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FRONT PAGE - Back to THE ADVISOR PAGE 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,
I just found your site due to some browsing in yahoo. I did
read your column at RGT and found some good info. I'm glad you broke away
from RGT and have given your opinion on on-line gambling. I never saw a good
article about them in rants and raves and RGT continued to accept their
advertising. I wouldn't bet a dime with any of them because no one really
knows who they are or who regulates them. If I have a problem at a casino, I
can talk to someone and usually get it worked out.
Keep up the good work.
Trey
Long time readers of the RGT will recognize Trey. Good to have you as a reader, and thanks for the comments. A Blackjack question...
Hello,
I was interested in the difference in odds between standard blackjack
odds and the dealer playing all cards face up and taking pushes. I
believe this game is much worse than the regular game, but just how much
worse is it????
Dear Robert,
The big difference in this game is how Blackjacks are paid. Normally, it's
3 to 2 but most 'double exposure' games pay only even money on a player's
natural. As surprising as it seems, the fact that the dealer takes pushes
is more than compensated by the player knowing what the dealer's hole card
is; the big edge for the house is gained via the even-money payout on a natural.
In practice, most double exposure games have about a 1 to 1.5%% edge over
the player who utilizes proper basic strategy (such as routinely splitting a
pair of 10s against a dealer's 16!) as opposed to 'regular' Blackjack where
the house edge is about .5%. The double exposure game with decent rules
can be beaten very handily by a card counter and it's a money-making
situation which is overlooked by most.
If you have a specific game in mind, let me know the rules (double only on
10 & 11, no double after split, etc.) and I'll tell you what their edge is.
One important rule is whether or not you may split unlike ten-value cards,
ie. a Queen and a Jack, or if you may only split pairs.
Yours for winning,
-The GameMaster Slots and the Random Number Generator...
I have been told by numerous slot mechanics that the new (last 8 years)
slots with wheels are completely computer driven. In that I mean, that
when you drop the first coin, the RNG picks a winner or no winner, and
the outcome is also based upon how much the machine has taken in and
paid out. The wheels are just a show. There could be a video screen
which said winner and how much (it would say loser much, much more
often). Of course, the RNG will not know how many coins you put in, so
you always play max coins. If this is true, how is the algorithm set?
The slots are set to winning percentages by the Hotel. How does this
equate to random when the house can set the machine to pay?
Please explain, as I am very perplexed. I used to love the slots, but
now I can hardly get payouts. Its like the casinos moved the good slots
away.
Thanks, Dear Sid,
What you say about slots is true; the RNG (Random Number Generator) chooses
the combination when the first coin goes in, but extra coins played will
multiply the win IF a winning combination has been selected.
As for the percentage payoff, it is established over a series of spins, say
1,000,000. What that means is that for 1,000,000 spins, the payback will
total 85% of all the money put in, but within that series, there could be
several very large 'wins' back-to-back, or they might occur 50,000 spins
apart or ...? The only thing the casino knows for sure is that over time,
they'll keep 15% of all the money put in; in the space of 1000 spins, almost
anything can happen. They accept that risk as part of the game, plus it
makes machines appear to be 'hot' and they love that.
I urge you to consider switching from slots to video poker where, for the
most part, payouts are higher and far more predictable, since in VP there
are far fewer combinations which can come up.
Yours for winning,
-The GameMaster 5-cent VP machines...
Gamemaster,
You recently answered an interesting question regarding when one should
invest in a nickel video poker machine. The writer asked about playing a vp
nickel machine with a jackpot over $900 ... you advised it was a good bet.
I'm curious. I always asssumed the vig on a nickel machine, slot or vp, was
outrageous and too high to mess with ... am I wrong? When should I play with
a nickel vp machine (aside from the obvious "when you're nearly broke!")
Thanks, Dear Chase,
One cannot lump nickel video poker machines together with nickel slots
regarding payouts, since the return on a VP machine can be determined by the
payout schedule; that's not the case with a slot where, as you say, the
'vig' is usually outrageous. The writer of the question to which you refer
did not tell me what format the machine was, but as I stated in my answer,
if it was an 8/5 format, the $900 jackpot made for profitable play. To see
how that works, look at the "Video Poker Bible" column on the strategy page.
