Roulette is an old casino game, rivaling that of craps in length of time played by people in and out of casinos. Roulette has had a large patronage going back to the old aristocrats of the mid-1600s. Popular theory credits the great mathematician Blaise Pascal with inventing it. Actually what he wanted to invent was a perpetual motion machine. He failed at that.

Still his actual creation, the roulette wheel, has been in a kind of perpetual motion since its invention. It is a supreme gambling game as you can see from the loyalty of its players. I’m guessing that Mr. Pascal wished he had a percentage of the money made by this game for the various casinos that offered it to the public.

There are numerous ways to play the game, some standard and some eccentric, and many players have actually invented their own attack on it. As a gambling writer I tend to focus on what I consider to be the best methods of play, usually without listening to the many loud voices of the players telling me how they prefer to tackle the game.

 

 

So this article is for those of you who wonder what those other players are thinking when they spread out their chips and try to ride the will of Lady Luck to a winning session. Here are four inveterate roulette players with various interesting roulette strategies, some controlled and some eclectic, which they advocate. The players are in the lead here, not me. These are the players who might be playing next to you when you play your next game. Just look to the left and the right and in front of you. One might be one of these!

CHARLOTTE (THE INSIDE GIRL)

I’m 60 years old and I have been playing roulette since I went to my first casino in Las Vegas when I was twenty-three. That’s a long time ago, it sure is. So what have I learned? Well, it is a tough game to beat and although I have had some really great nights playing the game, I am not ahead, that is for certain. But I don’t think players who have played a lot can actually be ahead because the casino does have an edge at the game. 

I will begin my play by using my birthday and the birthdays and anniversaries of my parents, siblings, other relatives and friends. I’ll spread them out all over the layout; ten bets in total each time, all directly on the numbers. If one hits, I keep that one for the next round but change the other nine bets to other numbers using the same formula I just told you about. Luckily, I have a lot of relatives and friends!

At some point I run out of specific dates but then I go with my gut to pick numbers. I might use the scoreboard to pick numbers that have already hit that are obviously not numbers I already bet. In my time at the table, all the numbers that have hit for me I just keep betting them. I will add numbers and when one of those hits I keep that number in the list. I will have ten numbers all together that I then use as my “power numbers” and bet them throughout my session. 

Yes, I admit that I might make some outside proposition bets now and again but they are not really the focus of my play. Those even-money bets like “red and black” just aren’t exciting for me. I am an inside girl; you can call me that if you want for the article, the inside girl. I want to get that 35:1 roulette payout on a win. That is exciting. Even-money is just not that exciting.

How long do I play for? Until my money runs out or I get tired. I am not a big drinker so alcohol has no action in my play. I have my gambling money and my regular money and never do I mix them. I can play and if I get a loss it really doesn’t bother me at all. 

I am a roulette player through and through. No other casino game does it for me the way roulette does.

[Please note: Inside numbers pay out at 35-to-one but the true payout on the double-zero wheel should be 37-to-one; and on the single-zero wheel it should be 36-to-one. The edges then are 5.26 percent and 2.70 percent respectively.]

BRENNAN (THE OUTSIDER)

I have a precise method of play and I never deviate from it, although if things are going good for me I will add some bets and increase the bets I have been making as time goes on. I do want good wins, not just little wins so I am willing to take a leap of faith if you will.

I am an outsider. I just bet “high” or “low” on the even money line. I also bet one of the three twelves and one column. So I am up on three bets all together. When a bet of mine hits, I immediately half parley it. For example, if “high” hits and I win $50, I will make my next bet on “high” for $75. If I win on two or three bets (which is great!), I increase all of them by a half-parley. Remember those twelves and columns will pay two-to-one, so a few hits in a row on those can win me some decent money.

Now what if I win a second bet in a row on one or more of my propositions? I do a half-parley again or close to it. Any loss on any bet on which I have been winning at roulette makes me go down to the original bet. If I am really getting hurt at a game I will reduce my betting by eliminating either a twelve bet or a column bet. I am not a really wild player.

How do I handle my money? I play until I feel I have had my fill for the night or day. I don’t have a fast rule about that but there is only so much money I reserve to play with so that is a big influence. If things are going wrong right off, I might take a trip to another table and try my luck again. I won’t bang my head against the wall if I am losing big. I’ll quit. The game will always be there for me. I do not want to get, as they say, creamed.

