There are casino games where you win more bets than you lose and games where you lose more bets than you win. The total game’s results may be a loser for the player but this bet or that bet can go for the player more often than not.

There are games where the players’ losing streaks can go on and on. Take traditional roulette for example. If you are betting on one number, the ball can land in 37 or 38 or 39 different pockets – and that means you can go on a massive losing streak.

[Please note: The casino world now has three roulette games. You have the most popular American double-zero wheel, with a usually green 0 and 00; or the European/French single-zero wheel, with one usually green 0; or the new game of the triple-zero wheel, with the 0, 00, and 000 generally in green. 

The payout for a winning single number is always 35 to 1 on all games. Yes, that triple-zero wheel is a killer when it comes to losing streaks because you have so many more pockets where the ball can possibly land! And the house edge is massive too. Deep breath: 7.69%! While the double-zero game comes in at 5.26% and the single-zero game comes in at 2.7%. 

Oh, a little note here: the triple-zero game was created in a church! A church!]

Roulette Bets

Let us say, oh, you decide to bet all the numbers. Hey, why not splurge? Every spin will be a win! Hurrah! But every spin will also be a loss of either 36, 37, or 38 numbers depending on the wheel you are playing. Yuck! So, that’s a lot of losses for a single win. Yuck again.

Is there a way to make roulette more of a 50-50 game? Almost but not quite. 

You can choose to bet the even-money bets of red/black, or odd/even, or high/low. Sadly, these even-money bets will pay even-money but they are not 50/50 propositions. You will win fewer times than you lose but betting this way can forestall very long losing streaks. 

Sadly, no roulette game offers you the possibility of winning more bets over time than losing more bets over time. Still, some methods of betting are somewhat close contests in terms of winning or losing your individual bets. The even-money bets are decent wagers if your goal is to hang in there without being quickly wiped out.

Remember that roulette was James Bond’s favorite game but even Agent 007 couldn’t beat it.

Blackjack: The Most Popular Game

Yes! Yes! Yes! A game where you win more than you lose. Hurrah! Hurray! Hu-uuu-uum (cough, cough, cough).

No, no, sorry. Not so. You do not win more hands than you lose. I don’t know where you got that idea. You actually lose more hands than you win. 

Players win about 44 hands, lose about 48 hands, and tie the rest of them. (These are approximate numbers but you get the idea.)

You see blackjack is a close contest where the house has about a half percent edge over a basic strategy player, but how that house edge is created has to do with premier or bonus hands. Here are some examples: 

• The player receives a blackjack and is paid 3 to 2. (Some blackjack games have reduced this pay out to 6 to 5. Avoid those. That’s a big hit on your bankroll. No one needs that. If no one plays those 6-to-5 games, the casino will remove them … maybe.)
• The player can double down on certain hands. Which means putting up a separate bet on your hand and getting only one card. It is advantageous to double down correctly.
•  The players can split pairs. The player can double down on some splits.

These hands bring the player more money if played correctly. You want to win more money in such favorable situations. This is where the players can overcome the high number of hands the casino wins at the game. More money is leaving the game than coming into the game.

Okay, so how do you play blackjack correctly? You learn the correct basic strategy for the blackjack games you wish to play. This strategy is the absolute perfect way to play your hands.

Now, if you are going to learn blackjack correctly don’t make the mistake of throwing in with “gamblers” who decry basic strategy as wrong based on their individual “eccentric” opinions. Basic strategy is the computer-derived proper play of every hand versus the dealer’s up-card. Period. Follow it and play the game correctly. Don’t follow it and your losses will be magnified.

If you have trouble memorizing the correct basic strategy most casinos will allow you to bring a basic strategy card to the table. Do so.

Some helpful hints for maximizing your chances of winning:

• Play at full tables. The fewer hands you play the better your chances of winning. The more hands you play the better the chance you will be behind. The fewer hands you play, the better the chance you will be ahead. This falls into a simple saying: The more money you bet on different hands, the better chance you will be behind.
• Go to the bathroom when the dealer is actually dealing and not while he or she is shuffling. There is no casino law that says you have to wait to go to the bathroom. You’ll generally get credit for your time even when you are in the bathroom if the casino is crowded. 
• Do not play more than one hand. You are simply throwing more money into the casino house edge when you play more than one hand. Just lost a couple of hands in a row? Sit out the next hand.
• Take your time deciding what to do with your hand – even if you already know what to do! It is important to slow the game down as much as you can. A slow game will have you play fewer hands. The dealer's job is to deal fast and some dealers take that seriously; the player’s job is to slow it all down. Few players take that seriously.

Blackjack is a great game but you have to be careful with your playing decisions. A great game can become a bad game if you do not play correctly. Playing correctly is totally in your court.

Craps: The Exciting Game

World War II was the time craps ascended to become the favorite game of soldiers around the world (at least allied soldiers). 

The game originated “down south” along the Mississippi River. It was a street game in the cities as it moved North. Have an alley near you? Great. The exact right place to play a game of craps. 

The original name for the game was “crabs” but as the game moved North, northerners started calling the game craps since “crabs” sounded like craps to northern ears.

In the years of the great war, the game flourished. You had poker and craps, the two favorite gambling games. When the war ended, craps became the favorite table game in the casinos until blackjack deposed it due to the card counting revolution. 

Craps is still in second place. By the way, if you check out a craps game you will discover that the game is a “man’s game” as most tables rarely have women players. When I learned the game, you would rarely (rarely, rarely) see a woman playing.

My first experiences with craps came when I met the late Captain, an Atlantic City legend. He had a “crew” of 22 high rollers and these folks were in the casino almost every weekend.

I was studying to do the lead role in a play, "The Only Game in Town" by Frank Gilroy, and I met the Captain in Atlantic City one night. Boy did I learn about craps and casino gambling from the man! 

My entire gambling career began when I met the man. I dumped acting, directing and producing and teaching for the excitement of challenging the casinos. That’s a whole other story of how my wife the Beautiful AP and I tackled “chance and circumstance” and many of my books and television shows reference the Captain. It is rare in life that one person has so much influence over another but in my case, the Captain did.

The best way to play craps? Make one or two bets These can be the pass line and come bets with odds – forget the worse bets which is almost all of them and forget the darkside – why be hated? Also place the 6 or 8; all this after finishing the Five-Count. (In a future article I will write about the Five-Count.)

Mini-Baccarat: A Good Game Ruined by Speed

Two things you should be aware of when you play mini-baccarat: the speed of the game (when I say speed I mean SPEED) and the superstitions of some very superstitious players. Most superstitious players are quietly superstitious, right? But not in mini-baccarat. If they are superstitious they can be loudly superstitious.

You will note that the seat for number 4 usually has a number 5 as its number. Why is that? Superstitious players have requested that the casinos eliminate that position on the table – the number of that position that is – because the sound of that number reminds them (I think it reminds them) of death. 

The casino didn’t want to kill anyone so they changed the number of the seat. They also want those players, many of them high rollers of the highest order, to play at their tables. Can you blame them?

The original game of baccarat used to be played on an extra-long table that had several dealers – males in suits or tuxedos; females in evening dresses. The game was expensive but it was also leisurely. Those long tables are now mostly gone; replaced by a somewhat large blackjack-styled table.

One of the fun parts of the game was the fact that players could deal the cards. Could such a rule have any impact on the game? Not at all but it was fun. Players no longer deal the cards. There is just one dealer, in a typical casino uniform who now deals.

Mini-baccarat has three bets: the bank, the player, and the tie. The bank’s house edge is a tiny 1.06%; the player has a somewhat larger house edge at 1.24% and the tie bet? A waste of your money! The bank pays even money but a commission of 5% is taken from a win since the bank bet actually wins more than 50% of the time; the player bet also is paid 1 to 1; while the tie bet – forget about it.

If mini-baccarat were played at the same speed as normal baccarat then, other than comfort, there is no harm done. But mini-baccarat is fast – so fast that its speed can go over 160 hands per hour! And the players are expected to bet fast and maybe even faster than that.

The tables usually have a host of side bets that they can make – usually crummy bets. These bets just suck the money from the players’ bankroll. You can almost hear the vacuuming sound as the money is sucked from the table. Woosh!

The low house edges on the bank and player hands are great; the speed of the game is not great and the side bets are awful. This is, sadly, a formerly terrific game, now ruined by the incorporation of speed.

