Deal Me In by Mark Pilarski

May 18, 2012

In every bet, there is a fool and a thief - Proverb

Dear Mark: I was in Las Vegas last week for the first time in about six years and was disappointed to see all the casinos on the Strip changed to single deck with a payout of 6 to 5 for blackjacks. I was curious to know if it were more advantageous to double down on a blackjack if the dealer was holding a bust card, or just take the 6 to 5 deal. Jim I.

I cringe, Jim, when seeing the advertisement that reads; "Back by Popular Demand ... Single Deck Blackjack," which lacks of course, itsy bitsy fine print stating, "6-5 blackjack is an inferior game."

Yes, Jim, the 6-5 game has become far too prevalent, and regrettably, the uninformed are lining up to park their posteriors on stools to submit to it. The easy out is to criticize the casino for its greed, but some blame must be placed on players who patronize 6-5 tables without researching the game. You always want to get maximum value for your blackjacks, and you do that by getting paid 3 to 2, not 6 to 5. These 6-5 games give the casino an edge of almost 1.5%.

To answer your question directly, even on a 6-5 game, by taking the guaranteed payoff, you still have a higher expected value than by just doubling down on an 11, regardless of the up-card, so take the snapper.

Historically, Jim, the 3-2 blackjack payoff originated in the betting parlors of Evansville, IN, and has been around since 1912. Now a century later, this columnist suggests when you come across a table that pays 6-5 for blackjacks, don't concern yourself over taking even money for a blackjack versus doubling down, just split, from that table that is.

Dear Mark: Being new to craps, I was wondering if it is okay to ask dealers for advice. Dave A.

Absolutely, Dave, as it should be included under the "be certified friendly and helpful" topic in their employee handbook, or at least it was in mine. Better yet, approach a dealer on a dead table to ask your uncertainties of the game. Most dealers are amenable to explaining the betting process. Finally, many of the larger casinos offer table game classes for the tenderfoot like yourself to help you learn the ins-and-outs of your preferred game. Just check with a pit boss to see if your favorite casino offers one for craps.

Dear Mark: You state that the expected value of all bets is negative, and that over time, the player will lose money. You also state that Free odds have no casino advantage. Are you not contradicting yourself? Richard D.

Not at all, Richard, simply because, "Free odds" must be packaged with your Pass line wager and cannot be made separately. Combined, they still make the expected value of your entire wager negative. By taking the maximum amount of Free odds possible, you substantially reduce, but never eliminate, the casino edge.

Gambling Wisdom of the Week: If you must play, decide upon three things at the start: the rules of the game, the stakes, and the quitting time. -Chinese Proverb
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Tags: 6-5 Blackjack Is An Inferior Game Ask The Dealer

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Deal Me In by Mark Pilarski

May 11, 2012

Be "Put" off by this bet

Dear Mark: Some casinos offer a wager on the crap game called a "Put" bet; others do not. Should I be playing craps where they offer it, since it might be a bet that is favorable to the player? Rick K.

A "Put" bet, Rick, is a seldom-played wager that you can make on the Pass line after a point is established. For instance, say you have no action on the Pass line and the shooter rolls a six. You can then "Put" a bet down on the Pass line and instantly take the maximum odds.

The reason the casino allows you to make a "Put" bet is because you bypass a 22.2% chance of winning on the come-out if the 7 or 11 rolls, and only a 11.11% chance of losing if you crap-out, which is when the 2, 3, or 12 appears. For the normal crap player, especially one who does not take Free odds, it is a terrible bet and not worth giving up the come-out roll potential.

If you abstain from taking Free odds, which, by the way, carries no house edge, the casino has a 9.1% advantage on a 6 or 8 Put bet, 20% on the 5 or 9, and an enormous 33.3% edge on the 4 or 10.

Players who take the benefit of instant Free odds will need to play on a table that offers at least 5x odds if the Put bet is played on either the 6 or 8: otherwise, Rick, it,s better to be Placing those numbers instead.

Only if the casino offers 10X, 50X and even 100X odds, a "put" bet is a decent bad wager, especially on a $2 game. The higher odds will more than offset the seven/eleven come-out advantage. However, Rick, if the casino where you play offers only 2X odds max, it is still more profitable to make a Pass line bet and take advantage of the come out seven/eleven.

Dear Mark: When I approached a blackjack game, a dealer told me he was cold. After an hour of play, I was down just $10 dollars, so I would consider that an overall win. Does a dealer really know if he or she is about to get hot or cold? Bill A.

As you approached the game, the dealer was offering comment on past performance, along with misguidedly relying on the notion that his preceding hands are a predictor of a future, frigid result.

Sure, Bill, any dealer can tell you at any given moment if they are "presently" hot or cold, but that is just an observation from previous hands. What no dealer can do is predict whether he or she will be hot or cold in the future, simply because the next hand remains an independent, random event, with the cards not caring what has happened in the past.

Gambling Wisdom of the Week: Man is a gaming animal. He must always be trying to get the better in something or other. --Charles Lamb, Essays of Elia, 1823
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Tags: Craps "put" Bet Blackjack Cold Table

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Deal Me In by Mark Pilarski

May 4, 2012

Making "doing okay" even better

Dear Mark: In today's article in the Detroit Free Press, you answered a question about playing craps. You mention the Pass line wager and a Place bet on the 6 or 8, giving the house edge of about 1.5%. You then state that this is lowered even more when taking Odds. What exactly is taking odds? I bet the Pass line wager and the Place bet on the 6 or 8 like you suggest when I head to the casino and do OK most of the time. I may be taking odds but don't know it.......help!!!! Jeff T.