[Please note: The outside proposition bets have the same house edges as do the inside bets, 5.26 percent for the double-zero wheel and 2.70 for the single-zero wheel. Some casinos will give back half of the even-money bets should the 0 or 00 hit. This will reduce the house edges on these bets to 2.63 percent and 1.35 percent on the double and single zero wheels respectively. If you can find casinos that do this then betting those even-money bets is the only way to go. That 1.35 percent on the single-zero wheels is one of the best bets in the casino!]

MILLICENT (THE TOAST MISTRESS)

In my non-casino life I am not a drinker; I mean, I do not drink at all, not a drop. But when I am in a casino I enjoy a few drinks; I mean a few drinks. I don’t get bombed or anything like that but I feel relaxed when I am playing roulette after a few drinks. 

I have a very stressful job and going to the casino is a major release for me. It is exciting and relaxing at the same time. I guess that’s a funny thing to say, exciting and relaxing, but that’s how it is for me. I go one weekend a month.

The method of my play is just random really. I just make some bets on hunches. Sometimes they are inside bets on a few numbers and sometimes they are bets on the outside bets and sometimes they are bets both inside and outside. I have no idea of how I’ll play until I am actually playing at a table. I do not know how other people play because I don’t focus on anything but my own bets. I really don’t care how other players play; after all, that’s their business.

I have no preset plan at all. I just go with the flow which really means I have no plan as I said. I have had some good nights and some bad nights. Doesn’t matter; it is the actual playing that inspires me, not really winning or losing. Don’t get me wrong, I prefer winning to losing but I know the casino has an edge on all my bets so losing is not a huge surprise.

I play maybe two or three hours and then I take a break. I maybe play twice a day. I don’t push it though. I’m a reasonable player.

[Please note: While drinking in a casino is not a sin, sometimes overindulgence can hurt a player’s concentration and discipline. Then the game can get somewhat out of hand. Here are some words to the wise: Go easy on the booze when you are actually playing. Drink when the game is over for you.]

LONNIE (THE WARRIOR)

Do you know what my name means? It means I am battle-tested and ready for war. Well, consider this; roulette is a kind of war between the casino and its roulette wheel against us, the players. That’s how I view it anyway. So I am a warrior against the house edge. I am obviously the underdog; but wars can be won by underdogs.

I do not make many bets during a spin of the wheel, hopefully one, maybe two. I play the big number method. If a number has hit more than once on the scoreboard, I will bet that number. When the number disappears I look for another number to bet. I need two of one number on the scoreboard to bet that number. I call any number I bet on a “big number.” This is not an original strategy with me; I am sure there are many players who play some type of “big number” strategy.

Now, there are some wrinkles in this strategy. If two different numbers are doubled up, I will bet those two different numbers. If a number has shown three times, I will double my bet on that number, figuring it is really a hot number – I call that  a “giant number.” 

It is extremely rare to see more than two or three different numbers repeating and a number hitting three times is a true outsider. But I look for these things. They make my betting style really interesting. Things are constantly changing for me at the game and I like that.

Playing as I do then the game of roulette can be considered spicy. You can get all wound up when you see a big number or two, and when a triple number shows up, wow! It’s like eating spicy food. It’s hot but delicious.  

I have no interest in outside bets; they seem kind of dull to me; I’ll be frank about that. When you play the “big number” strategy there feels to be a sense that something big will be happening. And I think of myself as ready to pounce when that big something is about to happen.

How long do I play? A few hours a few times a day. Hey, I am a player; a warrior player at that. 

[Please note: The “big number” strategies were originally used in order to find a wheel that was “off” or unbalanced. It was believed that repeating numbers might indicate a wheel not in good repair. Today’s wheels are usually too fine-tuned to allow for such non-balancing behavior. Numbers will repeat because random results can be repetitive. And you know what that really means? Correct, nothing.]   
   
All the best in and out of the casinos!

Everyone is entitled to get lucky sometimes. But there are those who seem to get way luckier, way more often, than the rest of us. While it often takes varying degrees of skill and timing to land a major casino win, you can’t discount the role that good fortune plays in all of it. Here, then, are five big casino victors who stumbled across the magical combination for taking down life-changing windfalls. 