HOWEVER, if you can cut your play down to playing only half the hands, then you should be okay. Add that to cutting out all bonus hands and all ties and (oh what the heck) all “player” hands and you still have a decent game. Try to slow down the game even more if you can by going to the bathroom during game time and not during shuffles.

Summary

Players love to gamble. That’s why they go to casinos. But there are better and worse bets. Make the better bets? You have a decent chance to win. Make the worse bets? Forget about it. You might get lucky tonight but over time? Seriously, you know the answer to that question.

All the best in and out of the casinos!

Though new slot machines pop up all the time and it can sometimes seem like they grow on trees, as if each one is some kind of a natural resource. Of course, in reality, that is not the case. Technology, creativity and an understanding of gaming regulations are all behind the appearances of the most popular slot machines. 

One that people find impossible to turn away from, at the moment, is Rome: Fight for Gold – Deluxe 20000X. Themed around the Roman Empire and its legions of leather-clad soldiers, the game is designed to put players right into the thick of things as they capitalize on the collect feature, bonus feature and boost features.

Inside Game Development

This game is the brainchild of Foxium. Based in the Northern European nation of Estonia, Foxium lives up to its sly-sounding name by devising games that feature strong story-telling components.

The company was founded by Daniil Sanders and Ake Andre in 2015, with the mission of creating innovative video slots with groundbreaking features and narratives that make playing a game as engaging as watching a movie. 

The appealing part for players who come across a Foxium game on 888casino – besides Rome: Fight for Gold, the company’s hit titles include Lucky Bakery and Adelia – is that they can be entertained and still have a chance of winning money. The combination is irresistible.

An up-and-coming producer in the world of cool slot machines is an outfit called Dream Spin Studios. The company, founded in 2023, recently dropped its first game Buzz Thrill. If you play it on 888, you’ll see that it is out of this world in every sense of the word. The game is set in outer space with re-spins that go up to 46,656.

Founded by Josh Green, James Rosen and William Barnes – all of whom, according to Green, “are passionate gamblers at heart” – Dream Spin Studios is particularly interesting for the fact that it ranks among the few companies to transition from being a slots streaming firm to being a full-on boutique games studio.

Now engaging in the creation of cool slot machines, it has the advantage of being run by guys who are astonishingly well educated on what makes a good slot. 

“We can proudly claim to have played nearly every type of slot, old and new, more than anyone else involved in a game studio,” Green stated in Casino Beats. “If we don’t understand what makes a good slot, it’s doubtful anyone does. 

As put by Green, “We are extremely excited to turn our ideas and visions for thrilling game play into reality.”

Having gotten our first taste of the fantastic Buzz Thrill, we at 888 can’t wait to see what they will come up with next.

More on the Horizon

One of the tastier options out there, when it comes to cutting edge slot machines, is a company called Gameburger Studios. In operation since 2019, the company promises to offer slots that are “going to be as juicy and delicious as the best hamburgers.”

Even the website plays off the name, promising offerings that are “fresh and right off the grill.”

Humorous as all of that may be, Gameburger is serious about putting out online slot machines that players find difficult to turn away from before filling up on action.

Capitalizing on years of experience in designing land-based games, the company’s employees and managers focus on reconfiguring and improving Microgaming titles so that they work in the digital environment. Included in the company’s roster of hits: 9 Masks of Fire, 9 Pots of Gold, 11 Champions, Break Da Bank Again Respin, Playboy and 12 Masks of Fire Drums. 

Among the hallmarks of these games: Higher RTP percentages (that is, money returned to players), great visuals, memorable audio effects and HTML5 technology. That last bit means that the games can be played on laptops, desktops or mobile devices, all with the same great experience. Whatever is employed, the quality will be consistently strong. 

That has not gone unnoticed by influential folks in the gaming world. In 2023 at the International Gaming Awards, Gameburger snagged nominations for game of the year and rising star of the year.

As far as players are concerned, they’re bound to go wild for 12 Masks of Fire Drums, the newest Gameburger offering, which dropped on July 30. What makes the game so good? Besides the strong graphics for which Gameburger is justifiably famous, this slot machine has 96% RTP, high volatility (which makes the payoffs more exciting) and 20 paylines. 

Promised by promotional material for this epic game: “Feel the beat of the African heat.” No doubt, players will feel it as they push hard for ever-escalating bonuses. 

Vegas Vibes

While playing online, it is easy to forget about the shimmering allure of Las Vegas, the gambling capital of the world and the place where it all began. Anton Kuhlman and Serena Petersen, co-founders of AreaVegas are making efforts to keep online game players enjoying the vibe of Vegas and all that it has to offer. 

They founded AreaVegas in 2022 and, as is made clear on their website, the company is “inspired by the glitz, the glam and the games of Las Vegas.”

The pair’s goal is to provide online players with optimal experiences that are every bit as good as what they can enjoy in favorite brick and mortar casinos on the famous Vegas Strip. 

Proof of that can be gleaned via AreaVegas’s just released, fabulous, debut game called Phoenix. Loaded up with compelling features, the game offers fireballs that lead to the hatching of eggs, which, in turn, jack up money that can be won and lead to re-spins that can go up to 5X on each spin.

Make your way to valuable eggs of the phoenix herself and there is the potential of 5,000x. Phoenix provides a visit to a mythical land where players want to be. We predict that this game serves as a harbinger of what’s to come to come from the very promising AreaVegas. 

Committed to quality, the people at the core of AreaVegas vow to create winners, “both in our games and players.”

Casino players like to win often. They also like to win a lot of money. The two goals sometimes are in conflict. Winning more often is not always the best thing for your bankroll. That's as true for online players as for those who play in live casinos.

Roulette is no exception. There's a built-in tension between winning more often and winning more money just as there is in blackjack, video poker and many other casino games.

In blackjack, taking the "even money" form of insurance will guarantee a win anytime you have a blackjack and the dealer has an Ace face up. But you'll win more money if you skip the insurance on games with the traditional 3-2 pays on blackjacks. If the dealer also has blackjack, you'll have to settle for a push, but the 3-2 pays come often enough that you win more money by declining insurance and winning a little less often.

In Jacks or Better video poker, if your hand includes a Jack or higher along with a low pair, you'll win more often by holding the high card and discarding the rest. That yields the best chance at a high pair that wins five coins for a five-coin bet. But if you hold the pair instead and discard the others, a greater proportion of wins will bring bigger payoffs. You win more money while winning less often. 

Roulette involves no decision-making as complex as that in blackjack or video poker. The only way a roulette player has of increasing win frequency is to bet on more numbers.

The problem is that with rare exceptions, betting on more numbers does not decrease the house edge. Average results bring losses at the same percentage of your wagers whether you bet one number, all of them, or anything in between.

And on American double-zero wheels, there is one way to bet more numbers that actually increases the house edge compared to other wagers. Before tackling the exceptions, let's check out the basics.

COVERING ALL THE NUMBERS

Imagine you cover all the numbers so you have a winner on every spin of the wheel.

There are several ways to do it. One is to make single number bets on every number, including 0 as well as 1-36 on a single-zero wheel as is common in Europe, or 0 and 00 on the double-zero wheels common in the United States. Online roulette players can find both European and American roulette games.

Covering all the numbers for $1 each requires $37 in wagers on a single-zero wheel or $38 on a double-zero wheel.

On each spin, you are guaranteed to have one winner, and single-number winners pay at 35-1 odds. That would earn you $35 in winnings and you'd keep the $1 wager for a total of $36.

Problem is, that doesn't cover all your bets. It leaves a net loss of $1 on a single-zero wheel  for a house edge of 2.7% or $2 on a double-zero wheel for a house edge of 5.62%.

Those are the same house edges as on most other bets. If you made just one single-number bet or one four-number corner bet or one 12-number column, the house edges still would be 2.7% on the European wheel or 5.62% on the American.

Worse, by covering all numbers with single-number bets, you guarantee an overall loss for the spin. At $1 per number including the zeroes, your total wager is $37 with one zero or $38 on a double-zero wheel. Your one winning number would leave you with $36, smaller than your total wager. You win on every spin, but never make a profit.

The guaranteed loss of $1 per $37 wagered means the house keeps 2.7% of your bets. That reflects the house edge of 2.7%. On a double-zero wheel, covering all numbers with single-number bets brings a loss of $2 per $38 wagered. That's 5.26%, the same as the house edge on almost all bets on that kind of wheel.