Odds are a separate wager, which are different from a Pass line bet or Placing the 6 and 8. Thus, Jeff, if you were taking odds, I am sure you would know it. Next time you belly up to a crap game, note that your Pass line bet has a defined space on the layout where you put your chips. The chips in an unmarked area directly behind a Pass line bet, those, Jeff, are odds.

When playing craps, the predominant bet is the Pass line wager. Although most players at the table have some action on the Pass line, taking odds is a supplemental wager to your Pass line bet that you would make after the point is established. Paired together, now you have a Pass line bet and odds packaged, and your winning payoff occurs if the point appears before the seven rolls.

What's great about taking odds, Jeff, is that this wager is distinct from all the other casino wagers in that free odds carry NO casino advantage. All bets are paid off at true odds, paying 2 to 1 on points of 4 and 10, 3 to 2 on a 5 and 9, and 6 to 5 on the points of 6 and 8. As stated in the column that you cited, a Pass line (or Come bet) with no odds has a house edge of 1.4%.

With a $10 wager and 50 playing decisions hourly, your theoretical loss (all bets lose over time) is $10 X 50 X 0.014, or $7 per hour. Adding an extra $10 for single odds to your $10 pass line wager, you reduce the house edge down to 0.85%, with your hourly loss lowered to $4.25. Take multiple odds, say, for instance, 3X odds, or $30 behind your Pass line bet, your combined house edge now becomes just 0.47%. Note, Jeff, that by taking odds, your exposure to an hourly loss is reduced considerably.

Yes, Jeff, a Pass line bet with multiple odds is an outstanding wager, but be aware that even with odds, craps is a negative expectation game, and the house still has an overall edge on your play.

Dear Mark: I have always been a bit nervous about doubling down on 10's and 11's against a dealer up-card of 10. I prefer to hit instead, especially my 10's, and win my fair share of times doing so. Because I do win, should I consider doubling? Jim D.

As you should, Jim, win that is, your fair share of times by just hitting a 10 instead of doubling. By hitting your 10, you will win approximately 56% of the time. However, if you were to double down, you will win 54% of the time, and win twice the amount. Therefore, Jim, let me throw a question your way. Which do you think is better? Winning one wager 56% of the time, or doubling the same wager and winning 54% of the time.

Gambling Wisdom of the Week: A race track is a place where windows clean people. ~Danny Thomas
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Tags: Craps Taking Odds Blackjack 21 Doubling Down

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Deal Me In by Mark Pilarski

April 27, 2012

To assure a win, hold your breath and count to thirteen

Dear Mark: Why is it that when a player jumps in while I'm playing blackjack, it seems to screw up the order of the cards in the shoe for the worse? Brian M.

Many players' superstitions lead to strong, dubious, beliefs, such as: a new player enters the game in the middle of a shoe, changing the order of the cards and causing the innocent believer-in-magic to lose.

Yes, Brian, I will agree with you that the order of cards will alter when someone enters the game, but there is no way that you, the dealer, Nostradamus, or I can predict whether the new sequence of cards will help or hurt you. If you are playing smart, that being with perfect basic strategy, your expected return will remain the same regardless of minor turmoil due to Joe Blow's arrival.

Appropriate etiquette when playing on a hand-held single or double deck game is to wait until the dealer shuffles before you join, especially if other players are winning, and they do not want you to change their luck. On the other hand, on a shoe or automatic shuffler, it is typical for a new player to enter the game immediately.

Nevertheless, it is always courteous to ask, "Do you mind if I join your game?" when stepping up to any table. Who needs the wrath of the players whose flow of cards suddenly changes because you jumped in? In their eyes, you intruded on a game in progress, and abruptly their "perceived" luck changed, which erroneously becomes your fault.

Dear Mark: I always take even money on a blackjack because you get an even money payoff with no risk. I figure it's the bird in the hand. Why shouldn't I take the money and run? Jeff C.

You, Jeff, are typical of a player who is risk-averse, or as you proverbially put it, plus valet in manibus avis unica quam dupla silvis, which loosely translated from Latin means, "A bird in the hand is worth more than two in the woods." You figure this maxim points out that by passing up even money for your blackjack, hoping for a more favorable return, you risk losing a sure thing.

What Jeff is pondering is that when you are a dealt a blackjack, and the dealer shows an ace up-card, he has the option of taking even money before the dealer checks the hole card. Jeff wants the bird in hand, but by taking even-money in blackjack, mathematically it will cost him 4% in profits over the long run.

Why? Simply because the dealer is more likely to NOT have a blackjack than to have one. Jeff will, over time, win marginally more than even money per hand if he were to pass on it. Therefore, Jeff, although you think it is better to be content with what one has rather than risk a certainty over a promising possibility, you will wind up with more greenbacks in your pocket over time if you decline the invitation of even money.

Gambling Wisdom of the Week: The typical gambler might not really understand the probabilistic nuances of the wheel or the dice, but such things seem a bit more tractable than, say, trying to raise a child in this lunatic society of ours. -Arthur S. Reber, The New Gambler's Bible
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Tags: Blackjack Player Jumps In 21 Even Money Payout

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Deal Me In by Mark Pilarski

April 20, 2012

Those costly bargains

Dear Mark: Both my wife and I have separate casino club cards at the same casino. She plays slots while I mostly play video poker. We play about the same amount, $100 per visit, and yet, she receives more in comps that I do. Does that sound right to you? Martin G.

