READERS TALK BACK!
Casino Player’s experts answer your questions
Lucky Streaks? Why Bother!
You say, “Why even bother with strategy if you’ve set aside a bankroll that you plan to lose even before you enter the casino?” I have been gambling in casinos for 40 years and have never, never planned to lose money. I have set money aside to gamble, whether through cash or markers, but never planned to lose it; hard to believe that anyone except the very stupid could look at it that way. The Big Six wheel, field and hardway bets, any bet on 0 and 00 roulette is fun? It’s “fun” to lose 98 or whatever percent of the time? Any “gambler” who is not about to change their habits, if they have habits similar to the above, is a loser, and you and I know that there are a whole lot of those who play so stupid that they blame their losing sessions on bad luck, not bad play. What kind of luck do they think they are going to have if they keep making those kinds of bets?
—Rich Ravalia
via the internet
Wrong Station
I finally got around to reading Rob Wiser's article on the Best of Downtown Las Vegas, and liked it very much. However, there was one error I'm surprised he didn't notice. While Main Street Station is one of the premier properties downtown, it is, contrary to intuition, owned by Boyd Gaming and not Station Casinos. This is easily verified by going to the websites for both Main Street Station and Station Casinos.
—Jeff Brown
Milwaukee, WI
Thanks, Jeff. We realized the problem right after we went on press, and had no way of correcting it. But thanks for the note, which allows us to clear it up. Thanks very much!
Deuces Wild Pay Tables
We purchased Bob Dancer’s Win Poker and Strategies cards over a year ago and have been practicing a lot. We go to Atlantic City on a regular basis but cannot find the pay tables reflected on the strategy cards or in Win Poker. I enjoy Deuces Wild video poker. On my last visit, I played $1.00 and 25-cent machines. On the $1.00 machines I lost much too quickly, so I went to the 25-cent machines. At least I played for a longer period of time and had fun, hit a few four deuces. The $1.00 machines have the following pay table: 250, 200, 25, 16, 13, 4, 3, 2, 2 and 1. The 25-cent machines have the following pay table: 250, 200, 20, 12, 10, 4, 4, 3, 2 and 1. My question is, if I change the pay table on my Deuces Wild win poker file to the above pay tables, will this change the strategy for playing this game?
—Shirley
Ashton, MD
Bob Dancer replies: You are correct. These machines are very tight and you should stay away from them. The dollar game is similar in strategy to Full Pay Deuces Wild, except FPDW returns 100.76 percent and the 16-13-4 game returns 96.76 percent—a difference of about $120 per hour in the casino's favor. Play this game about 80 hours this year and you'll lose ten grand. Most people don't think that is very much fun.
The quarter game is similar to NSU [Not So Ugly] Deuces Wild, except that NSU returns 99.73 percent and the 10-12-4-4-3 game returns 97.60 percent. The strategy for this game is very different from the dollar game. You can adjust WinPoker to cover either game, but they both return so little that even with perfect strategy you'll lose a bundle.
Atlantic City does not have good Deuces Wild machines. I recommend playing 9/6 Jacks or Better (99.54 percent) at the Borgata, especially during double-point days. That gives you an even game in the nicest place in town. The games you're playing give you no chance at all. The only way you'll have fun playing them is if you enjoy losing.
My husband and I play blackjack and usually sit at a $5 table. We each usually increase our bets to $10 and sometimes $15, which means as a couple we are betting $20 to $30 a hand. Is it considered bad blackjack etiquette or would it be annoying to the dealer if we were to buy some of the $2.50 chips and play $7.50 a hand?
—Barb Beatty
Columbus, Ohio
Henry Tamburin responds: No, it's not considered bad etiquette to wager $7.50 a hand at blackjack. In fact, you can wager any amount you like in Las Vegas as long as it is at least the table minimum and does not exceed the table's maximum betting limits. However, you should realize that when you bet an odd amount like $7.50 on a blackjack table and are dealt a blackjack your payoff should be 1.5 times $7.50 = $11.25. It is the practice of many (not all) casinos not to have or use silver quarters on their tables. Therefore the casino would pay you only $11 for your blackjack and you would be shortchanged a quarter. That quarter deficit doesn't seem like much but it adds up over time. So if you plan to wager $7.50 make sure the dealer can pay you $11.25 when you get a blackjack. Alternatively, you could wager $8 (an even amount), which pays $12 on a blackjack. As an aside, be careful of single-deck blackjack games on the Strip that pay only 6-to-5 for a blackjack. These games should be avoided since the house edge is nearly seven times greater than traditional blackjack games, which pay 3-to-2 for blackjack. Don't forget to have your basic strategy card handy when you play. Have fun and good luck!