As to when you can play 5-cent VP machines, do so when the payback is at
100% or more; they will usually be progressives. For example, on an 8/5
Jacks or Better machine, it's when the royal is at least $475. Such
situations are rare but they do exist, especially in a competitive market
like Vegas.
If any of our readers know of the location of good nickel machines, please
let me know and I'll post them.
Yours for winning,
-The GameMaster Superbucks Blackjack
Well, this weekend I made my first trip to the new Crown casino here
in Melbourne They have another type of BJ offered I thought I'd ask you about;
they call it Superbucks Blackjack, and it's a jackpot sidebet.
As you've seen casinos have jackpots on pokie machines, with the jackpot
displayed in an updated sign ticking over.
The Superbucks BJ also has this same kind of jackpot sign, updating the
jackpot each second or so. When I saw it the jackpot was around $42K, and
I was told that the week earlier someone took away $100K+.
The Superbucks is a $1 side bet made each hand, if you want it, and the
payout is based on receiving Aces as follows:
To me, first impressions, it seemed like something to occasionally
take on a whim, but then I was wondering about side-counting aces ....
In your experience, would you consider it worth the effort of trying
to side count aces, or is it simply getting an extra dollar out of the
hunch gamblers?
Look forward to hearing from the GameMaster Dear Graeme,
This is almost as much fun to figure out as it is to play. The aces bonus
is much like the side bet we have here called "Super Sevens" with some
variations. My 'knee-jerk' reaction is that this has a huge house edge, but
let's examine it anyway. The odds of receiving two unsuited aces on the
deal in a six-deck game is figured by multiplying 24/312 times 18/311 =
.00445. Let me explain that. At the shuffle, there is a chance of getting
1 of 24 aces from the 312 cards not yet dealt, so the odds of 1 ace are 24
in 312 or 1 in 13. To get an unsuited second ace, we must remove the 5
suited aces from the equation (though we will get back to them for the next
payoff), so we're left with 18 'other' aces and 311 cards. Multiplying
those two fractions gives us the probability, .00445 or once every 225 hands
or so. Thus, the casino is paying 25 to 1 for a 224 to one shot. The
probability for 2 suited aces on the deal is 24/312 times 5/311 or .00124 or
about once every 806 hands. Here, the casino is paying $100 to 1 on an 804
to 1 shot. If you combine the two, the probability of getting any two aces
on the deal is .00569 or once every 175 hands. Make $175 in side bets and
you'll likely win $25 and every once in a while you'll win $100. The
actual 'expectation' is .00445 X $25 + .00124 X $100 = .235 or 23.5 cents
return.
Three unsuited and suited aces are figured essentially the same way and we
find the probability for 3 unsuited aces is .000388 and for three suited
aces is .0000159. The expectation for those two is (.000388 X $250 +
.0000159 X $2500 = .137 or 13.7 cents return. I'll save us both the pain and let you know that to get any four aces is the
product of 24/312 times 23/311 times 22/310 times 21/309 or about once every
36,000 hands. That's a probability of .0000277 and a return of
.0000277 X $5000 = .1385 or almost 14 cents. If you think about it, this is
like going after a royal flush at video poker. The probability is the same,
but you're risking $1 to win $5000 whereas in VP, you'd have to risk $5 to
win a $4000 royal at a $1 machine. The problem is that the smaller payoffs
don't go very far, like they do in VP. This game has all the payback stacked
on the 'high-end'. Incidentally, I have received four straight aces. I had
$200 bet, split aces and received 2 more as hit cards. There I was with 2
$200 12s and the dealer was showing a 10. She flipped over another 10 and
scooped up my $$$. I didn't know until know that it was a 1-in-36,000 event.
The odds of receiving four black or four red aces in the first four cards
dealt are about 2,000,000 to 1. It happens, but probably won't happen to
you or me. That's a probability of .0000005 and with the jackpot at $40,000
yields a return of .02 or 2 cents. Adding up all the payouts (did I forget
anything?), we find a return of 23.5 + 13.7 + 13.9 + 2 = 53.1 cents on our
$1 bet. Not unlike that of the side bet in Caribbean Stud; a "modest" 46.9%
house edge. (I could be off a bit, since I don't know if the original $1 bet
is returned or not, but you get the idea.)