The reason your wife is getting more goodies than you, Martin, is because most casinos today rate slot play higher than your video poker play.

With expert play, some video poker machines can return in excess of 100%. Even the Average Joe winging it will get back 95 percent on select machines. If your wife is playing pennies or nickels, she is looking at returns of 80 to 90 percent. Her play, or as the house looks at it, her inevitable loss, is more valuable to them, hence, more in comps - and more smiles.

Dear Mark: I liked your article last week on luck. As I read it, you definitely lean more towards skill than luck. However, you will admit skill doesn't guarantee you being a winner. Alex H.

I quantified the significance of skill, and opined that the skilled player playing smart won't hemorrhage so much hard-earned cash, but nobody, Alex, is guaranteed to win. That's why they call it gambling.

Dear Mark: Do you Twitter, and if so, anything regarding gambling? Tim M.

Sorry, Tim, I just never got into it so no tweeter-twatter from me. Besides, whoever was to subscribe to my tweet stream would quickly notice that my contributions to the twitosphere would be mostly food related, and if tweeted I was eating a chili dog at Lafayette's Coney Island in Detroit, I would be fibbing and furtively eating four.

Dear Mark: I have been reading your column for over 15 years and always take your advice. When playing craps, I limited my wagers to the Pass line, with odds, and placing the 6 or 8. On my last outing, my friend says that's smart betting, but he is obsessed with also betting the 7. You have advised against this. If he is making two right bets, why is he insistent on making a wrong one? Ray M.

The quality of any wager, Ray, is based on the casino advantage, which is the amount the house theoretically earns per dollar bet, averaged over time. With a Pass line wager and a Place bet on the 6 or 8, you are making bets with a slight house edge, approximately 1.5%, then lowered even more when taking odds. By betting the Any 7, your friend is making the worst proposition bet on the crap table, and it should be dumped from his casino-betting repertoire.

With this one-roll wager, he wins if a 7 rolls, but if any other number appears, he loses. The odds are 5-to-1 of a 7 rolling, but the casino will only pay you 4-to-1. This gives the house an edge of 16.7%.

My guess is your friend either doesn't understand, or care, that the greater the edge, the more money the casino keeps, or he is overly focused on a 4-to-1 payoff.

Proposition bets, and especially the Any 7, are just not the smart way to play craps. A bet on the pass line, taking odds, or placing the six or eight is what I call SMART GAMBLING. Stick to it, Ray. Let your friend donate to the casino's coffers.

Gambling Wisdom of the Week: Luck never gives; it only lends. ~Swedish Proverb
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You can email Mark your questions at pilarski -at- markpilarski.com

Tags: Casino Comps Craps Proposition Bets

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Deal Me In by Mark Pilarski

April 13, 2012

Early worm in robin-swallowing spring training

Dear Mark: I have been reading your column for years and very much enjoy your comments and insight. My question is this: Over the long haul, with many players and many cumulative hours played, casinos approach the statistical advantages you so often cite. Yet, on a shorter-term basis, when an individual player may only play for a few hours or so, those typical odds are skewed toward runs of either good or bad fortune. It seems to me that there are people who have more than their fair share of bad fortune (with more than expected losses) and vice versa, even though both types play the same way. In other words, do you believe some people just have innate bad luck, and some have good luck? To the house, it does not make much difference because it all evens out with their statistical percentage advantage, but to the individual player, especially those with constant bad luck, it is noticeable. I consider myself in the bad luck category while I watch others I know win time after time. Any thoughts on this? Mel Z.

Franklin D. Roosevelt once said; "I think we consider too much the good luck of the early bird and not enough the bad luck of the early worm." Huh, must be talking about you, Mel.

I will agree with you that always being the creepy-crawler sprawling down the casino's gullet just isn't fun. Although you did not mention your game(s) of choice, when you are not winning with the frequency predicted by barnyard math, you still must look at the randomness of gaming, your game/bet choices, and your relatively short gambling timeline.

All wagers are purposely designed to assure the casino a specific return. This percentage return is a long-term concept, and not based on cumulative hours of select gamblers. Your gaming timeline is perhaps limited to hundreds of yanks of the handle, hands of cards or rolls of dice, not millions, so any percentage anomaly can, and will, happen.

Over the years, I have gotten my fair share of mail from players whose scuttlebutt is to blame their continuous losing streak on bad luck. Very few will admit that it could be the canniness of the bets they make. Sure, Mel, you can look at luck as good or bad fortune beyond one's control that just happens, but the casino does offer a wide variety of wagers, with a huge difference in return among them, which leads me once again to state: The smarter you play, the luckier you'll be.

The upshot here is to realize that abysmal aberrations in winning and losing do happen, but losing aberrations do not last forever. Luck may well be seen as something, which happens beyond your control, but you can change it up some it by limiting your bets to wagers that have less than a two percent casino advantage. Correspondingly, Mel, I could be remiss if I didn't suggest looking at alternative forms of leisure entertainment. Possibly, gambling just ain't your thing this year.

Dear Mark: Do winning bets ride in roulette? Say, for instance, I do not want to bet repeat numbers. Can I simply ask the dealer to give me my chips back? Tim S.