OTHER COMBINATIONS

Winning on every spin but never making a profit is self-defeating, so on one plays that way. Instead players seek combinations that will win a majority of the time and can bring a profit.

One simple way is to bet on two of the 12-number columns. That gives you winners on 24 numbers, leaving 13 losing numbers on a single-zero wheel and 14 losers with both 0 and 00.

If you bet $5 on each of two dozens, you risk $10 per spin. If the ball lands on any of your 24 numbers, you win a 2-1 payoff on one of the columns. That's a $10 payoff, plus you keep the winning $5 bet giving you $15. You have a $5 profit on the spin.

The problem is that if the ball lands on any of the other numbers, you lose both bets for a $10 loss. On a single-zero wheel, there are 13 $10 losses for every 24 $5 profits, or $130 in losses offsetting $120 in profits. That net loss is 2.7% of your total wagers, equal to the house edge.

On a double-zero wheel, there are 14 losing spins, so your $120 in profits on the winning spin are offset by $140 worth of losses per 38 spins. The average result per 38 spins is $20 in losses, or 5.26% of total wagers.  Again, the average loss is equal to the house edge.

You can show a profit if winners come up just a little more often than usual. On a single-number roulette wheel, if numbers in your dozens come up 25 times in 37 spins instead of 24, then you show a $5 profit for the sequence. 

That's what keeps combination players going: the chance that for a short time, their chosen numbers will come up just a little more often than average.

There are many such combinations, usually more complex that betting a couple of columns.  All win more often than choosing a bet on the layout, and some win much more often than they lose. 

The downside is that any losing spin costs more money than any winning spin gains, and single losers usually wipe out multiple wins. In the end, average results will lead to the house keeping 2.7 percent of money wagered on single-zero wheels and 5.26 percent on double-zero wheels.

You win more often with these combos, but in the long run you don't win more money.

THE BASKET TRAP

One bet available on double-zero wheels but not in single-zero games extracts a toll for those trying to win more often by covering more numbers.

That's the five-number basket bet on 0, 00, 1, 2 and 3. If you bet $5 on the basket, for 38 spins you risk $190. On any of the winners, you're paid 6-1, so you win $30 and keep the $5 bet. That happens an average of five times per 38 spins, leaving $175 in your stacks. 

Since you've risked $190, that's a $15 average net loss. Instead of losing 5.26% of your total as on other bets at double-zero roulette, you lose 7.89%.

You may win more often betting the basket than betting on a single number, two-number split, three-number street or four-number corner, but you lose more money. And any combination that includes the basket faces a higher house edge than combinations that leave it out.

Never bet the basket. If you want those numbers, cover them with different wagers.

THE EXCEPTIONS

There are ways to win more often and lower the house edge in some French and Atlantic City roulette games. 

Special rules in those games cut the house edge in half on bets with even-money payouts: odd or even, 1-18 or 19-36, and red or black.

In the United States, you'll mainly find single-zero French roulette in online casinos. There are several optional rules. One prime example is called "en prison" – basically, if the ball lands in zero, your wager on an even-money option doesn't lose. It's held in prison for the next spin.

If the next spin is a winner for you, you get your bet back. If not, you lose.

Imagine you bet on red. If the ball lands on zero, your bet is held en prison. If the next spin is red, you get the bet back, but you lose it if the ball lands on black or zero. 

That drops the house edge all the way to 1.35%, half the usual 2.7% on single-zero roulette.

The Atlantic City half-back rules is mainly available on double-zero wheels in New Jersey. The house takes only half your money if the ball lands on one of the zeroes. Imagine you’ve wagered $10 on black. You lose $10 if the ball lands on a red numbers, but only $5 if the ball lands on 0 or 00.

That cuts the house edge on from 5.26% to 2.63% on double-zero wheels

When those rules are in play, your best bets are to stick with odd or even, 1-18 or 19-36, or red or black. You win more often by covering 18 numbers at once, and you slash the house edge. For a roulette player, that's the best of both worlds.

Most serious video poker players understand what elements define a good game. These elements include return, variance, and strategy complexity. For most serious players, return is the main element considered when choosing a video poker game to play.

Many video poker players understand what return is. Fewer understand how video poker return varies during play. Fewer still know how to calculate their actual return for a session, day, trip, or year. This article addresses these topics.

Contents

1. Return in video poker defined
2. Examples of typical video poker returns
3. How to calculate actual video poker return – short term and long term
4. Summary

1 – Return in video poker defined

Return is simply the amount of money that is returned to the player on average from the casino. It is expressed as a percentage. For example, a return of 95% means that on average for every $100 played through the game, $95 is returned to the player as winnings. The casino enjoys a 5% profit on this machine.

The short-term return can vary wildly. The player could hit a royal flush, skyrocketing the player’s return. The player could also go long periods of time without hitting any wins of consequence, plummeting the player’s return.

After long periods of play, however, the return should approach the mathematically calculated percentage which is based on an infinite number of hands.

2 – Examples of typical video poker returns

Video poker returns vary depending on the casino, casino location (in Las Vegas, the Strip, downtown, and locals’ casinos), specific video poker game, denomination, and even game location within a casino. Some typical returns: 

• Locals’ casinos – 97-99% and higher
• Downtown Las Vegas – 96-99% and higher
• Las Vegas Strip – 95-98%

Obviously, there are some casino games that are outside of these ranges, but these percentages are typical for the area specified.

3 – How to calculate actual video poker return – short term and long term

Many video poker players I know are not really worried about the return percentage. They only keep track of how much they brought to the casino and what they have left when they leave. Those figures alone are not enough.

To calculate return percentage, several pieces of information are required. They are:

• Amount inserted into the game(s)
• Amount cashed out
• Number of hands played
• Amount bet per hand

It is very difficult to keep track of hands played. One good method of doing this is keeping track of the number of player’s club points earned for the session and knowing the dollars required per point. Additional information to calculate number of hands played:

• Beginning player’s club points
• Ending player’s club points
• Amount required per point

Getting the amount inserted into the game and the amount cashed out is straightforward. Simply log the amount every time another bill or bills is/are inserted. Then log the amount of every cash-out.

The amount played per hand is also straightforward. This can be done by logging the bet per hand or by multiplying the denomination by the number of credits per hand (usually five).

What follows is a detailed explanation of how to calculate the actual return percentage from any amount of play.

1. Add up the total amount inserted.
2. Add up the total amount cashed out.
3. Subtract the total amount inserted from the total amount cashed out giving the amount won (positive result) or lost (negative result).

Next calculate the total amount played through the game. This is calculated by multiplying the amount bet per hand by the number of hands played.

• Amount bet per hand – use the amount logged or multiply the denomination by the credits played per hand (usually five).
• Number of hands played – if this number was counted and logged, use it. Otherwise, it must be calculated based on player’s club points.

1. Subtract the beginning player’s club points from the ending player’s club points giving the points earned for the session.
2. Multiply the points earned by the amount required per point giving the amount played through the game for the session.
3. Divide the amount played by the amount bet per hand giving the total hands played for the session.

All the information required to calculate the return percentage is now available. Multiply hands played by amount bet per hand giving the amount played.

Divide the amount won/lost by the amount played and multiply that by 100 to give the actual return percentage for the session.

Notice that when using player’s club points to calculate hands played, the amount played is an interim step, so if you do not care about the hands played, there is no need to do that calculation.

The exact same process is used to calculate actual return percentage for a day, visit, or year. Simply add up the amount won/lost, and the amount played for each session you want included in the final result, divide the total amount won/lost by the total amount played and multiply by 100 for the actual return percentage for the period being calculated. 

Here is the calculation in mathematical notation.

• amount played = number of hands played x amount per hand
• return percentage = amount won/lost/amount played x 100.

The calculations are simple. Getting all the required data can be a little more challenging.

For more information, check out 888poker's complete video poker strategy guide.

4 – Summary

The mathematical return percentage is based on an infinite number of plays. To calculate a short-term (session, day, trip, month, year, etc.) return percentage you need:

• Amount won (expressed as a positive value) or lost (negative value)
• Amount played through the game (number of hands played times amount bet per hand)

To get the total amount played requires multiplying the hands played by the amount bet per hand. Knowing the actual return percentage is not required for better play. It is an interesting side note for serious players.