AUSSIE BILLIONAIRE

Elmer Sherwin was notorious for gambling higher than anyone else in the world. Never mind that the late press baron was a billionaire, he risked sums that even the super-wealthy would be too chicken to put on the line. 

While he of course endured his share of outsized ups and downs, there was one mammoth victory against the casino that had to compensate for a lot of negative swings. While gambling at the MGM Grand in 1997, Packer must have felt especially lucky because he was playing six spots at the blackjack table with $200,000 on each betting circle. When the smoke cleared and his chips were counted, Packer was ahead by an estimated $20 million to $40 million. 

The Sydney Morning Herald put his win at $26 millon and pointed out that he was not the only beneficiary that night: By session’s end, he tipped his cocktail waitress enough to pay off her mortgage.

TWO-TIME WINNER

Back in 1989, some nine hours after the Mirage opened its doors, Las Vegas resident Elmer Sherwin made headlines by hitting a $4.6 million Megabucks progressive slot machine bonanza. 

But, if not for the former Mrs. Sherwin, the score might never have happened. Sherwin had already gone through $80 of his own money and borrowed $20 from ex-wife Florence (she told the New York Times that they were “still buddies” despite marital acrimony) and went on to hit his jackpot. When a reporter asked if he would remarry her, Shewin quipped, “She won’t have me.” His win, at the time, was the largest single payout in Las Vegas history. Clearly a good guy, he donated a chunk of his prize-money to victims of Hurricane Katrina. 

For most gamblers, that big win would have been enough. Not for Sherwin. Sixteen years later, in 2005, he was back in action, playing the Megabucks machine at Cannery Casino. He boasted about wanting to hit a second windfall. Nobody took him seriously – until, against all odds, he did it again. That time, he took down a payoff in excess of $21 million. He made another donation to Hurricane Katrina survivors and offered a challenge to the gambling gods: “I’m gonna try for a third win on Megabucks.” Unfortunately, he died in 2007, and never made the hat-trick, but nobody can say that he did not get the most out of life and out of the casinos.

THE DON OF GAMBLING

By the time Don Johnson began attacking the blackjack tables of Atlantic City, he was already a savvy, successful, sophisticated gambler. But he made his money by using computer simulations to beat horse racing. 

On the side, Johnson engaged in moderate advantage playing at blackjack and capitalized mightily on comps. But when he heard about desperate Atlantic City casinos offering good rules and generous discounts on loss, he decided to step up in a big way. He played with a crew of associates who card counted, hole carded and ace sequenced. Plus there were people there to eat bad cards when the count got low. It allowed Johnson to keep from varying his bets – a dead giveaway that one is card counting – while maintaining the advantage that card-counting brings.  

He would eventually extract  some $14 million out of Atlantic City casino coffers. “But,” Johnson told me, “beating Caesars out of $4.23 million in one stretch kicked things off.” Johnson funded his run with a $220,000 check from Taj Mahal (he won that money in 12 or so hours, betting anywhere from $500 to $10,000 per hand) and the Caesars victory happened over the course of a long weeknight session, “It ended for me with a Caesars shift manager waving his hands,” Johnson continued. “Nobody said anything verbally. I racked up my chips, two security guards followed me and I got paid. Then I went up to my room and slept for a couple hours. I was pretty tired.”

PENSION PLANNER

Normally, I am not incredibly into watching sports. But, in Las Vegas, with, say $100 wagered on the outcome of a game (not enough to hurt if I lose but enough to mean something one way or the other and get me rooting for my desired side), it’s a hell of a lot of fun – especially with a good burger in a kitted-out sportsbook. Maybe a 25-year-old software engineer from California was thinking the same thing  in 2003 when he rumbled into town to watch an NCAA Finals basketball game. 

Presumably killing time before tip-off, he put $100 or so into a progressive Megabucks machine at the Excalibur. Amazingly, his spin hit. He won $39.7 million, signed all the required documents and immediately asked that his name not be released. No doubt, the excitement of March Madness paled alongside this life-changing score. And just to make sure that his millions would not all get spent in one place, the engineer asked that his money be paid out in 25 installments of $1.5-million each.

ARCHIE’S RUN

Archie Karas’s casino winning streak is so iconic that it is know simply as “the run.” As goes his story – some of which can easily be apocryphal – but who cares when a tale is as good as the one about Archie – Karas came to America with $50 in his pocket. He made his way to Los Angeles, ran it up to $2 million via pool hustling and sharp playing in the city’s underground poker games. Then he blew it all before materializing in Las Vegas, in 1992, with nothing more to his name than a borrowed $10,000. 