Casino Scams
My husband and I have been going to Las Vegas for eleven years. We also go to Atlantic City. As avid slot players, we are both very aware of our surroundings and the people around us. We take care with our personal possessions and money. Until recently, we have never had to call security in a casino or deal with a problem of any nature. That changed on a recent trip to Las Vegas, and it might be helpful for other slot players to describe what happened.
We were both in a rather congested area of an upscale casino for a drawing. While waiting, we sat side by side at a nickel kiosk and each put twenty dollars in a machine. Since we couldn’t hear the names being called, I agreed to watch my husband’s machine while he got closer to the announcer. I stood up, extended my arm and placed it over his machine, while continuing to play the adjacent one. A man who claimed not to speak English walked up to my husband’s machine and reached under my arm. I of course told him that we were playing the machine. He started yelling that he had put $10 in it and wanted his money or a ten-dollar bill from me. I signaled my husband to call security. Meanwhile, he pushed the “cash out” key and grabbed the ticket and my husband’s player’s card. He was quite surprised when this “little old lady” grabbed the ticket and player’s card right back! Security arrived before he could leave the area. They immediately ran a transaction history to verify that he had not put $10 in the machine. Then he and his “spotter” were escorted out of the casino. According to security, this was not the first time he had caused problems.
The lesson here is that in a crowded casino, players really need to be aware of the “cash out” button at all times. It is very easy for someone to hit the button and grab the ticket as second person distracts the player. We may not be dealing with currency or tokens any more, but predators have now figured out another way to steal. Also, don’t ever fall for this scam. . . and never give someone money who claims that they put it in your machine.
—Judy Sydnor
Richmond, Virginia
Thanks for the excellent advice, Judy. Contributing editor Henry Tamburin is actually doing some research now on different ticket-related scams that have come to light, and what players can do to protect themselves. Thanks again for taking the time to warn us.
Monthly Payout
It’s my understanding that the payout percentage of a casino is the total coin-in versus the coin-out of that denomination over a specific month. The MegaMillions jackpot on the nickel games in Atlantic City is currently $7 million-plus. If someone hit at one of the casinos, could the payout percentage for nickels that month actually be over 100 percent, or aren’t progressive payouts figured into the equation?
—Larry Fried
Tenafly, NJ
Good question, Larry, and the answer is yes. If you study our payout charts monthly, you will often find a figure over 100 percent in a denomination. It normally happens in the higher denominations, but it certainly could happen in nickels as the result of a big progressive payout. Progressive jackpots are money returned to players, just like every other jackpot, so they are figured into the payout percentage.
The Bonus Question
As an avid reader of your columns, I am always interested in RNGs and slot percentage payout from casino to casino, and of course, the ratio of return of particular machines. My wife and I have learned much from your stories. But something I would love to know the answer to concerns machines that have the second-screen bonus such as a shooting gallery, or Little Green Men. Are payouts predetermined prior to the player picking the flying saucer or shooting the bottles? I used to play Little Green Men all the time, until I found that no matter which flying saucer I picked, it always turned out to be the “Collect” symbol. Now I hate the machine. Am I justified, or just unlucky at that game? Now at $2 a spin on a nine-line game, not only does it become expensive, but very discouraging when you collect on your first or second choice. On a $5 shooting gallery, is the amount of win predetermined regardless of which bottles you pick? Is the option to get to shoot at the “top shelf” liquor bottles truly luck, or have all the variables been predetermined once you pull the trigger?
I also wish you would include more pictures of jackpot winners in the back. It is always nice seeing those symbols lining up for people.
—Ron and Pat
Long Island, NY
This is the proverbial “bonus question,” and it’s one we get in a letter practically every month. We researched this long ago, and have checked up on it since—the bonus amount you get on this type of game is not predetermined. What is predetermined is an entire screen of possible bonus amounts. It’s up to you to pick the winners. Your bad luck on Little Green Men is just that—luck. The highest possible bonus is there on the screen in every bonus round; it just takes a bit of luck to find it. Most of the newer slots containing this style of bonus will show you all of the hidden amounts after you have made your selections. The manufacturers did not add this feature just to annoy players; they added it because they have gotten this question as much as we have—it is to show the player that the big amounts are actually there on the screen, and it is indeed possible to get higher bonus amounts with a little luck.
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