Serious casino gamblers understand the concept of the return of casino games. Simply put, it is the amount of money bet while playing a casino game that is returned to the player. 

Most also understand that the return percentages given are mathematically calculated and are based on an infinite number of bets. They understand the short-term return percentages can vary significantly from the mathematically calculated long-term return percentages.

Few gamblers understand how the transition from short-term to long-term results works. Many gamblers, systems sellers, and pundits also do not understand this phenomenon. 

Is any casino game ever due? Read on to find out.

Contents

1. Why do people feel casino games are due?
2. Definition of random games
3. Definition of due
4. The fallacy of a casino game being due
5. Summary

Why do people feel casino games are due?

As explained in the introduction, return from casino games can, in the short-run, vary dramatically from the mathematically calculated return percentage. 

Take the simple example of flipping a coin. A player can bet on either heads or tails showing. A bet on the correct result pays even money. A coin can end up heads or tails. There is a mathematically calculated return of 100% in a fair flip since with an infinite number of flips both heads and tails should appear equally. The player wins one dollar on half the bets and loses one dollar on the other half the bets.

Here is an example. The player always bets one dollar on heads. If a head shows, the player wins one dollar. If a tail shows, the player loses one dollar. Here is a sample run.

• Heads – return is 100% (bets $1, wins $1, total win $1)
• Heads – return is 200% (bets $1, wins $1, total win $2)
• Heads – return is 300% (bets $1, wins $1, total win $3)
• Tails – return is 200% (bets $1, wins $1, total win $2)
• Heads – return is 300% (bets $1, wins $1, total win $3)

How about a more complex example? This is not a casino game but illustrates a point.

There are four red balls and one black ball ball in a bag. The player bets one dollar. A random ball is pulled out of the bag. If it is a red ball, and red was bet, the player wins one dollar. If it is a black ball and black was bet, the player wins four dollars since a red ball is four times as likely as a black ball. The calculated return on this game is also 100%. Here is a sample run. 

• Black – return is 400 percent (bets $1, wins $4, total win $4)
• Black – return is 800 percent (bets $1, wins $4, total win $8)
• Black – return is 1200 percent (bets $1, wins $4, total win $12)
• Black – return is 1600 percent (bets $1, wins $4, total win $16)

In both cases, the player is up more than the mathematical average. 

It seems logical that in the first case tails are due and in the second case red is due. This is the basis for the “due theory” in gambling. But, are tails or red truly due?

Definition of random games

Casino games are all classified as random games. This is accomplished by a randomizing method for table games, such as shuffling the card deck or randomly releasing a ball onto a spinning roulette wheel. On slot machines or video poker a computer software routine called a Random Number Generator or RNG is used. 

What is the definition of random? According to Merriam-Webster, random means lacking a definite plan, purpose, or pattern. In the case of casino games, random means there is no pattern. Outcomes cannot be predicted.

Definition of due

Merriam-Webster lists several definitions of the adverb, due.  “Required or expected in the prescribed, normal, or logical course of events: scheduled” applies to casino games.

The fallacy of a casino game being due

In both sample runs in section one, return percentage is skewed in favor of the player. The problem with thinking that something is due is the fact that by the very definitions of random (no pattern/cannot be predicted) and due (scheduled) nothing can be considered due in a casino game.

Almost every betting system touted by pundits and sold by systems sellers is based on the false assumption that something is due. One example is waiting until red has not appeared on a roulette table for 10 or 15 times, then bet red.

Because the specified event is random, it cannot be predicted. Black (or green) could appear for the next 20 or 25 spins of the wheel.

It works the other way also. In video poker, royal flushes occur once every 40,000 or so hands. But that does not mean that a player must wait 40,000 hands for the next royal flush. They can occur back-to-back … -to-back. It is unlikely, but possible in a random game.

Summary 

The feeling among gamblers that some event is due in a casino game is very common. When slot machine players feed bill after bill into the machine only to have it quickly gobbled up by the machine, it seems logical to feel that some wins are coming.

When someone touts a betting system based on a certain event either happening or not happening, it seems logical that the system should work. Most often those systems do work – for a while. Ultimately, however, even the most logical-sounding betting system will fail and cause substantial losses simply because players are betting on a random event.

Believing that something is due in a casino game is not bad – in itself. What is bad is taking action that causes you to bet more money chasing this (false) due event. 

Do not let logical-sounding but false ideas alter your normal, controlled play in the casino.

Walk through a brick-and-mortar casino or log on to 888casino and the slot machines are impossible to miss. Chinese themed Zodiac Lantern Rabbit, the enticing Cash Eruption and jewel-centric Sapphire Spin are all amazingly alluring. They’re the games you want to play for quick spurts of gambling satisfaction and potential cash payouts.

But what is inside these flashy sirens of the gambling world and how do they work?

Early Slots

Back in the day, before slot machines were computerized and when they truly lived up to their “one armed bandit” nickname, the machines were purely mechanical. Fittingly then, the first slot machine was fashioned by a San Francisco, California, auto mechanic named Charles Fey. 

Known as the Liberty Bell, it hit American barrooms in the late 1800s with three motorized reels and paid out 50 cents when three Liberty Bells stopped at the same time. Other images on the reels were hearts, diamonds and spades, just like in a deck of cards, which, no doubt, got the juices of gamblers flowing.

For decades to come, Fey’s invention served as the slot machine paradigm. Refinements – such as a mechanism for recognizing counterfeit coins and splashy glass fronts with themes that made the gambling devices all-the-more eye-catching – were implemented, but it was the insertion of video capabilities that changed everything and brought slot machines into the modern era.

Computers in Slots

That began in 1975 when a machine called Fortune Coin turned heads on casino floors. Gamblers lined up to play that first slot machine as it operated on a computer screen.

Twenty years later, the Odyssey machine had a mega-sized screen and made players feel like they were gambling on a high-tech TV. Sound and video cards inside the Odyssey models provided bells and whistles on the outside.

But it was the implementation of computer chips that made slot machine interiors come to resemble those of Mac Book Pros. Such upgrades allowed the games to step up to 21st century standards.

These days, the inner workings of your favorite slot machines are driven by the chips and circuit boards that allow the outsides to be visually compelling and a hell of a lot of fun to play.

Random Number Generator

Dominating the guts of every slot machine is the random number generator, also known as the RNG. It’s a nifty piece of technology that keeps the machine in line and makes players happy. The random number generator guarantees that the slot pays off exactly as it is supposed to.

Let’s say that a machine is promoted as having a 95% payout (or a 5% hold; i.e., the money that is kept by the casino), the RNG insures that it happens over time. This means that on average, over the course of millions of spins, the machine will keep 5 cents for every dollar put in.

In the short term, however, it can hold a lot more or a lot less. A strong desire for the latter, of course, is what keeps us playing.

The RNG is continually coming up with series of numbers that translate into the outcome of a slot machine play.

It does that many times per second and never stops. It’s complicated for a three-reel or five-reel machine and even more so when there are, say, 25 paylines, as is the case with Saved By The Bells. But the RNG never stops calculating and locks in as soon as the machine handle is pulled or the play button is pressed.

At that point the machine knows the outcome. But, via the deployment of sound and video, the information is revealed to players in exciting but efficient manners. Usually, it’s accented with shimmers of gleaming visual effects and synthesized audio to indicate a winner. For that we can thank the sound and video cards tucked inside the slot machine.

Money Matters

At brick-and-mortar casinos, money to facilitate the play is usually inserted via bill readers, like the ones that we use in supermarkets. This sucks in the cash and scans your Benjamins to make sure they are not counterfeit. Online, of course, the funds are kept on account and the process is all done digitally.

Hit a jackpot online and you get to celebrate at home in whatever manner best suits you. 

Hit one in a live casino, and, depending on the jurisdiction, the machine’s inner workings contain a program to do a few things. In Nevada, for example, if the win exceeds $1,200, the machine’s interior computer sets it into what is known as “jackpot lockdown.”

This means that the machine essentially freezes until a few things get sorted out. For starters, a casino employee comes over so that the win can be confirmed, the player’s identity can be verified and the all-important payoff can take place. Next, a tax form is filled out so that the US government gets its share of the windfall.

For more modest wins, machines that used to settle-up with showers of coins now do it the modern way. Inside the machine is a thermal printer, which spits out a receipt – not unlike what we get at the ATM – that can be redeemed for cash. 