He went back to poker and pool and supposedly took on all comers. Even the great poker-genius Stu Ungar got spanked by Karas. Supposedly, Ungar lost $1 million to the high-flying Greek. Reports have it that over the course of six months, he ran his bankroll up to $17 million, By 1995, it is said to have reached $40 million. Then, supposedly, over the course of two disastrous years, he blew it all at craps, baccarat and even his old standby game of poker.

During the next 18 years, Karas found himself in and out of money and was a frequent fixture at the World Series of Poker. But, clearly, things were not going well for the once flush gambler. In 2013, he was arrested for marking cards at the blackjack table of a San Diego casino. No stranger to accusations of shady behavior, Karas had been arrested four times previously, under suspicions of cheating. This last time, though, he received three years probation and permanent placement in Nevada’s notorious Black Book. It prohibits him from entering any of the state’s casinos and taking a final shot at acquiring one more life-changing fortune.

The subtitle of this book is “The Pros’ Approach to Beating Today’s Blackjack.” Trust me; this is exactly what this book is all about. 

The book chronicles how a recent college graduate (Colin Jones) took the advice from a friend and learned card counting, and subsequently used the power of team play in today’s casino environment to extract millions of dollars from them over two decades. His experiences and results with card counting that are detailed in the book substantiate that the naysayers, who claim that card counting is dead, are dead wrong. 

I first met Colin at Max Rubin’s Blackjack Ball. Even though he was probably one of the youngest invitees who attended this elite event of blackjack professional players, I was impressed with his demeanor and knowledge of the game. I asked him if I could interview him for my Blackjack Insider Newsletter and he obliged.  This was in 2012, and I (and my subscribers) learned a lot about Colin from that interview. Since then, his blackjack team exploits have become legendary.

According to Colin, his goal for writing this book was “to provide an authoritative guide to what you need to know and more important, how you should think about card counting in today’s casino environment.” Colin succeeds in this. Yes, you’ll find chapters that explain the concepts of basic strategy and card counting; however, what sets this book apart from all other blackjack books is the detailed blueprint on how to train, manage, and implement a team of highly skilled card counters, and their experiences playing in casinos throughout the country. You will be surprised at the technology based tools Colin used to do all this while at the same time keeping his team of players motivated for the very long hours they spent crushing casinos.

Colin’s most famous blackjack team was the “Church Team,” which comprised mostly investors and players (and their friends) who attended churches that Colin went to in the Seattle area. With a bankroll of half a million dollars, they won $3.2 million over a three-year period, and investors were provided with a return that beat the stock market by 500%. (Their exploits were chronicled in the video “Holy Rollers.”)

Here are some of the important points that Colin makes in his book that made him and his teams so successful.

1.    Focusing on E.V., which is an abbreviation for “expected value” (or profit potential). The latter is the amount of money you expect to win over a given period of time based on the rules of the game, and your playing and betting strategy. Colin, and every member of his teams, knew and embraced this concept, namely, it didn’t matter if you won or lost; rather it was the value of your playing and betting decisions that was all that mattered. 
2.    Maximizing E.V. Colin’s teams played in a manner that gave them the most potential profit from any game. This involved making sure the games were playable beforehand; playing every hand perfectly; making every bet perfectly; playing for long hours (10 hours and longer were normal); getting more rounds  per hour (such as playing heads-up against a dealer); and other techniques. 

3.    Maintaining High Standards. Players that Colin recruited for his teams had to go through a vigorous training period and then be tested by him before being considered for a team. According to Colin, the test-out involved three phases: “counting down two or three shoes at team headquarters, with a maximum of being off in the count by a running count of 1 per shoe and no basic strategy deviation, or betting mistakes; an indefinite in-casino test-out where we watched the player in action for as long as it took to feel comfortable handing him or her team money; and 40-80 hours at lower-limit play, followed by a retest. At that point, we continued to test our players regularly to make sure their game stayed at a high level.”

