Dear Mark,
Every week I enter all kinds of contests. To this day the telephone has not rung to acknowledge that I'm a winner. Do you think the phone will ever ring?
Russell G. Warren,
MI

According to Roxy Roxborough, czar of the Las Vegas handicappers, "Your chances are a million to one that any one telephone call will be financially rewarding. Compare that against the caller being a telemarketer or an undesirable in-law, three to one." Your best bet, Russell, is to leave the answering machine on.

Dear Mark,
What is the most superstitious bet players make on a crap game?
Bill C. Carson City,
NV

When the dice fly off the table, superstitious players call off respectable working wagers and start betting the next roll will be a seven. Betting like this is why your simplex gambler always loses to Joe casino owner. By believing in superstitions, naive players attempt to predict the individual and unpredictable roll of the dice. The casino owner only concerns himself with the quite predictable return on each and every wager. In the case of possessed betting that the seven will appear, the house has a 16.1% edge.

Dear Mark,
For us non-card counting players, why is it more important to find single deck blackjack games?
Sunny R. Pottstown,
PA

Because blackjacks, which pay 3 for 2, occur more frequently on a single deck versus multi-deck games. Example: Let's say, Sunny, your first card is an Ace. On a single deck game, 16 of the remaining 51 cards, or 31.37 percent, are the face or 10-value cards that would complete your blackjack. On an six-deck game, 96 of the remaining 311 cards, or 30.87 percent, would give you your snapper.

Dear Mark,
I have two blackjack questions for you. First, what is the house advantage, if any, if I use a never-bust system against the dealer? Also, is it better to play on a blackjack game where the dealer hits a soft 17 or stands?
Thomas D. Chicago,
IL

Over the years I've seen many losing players employ this never-bust strategy. Right off the top, they're giving the house a 5% edge. Strict basic strategy, which obviously recommends hitting plenty of stiff hands, cuts the house edge to a half of one percent on the six-or eight-deck games that you'll find in the Chicago area. Use it, or plan on losing it-all.

When you play a game in which the dealer hits a soft 17, you give the house an additional two-tenths of one percent. With a soft 17 showing, an Ace, 2, 3 or 4 improves the dealer's hand and a 10, Jack, Queen or King leaves it of equivalent value. Eight of every 13 cards, Thomas, either improves the dealers hand or it stays the same. If any of the other five cards are drawn, the dealer still has a chance to convalesce his hand with another draw.

For the above reason, Thomas, basic strategy dictates that you the player should always hit a soft 17, or double down against a dealer who's showing a 3, 4, 5, 6.

Gambling Thought of the Week: "If I had the money and the drinking capacity, I'd probably live at a roulette table and let my life go to hell." -Michael Ventura