All players hope to experience the thermal printer in action – it means that you won! – but what you won’t have to deal with are certain features inside the machine that are only for casino managers that oversee slots action.

Activated by a key inserted into the machine, there is a touchscreen that shows how much money has been gambled on the machine and how much has been paid off. In the event of a dispute over the outcome of a spin, there is also an interior program that can replay recent spins. They are used to settle any disagreements.

Looking Ahead

While there is no doubt that slot machines are state of the art and getting to be even more so – especially as they move up to their next level and become increasingly like video games of skill – there are some components that remain much like the games that were rigged up by ingenious Charles Fey back in the late 1800s. 

As one veteran slot machine designer put it during a gaming conference in Germany, “As long as you keep the essential slot machine DNA, you can create whatever experience your player needs to have.”

Surely, his fellow designers would agree with that line of thinking, and the inner workings of state-of-the-art slot machines, whether played in a Vegas gambling spot or online via 888casino, will bear that out with increasing complexity.

The famous fashionista Tim Gunn has a theory about why today’s civilized folks  aren’t quite so civilized after all. His theory can be filed under the heading of “the  slobbification” of our world. Or some such title. 

Today’s citizens of the United States and, perhaps, England, just don’t have a  fashion sense the way they used to. Even the poor had “Sunday, go to meeting  clothes.” Heck, Easter Sunday saw thousands of well-dressed folks frolicking down  Fifth Avenue in New York City – and many of these people, those taking part in  the parade, were not rich. They were, shall I say? All of us! 

Do you remember the movie scenes where they showed folks who were highly  dressed to participate in or to be involved in adult activities?  

In the casinos the players wore suits and ties and the rich folks wore gowns or  fashionable dresses; the men wore tuxedoes. Yes, now sing the following verse,  “those were the days my friends we thought they’d never end.” 

Check out film clips of baseball games or boxing matches or most other sports and  theatre and movies and you’ll see that most of the fans or attendees wore suits  and ties (no less) and, if they were women, they wore dresses.  

In short, you had to dress up to go out. That was considered proper for going out  on the town. “You didn’t,” as my mother said, “want to dress like a bum.” 

Sometime after World War II – maybe late 1950s – we started to see a slight  change in dressing decorum. Here and there would be men not wearing suits and  ties here and there and some women who wore (heaven help us!) pants. It was  beginning back then.  

In short, a new world was budding right before our eyes. Most of us (when young) didn’t notice it or pay it any mind. Our mothers saw to that. 

By the end of the 1960s, all hell broke loose. Boys in their teens and 20s were  wearing long, unkempt hair, earrings, nose rings, and the girls? Heaven forbid what you saw them in or out of – and you saw them not wearing “Sunday, go to  meeting clothes!” for sure. 

Adults still held the line … for a while. But in the 1980s, no one wore suits and ties  to ball games or the casinos and, heaven forfend, teachers often didn’t wear suits  and ties in their classrooms! 

Women wore pants everywhere; children started to become (how can I say this?)  somewhat deranged – they threw fits seemingly for no reason. The world of  parenting was becoming a world of “I’m friends with my children” and “isn’t he  cute throwing that fit?” What? What? My mother, and father, would belt me if I  behaved like that. 

The 1990s? This was obvious that the world I loved most – the world of the  casinos – had undergone a radical change. 

Dressing up? Nonsense. Rare to see someone in a tux – unless he was getting  married. Maybe not even then. She? It was hard to not try to catch a peek under  the wedding dress; it was that short. (Being a well-trained, good man, I  refrained ... well, mostly.) 

Tim Gunn has put the correct label on our age – it is the age of slobbification.  Everything that was nice, that was elegant, has been “slobbified” by, well, slobs. Each and every one of us who dresses down is a slob – period.  

Take the guy in the stained short-sleeved shirt coming over to the roulette table.  “What is your name sir?” “Bond, James Bond …”  

What the hell? That guy isn’t James Bond! Are you kidding? He’s just a slob! 

Ah, but he is James Bond; he’s all of today’s James Bonds. He is now entering the  casinos. What is special about this James Bond? Sadly, truly, nothing. He is not to  be held up as a role model for men – that’s for sure. His license to kill has expired. No secret service would want this guy working for them – would they? Seriously,  would they?

[Men: This is especially for you. Did you practice being Bond, “James” Bond? Yeah,  I did. Somewhere in my preteens, I’d stride into my bedroom and look in the mirror  and say, Scoblete, “Frank” Scoblete. 

I figured when I got old enough and I was wearing a tuxedo, and buying into a  roulette game, the girls would just melt in front of me if I could only get that  accent right – this was the real James Bond, mind you, meaning the one and only  Sean Connery. 

I was 11 or 12 way back then. And the girls? Uh, it never happened. They didn’t  flock to me when I was a teenager. Ah, the illusions of youth. James Bond; dressed  to the nines - which was a gambling term in the god old days; but I wasn’t that  man. His time was passing rather rapidly. Sad, sad. 

I didn’t realize it at the time because, well, I was a kid. Ah, the dreams of youth,  must to be destroyed by aging.]

The Pace of Today’s Roulette? 

James Bond’s roulette is not today’s roulette. Far from it. The game is far crasser. It’s also faster. And more and more players fit the slobbification definition; in fact,  in many of today’s casinos, you’d be lucky to see someone who merits  consideration for being well dressed by the past’s standards.  

Many of the players have little in the way of manners. They rush to get their chips  on the layout and time and time again as those chips scatter as they are knocked  over by other rushing players. Arguments occur not because the chips are  different but because … well, just because. 

You know something. Everyone seems a little or, worse, a lot edgy. Is that the  stress of modern life? Or just the fact that everyone seems really wired? What has  got them so wired? 

That guy over there smashing through the other players’ chips to get his bets out  faster than the superhero Flash could manage? Is he nuts? He has plenty of time.  What’s with him? And he should – after all – change his grimy short-sleeved shirt.

Some Tables 

Now, not all roulette tables are filled with rushing, pushing, aggressive and often  sweaty (smelly) players. Some tables are somewhat sedate – more like the tables  of the old movies. But those are in the distinct minority.  

There was a movie titled Speed about a bus that had been wired to keep going faster and faster until who knows? It seems to me that more and more roulette  players have been “sped up” until, well, who knows what? 

Playing fast isn’t necessarily going to make you win. In fact, the more decisions a  roulette player faces, the worse it will be for him or her as time at the tables  passes on. 

The casinos do not pay out the proper odds of the bet. And that’s the answer to  the question “how does the casino get its house edge?” 

The Truth Hurts 

There are now three roulette games in the world. The single-zero games (0); the  double-zero games (0, 00); and the abomination called the triple-zero games (0,  00, 000).  

The house edges on these games will go from 2.7% on the single-zero  game; to 5.26% on the double-zero game; and (yuck!) 7.69% on the  triple-zero game. 

A winning bet at the single-zero game pays 35 to 1. There are 37 pockets for the  ball to settle in. The odds or roulette are 36 to 1 for a given number to appear. A true payout  would therefore be 36 to 1. But the casino can’t make money by paying out the  true odds of the bet. So, it skimps and reduces the payout to 35 to 1. That creates  the 2.7% house edge on the single-zero game. 

Now, hold your stomachs friends because the payout for the double-zero wheel is  also 35 to 1! What? Yep!

The house edge now zooms up to 5.26%. You have 38 pockets for the ball to  settle into and the odds should be 37 to 1 for that to happen. But the casinos can’t  make any money if they paid out the true odds of the bet. So, they pay out the  same 35 to 1. 

It gets much worse with the triple-zero game. There are 39 pockets. That makes  38 times the ball will not fall in our selected pocket and one time it will fall into our selected pocket. If it does, what happens? Nothing much, except the casino  still pays you 35 to 1. Yikes! 

The house edge now zooms to 7.69%. Ouch! 

Let’s put these figures in terms of possible losing expectations, shall we? Your  expectation on the single-zero game is to lose $2.70 per $100 wagered; your  expectation on the double-zero game is to lose $5.26 per $100 wagered, and your expectation on the (yuck) triple-zero game is to lose $7.69 per $100 wagered. 

The new triple-zero game has become much (much, much, much) more difficult to  beat. And the more bets you make? The more you will lose when your number(s)  don’t come in. That’s the cold hard fact of the matter my friends. I wish it weren’t.  I really do. 