What's the effect if one is keeping track of the aces and a deck gets
'rich'? As an example, let's say a full deck has been played (of the six in
the shoe) and not one ace has appeared. We will have 24 aces remaining in
260 cards, so the probability for two unsuited aces is now 24/260 times
18/259 == .00641 or one in 156 hands. The probability for two suited aces
is 24/260 times 5/259 or .00178 or one in 555 hands. Combine the two and
the probability is .00819, so with five decks left and 4 'extra' aces, our
chance of getting any pair of aces on the deal is once every 122 hands. If
you multiply the probability times the payoff and total (.00641 X $25 +
.00178 X $100 = .33) we find that the return for a $1 bet is 33 cents. All
the other payoffs would also increase, but not enough to overcome the house
edge with the jackpot at 'only' $40,000.
Should the progressive get to some astronomical number, it would be worth
playing. About $1 million ought to do it (and it could get that high),
since then you'd be getting half your bet back from the 'expectation' of $1
million for a 2-million to 1 shot and the other payoffs will bring the total
return to $1. You could then play it forever until you hit the jackpot, if
your banroll held out.
If it ever gets to a million or so, the casino will be pulling their
collective hair out, because dealers will be fiddling with the shuffle,
trying to clump aces together in the hopes of helping a friend win it. I
saw this happen at a 'Super Sevens' table where a player did hit for $500
and he tipped the dealer $100.
So, you see Graeme, there are casino people out there who sit up at night
thinking of new ways to get your money. Of course it goes without saying
that we here at Gamemasteronline.com don't bother with sleep; night or day.
Yours for winning,
-The GameMaster Payoff Schedule At Intertops...
My question is regarding the payoff schedule of an internet casino.
They pay 1.98 of your original bet. The 1.00 is to get your original bet
back and the .98 takes 2% of your win.
In addition, they then charge 10% if you win (not if you lose, like most
books). So an example would be if I bet $100 on the Bulls to win the other night, the payoff would be as follows:
$100 X 1.98 = $198 total win Had I lost they would have just taken the $100 without juice. IS THIS A GOOD DEAL OR AM I REALLY TAKING IT ON THIS DEAL???? I love the system as they allow me to buy credits via my MasterCard. Payoffs are via American Express moneygrams I think. (unfortunately I have not experienced receiving money from them yet) The book name is Intertops. I appreciate your help in this matter. Best, Dear Skip, Let's examine an entire transaction to demonstrate how to figure the 'vig' that the book is charging. In a 'normal' book, two opposite bettors each risk $110 in order for one of them to win $210. Follow me on this? Bettor A chose the Bulls and put up $110 to win $100. Bettor B chose the Jazz, put up $110 and lost. Player A gets the $110 + $100 back, the book keeps $10 and the vig. is $10 divided by $220 (the total amount of the transaction) or 4.54%. In your case, you bet $100 on the Bulls and someone else bet $100 on the Jazz. You won $78, plus got your $100 bet back. The book kept $22 of a $200 transaction or 11%. Not a good deal, though you are risking less money in those situations where you are wrong. Let's look at it in the case of a season of football where you bet 15 of the games and, because you follow the sage advice of "Real Ralphies" handicappers, you win 9 games. At a 'normal' book, you'd bet 15 X $110 or $1650. Your return would be 9 X $210 or $1890 for a net profit of $240 which is 14.5% of the monies bet. At this book you're dealing wih now, you'd bet a total of $100 X 15 or $1500 and would get back 9 X $100 X 1.98 = $1782 minus $178.20 or 1603.80 for a net profit of $103.80 which is 6.92% of the monies bet. Conclusion? This book is charging you too much vig. Yours for winning, -The GameMaster Questions from Greece... I am playing blackjack in Greece. I was using the Hi/Low system for counting but I was lacking many details until I studied your lessons which I found very interesting and helpful. I would like to ask you some questions and please answer me if you find the time. The kazinos here in Greece have the following rules: 6 decks,S17,DA2,DAS, No surrender. The european No-Hole-Card rule applies. Though I was able to find the effect that this rule has on basic strategy (basically never double or split against dealers A or 10 but split A,A vs A) at http://www2.netdoor.com/~kensmith/bjfaq.shtml I would like to ask what is the effect of this rule to the basic strategy variations according to count (lessons 14 onwards). Also only three splits are allowed. Does this (besides making the game a bit less favorable for the player) imply any alterations for my game? Is there a bonus for me either for betting or playing purposes if I manage an ace side