In video poker, I am interested in whether or not I am winning for the year. I care very little about whether I am winning today, and I care not at all about individual hands — unless that hand is something like Kâ™ Qâ™ Jâ™ Tâ™ 5♣. That hand gets my blood pumping. Especially when I am playing multi-line games like Triple Play, Five Play, Ten Play, Fifty Play, or Hundred Play. Continue reading How Often Do You Win a Hand?
Learning How to Lose
I used to play a lot of backgammon for money. Backgammon is not a casino game, but it is a gambling game nonetheless. From 1973 through 1991 I spent many thousands of hours playing competitive backgammon. I was good, but not great. I was only able to keep my head above water by competing with players not as skilled as I was. To do this consistently required strong backgammon skills, but also many social skills. Fortunately for me, I was the favorite in most matches for at least the last five years that I played. Continue reading Learning How to Lose
What’s the Background of a Quad?
I recently received a letter from someone who asked if more quads started as a single pair or as three of a kind? An interesting question to examine with not as easy an answer as you might expect. And since the letter was referring to games without wild cards, I’ll limit this discussion to that as well. Continue reading What’s the Background of a Quad?
More on unsuited AK, AQ and AJ in Double Bonus
In last week’s column I gave the rules for when you should choose an unsuited AK, AQ or AJ in Double Bonus, and when you should choose the A by itself. Since everybody has access to that article on-line, perhaps you should review it before you continue with this one.
The question I get most about these rules is: “Why?” Looking for the presence of low cards and off-suit tens seems strange. So this article addresses the “how come?” Continue reading More on unsuited AK, AQ and AJ in Double Bonus
Unsuited AK, AQ, and AJ in 10/7 Double Bonus
In my early years of video poker (say 1994-2000) 10/7 Double Bonus was one of my main games. As I increased the stakes for which I played, I drifted away from this game. It’s still available in Las Vegas for low stakes, but casinos that offer it punish players who play it — by reducing or eliminating the slot club and other benefits.
Still, it’s a slightly positive game from the get go and it still has its adherents. Popular or not, the correct play on hands hasn’t changed since I played it regularly. Continue reading Unsuited AK, AQ, and AJ in 10/7 Double Bonus
Money Management Rules Are Largely Worthless
Video poker is the only game at which I gamble. Although I moved to Vegas more than twenty years ago to count cards at blackjack and used to play both bridge and backgammon for money, today it’s video poker exclusively for me. But I still read publications devoted to other games. Occasionally I’ll read something by someone writing about another game that will give me insight into how I can improve my video poker play. Poker magazines, especially the free ones given out in poker rooms, are part of my library. Continue reading Money Management Rules Are Largely Worthless
An Open Invitation
It hasn’t been much of a secret, but Bonnie and I are celebrating a wedding commitment ceremony on Friday, May 23. The ceremony itself will take place in the late afternoon and there will only be about 30 family members and close friends in attendance.
However, the reception afterwards, from 7:00-9:30 p.m., is an open affair. Anyone who has warm feelings toward the bride and groom is welcome to attend. It will not be a “typical” wedding reception — if there is such a thing. It will be a square dance! Continue reading An Open Invitation
How We Do It: Handing Off a Seat
In this first post in the “How We Do It” series, I would like to discuss an extremely important task, nay, skill, that card counters have never even considered, but which my crew faces on a near-daily basis:
Michael Sam, Meritocracy, and … Gambling!
I admit it—I am putty in the hands of the mind-shaping juggernaut that is ESPN. By the time I wake up in the morning, the same episode of SportsCenter has been burned into my subconscious three times. (Thank goodness I don’t sleep late, or it would be twelve times.)
So, like millions of Americans, I followed the recent NFL Draft with bated breath, as if the fortunes of Jadeveon Clowney, Johnny Manziel, and Michael Sam have any significant impact on my life.
He Beat Me—Straight Up …
As I promised, I’ll now reveal my favorite gambling movie. There are a few “classics” that I haven’t seen, but I doubt that they can supplant my favorite.