Dear Mark,
Which machines have a more reasonable chance of winning? A Megabucks progressive, or the typical slot machine?
Caroline R.
Santa Rosa, CA

If you are looking for the life-altering big score, Megabucks will give you a miniscule chance at champagne wishes and caviar dreams. Megabucks' progressive bonus allows you to fantasize about beating the odds of 30,000,000 to one. By the way, Caroline, our state lottery is a much better wager. Personally, I prefer "straight multiplier" or "equal distribution" machines. Examples of them would be IGT's Red, White and Blue slot machine or their Double Diamond product.

Typically a Megabucks machine keeps at least 10 percent of every dollar played, whereas a Red, White and Blue dollar slot machine can keep less than three percent in certain gaming jurisdictions. Where Megabucks shakes you down on the smaller payoffs, playing a straight multiplier keeps you in play longer by doling out low-end jackpots.

Dear Mark,
My mother and her girlfriend have a bet (of course) going on as to how the video poker cards are dealt. What we need to know is whether the cards are stacked under the cards that are showing, or drawn from a separate pile once you need them? For instance, when you hold three cards and redraw two, are the two you redraw dealt from a pile or have they been waiting under the cards that you tossed?
Helen J.
Reno, NV

It depends, Helen, on the company who produced the video poker machine, and on the machine's age. In the past, the majority of video poker machines operated using parallel dealing. This is where all 10 cards are dealt simultaneously, meaning you are dealt both the display cards and their draw replacements. Discard that dreadful three of spades and the seven of diamonds, which of course you did not need, was hiding behind it all along. Today, the new machines employ serial dealing, meaning the replacement cards are dealt right from the top of the deck just as in a live poker game. Does either way have any effect on the outcome? No, because with all video poker machines, the cards are shuffled and displayed randomly.

Dear Mark,
Do the casinos still employ shills?
Mary P.
Cincinnati, OH

Shills are employed by the casino to pretend they are real players. In the seven casinos that I have worked, we never used them. Today, the only place you might find shills, is in a high-limit baccarat pit.

Dear Mark,
Even at the lower payoffs, how often do slot machines actually hit? Debra A.
aol.com

The "hit" in your question is called "hit frequency" in the gaming industry. Hit frequency is how often a player can expect to receive some kind of payout from the machine. Most slot machines have hit frequencies of around 15 percent. Roughly, one in seven yanks on the handle will result in the player's getting his/her money back. Note, Debra, the big difference between getting your money back and actually winning. The happy sounds of winning-coins falling in drop bowl-could also mean losing. You could have a machine with 100 percent hit frequency but still lose money if it is programmed to return one or two coins on a three-coin bet.

Gambling thought of the week: Fortune knocks at every man's door once in a lifetime, but in a good many cases the man is in a neighboring saloon and does not hear her. -Mark Twain

Got a question about gambling? E-mail Pilarski at: pilarski@dealmein.org To order Mark Pilarski's award winning audio cassettes-laminated win cards package "Hooked on Winning" ($12.95 plus $2. S&H), call 1-(800) WINNERS.