You sure can, Tim, but note that dealers typically leave your winning bet on the layout while your payoff on the inside wagers (numbers) are pushed to you. It is your responsibility to remove the winning wager if you do not want it to play on the following spin. In addition, outside wagers (odd/even, red/black, the columns, etc.) are left alongside your original winning wager. When any wager stays, it plays.

Gambling Wisdom of the Week: Most of us regard good luck as our right, and bad luck as a betrayal of that right. -William Feather
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Tags: Bad Luck Good Luck In Casinos Roulette Bets Ride

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Deal Me In by Mark Pilarski

April 6, 2012

Splitstown revisited

Dear Mark: In today's column, you discuss the answer to the question of splitting tens. You touched on the subject of "putting your stellar hand in unwarranted jeopardy." I think that is the main reason not to split tens, and although I recognize that any player's actions have little effect on "taking the dealer's bust card," I still go into a tizzy when someone splits tens, and more often than not, I will leave that table. Joe R.

As you should, Joe - move, that is. There is no need to allow another player to cause you a heightened state of anxiety. Besides, most gaming statutes across the US do not allow casinos to crazy glue a player to a stool. Free hooch tends to keep you seated, but any form of adhesive is prohibited.

At least, you, Joe, and most of those who regularly read this column know, far too many players blame the anchorman (third base), or others, for giving the dealer an advantage by splitting 10s. For the Average Joe, or even someone who benefits from the use of perfect basic strategy - seat position or another player's action has little significance on a player's expected return.

Dear Mark: Are you and a spouse allowed to share roulette chips at the roulette table? My wife, who was sitting patiently waiting for me to lose my remaining chips, decided to help me with that effort and play some of my chips. The dealer would not allow it. What gives? Randy L.

In the joints where I worked, roulette's color-coded chips were not allowed to be bet, or intermingled with, friends' or family, even if, mathematically, the casino would repossess them at a faster pace. If you and your spouse are playing together, you will need to get separate-colored chips.

Dear Mark: I was at a casino last month and saw a person just betting on the Pair Plus circle at Three Card Poker. He seemed to be doing pretty good, but I was just wondering what your thoughts were regarding this as a strategy for this particular game? Bruce S.

With Three Card Poker, there are three betting areas: the Ante circle, a Play square and a Pair Plus circle. The player whom you observed just so happened to favor the Pair Plus wager, a bet that his hand would consist of a pair or higher (Pair Plus).

With a Pair Plus wager, you immediately know whether you have won a Pair Plus payoff as soon as you look at your cards. With a Pair Plus bet, there is no raising or discarding, and the dealer's cards are immaterial, with payoffs made according to a posted schedule, regardless of the dealer's hand.

As you know, Bruce, I am one to labor the point of only making wagers that have less than a two percent house edge, but Pair Plus bets may perhaps rate an exception to that rule. Although the house edge on the "ante" wager is approximately 2.1%, the "pair plus" has a slightly higher, tolerable casino advantage of just 2.3%, and worthy of a one thumb up recommendation.

Gambling Wisdom of the Week: I've always believed that a small dose of fear is good when you're in a casino. --Jean Scott

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Tags: Blackjack Splitting 10s Sharring Roulette Chips Three Card Poker Pair Plus

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Deal Me In by Mark Pilarski

March 30, 2012

Whoever said you had to have fun?

Dear Mark: Assume a gambler had the discipline to walk into a casino, sit down at the blackjack table, and make one $100 bet, win or lose, then walk away. Of course, the gambler would have enough money to cover any splits or double downs. Would that not be better than sitting there making $10 bets for several hours. Over 3 hours, I might wager $1000 doing it that way, compared to $100 the one-time bet way. If the casino has an edge of .05% over perfect play, then their edge is minimized by the smaller amount of money wagered. A caveat to that might be that if I win the one-time bet of $100, then bet $50 the next bet and bet $50 until I lose, thus guaranteeing I walk out a winner if I won the first bet and allowing me to ride a hot streak right out of the gate. This is purely from a money management strategy and not an enjoyment of gambling question. Rob C.

I am all for getting winning chips off the felt and out of play as quickly as possible, Rob, but since your hypothetical question excludes the entertainment value of gambling, you still have to figure in driving to and from at $4 a gallon. A 44-mile round trip in a Chevy Impala is going to cost you 4% off the top. Besides, who in their right mind is going to drive to, park, tip valet, plop down a Benjamin, and walk?

A one-shot, Ben Franklin wager might mathematically be the correct move, but that's because you are not allowing the grind down to take hold. This is where the casino eventually wins far more than 0.05% of the player's money, due to the combination of the built-in advantage it has at blackjack, and the players' self-defeating tendency to churn the initial bankroll.

The casino knows that the typical player does not play $100 just once, but keeps on playing those chips like Pavlov's dog, over and over again. For example, let's say you are the run-of-the-mill player and buy in for $100 worth of chips. With the expected loss of, "in theory," five percent ($5) over the course of your first hour, your original bankroll is reduced to $95. Then you start playing that $95, so after another hour goes by you are sitting with $90 and change. Play the $90, and you will have just $85.

You, of course, are playing perfect basic strategy, so the usual five percent is only 0.05%, and yet the grind is still at work. Mix in a lack of discipline, or better yet, free drinks, and that 0.05% can easily become 1-5%. Still, with a one-bet exposure to loss, you're busted. Whereas, grinding it out, you could win, decide not to blow it all, accumulate comps, succumb after an extended period of time and call it entertainment, or lose in mere minutes when playing $10 a pop. That's why they call it gambling, hopefully, with money you can afford to lose.