4.    Playing and Betting Aggressively. If the count required a bet of a thousand (or more) dollars on one, two, or more hands, the team players made the bets regardless if they were ahead, behind, tired, or worried about getting thrown out of the casino. Likewise, deviations from the basic strategy based upon the count were expected to be made by each player, even if it meant, for example, splitting tens (a move that often attracts attention from pit supervisors). Their goal was simply to extract as much money as possible from each casino, and they succeeded using aggressive playing and betting strategies.

5.    No Expensive Camouflage. Most card counters employ some type of camouflage (i.e., cover play) either in how they play a hand or bet, simply out of fear of being confronted by casino employees. However, most camouflage plays come at a cost, which decreases E.V. Colin’s philosophy is to “play blackjack fearlessly with no cover. I go after the money. I don’t give them an extra penny of my money.” (Although there is an interesting chapter on “free” cover plays that were sometimes used by Colin and his team.)

6.    Expecting Casino Heat. When playing and betting aggressively for long hours, there is an increased risk of casino heat, including being backed off by the casino. This is why Colin devotes a whole chapter to the different types of “casino heat” he and his team faced and how they handled it. (Colin emphasizes “to try not to sweat it when it comes to back offs.” This chapter should be required reading by every card counter.)

7.    Having Enough Bankroll. Colin does a good job explaining the concepts of risk of ruin, bankroll requirements, and the dangers of over (and under) betting your bankroll. You’ll find advice on how much bankroll you need for different levels of risk of ruin. (For the most part, Colin and his team had enough bankroll for a very low 1% risk of ruin.)  Even though he and his teams had some gut-wrenching losses in the short run, they smartly resized their bets to maintain the 1% risk of ruin. By so doing, they were able to play on to get to the long run where, as Colin put it, “[you] have the math all work out and approach EV. …” 

8.    Detailed Team Management.  Colin was often responsible for managing his teams. You’ll find some excellent advice in this book on what to do (and not do) based on Colin’s experiences. (Includes keeping records of each session, determining how much each player will earn, how to split the winnings amongst players and investors, and lots more useful advice.)

9.    Protecting Your Money When Traveling. Colin and some of his team often carried tens of thousands of dollars with them when they traveled around the country. You’ll get plenty of tips on how to keep your money safe when doing so. (There is also advice on playing abroad, including the all-important currency exchange and declaration of winnings when leaving one country and entering another.)

10.    Using a Big Player. Although most of Colin’s teams played solo on different tables (sometimes in different casinos), he had some experience using the Big Player concept, and he offers tips for players that are considering using this playing technique. 

11.    Tips on How to Form a Team. Colin shares some useful advice on ways to form a card counting team, including the use of Internet message boards.

This book also includes a chapter on techniques other than card counting that can be used to beat the game of blackjack (such as special promotions, comps, coupons, matchplays, free play, loss rebates, side bets, and more). Also, Colin explains his reasons why he believes the Church Team was so successful, and why it ended (the latter might surprise you). In the final chapter, Colin reflects on the life lessons he learned from 15 years of card counting (interesting reflections).

At the end of each chapter, you’ll find motivating interviews and stories from active card counters that played on Colin’s teams, or were trained by him.  Colin gave this reason for including them in his book. 

“Each (player) has a different story about why he or she has approached advantage play, showing the motivations for, and applications of, the principles of this book are as unique as the individuals themselves.” 

(Note: The above was a great addition to the book; there is a lot to be learned from other advantage players who have learned and applied the principles in this book.)

Unlike the very limited resources that I, and my peers, had when we started our card counting careers (circa early 1970s), it’s clear that today’s card counters have superior technologically based tools at their disposal that will make their journey to become  successful card counters much more easy and efficient. As you will learn when you read this book, Colin embraced this technology in how he trained players and managed teams.

Bottom line: This book is a highly authoritative and up-to-date guide on how to beat casinos in today’s world, written by someone that has been there, and done that, successfully. Whether you are a recreational player or a wannabe or experienced card counter, if you want to win (more) money playing blackjack, including making a living playing the game, you need to read this book and then apply the successful principles and techniques used by Colin to get the money.

Slot machine players are among the most valuable players in today’s casinos, both online and offline. Casinos know it, too. They reward slot players with cash back or free play along with meals, free or discounted rooms and other comps.

In fact, modern player rewards systems that track how much you play evolved from the “slot clubs” that sprang up in the early 1980s, starting with the 24K Club at the Golden Nugget in Atlantic City. 

