Author: Bob Dancer

Las Vegas has a colorful history, to say the least. I’ve read several books about it and I knew that Jay Sarno was the name of the man who created Caesars Palace (which opened in 1966) at the tail-end of the mob era in Las Vegas. That was the limit of my knowledge about Jay Sarno.

David G. Schwartz, Director of Gaming Research at UNLV, has written a biography about Sarno called Grandissimo: The First Emperor of Las Vegas. Richard Munchkin and I decided to schedule him to appear on our Gambling with an Edge radio show partly because it was a good excuse for both of us to read the book and learn more about a prominent figure in Las Vegas history. And since I read the book well enough to ask questions about it on the radio interview, it gives me enough information to share with you. Continue reading A Look at Grandissimo: The First Emperor of Las Vegas

A recent thread on the vpFREE bulletin board began with a complaint that the kiosk games at an unnamed casino were unfair. Seems that when the poster was prompted to choose among five or so different icons, he always received something like 3,000 points valued at $3. After he made his choice, the prizes behind the other icons were displayed, showing that prizes up to 500,000 points were available.

He played enough to correctly come to the conclusion that the game was rigged and he had no chance for the bigger prizes. He was questioning the legality and fairness of having kiosk games like this. Continue reading Sometimes I Prefer Unfair Games

Last week I began a brief history of my experiences at Suncoast. If necessary, I suggest you begin there, available here, and then continue with the story below. I’ll be happy to wait.
Continue reading Booting Players the Suncoast Way — Part 2 of 2

I’m writing this from somewhere in the middle of the Sargasso Sea. Before today I didn’t even know where the Sargasso Sea was. Although I’m sure many of my readers know well that the Sargasso Sea is an area of the North Atlantic Ocean just to the east of the United States in the mid-Atlantic region, this was one of many geographic facts that I simply didn’t know. So as I write this, I’m cruising aboard the Norwegian Cruise Line Breakaway headed back to New York City after spending three lovely days in Bermuda. I discovered I’m in the Sargasso Sea by glancing at the televised “Where are we now?” screen in my stateroom. The same information was surely available to me on the southbound leg of the trip, of course, but I didn’t take the time to look at it. Continue reading Big Things and Little Things

Straight flushes, which consist of five consecutive cards in the same suit, excluding the ‘AKQJT’ royal flush, are tough to get. In Jacks or Better (also called Draw Poker), straight flushes happen every 9,000 hands or so and are paid 250 coins. Compare that to 4-of-a-kinds, which happen every 430 hands or so and are paid 125 coins. In that game, straight flushes are paid twice as much, but are 22 times as hard to get. Doesn’t seem fair.
Continue reading Why Don’t Straight Flushes Pay More?