Now, the roulette games that James Bond played were all single-zero games. He  had a pretty decent chance of beating the house or, at the very least, losing a  reasonable amount of money for his fun. 

Maybe this is why today’s roulette players seem rushed? Edgy? Angry? They think, as I’ve said, that the faster they play, and the more they bet, the more money they  will make.  

No. 

On occasion this might be true but seriously that is rarely the case. The faster they  play, no matter what game or roulette strategy they are playing, they will be expected to lose more  and more than that and even more than that and on the triple-zero wheel they  will lose still more than even that. And that is the sad fact.

And the more bets they put out there, the worse it will be.

How Should You Play Roulette? 

I am going to share with you how I play roulette and what games I absolutely look  for at which to spend my playing time. I look for two things. 

I want both if I can get them. Get ready now. Here goes: 

• I look to play the single-zero game first.  
• I will manipulate my betting by taking the percentage off my bets that the single zero game might cost me. 
• If the single-zero game is a $50 minimum, I’ll go down to $25 per wager and that  means I will wager half as much by only betting every other spin of the wheel. This example works out to hold me susceptible to the same expected losses. 
• If I play the double-zero game I will manipulate my bets as I did above if the  minimums are less than I can afford. 
• Remember this: You do not have to bet on every spin of the wheel. You can figure  what you can afford to lose and bet a percentage that brings you in at that  amount. 
• I will play only the even-money bets of red/black, odd/even, or high/low. I prefer  betting the red or black. 

And now for my reward for you (maybe): On the single-zero game some casinos  have a situation where you only have to pay half a losing bet if the green zero comes  up. This is called en prison! This is only on the even-money bets. The casino will not take a losing bet. It will just keep your bet on the layout for the next spin of  the wheel. 

The house edge now falls to 1.35%! Now that is some reward!

On the double-zero game half the even-money bets will be taken if one of the zero  options hits. Yes, the house edge now falls to 2.63% if you make these bets.  Not bad, all things considered. 

All the best in and out of the casinos! 

Are you looking for the best, the very, very best times I have ever had? There  might be a single problem with them, as some are not around anymore or some of them might be played only in locals casinos. 

1. How would you like to play a single-deck blackjack game where all but one  card was dealt from the deck and then the deck was reshuffled from the  cards in the discard pile?

Single deck blackjack with all except one card played. Yes, this was the best  blackjack game my wife, the Beautiful AP, and I played at the Maxim Casino Hotel in the summer of 1992 or thereabouts. 

2. When the dealer ran out of cards, he just grabbed the discards, shuffled  them, and played what remained in the game. Yep! A basic strategy player  had an edge at this game because … 

You could surrender your hand if you wanted.

Any blackjack with $5 wagered earned you a dollar that could be spent anywhere  in the casino. Even for meals in the gourmet room!  

The odds were about one in 20 that a player received a blackjack. That plus the 3-to-2 payouts meant those blackjacks were quite valuable. Of course, those $1  payouts didn’t go up as you increased your bets but still … come on! Free money! 

I learned a method of play (called end game from Paul Kean, a master blackjack  player), and that plus the basic odds of that wonderful game gave us an edge over  the house. Paul was one of the teachers of blackjack great Ken Uston. 

My wife and I spent eight weeks in Vegas until we had to return home to our jobs – we were both teachers at the time. We played eight to 10 hours a day, two  hands each. We were somewhat well-off teachers after that time. All our debts  were paid off. 

They only had four tables available for that magnificent game and we came down early and played all day. Two hands for each of us too!  

We’d go out to dinner and I played craps most nights, working on my controlled  dice throw (took me three years to learn it!). I used the Captain’s throw as my  guide but seriously it was the hardest thing I ever tackled in my gaming career. 

But I could even see in the early 1990s that blackjack was starting to change. Multiple-deck games were becoming the norm – not all at once but slowly you  could see the writing was soon on the wall. 

A few weeks after the Beautiful AP and I returned home the Maxim ended their  game and that was that for that game. 

Playing Baccarat in the High Roller Rooms 

In the good old days of the casinos, just about every high roller room had the large baccarat table with large minimums (in those days $100 to $200). I liked playing in  those. The game was slow and the dealers were truly well-dressed and responsive  since tips were plentiful.  

Given that the house edge on the two best bets were 1.06% on the Banker wager and 1.24% on the Player wager, baccarat is a close game between  players and casinos. It was also a slow game – which was really, really good. The  slower was the better for the player; the faster was the better for the house. 

Since the Banker won more often than the Player I always bet banker. The lower  the house edge; the less you lose. The higher house edge; the more you lose. 

Baccarat attracted many as in many, many superstitious players. You will note that  some table numbers do not appear on the game – number 4 and a couple of  others. 

My most fun came when I found myself sitting across from a wealthy and truly  nutty lady whose English wasn’t actually English. I think she was Asian but even  that was hard to determine since she always had a scowl on her face.

It took me some minutes to realize that she and I had a relationship of sorts. “Of  sorts” is the right term. I won a couple of hands in a row and all of a sudden she  ran around to my side of the table and stuck her face into my face and screamed.

A couple of the people she was with took her by her arms and led her back to the  table. She was glaring at me. 

I won a third hand in a row. She was (I kid you not) growling. Her companion held her arm – I guess to prevent her from running to my side of the table. 

I didn’t play the next round. Nor did she. I didn’t play the next round either. Nor  did she. 

Then I realized what she was doing. She was counter betting me. If I bet Player; she bet Bank. Now for some fun. You see, as I said, I always bet Bank. It was the  best bet at the table so I always made that bet. 

I would see what she did as I made my Banker bets. I was so hoping – and praying – that I could hit a long, long winning streak on the  Banker bet. That would – I assumed – drive her crazy. And that drive wouldn’t be a  long trip for her; I can assure you of that. 

Okay, I made a Player bet. Yes, yes, I made a Player bet. She made a Bank bet. I  quickly switched to Bank bet just as the dealer signaled for the game to start. Bingo! She was now betting with me.  

Her eyes bugged out and she garbled something. She stood up. Her companion  took her arm and settled her down. We lost the bet. Boo-hoo! 

I then bet Player again. She waited and waited. Then the deal hit and I quickly moved my bet over to Banker. She stood up. Was she going to attack me? 

Oh, I forgot to mention, she was a truly short lady. Wrinkled too. She didn’t seem  old but I’m guessing her emotions had left their marks on her skin. I won again!

I could see now that she was struggling. Emotionally struggling. I made a Banker bet. Would she bet with me or against me? 

She bet with me. I won again! This was better than I had hoped for. This was  glorious. I could see she had a full head of steam seemingly coming out of her  ears. 

Then she got up and ran to my side of the table. Oh, boy, I thought, I’m in trouble now. 

She took me by the head (she was awfully strong for such a little lady) and she kissed me. A big wet kiss. She was jabbering in her language – whatever language it was – and she hugged me. Then she ran out of the room. 

That was the last I saw of her. And then, as the gods of chance would have it, I  went on a losing streak. 

The Greatest Dice Rolls I Ever Saw 

The greatest dice roll I was ever on I wrote about in one of my books. The roll was 147 numbers – the second-longest roll ever accomplished (at least as far as I  know). That was the Captain. That roll I will leave for readers of my books to enjoy. 

The most impressive roll was by the woman known as “the Arm.” The rolls themselves were not more than 15 or 20 numbers or so. No. In fact, roll by roll, it wasn’t what you would call special. Plenty of shooters can roll 15 to 20 numbers right? 

It was New Years Eve and the Captain was at the craps table at the Claridge in Atlantic  City. This was somewhere in the vicinity of 1993. 

At that time, the Claridge was a favorite hangout for the Captain. And also, for his crew of high rollers. There were 22 of these guys and most of them played craps. Some also played blackjack; a few even played slots. But the main game was  craps.

The table was cold. Horribly, awfully, hideously cold. “Get the Arm down here,  Captain.” “Come on Captain. Get the Arm.” “This table is freezing.” 

The Arm was the best dice controller I ever saw. She had a unique throw and she more often than not would make money for the Captain and his crew. She didn’t  gamble but she would, when asked nicely, shoot the dice. The Captain would put up a Pass Line bet for her and she was usually off to the races after that. 

She entered the casino shortly after she was called. The crowd (I swear this!)  parted as if she were Moses crossing the Red Sea. She took her place at the table, took the dice, rolled a four, then immediately rolled the four again.  

