Not long ago I was teaching a Quick Quads class at the South Point. As often occurs, after the class several students came up to chat. Sometimes they just come up to thank me; sometimes they want to ask about a particular hand; and sometimes people hang out just to hear my answers to questions that others are asking. Continue reading It’s Better to Do It Yourself
How Casinos Cheat, Part I: The Last Mechanic, WMDs, and Dr. Kervorkian
Probably every month, some rookie counter posts online about some horrendous loss, and then says, “I wonder if I was cheated.” Hmm, you’re playing a game that with perfect execution is a super-marginal grind, and in any other scenario is negative or just pure variance, so what did you really expect to happen? What does Occam’s Razor say? The debate often turns to whether or not a casino would risk losing its gaming license (ha!), or whether or not you can hear seconds being dealt (Knish certainly can). Continue reading How Casinos Cheat, Part I: The Last Mechanic, WMDs, and Dr. Kervorkian
Comparing the Values of 3-card Straight Flushes Among Games
When Liam W. Daily and I were devising our strategy cards and Winner’s Guides several years ago, we noticed that in many games, the value of certain 3-card straight flushes was similar. In 9/6 Jacks or Better, for example, KQ9 (two high cards and two insides) is worth $3.21, JT8 (one high card and one inside) is worth $3.20, and 345 (no high cards and no insides) is worth $3.18. In all cases, I am assuming a 5-coin dollar player and the last two cards in the hand provide neither flush nor straight interference. Continue reading Comparing the Values of 3-card Straight Flushes Among Games
Is This Fair?
The specifics of the following are fiction. But similar situations have happened numerous times.
Let’s say there’s a drawing at a casino, with about 50,000 tickets in the barrel. I’ve hammered away at a $25 machine for 15 hours and have 800 tickets myself, resulting from $800,000 coin-in. A lady in green, on the other hand, is a quarter player who played four hours and has 3 tickets. We both show up, hoping to win the $25,000 prize. Continue reading Is This Fair?
How We Do It: Going through an Airport
I remember where I was on 9/11 (or 20010911, as a programmer would write it)—I had pulled an all-nighter playing and scouting Vegas, and I was just settling into my cozy bed at the Budget Inn downtown, across from the Greyhound bus station. On the TV I saw the live footage of the smoking World Trade Center buildings, before the second tower was hit. In my hometown, Continue reading How We Do It: Going through an Airport
Good Thing the Machine Malfunctioned and Should You Make a Fuss?
Author’s note: I am posting two articles today, September 9, and none next week. This article tells of a September South Point promotion that is good for the player community and will expire September 30. Therefore I didn’t want to delay it another week.
Continue reading Good Thing the Machine Malfunctioned and Should You Make a Fuss?
Blackjacknesia
My old BP “Santi” made a comment about one of our fabulous comeback wins, a quality game where we were down to the felt—no chips, no cash, no time. Well, almost. We had a little cash, a little time, and a big edge. It really was a phenomenal comeback, a fun time, and a happy memory, except for one thing. I don’t really remember it. Continue reading Blackjacknesia
Negative Variance, Juicy Count Games, and Ishniae (sp?)
In a previous post, I criticized the loser’s mentality of counters. The belief that hardening oneself to pain is a necessary and advisable part of the AP career is counterproductive. Many counters spend ridiculous amounts of time and emotional energy trying to answer the question, “How unlucky was I?” Instead of calculating how many standard deviations “below EV” you were, why not spend your time and effort trying to raise your edge? This message was lost or not well received by the counters reading my blog. Continue reading Negative Variance, Juicy Count Games, and Ishniae (sp?)
First Things First
This article was first published in 2005. The specific game I was playing is no longer found at this particular casino — and now I’m married to Bonnie rather than Shirley. But the point the article makes is still a good one to remember.
I was playing NSU Deuces Wild one evening recently at the Palms. Depending on the specific promotion, I frequently play on multi denomination ($1, $2, $5) Triple Play / Five Play machines that have several choices of games to play. I hear a female voice to my right querying, “Why does everyone play Deuces Wild on these machines?” Continue reading First Things First
A No Brainer — Or So I Thought
This past Saturday, August 23, the Palms casino in Las Vegas hosted a $50,000 slot tournament. This was a tournament where, so far as I know, extremely limited skill was required. As long as you were hitting the button whenever the reels were stopped, you were going to get the maximum score that your particular machine would allow for that session. Whether it was a little or a lot was dependent on the luck of the draw. Continue reading A No Brainer — Or So I Thought