This is a continuation of last week’s discussion. You might want to check that blog out for context. Consider the values of these combinations, playing 9/6 Jacks or Better for dollars, five coins at a time. Note that the value of these combinations can vary depending on the other two cards in the hands. In […]
Posts by
A Look at SF3+1, SF3+0, SF3-1, and SF3-2 —...
When Liam W. Daily and I began looking at publishing strategy cards and later Winner’s Guides for a number of video poker games, we devised a terminology for discussing the various forms of 3-card straight flush combinations. We decided to start from zero, add one for every high card in the combination, and subtract one for every […]
The Value of Creating Strategies
In my opinion, much of the value of a strategy lies in the creation process — figuring out what makes this game different from the others; looking for the rare cases; figuring out how to transcribe those cases — not in using a strategy created by somebody else. When I’m looking for the rare cases, […]
Do Strong Players Ruin It for Everybody Else?
I received an email from Deke Castleman with the Las Vegas Advisor asking me if I’d answer the following QOD (Question of the Day): The QoD on Station Casinos giving zero player points on some video pokermachines generated lots of strong reader comments. One opinion is thatAdvantage Players are one contributing cause for lessening, even […]
There’s a Reason
The following is a true story, other than the names of the gamblers. It happened at Harrah’s Atlantic City a number of years ago. Since I’ve played little at this particular casino, and always as a tourist rather than a local, I might have some of the details wrong. But the gist of this story […]
I Almost Threw It Away
Bonnie and I have been married nine years now, and she turned 80 years old June 3. From the get-go, she knew I was a professional gambler, and it became clear to me early on that she had no potential to understand advantage gambling. But she enjoys the meals, cruises, and other traveling that my […]
Hospitals Are No Fun
I missed my blog for May 30. Sometimes I have a number of blogs “in the bank,” but not at the moment. My cupboard was bare and I was too incapacitated to refill it. I thought I’d share with you what happened. It has nothing to do with gambling (although there was one AP move […]
Cutting it Close
Bonnie and I were staying at the Eldorado in Reno just before Mother’s Day. Through a combination of offers in both Reno and Lake Tahoe (about 60 miles from each other, reachable to and from the RNO airport by a $60-per-person-round-trip shuttle), it made sense for us to spend time at both casinos and fly […]
Which One is Better?
I’m going to present a case about a Caesars property with conditions that may not exist anywhere. I’m trying to address how I would figure things out if this property did exist. I know many of my readers would prefer I do all the calculations for their particular casino and tell them, “Just do this.” […]
Maybe Not My Best Plan
Today’s story has nothing to do with gambling — video poker or otherwise. I’m on a cruise ship and have “checked out” from thinking about gambling. I’ll be back to talking about gambling next week. For those of you who read this despite it being outside of my normal subject matter, I hope you enjoy […]