count with the Hi/Low system? And finally can any information be derived with the Hi/Low system fot the over/under bets? Thank you for your time and assistance. Any recomendations would be of great value to me. Dear Emmanouel Regarding the 'no hole-card' rule, you should split A,A vs 10, but hit vs. Ace. That website has it wrong if they're telling you to split A,A vs. A. As for basic strategy variations, utilize the following: Split A,A vs 10 at -6 or higher (otherwise hit) There is no great effect from being allowed split just 3 times. In the game there, a side-count of Aces will add very little to your win rate, but it could cause a loss of accuracy; I wouldn't use it. Bet the "Over" at a true count of 5 and the "Under" at -6. BUT, if the casinos there have a lot of O/U tables, you should learn a special count for that bet, since O/U is MUCH more profitable than the 'regular' Blackjack game. The idea is that you play your hand using basic strategy and bet the O/U when the special count says to do so. The count is called the "Crush Count" and it's fully described in Stanford Wong's book, "Professional Blackjack". You can expect to win about 5 times as much at O/U if you use the special count as opposed to 'regular' Blackjack using the Hi/Lo. Yours for winning, -The GameMaster Do you know of 1 or 2 good books on "7 Card Stud" for an experienced, but not an Advanced player? Thank you in advance for your help. Dear Ken, My favorite book on Stud is Edwin Silberstang's "Winning Poker for the Serious Player". The ISBN number is 0-940685-32-9 and it's available in paperback. Yours for winning, -The GameMaster Questions on Video Poker... Do video poker machines deal out ten cards with cards all ready sitting in position behind the cards you discard ( ie if you discard an ace and an ace comes up in the same spot as the discarded ace did you lose a chance at a pair of aces or it would not have mattered) or do the "new " cards come up off the top of the deck of remaining cards. If the answer is both, how do you tell the difference ? Does it affect the odds of playing ? Also, if the cards are dealt off the top of the deck is the machine continually shuffling them until you hit the draw button or does it stop upon dealing the first five ? Does it matter to the machine whether there is 1 coin in or 5 ---I always seem to do better with fewer coins. Why are the chances of getting natural Royals so different between LV and AC on the same type of machine ? Jacks or better LV 40,165 AC 34,800 Also for straight flushes LV 9,610 AC 9,350 In addition why is it harder to get a natural Royal on a Deuces Wild 45,560 and easier on a Joker 37,143. If all machines are playing with a normal deck why such discrepancies ? The GameMaster responds... Regarding the 'draw' cards, I've heard both. BUT, I'm pretty sure that most games deal 10 cards with the 5 'draw' cards behind the original 5. In that way, there's assurance that a customer will never get, for example, 2 3s of hearts, etc. It doesn't matter how many coins you play; the random number generator 'picks' a hand when the first coin is put in. The differences in royals, etc. is due to the playing strategy. Perhaps the game payouts are different in the situations you refer to. If the payouts are identical, then the playing strategy should also be, so the probability of one particular hand would be identical. In the deuces game, the incidence of a royal is higher because you spend so many hands holding deuces which, of course, negates the possibility of receiving a natural royal. That happens much less often with a Joker. Yours for winning, -The GameMaster Video keno/keno cont'd & slots & .999 silver tokens Would you know the best quarter numbers to play? Like pick 6 or all 10? What are the best slots to play? Can you name them? I have not been to vegas in 2 yrs. I read about the hurrican zone ones. Our they good to play. I bet mostly nickles to 1.00 bets. What are the best places to sell the .999 silver token you win, will they ever be worth more? The GameMaster responds... Depending upon the payout, if all other things are equal, it's best to play 4 numbers. Don't know the good slots -- never play them. Play video poker instead. The .999 silver coins are in good demand. Check out the website at www.chequers.com. for buyers. Yours for winning, -The GameMaster Royal Payoffs... On a recent trip to Las Vegas, I stayed at the Aladdin. the video poker nickels machines were at a $960 payout for a royal. The change person said it had not paid for a week and they had never seen it so high. Hipe or fact. Was it a good way to spend the dollars and the time??? The GameMaster responds... Depending upon the rest of the pay schedule, ie. Flush and full house, that's a HUGE payout. At a standard Jacks or better game with an 8/5 format, such a jackpot would yield about a 105% long term return. Very worthwhile to play. Yours for winning, -The GameMaster |