If you read my first blog post, you know there’s a lot more wildlife in Las Vegas than what can be found in the club scene. But I know what you’re thinking: “Hey, Dave, that sounds nice and all, but Vegas time is precious time and I’m not leaving the greatest four-mile stretch on Earth to go traipsing all over.”
Fine, but in that case, can I interest you in some wildlife right on the Strip?
Continue reading Since You Asked — Wildlife on the StripRecently 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.
Continue reading The 24th Annual Blackjack BallNot 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.
Continue reading Is it Good for Me or Good for Us?[Editor’s Note: Our new blogger, Floridian “Dapper” Dave Kamsler, is a Vegas veteran, having made more than 50 trips, ranging from three days to three weeks, in his Vegas “career.” He estimates that he’s spent 3% of his life in Las Vegas hotel rooms. He’s a CPA who’s also done some sportscasting on radio and television, and he was one of only 39 winners (out of 206,000 entrants) in FanDuel’s 2019 NFL Survivor Pool, so he’ll have some insight to offer on sports as well. Most of all, he’s stayed at plenty of places and done plenty of things in Vegas that you’ve only heard about — and many that you haven’t — so he’ll offer up trip reviews and photos to help you discover and enjoy more of our favorite city. Take it: Dave.]
Hey, remember when the MGM Grand used to have live lions? I’m sure you never stopped to think about it, but those lions didn’t actually live on the casino floor. The lived off-site and were transported to the MGM Grand every day. (And no, there’s no truth to the rumor that the lions were banned from the casino for counting cards!)
Continue reading Since You Asked — Lion Habitat RanchIt 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.
Continue reading What Time Is It?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.
Continue reading The Math is Meaningless!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!”
Continue reading It’s Not About TryingI recently entered a local casino shortly after 4 a.m. and swiped my card at the kiosk. On the screen read words to the effect of “Unable to Access Your Card at This Time!” I swiped at an adjacent kiosk and received the same message.
This could mean several things. One possibility was that the casino was doing daily maintenance — such as, for example, calculating multipliers from the previous day. This happens sometime “early” in the morning. Maybe 2 a.m. Maybe 3 a.m. Maybe 4 a.m. Depends on the casino. This was the most benign thing that could happen. I hoped this was the explanation.
Continue reading No Time to Panic!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.
Continue reading Too Good to be TrueRichard 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.
Continue reading A Look at Cheaters Always Win by J. M. Fenster