And for about an hour that is what she did. She’d roll a number then hit that  number again within a roll or two. She did seven-out at times but these seven outs were not often. I watched the greatest dice controller ever that night and it  was, when all was said and done, a very happy New Years for the Captain, the  Crew and, yes, me.

The Beautiful AP and I Stumbled on A Biased Roulette Wheel 

Roulette players of the I-hope-I can-stick-it-to-the-casino school of thought are  always looking for biased wheels where certain numbers come up more than  others in long-range calculations. Indeed, over history some players have found such wheels. 

This is an extensive project, recording hundreds (make that thousands) of spins.  Very few players ever find such roulette wheels and when I played roulette I never  bothered to look. I just played my red and black colors for small amounts and I  was done with the game. 

I always played in casinos where a green zero meant the casino only took half your bet. That brought the house edge down to 2.63% on the double zero wheel and down to 1.35% on the single-zero wheel. That game was a good one  but, no matter what, no edge could be found. 

All the Atlantic City casinos had that game and a few Las Vegas casinos offered it too.

Our normal Las Vegas and Atlantic City days were repetitive. We’d head out early  in the morning to play blackjack for a couple of hours, then go for a walk or run or swim, then eat breakfast, then take a nap, then go out again later, then return and at night go to a show after a scrumptious dinner. 

We might play a little roulette in the evening or craps (low, low, and lower wagers on both of those games) and we’d do the same thing the next day. Our trips lasted a week or two. 

This particular morning in Las Vegas, we headed out to play blackjack at a locals  casino that had a good game. As we passed the roulette table I noticed three  numbers that were next to each other on the wheel that had been selected and we headed out. 

A couple of hours later we came back and I noticed the same three numbers on the scoreboard – each separated by a few other numbers. Wow! They had hit  again. 

We worked out; took naps and then headed to our afternoon casino again. We  passed that roulette table and two of those numbers were again up on the scoreboard. 

“Let’s wait a couple of spins,” I said. We did. In a few spins, one of the numbers  came up. Then we headed out. 

“There are a few numbers that are repeating,” I said. 

“There are always numbers repeating,” said the Beautiful AP. “I doubt there are any biased wheels in a fancy casino such as this.” 

We played blackjack and walked back into the hotel. We walked past the roulette  table. All three numbers were on the scoreboard. 

Back to the room for another nap. Then we went to dinner. Before that, however, we passed the roulette table and two of the numbers showed again on the  scoreboard. I stopped. “Let’s play a few numbers,” I said. “Maybe we have a  biased wheel here.”

We were a few minutes early for dinner so AP and I sat at the roulette table and I bet the minimum bet on the three numbers. 

A few spins later, one of them hit. A few spins after, another one hit. Then the same one right after that. We waited about eight spins later and … we were off to  the races! 

This was a biased wheel! Holy mackerel! We played that wheel for a while when  the pit boss came over. He asked if we were having a good day. “Yes!” I said. 

Here is what happened. No one else played those numbers. They all had their own ways to play the wheel. No one even seemed to noticed that our numbers were  hitting. Over and over! 

“We’re closing this table but you are free to go to another table to play,” said the  pit boss. He closed the table and the other players (who groused a little), got up  and went to the new table. 

We went to dinner. Flushed with one of the biggest wins of our careers!  We ate silently for a few minutes.

“That’s never going to happen again,” I said.

“No, it’s not,” said the Beautiful AP. We sat silently.

“It will make a good article,” I  said.

“No one will believe it,” she said. 

“Probably not,” I said. 

All the best in and out of the casinos!

Aces Manufacturing based in Las Vegas produces “Video Poker Analyzer” capable of monitoring players expertise in playing correct video poker strategy. In the first quarter of 2024 they published a study that identified profits lost to advantage video poker players.

This article explores that article and make some observations.

Contents

1. The highlights of the study
2. How the Video Poker Analyzer works
3. Study recommendations
4. What does this mean for video poker players?
5. And another thing
6. Summary

The highlights of the study

The study, which was published by the company on March 20, 2024, used information gathered by the company’s Video Poker Analyzer. The purpose of the analyzer is to reveal “the identity and lost-profit impact of highly skilled video poker players, known to the industry as Advantage Players (‘APs’).”

The study is based on data from over “three million hands played by over one thousand identified carded players.” According to the study a “small population” of APs can consistently win and obtain a lopsided portion of casino offers.

Specifics according to the study are:

• About 1 percent of the population is made up of APs.
• These players garnered 25.63% of live casinos' trackable (player’s club card inserted) wins during the study.
• Over two-thirds of these players made a profit from their play.
• Because these players were responsible for almost 26% of the coin-in, loyalty programs rewarded them more highly than less skilled players.

How the Video Poker Analyzer works

According to the study Video Poker Analyzer (VPA) is “compatible with any modern slot machine and any casino management system.” The VPA tracks each hand dealt and monitors the player's hold choices.

These choices are then compared to the optimal strategy and a dollar value is assigned to any player error. A “skill rating can be assigned to help predict the casino’s profit and loss each time the carded player returns.”

Study recommendations

The study states that the VPA can identify APs to which casinos can then restrict marketing offers and redirect them to less-skilled players.

It states that by using the VPA data, casinos could see more than a 45% improvement to video poker profits by excluding and reducing APs through a reallocation of marketing dollars to more profitable players.

What does this mean for video poker players?

Before this product, the only skill factor casinos could track were the wins and losses of carded players on these casino games. They knew the coin-in and the amount cashed out. The problem with this is even players who play perfectly can have days where they lose. Poor players can have days where they win. This product can eliminate doubt from the equation.

The numbers quoted in the study seem a bit high to me. This could be due to the casino that was included in the study. The play for the study was taken “at a Las Vegas locals casino.” Locals casinos tend to have higher returns. They also tend to have better offers such as cash back and point multipliers on certain days.

The study focuses strictly on the APs. While I have no doubt they win more (or lose less) in the long run, without special offers, such as point multipliers, they will not win in the long run. Very few pay tables are positive any more. 

It is entirely possible that the product is directed at locals’ casinos since strip and even downtown casinos on average have much lower returns than locals. This, alone, tends to keep APs away.

This product should not cause casinos to lower returns on video poker – well not any more than casinos are already inclined to lower them. It seems this product can be used to accurately identify and act on other elements of the casino player’s experience. 

These items could include cash back, points multipliers, and other casino bonus and promotion offers. VPA would help target good players for reduction in such offers.

Also, currently some casino players' clubs already factor in losses as a criteria for offers and other comps such as rooms and free food and drink. If you lose too little, you do not get as much of those freebies. There is little need for casinos to pay for the VPA system when the casino factors in losses. 

And another thing …

I am not aware how seriously casinos take the argument that advantage players bring with them less skilled players. These players help offset whatever the APs win. Some casinos allow players to link players' club cards for comps.

These casinos can track how much players linked to the APs add to their coffers. But advantage players also bring friends who would not be linked – nor tracked. So, casinos could be hurting themselves by acting based strictly on the advantage players.

There is also the argument that many casino-goers spend money in other areas. They buy food, drink, and merchandise. While I am sure casino management is aware of these amounts, they have no good way to tie it to a players club card.

Summary 

The Video Poker Analyzer will definitely help casinos locate video poker advantage players. I am confident that some casinos will opt to pay for this product and act based on data collected. They will have the data and can apply a fix any way they see fit.

Even though the study shows that 1 percent of carded players account for almost 26% of the coin in, thereby getting a good share of offers, there is a down side.

• The Video Poker Analyzer has costs for the casino to use it.
• It only tracks carded video poker players.
• It does not have the ability to track those who accompany the advantage players.
• Depending on the cost, simply losing advantage players along with their companions could hurt the casino more than it helps.

Time will tell how Las Vegas casinos will react to Video Poker Analyzer.
 

I have written so many articles and books on craps that I have decided to start this article by looking at the often deliberately-overlooked area of the game. Many gambling writers shy away from the darkside because it is uncomfortable to write about and thus they give short shrift to it and its devoted but usually quiet players.

That’s right. I am going to lead some of you, maybe many of you, into the darkest corner of the most exciting game in the casino; a corner fraught with really deep emotion but not the loud, wacky, intrusive emotion of the wild crowd maybe cheering and maybe whining and complaining all about you who are not playing the darkside.