Your winning progression idea, setting aside your original bankroll ($100) plus half your winnings, then betting the remainder while bankrolling additional winnings, has some rootin'-tootin' merit, but do you really have the discipline to stick to it?

Personally, if I were limited to making just one $100 play, I would park my rear end in a cushy chair and place a point-spread wager on a sporting event. Scrounge up some loose change from under the driver's seat for some $1 hot dogs and drafts, and life, as they say, doesn't get any better. Unfortunately, Rob, this only works where legalized sports betting is allowed.

Gambling Wisdom of the Week: A poker game can go on for 12 hours. When you're on a winning streak, the feeling is better than any other feeling I know. - Colin Hayes, Evening Standard magazine (7/15/94) Thoughts of would-be professional poker player
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Tags: Blackjack Discipline One $100 Bet

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Deal Me In by Mark Pilarski

March 23, 2012

"Never" and "always" - princes among the slippery terms

Dear Mark: Why do some players on a blackjack table get all hot and bothered when I split 10’s? I don’t do it every time, nor do I get a 20 hand very often. I never correct their play, like when the dealer is showing a six, and they hit a 12-16. Dan P.

A number of players will go into a tizzy when you split 10’s because they erroneously believe that you are "always" taking the dealer's bust card. "Always" may come from the fact that the most common initial hand is a pair of 10s, simply because there are more tens (10s, Jacks, Queens, and Kings) than any other card rank. Your fair share of getting a 20 is approximately 9.2% of the time.

Even so, Dan, as long as the shuffle is randomized, your play, incorrect as it may be, can just as likely help the table as hurt it. Although your play will have no consequence on the game in general, you are putting your stellar hand in unwarranted jeopardy, nor will you get a recommendation from me to split 10s, but for two exceptions.

In Face-up Blackjack, all the cards dealt are exposed, including both dealers' cards. Only here does correct strategy call for splitting 10s against the dealer's 13, 14, 15, or 16. In addition, for card counters, when there is a high proportion of high cards left in the deck, for instance, a high-low true count of plus 4 or more, and the dealer is showing a 6, this would be a situation that favors splitting 10s. Otherwise, Dan, the correct play is to "always" stand on your 20.

Dear Mark: In Three-Card Poker, why is it that when I have a flush, and the dealer has a straight, I lose both my ante and my bet? Since when do straights beat flushes. Russ R.

When you're sitting at the kitchen table with your cronies playing five-card poker games, straights materialize more often than flushes, which makes flushes the more powerful hand. However, with three-card hands, the probabilities are altered and flushes happen to occur more frequently than straights.

Although straights outrank flushes in Three Card Poker, there is still a way for you to win, something. By betting on the Pair Plus option, you are paid for your flush regardless of whether your hand can beat the dealer's because the dealer's cards are immaterial against this wager.

This separate, stand-alone wager has a payout based solely on the rank of the 3-card hand. If your hand contains less than a pair, you lose. With a pair or higher, you win, and the higher the rank, the greater the payout. Here is the payout schedule for Pair Plus wagers:

Straight flush: 40 to 1
Three of a kind: 30 to 1
Straight: 6 to 1
Flush: 4 to 1 (3 to 1 with some pay tables)
Pair: Even money

If you inspect the pay table, Russ, you will note that straights pay 6-1, flushes 4-1. Once again, because they are the less common hand, straights pay more because they outrank flushes.

Gambling Wisdom of the Week: If a man has a competent estate of his own, and plays whether himself or another man shall have it, it is extreme folly; if his estate be small, then to hazard the loss even of that and reduce himself to absolute beggary is direct madness. - Anonymous, The Nicker Nicked; or the cheats of Gaming Discovered 1669

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Tags: Blackjack Splitting 10's Three Card Poker Flushs Vs Straights

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Deal Me In by Mark Pilarski

March 16, 2012

Brightening the cloudy slots scene

Dear Mark: On a three-day casino trip, I was playing quarter slots and was down to my last $200 dollars. Instead of playing nickels, I played dollars, losing the remaining two hundred in just a few minutes. I thought that by increasing to dollars, especially on a machine with a sign above touting "best paybacks in the house," I would get a better return. The result, I pretty much had nothing to do for the last 24 hours except watch others lose. Kurt B.

Your letter lacked an inquiry, Kurt, but my guess is that what you’re looking for is a "what did I do wrong" answer. As an appetizer, you are correct that in general, $1 slot machines pay more than quarters, quarters more than nickels, which, in turn, pay more than pennies. The problem, Kurt, is that when you climb the denomination tree, you bet more, and can lose more, at a much faster clip. Bad luck aside, even if the machine returns a decent percentage to the player when playing dollars, you might effectively be cutting the house advantage, but you are betting more of your hard-earned cash (example: $3 versus $.75) per spin.

This upping the ante strategy with limited funds is akin to lambs being led to slaughter. When taking a beating, I advocate a move to a reduced denomination machine, not an increased one. Otherwise, Kurt, you are either playing with money you can't afford to lose, or scared money, which makes for poor playing decisions. I will note here that you do deserve some kudos for NOT using the convenience of getting quick cash from a teller machine to chase losses with a double-up-to-catch-up strategy.

This leads me to urge sound money management techniques. Money management is your life-line to getting home with some semblance of your starting bankroll and not, as in your case, with a pocket featuring a couple two-for-one drink coupons decorated in lint.

