Dear Mark,
I love to play Nevada Megabucks but canít afford $3 every pull. Occasionally I try to second guess the machineís rhythm of hot and cold cycles and play accordingly. Obviously that means playing less than $3 each time. Is this a bad strategy?
Rob R.
Carson City, NV

With all my parochial schooling, Rob, I always thought the rhythm method had something to do with birth control.

No progressive machine, Rob, should ever be played without the maximum amount of coins required. With all progressives, a percentage of all coins played goes into the progressive jackpot that continually grows until some lucky soul hits it. But if you donít play the maximum amount of coins, you canít retire from your crummy job. Your jackpot with one coin inserted would be a picayune $5,000-not enough to tell your boss to ìshove it.î I suggest you look at a progressive meter and consider what a nincompoop you would be if you lined up the three Megabucksí symbols but failed to risk two additional tokens.

For those out of the gambling loop, Nevada Megabucks connects more than 640 slot machines in 134 Nevada casinos to a top jackpot that starts at $5 million and can be won for a 3-coin ($3) bet. Currently it is approaching $14 million, making it again a record-setting jackpot in the making.

Dear Mark,
Is it better for a new player to sit on a blackjack game that has no players or one that is crowded? Mary Anne W. St.
Catherine, Ontario

For all new players I recommend playing at tables with low minimum bets ($1-$2) plus play at a busy table. Besides having more fun with comrades, you will make fewer bets per hour, which decreases your exposure to the almighty house edge.

Dear Mark,
While visiting my mother in Maine, I met her neighbor who was willing to sell me a slot machine (see enclosed picture) for $700. I know nothing about the machine other than he claims it works fine. As you can see it looks in very good condition. Is it worth $700?
Jerry G.
King of Prussia, PA

Here is a simple test to tell if a slot machine is in good running order. Insert a few coins and if nothing comes out, itís working fine.

The machine in the picture you sent me is a Bally ìEMî machine worth, in good condition, between $1,000 and $1,500. It is an electromechanical controlled slot machine, has open contact switches and was the best selling slot machine in the 60s and 70s. Unfortunately, Jerry, you reside in Pennsylvania, where it is unlawful to own machines built after 1941, even for private ownership. Though very reasonably priced at $700, its manufacturing date creates a weighty legal dilemma.

Dear Mark,
What are the odds of hitting a hole-in-one in golf?
Sam S.
Detroit, MI

According to the Professional Golfers Association (PGA), custodian of statistics on such matters, a male professionalís or a top amateur playerís chances are 3,708 to 1; a female proís odds are 4,648 to 1. The average dufferís odds are 42,952 to 1. My lone ace, when I teed off from the eighth hole and it landed in the cup on the 12th green, probably wouldnít count.

Gambling Thought of the Week: ìAt that point I ought to have gone away, but a strange sensation rose up in me, a sort of defiance of fate, a desire to challenge it, to put out my tongue at it. I laid down the largest stake allowed--four thousand gulden-and lost it. Then, getting hot, I pulled out all I had left, staked it on the same number, and lost again, after which I walked away from the table as though I were stunned. I could not even grasp what had happened to me.î Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Gambler