You will probably be alone on this side of the game but anyone who plays and wins craps on the darkside knows the joy of being perhaps the one and only such player at a table. 

The word “unique” comes to mind when discussing the darksider. Unique and strong-willed and not afraid of anything at a craps game. Winning at craps is their desire; not wanting to be merely a part of the crowd. Everyone can be losing at craps while the darksider takes the money and can walk from the game as the out-and-out winner!

Rightside vs. darkside

There are two essential games of craps, those being the rightside and the darkside, the former going with the number or point; the latter standing on one’s own and going against the number or point. 

And that second player, known as the darksider or the “don’t player,” means you are rooting against the shooter whose desires are to satisfy the mob of the other players at almost all tables by making his point or other numbers other than the 7 which will knock him or her out of the game as the dice will then be passed to the next shooter.

When a shooter fails to make his point and sevens-out, the table will often moan as if they are one being. The darksider thinks it is too bad for those other players as the darksider can rejoice in his win while that rightside mob is licking their wounds on their losses.

Many of you know how casino games are played. The new shooter gets the dice and this is called the “come-out roll” that starts the shooter’s turn to establish a point (any of these numbers, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10) or hitting an immediate win of the 7 or 11. The longer the shooter can hold the dice, the better it usually is for the rightside contingent, the worse it usually is for the darksider.

However, once the point is established, the darksider usually goes to work making bets that call for the 7 to hit. That 7 means a win on every darkside bet the player has made.

On the come-out roll, the darksider can win immediately on the 2, 3 and tie on the 12 (four chances to hit one of those), although he or she loses on the 7 or 11 (eight chances to lose). Okay, no doubt, that the come-out roll favors the rightside player but once a point is established the darksider is in command. Winning at craps becomes easier at this point for the darksider than for the rightsiders.

That 7 has six chances to come up, the most appearances compared to any other number. The darksider is good friends with the 7 except on the come-out roll. That 7 loses all the bets of rightsiders but wins all the bets of the darksiders during the point cycle of the game.

You can bet several ways on the darkside of the game. On the come-out roll, you place your “don’t pass” wager and hope for a 2 or 3. The 12 is a push (tie). Obviously, you win your bet if one of those two numbers shows.

Once a point is made, you will win on any 7.

A look at the house edge

What is the house edge against the darksider in craps? It is a mere 1.36%! 

That’s right; the darksider will lose $1.36 per $100 wagered – one of the very best bets in the casino.

[Please note: The darksider can make a “don’t come” bet which can go up directly on a number. Again, our darksider is rooting for the 7 to appear before that number for a win. And the darksider can lay the odds as well.] 

Now, once the darksider is on a number, he or she has the choice of “laying odds” against that number. Because the 7 has the edge against all the numbers, the darksider must place the long end of the odds bet. 

If the casino allows double odds on a pass-line bet or a come bet, the darksider can lay the odds against that number. If the number is 6, the darksider puts $6 for every $5 he or she hopes to win. On the numbers 5 and 9, the darksider will put up $3 for every $2 he or she wishes to win and on the 4 and 10, the darksider will put up $2 for every $1 he or she wants to win. 

Of course, the odds will be higher amounts of money than those shown above. If the point is a 10 in the double odds game, the darksider can put up $40 to win $20 on a $10 minimum-bet game. Remember, the darksider is in the driver’s seat when the game is being played after the come-out roll. 

There are darksider place bets where you go directly up against a certain number and root for that number to lose to the 7. You can ask the dealer how to do these if you wish. Personally, I prefer to keep the number of bets I use to one or a maximum of two.

I would stick with the don’t-pass bets and the don’t come bets. Once you lay odds on these bets the house edge sinks even more!

Now, to finish this and let you know one thing – rightside players tend to dislike darksiders. (Some say they “hate” darksiders.) You will rarely see or hear a darksider loudly rooting for the 7. I’ve seen this a few times in almost 40 years of play. It isn’t usual.

Okay, there you have it. Now you can bet a good bet at a great game and to heck with all the other players scowling at you.

The altar of craps

Take a close look at that craps table in action with players and live casino dealers taking up spots all around it. What is it they are actually doing? Doesn’t it resemble an ancient altar, the Mayans, the Incas, the ancient churches? Is something being sacrificed to the powers-that-be? 

To me it does seem quite ritualistic and the emotions that craps bring out in players can certainly be intense. It is almost as if we are putting up a sacrifice when we put up a bet at the game. We want the gods and goddesses of luck to be on our side, don’t we? I certainly do. 

Or maybe this is just my imagination? I don’t really know. But it seems so to me that craps exists in its own universe. And that’s enough for me.

No matter what, casino craps certainly has many rules and regulations imposed by the casino in order for the game to run smoothly. These I am sure most craps players know even after just one or two sessions of playing the game. Most dealers know the game and know how to make the game run smoothly. Dealers are the actual trainers of the players. 

However, there are some “rules” that I am now putting in quotes which are strongly believed in by many craps players – even if these “rules” aren’t written on the signage at the table. In fact, for some players these “rules” are close to commandments and must be obeyed. 

Get thee ready to learn the “tablets” of this great game that I am now bringing down the mountain!

1. Do not talk to a shooter once he or she is passed the dice. Although the game is random, many shooters like to take care with their rolls and they prefer not having someone bothering them or jabbering at them. If you are the critical type, save your negative comments for yourself. No one wants to hear you lambasting a shooter who just sevened-out – certainly the shooter doesn’t. Everyone sevens-out. Life is death, taxes and sevening out.
2. If a shooter has hit his or her point, don’t jump in his or her face enthusiastically blowing your garlic-wine-scotch-cigarette-cigar-scented breath into his or her nose. That is not a turn-on for any shooter. Does that turn you on? I doubt it. Best to clap and leave the shooter be.
3. Keeping the shooter safe to shoot without harassment from other players is an important thing to remember. Clapping? Yes, of course. Cheering? Yes, certainly. Going farther than that? No and no. So, hands and breath off all shooters. You can be loud at a craps table but do not be loud directly into someone else’s face.
4. Do not dangle your arms down the inside of the table. That is bad manners and often you will see and hear even dealers sternly warn you about not doing that. Shooters hate it and so do the non-shooters at the table. Your arms belong on your side of the table and preferably not in someone else’s space.
5. Do not try to get into the game when the shooter has the dice in his or her hand. Put your money on the table when the dice are being controlled by the dealer in the middle of the table. In short, if the shooter has dice, you do nothing. Dice are being controlled by the dealer in the middle of the table, put your money down and get into the game. That’s the sequence. 
6. If you are across the length of the table from the shooter, don’t cause much of a stir because some shooters don’t want to look at you gyrating. 
7. It used to be standard practice when I first started playing craps in the olden (golden) days of Atlantic City (hey, do any of you remember the time you had to pay to get into the first casino, which was Resorts Casino in those olden, golden days?) many players would tip the shooters who just had good rolls, even modestly good rolls. You don’t see this as much anymore. I liked the practice because it created harmony at the table among the players. My early tutors in craps were those great World War II veterans. The greatest generation and the greatest craps generation – at least to me. So, if you feel like tipping that shooter? Do so and think a good thought about the greatest generation.
8. If you smoke (stop right now) do not blow the smoke out over the table. Blow it behind you away from the other players. Fewer people smoke now but it is still an annoying habit for those players who do not indulge in that particular habit. So be careful if you are a smoker.
9. Do not count the shooter’s rolls out loud. (“Hey! Hey! Hey! That’s number eighteen everyone. We got a hot one here! Keep it up big guy!”) That is distracting for the shooter and the rest of us at the table. Count to yourself. Oh, and be happy if the shooter can get into those double digits. That’s good shooting.   
10.  If you are a “darksider” (meaning a don’t player) do not cheer if the shooter sevens-out. That’s bad manners, also dangerous in some casinos in our land. Remember that those craps tables do resemble an altar like the ones from the ancient past – and you know what happened on many of them, right? So happy, yes, but quiet is good advice.
11.  Don’t hold your drink over the table (or any food). Keep it on your side of the table so if it spills it doesn’t spill on the layout.
12.  If you enjoy setting the dice in certain configurations then make sure you can do it somewhat quickly. Other players are not as enamored with other players’ shooting forms. By the way, I am, but I think I do not represent the other players.
13.  And do not say the word “seven.”

All the best in and out of the casinos!