For starters, Kurt, on a three-day casino excursion, never bring your entire bankroll to one gambling session. You need to have a daily gambling budget. Start by dividing your bankroll by the number of days you'll be gambling. Then divide each daily bankroll into the number of sessions you will be playing that day. This will result in your single-session bankroll. Don't bet Friday’s money on Thursday.

Set a goal of winning between 50 to 100% of a single-session bankroll. Then set aside your original bankroll plus half your winnings. Now you can play with the remainder and continue to set aside additional winnings.

When you cash out your winnings into credit slips, take a moment and carefully think about the exchange. Always treat credit slips as hard-earned legal tender.

Set loss limits and win goals. Example: On losing half your session bankroll (loss limit) you walk, and on doubling your money (win goal), consider doing the same.

Identify the profitable opportunities in gambling by shopping for the best odds, rules and playing conditions. In most cases, that doesn’t include slot machines. You knew that already, right?

Finally, money management will not affect the house advantage the casino has at slots, nor will it guarantee that you will win additional money. What good money management principles will do is to minimize your losses and in most cases protect your winnings.

Dear Mark: Some slot machines offer free bonus spins. Is the random number generator also working on free spins? Gerry J.

The RNG is still at work when determining the results of free spins. The only difference, Gerry, is that a free spin is just that, FREE.

Gambling Wisdom of the Week: It has been generally observed, that the loss of one hundred pounds shall do you more prejudice in disquieting your mind that the gain of two hundred pounds shall do you good, were you sure to keep it. ?- Anonymous, The Nicker Nicked; or the cheats of Gaming Discovered 1669

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Tags: Money Mangement Random Number Generator

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Deal Me In by Mark Pilarski

March 9, 2012

Getting ignored by a touch screen

Dear Mark: Here is a question from the Twilight Zone. My girlfriend and I play video slot machines side-by-side, but I have trouble activating the touch screen. She will switch machines with me and have no problem. I do not have cold, clammy hands, so should I not be able to activate the screen from the heat from my fingertips? Have you ever heard of anything this bizarre? Danny F.

Your Midas touch question may seem a bit wacky, but if you do not mind a Rod Serling reply, I'll take a crack at it by sharing anecdotal evidence with a likely bearing on what's occurring.

First, Danny, a question your way; Do you play the guitar?

I ask because being a hack myself, with skill levels not much past Led Zeppelin's Stairway to Heaven, I do have hard-as-steel calluses on the fingertips of my left, or fret-board, hand. When I try texting on an iPhone using my left index finger, I usually get zilch. The same holds true with the checkout machine at the supermarket, or anything that uses capacitive touch sensors, such as laptop trackpads, tablets and computer displays, a technology which, I am guessing, is also used on the video screens in a casino.

A capacitive touch screen is not based on heat sensors. This interface instead detects anything that is conductive. To prove it isn't heat related, a dedicated doubter could get out a hair dryer and blow hot air on any capacitive touch screen device. Nothing will happen. If it were heat sensitive, your device would go bonkers. Can't speak for the owner of the hair dryer.

My index and middle fingertips have the feel of a plastic stylus, which doesn't work well on a capacitive touch screen. This would hold true for those with very long fingernails. Some touch screens will work; some won't. If you are using just your fingernail to touch the screen, that might only work on a resistive type touch screen, the old version that used a stylus.

Now the Serling's Twilight Zone, unexpected twist. Although the index finger on my left hand has trouble initiating a response from a touch screen, guess what does work: cold sausage. I kid you not. Pull out an iPhone, some kielbasa, and touch the Safari web browser button with its tip, and off you go surfing the World Wide Web.

Option B, Danny, would be to create an Aluminum Foil Deflector Beanie (AFDB) out of Reynolds Wrap. This headgear will shield your brain from most electromagnetic pulses, ones that typically distort a touch screen.

Dear Mark: Where would you get a more random spin in roulette, with a live dealer, or on a video roulette game? Kevin T.

Straight up, Kevin, the more random spin would come from a video roulette game. With a live dealer, you have the one-in-a-million possibility of identifying the predictive nature of a dealer or the equipment. The specific mannerisms of the dealer, known as a "dealer's signature," can put the dealer into a distinctive rhythm of spinning the wheel and launching the ball in such a way as to unintentionally target a given section of the wheel.

Then there is always the whiz that believes he can exploit the flaws of the equipment. Said whiz looks for a biased wheel in the belief that some wheels may have mechanical flaws that will provide a non-random number distribution.

A video roulette game uses a random number generator, with every spin of the video wheel being an independent trial. If the last number was 22 black, the chances are still 1 in 38 that the ensuing number will be 22 black. With a RNG, the result of any previous event plays no role in generating the next outcome.

Gambling Wisdom of the Week: Casinos will outlive all of us. So what's the hurry. --A Vegas Host
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Tags: Slot Machine Touch Screen Roulette Random Spin

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Deal Me In by Mark Pilarski

March 2, 2012

The only armed queen in the deck often delivered

Dear Mark: A couple of years ago, I played Pai Gow at the Encore together with my wife and daughter. We were getting ready to leave, and only played an hour at this table. A male dealer was able to correctly identify pairs of Queens, Aces, etc. for several players. These five cards came out of a chute and were dealt face down. The pit boss commented that it gave him the creeps. When I asked the dealer how he was able to correctly call the cards, he replied: "I read the paint on the paint on the cards." This episode always stuck in my mind, and I have been searching for an answer ever since. So, my question: Have you ever heard this story before? Is it a trick or legit? Peter S.

