games.I am a craps lover and I have been playing almost a dozen years, since I was 21 on the exact day of my birthday...read more

Betting Three-Card Poker

QUESTION: I have a question about Three Card Poker betting strategy. Currently I bet two units on the ante, two units on Pair Plus and two units on the Six-Card Bonus. Would it make more sense to bet three or four units on just the Pair Plus and Six-Card Bonus and forget about playing against the dealer?ANSWER: My approach is to play against the dealer, usually skip Pair Plus and always skip the Six-Card Bonus.The house edge on the ante-play portion of the game is 3.37 percent of your ante or 2.01 percent of your total action, once the bet after you've seen cards is taken into account...read more

A Video Poker Quiz

It is time for another exercise in video poker strategy. Periodically, sample video poker hands will be presented to test your mastery of video poker strategy.Today’s hands are for a full-pay (9/6 or 9-for-1 for a full house and 6-for-1 for a flush) Jacks or Better...read more

Being Sly

CINDY: When you watch the old western movies and someone is cheating, the person might have cards up his sleeves or maybe he has a metal device that allows him to pull out an ace to complete his hand. Of course, a cheater doesn’t want to get caught.ABBY: I think frontier justice, even in Eastern cities, was harsh...read more

Ask the Slot Expert: How often do bonus rounds hit?

A long, long (long) time ago, I attended a slot design talk at the big gaming show. This was the time when slots with bonus rounds were just starting their invasion of the slot floor -- I said it was a long, long (long) time ago. The designers said that bonus rounds, like any other winning combination, involve a trade off...read more

Staying at the Game

QUESTION: Most gambling writers tell you when to leave, usually when you are losing, but it is somewhat rare that they tell you when to stay at a table or slot machine. The other night at the casino I hit a point when I thought “do I stay or do I go?” I had won a decent amount of money, $500, and I had played about two hours...read more

He's Confused

In everything we do, there's a first time. For casino players, that includes the first time you play each game.Scott is a Midwestern player who has played craps more than once, but every time seems like the first time. He's done his prep work, reading books, following online tutorials, practicing at home...read more

Will Mistakes Delay a Royal Flush?

Previously I wrote about a long-term stretch without a royal flush – almost 200,000 hands to be more specific.I am sure I am not alone experiencing this phenomenon. Others have gone years without ever snagging the ultimate prize when playing jacks or better video poker.Unfortunately, it is all a part of how random operates...read more

We're Back from Vegas!

ABBY: Well, our week in Vegas is over. And what a week it was.CINDY: Yes. It was, as always, up and down…ABBY: Down and up.CINDY: My experiment of playing fifty dollars a night in a slot machine before I retired started off horribly. The random-number-generator was actually the “hammer Cindy” generator...read more