Advanced Strategy – Page 22 – Las Vegas Advisor

Posted on April 14, 2020 by Bob Dancer — 1 Comment

A Look at Bill Robertie’s New Series on Backgammon Openings

It was not my intention to spend a lot of time on backgammon, as backgammon is not my game of choice — nor is it really much of a gambling game anymore. But just as we were preparing to air two GWAE shows with Bob Wachtel on his Backgammon Chronicles, Richard and I received a review copy of Bill Robertie’s first book in his series How to Play the Openings in Backgammon.

Robertie is a two-time world champion in backgammon and author of numerous books on the game. In addition, he’s published several books on chess and co-authored a popular series of poker books with Dan Harrington. He’s the publisher for Gammon Press and moderates the backgammon forum on the Two Plus Two website. Simply put, he’s at the pinnacle of gaming/gambling writers.

Posted on March 17, 2020August 24, 2023 by Bob Dancer — 2 Comments

Drivers, Pilots, and Artists

Several years ago, I was attending a series of motivational lectures by Dr. William Kerley. Near the end of the last lecture, he spoke of when he was hired by Continental Airlines to give classes to their non-pilots on how to deal with pilots. To properly understand what pilots go through, he spent many hours in flight simulators for a variety of airplanes. (This happened before 9/11).

Kerley said he developed a great appreciation of how good all airline pilots really have to be, but as in everything else, there were some of these pilots who barely got their license, some who were average, and some cream-of-the-crop pilots. Kerley said the pilots themselves categorize these groups as drivers, pilots, and artists.

Posted on March 3, 2020 by Bob Dancer — 4 Comments

The 24th Annual Blackjack Ball

Recently in Las Vegas, more than 60 of the sharpest blackjack players from around the world, with a few other successful gamblers invited as well, got together with their guests for an evening of socializing, drinking champagne, and competing against each other. We voted to select the newest member of the Blackjack Hall of Fame. The last man standing in the skills contest won the Grosjean Cup. The names of both of these winners will be recognizable to most of my readers.

The ballot for the Blackjack Hall of Fame, alphabetized by first name, included Anthony Curtis, Blair Hull, Cat Hulbert, Lance Humble, Maria “The Greek,” Mark Billings, Mike Michalek, Norm Wattenberger, and Richard Dougherty.

Posted on February 25, 2020August 24, 2023 by Bob Dancer — Leave a comment

Is it Good for Me or Good for Us?

Not too long ago, here I wrote an article about when to hold a kicker to three aces while playing a Double Double Bonus progressive. The thumbnail conclusion was that if four aces pay 800 coins, and the aces-with-a-kicker (AWAK) progressive is at least 2285 coins, from a hand like AAA53, you should hold AAA3.

Whether you understood the article or not, assume for today that the previous sentence is true and that you and Al (whom you’ll meet shortly) both believe that and play that way.

Posted on February 18, 2020August 24, 2023 by Bob Dancer — 13 Comments

What Time Is It?

It was approaching midnight recently as I played a progressive at a Las Vegas casino. This was a casino that changed multipliers every day, and today I was receiving the highest possible multiplier. Tomorrow my multiplier was likely to be smaller. It didn’t have to be, but I wouldn’t know what it would be until I swiped after midnight. It was not a casino where you had to swipe for your multiplier before you started playing, but rather one where you just had to swipe before you left.

The progressive was high enough that it was worth playing whatever the multiplier was, but obviously, the bigger the multiplier the better.

Posted on February 11, 2020August 24, 2023 by Bob Dancer — 11 Comments

The Math is Meaningless!

An interesting article was recently published by FrankB on the gamblingwithanedge.com blog. (I think of that page as “my page” because GWAE is “my show.” In fact, I’m only a co-host on the show and one of many gambling experts who publish on that page — which is hosted by Anthony Curtis’ Las Vegas Advisor. Whether it’s my page or not, I’m proud to be associated with it.)

FrankB is a friend, and quite expert at figuring out combinational mathematics, among other things. Doing it the way he did, his 1-in-288 million is computationally correct. But I have a major bone to pick with doing it that way.

Posted on February 4, 2020August 24, 2023 by Bob Dancer — 11 Comments

It’s Not About Trying

I was teaching an NSU Deuces Wild (the 16-10-4-4-3 version that returns 99.73% with perfect play), and was discussing the hand 3♥ 5♥ 7♥ K♣ Q♣. The correct play, by a mile, is to hold the hearts. One player raised his hand and said:

“But just what are you trying to get holding the hearts? You’re mainly going to get low-valued hands and the highest possibility is only worth $50. Why don’t you go for the KQ and try for a $4,000 royal flush? It doesn’t happen very often, I realize, but the possibility is there and when you hit it, you feel good!”

Posted on January 22, 2020August 24, 2023 by Bob Dancer — 6 Comments

Too Good to be True

Somebody sent me this photo of what was undoubtedly a casino mistake. It was sent several weeks before the publish date of this article, so there’s no chance of it still being around. But it’s worth discussing anyway.

There is a bank of eight machines with a nickel 8/5 Double Double Bonus progressive poker game. This is normally a 96.79% game before you include the progressives, which is fairly typical for a nickel pay schedule.

Posted on January 14, 2020August 24, 2023 by Bob Dancer — 7 Comments

A Look at Cheaters Always Win by J. M. Fenster

Richard Munchkin and I were sent review copies of this book in order for us to determine if we wanted the author on our Gambling with an Edge podcast. It turned out I liked the book very much, recommend it, but don’t feel it’s appropriate for the show.

There is some gambling-related content to the book, but generally these are anecdotes about gamblers who cheated. Some of the anecdotes I had heard before. Some I hadn’t. But these kinds of anecdotes don’t lend themselves to follow-up questions.

Posted on January 7, 2020August 24, 2023 by Bob Dancer — Leave a comment

Ace versus JT in 9-5 Super Double Bonus

To get the most out of the January Promotion of the Month at South Point, you need to play $8,000 in coin-in, four days a week. For every $2,000 coin-in played, you get a virtual spin. In the past, this virtual spin has averaged more than $12, which adds 0.60% to the return. Since this is normally a slot club worth 0.30%, for four days a week you get triple points for the first $8,000 coin-in. (This would be equivalent to 9x points at casinos that offer a 0.10% slot club).

Playing $8,000 coin-in a day is an impossible amount for nickel single-line players, and no-big-deal to $5 and higher players. The question is: What games do they have that combine a decent return and enough coin-in per play that it won’t take you all day to do it?

Category: Advanced Strategy