Here is what I am certain is not happening, Peter, specifically, that the U. S. Playing Card Company is knowingly manufacturing jimmy-jiggered playing cards and that some darkly skilled dealer working for Steve Wynn at the Encore, privy to the deceptive practice, is "reading the paint on the paint on the cards."

When my son attended the University of Cincinnati -- Go Bearcats! -- I had an opportunity to tour the manufacturing process at U. S. Playing Card Company, and I can tell you they are unmatched when it comes to producing a superior product used for all casino applications. As the preferred choice of casinos worldwide for over for over 100 years, they are not about to let their credibility go kaput because some inventive dealer claims to read the backs of BEE playing cards.

That said, it’s not impossible, Peter, to have some idea of upcoming cards. For example, back before card readers, in peeking under the hole card, some inexperienced dealers would unknowingly bend 10s, faces and aces upwards, causing them to have a different shape than the rest of the cards in the deck. Following a break-in dealer, there were times when I could see the disfigured state of the hole card, and know that a face or 10 was underneath. Sharp players would look for this "dealer tell," and this information would allow them to "play the warps."

As for the creeped-out pit boss, he should have been doing his job, and that’s to protect the integrity of the game by being on the lookout for bends, crimps, bumps, scratches, inks, pigment and shade issues, anything that would jeopardize game security, and not letting customers believe the inmates (dealers) are running the asylum.

Now here is what I think was happening. Every dealer, especially the bored, follows certain cards from the deck, with a superstitious belief that they can call up a card at will. I certainly did; mine was, Athena, the queen of spades, who used the epithet "Pallas," the Greek goddess of war. If I were dumping the tray to a winning player who was not tipping, and I needed Athena to beat this stiff, I would call her out to bust the player, and snatch the chips in the circle with, dare I say it, delight. Likewise, when players doubled down both their bet and mine, and we needed a face card to secure victory, I’d loudly call on my lovely lady to deliver the goods. Time and again, it worked, and when it happened, the mystified look on a player’s face always made for a "how’d he do dat" moment. Answer, of course: "Pallas. She owed me one."

Gambling Wisdom of the Week: The random number generator does not respond to violence. --Melissa Fine, Strictly Slots magazine

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Tags: Pai Gow Calling The Cards

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Deal Me In by Mark Pilarski

February 24, 2012

Tournam -UP and turn-em down

Dear Mark: Like many of your readers, I also enjoy slot tournaments. Does the casino ever leave the tournament chips in after the tournament, giving the player a real shot at taking down some serious cash? Gus R.

No need to back up the F150 pickup truck to haul off 20,000 pounds of quarters on tournament machines left on, Gus, as once a tournament is over, machines go dark, chips are swapped out for normal play, then reactivated so that the casino can go about their usual predation of holding a much higher percentage on their one-armed bandits. One thing the casino isn't into is losing money, which would be the case if tournament chips stayed active for cash play.

Of note, Gus, I did get an e-mail this past week from Allen E. who works slots in a casino, and he stated that the newer slot machines actually did not require tournament chips to be exchanged anymore. The chips within are programmed with slot tournament software, and all that needs to be done to enable the tournament chip is to set the options in the software before a tournament.

Dear Mark: Why do counters increase their bet size when the un-dealt cards are rich in big cards? Outside of getting more of the possibility of a blackjack, I see no reason why you should bet more. Bill W.

Card counters keep track of all the cards that are played in previous rounds, which gives them some knowledge of the ratio of big cards to small cards on the next hand. Appropriately, Bill, they use that count to vary their bet size.

Your question does mention one reason why counters bet more, that being high-value cards are more favorable to the player because there will be more blackjacks dealt, and players get a bonus payoff when they get one. But wait, there's more.

Dealers are forced to draw on a 12 through 16, and a high card will bust their hand. Double downs and splitting opportunities are more favorable to the player when the deck(s) are rich in big cards. In addition, for the card counter, insurance can become a profitable wager when there is an excess of big cards. Even for the non-counter, Bill, big cards favor you, small cards favor the casino.

Dear Mark: When playing Deuces Wild and you have four cards needed for a natural royal flush, along with a deuce, do you discard the deuce? Mike P.

There is nothing more exciting, Mike, than hitting a natural royal flush when you play video poker, but even if you were to hold four-to-the-royal, it is not as lucrative as sticking with a wild-card royal flush.

Suppose, Mike, along with your deuce, you have a Jack-Queen-King-Ace of Spades, giving you a wild-card Royal. The payout on most full-pay Deuces Wild machines is 125 coins with a five-coin inserted.

If you were to chase a 4,000 coin jackpot by discarding the deuce and gamble for a 10 of spades to complete a natural royal flush, depending on the paytable, your average return over the long haul will be far less than 125 coins. On a full-pay Deuces Wild machine, which pays 125 coins on the wild royal, 10 for a straight and 10 for a flush, your return for discarding the deuce is 96.6 coins, so, Mike, a wild-card royal is always a keeper.

Gambling Wisdom of the Week: I'm not sure I like poker very much anymore. In fact, I hate this game. HATE! HATE! HATE! I'd like to kill poker, but first disembowelment. --Jay Lovinger, ESPN Poker Club

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Tags: Slot Tournaments Card Counting Deuces Wild

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Deal Me In by Mark Pilarski

February 17, 2012

Reading your way to riches

Dear Mark: Can you recommend a book or two that outlines the proper strategy or video poker? Peter E.

