Don’t Pass Wagers in Craps
March 14, 2008
Before a point is establish in craps, most players will typically have a pass line wager. You can also bet on the “wrong” bettor and place your wager on the don’t pass line, which may not be a popular bet since you are rooting against everyone at the table. The don’t pass bet is an-even money wager that the shooter will either roll a seven before a point number repeats itself or crap-out on the come-out roll by rolling either a two or a three. Although a two, three, and...
Split Bets in Roulette
March 14, 2008
If you are at the roulette table and distance prevents you from reaching one side of the table, then just ask the dealer to kindly place your wager there for you. If you want a 0/00 split then most of the time you will be able to put it between the 2ND and 3RD section of 12, but make sure you ask the dealer if this is ok to prevent you from getting worked over in the case you actually hit. A split bet is a two number wager that allows you to cover two numbers with one bet. If either of these two...
Banker in Pai Gow Poker
March 13, 2008
Pai Gow Poker is a casino game that is played with up to six players and the banker, each of which is dealt seven cards. There are no draws. Each player arranges cards into two poker hands, one of five and the other of two cards. To win, both your five-card hand and your two-card hand must beat the banker’s corresponding hands. Winning one and losing the other is a push. Normally it’s the dealer who is the banker, but in Pai Gow Poker any player can be the banker. A small plastic...
Wheel of Fortune Slot Machines
March 9, 2008
If you have ever seen the slot machine Wheel of Fortune at your local casino then you probably know just how popular it is. I have seen players waiting nearly an hour just to get a sit for the chance to take a few pulls and a chance to win grand prizes. Since the game is so popular we figured we would take a look at the payback percentages on these machines, the frequency of payoffs, and how often a bonus spin appears for the play. The game is produced by International Game Technologies and is...
Tic Tac Toe Chicken Challenge
March 9, 2008
Maybe you have heard the rumor of the Tic-Tac-Toe Chicken Challenge that has been played at the Tropicana in Atlantic City and Trump 29 in Palm Springs. Sure enough, this is a real game that you can play at both of these fine establishments, but before you go jumping into the mix you might want to read the rest of this article by Mark Pilarski. Ginger, the chicken extraordinaire is the name that two casinos have given the animal that I know of have used to cook the goose of many intrepids who wanted...
How Do Casinos Make Money
March 9, 2008
It seems pretty obvious that casinos make money. I mean how else would they build the fancy hotels and spend so much money luring the player into their pits. There are some of you out there though who look at this and still don’t understand how it is done, so this article focuses on how casinos make their money. Casinos make money on their games because of the mathematics behind the games. The house has a well-calculated advantage on each and every bet wagered. If they didn’t have...
Baseball Method for Playing Slots
March 9, 2008
The essence of the baseball method for playing slots is the philosophy of three strikes and you’re out. If you pull the handle three straight times, and if lose on every single pull then it’s time to move to another machine. What this method does is prevent you from losing oodles of money to any one specific machine that is in a losing cycle. When you move along after three pulls with no winning results, you never become a prisoner to one machine-which has a huge built-in mathematical...
Rake on Three Card Poker Hands
March 9, 2008
There are some Indian casinos out there who offer 3-card poker but make you pay 50 cents per hand just to get in on the action. They sometimes try to get away with this tactic by telling players that the odds on three-card poker are so good that this is the only way for them to make any money. Our casino expert Mark Pilarski says this is a bunch of hogwash.In poker, the fifty cent juice per hand is called the rake; money that the casino charges for each hand of poker. It is usually a percentage...
Good Books for Learning Poker
March 8, 2008
If you are a newbie to poker and want to learn the rules and some general strategies then you should check out the book for dummies, called Poker for Dummies. Because one of its authors is Lou Kreiger (I am a longtime fan of his witticism and knowledge), I give it an enthusiastic thumb’s up. Poker for Dummies will show you systematically how to bet, bluff, and play your way to the top, from seven-card stud, to Omaha, to Texas Hold’em. Read it, and you’ll be a dummy no more.Now...
Man Bets Life Saving on One Roulette Spin
March 8, 2008
Back in 2006 there was a man who on live television walked into a casino in Las Vegas, and bet his entire life savings. This caught a lot of attention in the news, because it was such a large wager and that it was so odd for someone to risk it all. Mark Pilarski weighs in on his thoughts. The person who did this was Ashley Revell, who put up his entire net worth of $135,300 on red at the roulette table while a British film crew recorded the event. However, it was not live as your question suggests,...