Got a question for the GameMaster? E-mail him here and he'll answer you personally, as soon as possible. Questions of general interest will be posted here, but we won't use your name or e-mail address unless you want us to.

GameMaster,

Thanks for the information on slots at Lake Tahoe and Reno. Are the odds better on video poker? I guess I just considered that as a slot machine, also. Is it possible to win on them? Nickels, or quarters? My mother has better luck in Las Vegas when she switches to dollar slots (not video poker, though.)

Regards,
Diane

Stumbled upon your webpage and I think it is great ... I am a keen player of Black Jack in Melbourne's Crown Casino and would like to know what you think the best betting stradegy is . The Crown Casino uses eight decks of cards .

Thankyou for your time ...

Dear Global,

Unless you are counting cards, the house has an edge over you and there is no method of betting which will overcome that. Take a look at my article on the Ace-5 count which can be found on the Information Page. Yours for winning,
The GameMaster Online
July 30th, 1997

I have been looking for an on-line casino that offers Baccarat. As of now I have not been able to locate one. I wonder if you are aware of any that may be offering Baccarat either at present time or in the near future. I would be forever in your debt if you could point me in the right direction. Thank you in advance.

Steve C.

Dear Steve,

Yours for winning,
The GameMaster Online
July 30th, 97

What do you think of the strategy of playing the field with pyramiding bets? For example, 1st bet is X. If its a winner, take it and bet X the next time. If its a loser, second bet is 2X. If it loses, third bet is 4X. If it loses the fourth bet is 8X...and so on. Will table limits ruin this strategy? What are typical table limits in Atlantic City?

Dear Mike,

This strategy, which is often called the Martingale system, is exactly why casinos have table limits. No, repeat no, method of betting will consistently overcome a game in which the casino has a built-in edge, as they do at craps.

I don't know the limits in A.C. firsthand, but they're probably $2500 or so. Just remember that on bet five, you're at 16X your minimum and you need that just to break even. Tough way to make an easy living.

-July 20th, 1997
The GameMaster Online

In reference to Joker Poker 5 of a kind quarters. Should I stop playing my present machine after I hit a straight flush or does this have no effect for the jackpot payout?

It has no effect; you could easily hit one in the next hand. The only thing we can say for sure is that after a million hands or so, a straight flush will occur once every 'X' hands on average. But how they actually show up is anybody's guess.

July 16, 1997 -The GameMaster

I noticed people come and play the machines next to me while my machine is ringing a jackpot. This has happened more than once. Is this a stategy that you have heard of? Do they think the machine next to a jackpot will pay out soon also?

That's probably what they think, but if you were at a 'loose' machine, it seems to me that the casino's strategy would be to put 'tight' machines to either side of a loose one in order to draw in players.

July 16, 1997
-The GameMaster

Do you know the best system on baccarat? I am planning to buy the Leonard Benson Co. system for $495.00 on the internet (www.entre.net.com/), but I am still skeptical. Please advise. Thanks!

Dear Rolando,

Remain skepitcal, because there is no system which will beat Baccarat on a consistent basis. If Mr. Benson's method worked, he'd be using it himself, instead of trying to get your hard-earned money. The casino has a built-in edge on the game which cannot be overcome in the long term.

-July 16, 1997
-The GameMaster Online

There is a new VP game at the Alton Belle with a pay table I have never seen before. It is a 25 cent progressive. Can you tell me the % payback at minimum payout for a royal?

Thank you.
Bob A

Dear Bob,

My gut feeling is that this interesting twist to Double Bonus (which has a long term return of about 100.15% to the player who uses proper playing strategy). has been put in to trick those who have been playing 9/6 Jacks. A quick glance will show a 12/7 format, but it's a fooler. Let's see what this returns.

I'm doing what I call a 'field' evaluation which is rough but quick and fairly accurate. What I do is compare the payouts to a known game (here it's Double Bonus) and subtract or add, as appropriate. I'll leave the figuring out to the third decimal point to those who get their kicks calculating instead of looking for profitable opportunities.

We have to set the royal aside for the moment. The Straight Flush is double, so we pick up about 1% there. The increase on 4 aces helps a bit, but there's a big drop on all the others (as opposed to Double Bonus) so we lose about 6.1% there. The Full House adds 3.3% and the flush adds about 1.1%. The lesser payouts are the same, so there's no change with them. Therefore, we add 1 + 3.3 + 1.1 = 5.4 minus 6.1 = (.7). Take that from the 100.15% and we see that the long term payout is about 99.4% with the royal at 4000 coins. Now, back to the royal. Each $250 increase in the royal will add about .5% to the payback, so figure that in when you're there.

This an interesting move on the part of the Belle; what they've done is increase the volatility of the game (versus the 9/6 Jacks which has always been the reason to go to the Belle) while keeping the overall payout about the same. Let me explain that. The two-pair payoff is 5 for 5 on this game, but 10 for 5 on a Jacks game. You will receive, on average, a hand of two-pair once every 8 plays. Two-pair returns almost 26% of the payback in a Jacks game. That has been changed in this new game so two-pair only gives you back 13%. Yet the overall return is about the same but it comes with less-frequent hands. Thus, on a good day, you'll win a lot quicker, but on a bad day you'll lose a lot faster. That's what I mean by volatility; the fluctuations of your bankroll will be bigger. Yet, at the end of the month, the Belle will still show a return of 99.4% on these machines and that will keep their slot payback percentage figure high which is a primary competitive factor (higher % paybacks draw the crowds). But they'll burn out more customers more quickly on these machines since most people will likely be underfinanced as compared to the 9/6 Jacks.

But what the Belle has really done is spring a new strategy on all those who had learned to play the 9/6 machines properly. The casino will make a lot of $$$ just through player's mistakes, and while I realize that casinos have to make a profit, it's sad to see what was once the best video poker in the Midwest begin to fade away. Oh, well. Let your feet do the voting; Harrah's has 9/6 with progressive 4K, straight flush and royal. Not a lot, too be sure, but they've got 'em.

July 16, 1997
The GameMaster Online

While in Vegas over this past holiday weekend, I happened onto a double deck game at the Casino Royale on the Strip. There were only three of us on the table...an obvious card counter, another woman and myself. The pit boss(es) stood right behind the dealer(s) 90 percent of the time.

The deck was shuffled after every 3 hands...or sooner if the counter upped his bet too much.

And yet we were all still making good money.

The pit boss whispered to the dealer (being at first base I could hear this) to stop stripping out the cards. To his credit, the dealer 'forgot' to do this.

What difference would this have made?

Thanks for the reply in advance.

AMS

Dear AMS,

'Stripping' is an action that a dealer may use in between 'riffles' of the deck which essentially reverses the order of the cards. I am unaware of that action being either good or bad; my opinion is that the pit critter thought he'd make a difference in the win at the table, but -- like most in the business -- he doesn't know much about card counting. If stripping or not stripping made a real difference, then every casino would do it. The real effective move was the shallow penetration he was enforcing.

However, if that counter was smart, he was upping his bet when the count moved in favor of the house. That action forced the dealer to shuffle away 'bad' decks but, by flat-betting, the counter would keep the 'good' counts around a little longer.

That brings us to The GameMaster's "First Law of Blackjack Physics": For every countermeasure introduced by the casino, we will develop an equal, but opposite reaction.

-The GameMaster
July 10, 1997