Video poker, Peter, is one of those rare casino games that can be beaten by the knowledgeable player. The game can often have a positive expectation on select machines, and can offer the player the chance to get the best of the casino, but, Peter, you must cherry-pick the right machines and play the proper strategies on them.

For the average Joe or Josephine or Peter, who is just a recreational player but wants to become serious about video poker, I recommend four straightforward, and easy-to-grasp books: Victory at Video Poker by Frank Scoblette, and either Precision Play or Optimum Play by Dan Paymar.

If you are looking for a rag-to-riches success story from a top video poker professional, go with Million Dollar Video Poker by Bob Dancer. Dancer came to Las Vegas with a $6,000 bankroll and won more than $1 million dollars by identifying and playing beatable machines. Not only does the book describe in detail his winning secrets, it also includes many lessons for players of any skill level.

Any of these books can be had at Amazon.com or the Gamblers Book Shop (gamblersbookclub.com). The Gamblers Book Shop's (800-522-1777) VP book collection is quite extensive, and meritoriously listed in their "ask for/must have" catalog.

For the consummate cheapskate, there's always eBay, where gambling books, mine included, can be had for pennies on the dollar. Maybe that is not such a hot idea, Peter, since any profit bypasses me on my published works.

Dear Mark: I notice that casinos "set" machines for slot tournaments to hit often, so doesn't it follow that they can "set" machines to hit or not, whenever they so chose? Dee R.

Before any slot tournament, Dee, any machine that is used for tournament play has its computer chips swapped out by a slot technician and replaced with a tournament-mode computer chip. This changes a machine from traditional play to tournament play. With tournament chips, the long-term payback is purposely programmed to a higher level than that used in standard play.

Although the random number generator (RNG) stays the same, the machines are loosened up by changing the layout of the symbols on the virtual reels. That is why, Dee, you will see those VERY HIGH payouts at tournaments, but not with conventional play.

That said, yes, Dee, chip swapping occurs, but for tournaments and not for machines to "hit or not" whenever they, and we all know who "they" is, chooses. That would be considered an unlawful act by any gaming commission. As a consumer safeguard, gaming control agencies know the programming and virtual reel layout of every single machine. A gaming agent can ask the casino to open any machine on the floor, remove a chip, and compare it against their reference chips to ensure that the data stored are like twins from the same egg.

Gambling Wisdom of the Week: There will come a time in every poker player's life, if they study and play long enough, when they suddenly realize that they know what the hell they are doing. It is quite an epiphany.-VP Pappy?

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Tags: Video Poker Books Setting Slot Machines

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Deal Me In by Mark Pilarski

February 10, 2012

Can a clever system find a balance between the two chances?

Dear Mark: Over the past few weeks, your column in the Free Press has touched on systems and the inherent problems with them. That does not stop my Brother-in-law from thinking his system is all but foolproof. He believes that once a bet loses it becomes more likely to win, so he bets more. I have cut out and mailed him prior columns of yours on systems, so is there any chance of you commenting on this? Buck T.

There are as many roulette systems, Buck, as there are players, and all have two things in common: they will eventually lose, and systems do not alter the house edge or the odds in any way. Your Brother-in-law is deriving his eventual losses from a system invented by French mathematician, philosopher, and music theorist Jean le Rond d'Alembert.

The d'Alembert gambling system, which is used in roulette, baccarat, or any even money wager, is a negative progression system. In other words, you raise the bet when you lose and lower it when you win. The system assumes that after a win, a player is less likely to win again. Since the d'Alembert system the "due" factor, all your brother-in-law is doing is decreasing his bet by one unit following a win, and increasing his bet by one unit following a loss.

I see a few downsides to this system. First, he has to contend with the 0 and 00 on the wheel. This gives the house its built-in edge of 5.26%. Then there is the possibility that your Brother-in-law can have a run of the same result, so he won't be able to increase his bet because he could run into table limits. Although this system is not as potentially dangerous as the Martingale System, your Brother-in-law had better be prepared for some decent-sized losses.

The specific aim of this system is to find a balance between the two chances. The system assumes that over time, there will be an equal number of wins and losses, which leads me to the biggest flaw with the d'Alembert gambling system. That is, the outcome of multiple spins is seldom evenly distributed simply because the wheel, the ball, and the numbers have no memory of past performance. Each spin is an independent random event with exactly the same odds of a win or loss as on the previous spin.

Taken as a whole, Buck, the d'Alembert system is based on false logic. The chances of winning at roulette using this system are the same as putting your faith in one's own luck.

Dear Mark: Is it smart to play a slot machine after it hits a big jackpot? I figure once a jackpot has been hit, the casino needs to retrieve some of their losses. Michelle B.

The probability of hitting any jackpot, Michelle, is the same on each spin, and it doesn't matter one smidgen if the machine had just hit the big one. Just so long as its actual payback is within its expected range for the play the machine is receiving, the casino isn't worried about back-to-back jackpots.

If you are concerned about the re-programming of a machine to capture previous losses, don't be, Michelle, as that would be illegal, and a serious enough offense to be subject to a gaming license forfeiture.

Gambling Wisdom of the Week: Unless you are an experienced video poker player in it for the duration, you should not play with any expectation of hitting the royals.-Bill Haywood, A Shrewd Player's Guide to Internet Gambling
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Tags: Systems Slot Machine Jackpots

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