Casinos had been comping table players for decades, relying on the pit crew to estimate how much a customer was playing. That’s not practical on slots, with many more players, so the Golden Nugget introduced a loyalty card. 

The amount of information gathered, sophistication of player ratings systems and diversity of comps has been growing ever since. Video poker players are valuable, too, but they receive much less in casino comps than slot players.

It’s common for rating systems to award slot players twice as many points per dollars played than video poker players, meaning slot players accumulate comps twice as fast. In some casinos, the difference is even greater – up to 10 times the comps for slot vs. video poker players.  And some casinos don’t award comps at all on the highest-paying video poker games.

That didn’t used to be the case. In the early days of player rewards for electronic games, video poker players earned points and comps at the same rate as slot players.
Why the change?

 

 

It has to do with the relative payback percentage of slot and video poker games and the amount of profit the players are expected to generate for the casino.
Let’s do a little arithmetic.

Assume one player is playing 9-6 Double Double Bonus Poker, which returns 99 percent with expert play, betting $1.25 per hand – five coins per hand on a 25-cent machine. 

Now assume another player is betting 3 cents per line on a 40-line, 1-cent video slot returning 90 percent to players. That’s $1.20 per hand – just to put two players on about the same betting track at a realistic level.

If each makes 500 players per hour, then the video poker player bets $625 per hour and the slot player bets $600.
What are the average losses?

With a 99 percent return, the video poker player’s average loss is $6.25 per hour. There’ll be winning sessions, even big wins when a royal flush or four Aces with a low-card kicker turn up, and there’ll be sessions with bigger losses, but the average will be $6.25.

The penny slot player getting a 90-percent return sees an average loss of $60 per hour. There are winning sessions on the slots, too, with the occasional jackpot, but the average loss given a nearly equivalent amount of play is nearly 10 times that of the video poker player.

There’s much greater incentive for the casino to tempt the slot player into coming back, so the slot player gets more in player rewards.

Given this explanation, one slot player replied, “But I DON’T bet that much on penny slots. I bet one coin per line. So my bets are only a third of those my husband makes on video poker, but I still get more comps than he does. I’m not complaining, but he sometimes gets a little confounded by it all.”

Let’s run the numbers for slots again, but this time with 1-cent per line bet on a 40-line slot at 500 spins per hour.

Now the total wager is only $200 per hour, but with a 90-percent payback, the average loss is $20 per hour. That’s still more than three times as high as the $6.25 per house loss for a 9-6 Double Double Bonus Poker player betting $625 per hour.

Casinos sometimes offer multiple point days and those can not only boost your comps, they can boost the effective payback of the game you play.

If applied equally to video poker and slots, those multi-point days sometimes could turn some video poker games profitable for players, but can’t do the same on the slots. For many years, video poker zeroed in on multiple-points days to gain an advantage.

That’s led casinos not only to accumulate comps at different rates for slot and video poker play, but to offer different multiples on points.

Let’s create an example of how that can work. Assume a player rewards club is set up so you’re given one point for every $4 in play, and for every 100 points you accumulate, you can redeem for $1. That means $400 in play brings $1 in cash or free play, so you’re getting back 0.25 percent of your bets.

Normally, that would increase the effective payback percentage of 9-6 Double Double Bonus Poker to 99.25 percent – a thinner shave than the casino really likes. The effective rate on a 90-percent penny slot would rise only to 90.25 percent. That’s well worth it to the casino to raise a little goodwill.

What if the casino was having a 5x points day, where you were given points at five times the normal rate.

That would raise the effective payback on the slot for that day to 91.25 percent. Casino operators still get a healthy profit, and the promotional value can generate enough extra play that the casino makes more money overall than on single-points days.

Even on higher-paying slots returning 95 percent and some do online or on dollar level offline, the effective return of 96.25 percent with 5x points still generates profit for the casino.

But on 9-6 Double Double Bonus Poker, those 5x points on a club that normally returns 0.25 percent turn a 99 percent return into a 100.25-percent profit opportunity for players.

On video poker games with higher paybacks the profit opportunity would be even greater as 9-6 Jacks or Better would jump from 99.5 percent to 100.75 or Not So Ugly Deuces Wild from 99.7 to 100.95.

So casinos adjust rewards on a couple of fronts. It might require $8 in play instead of $4 to earn a point on video poker, reducing the basic club return from 0.25 percent to 0.125 percent. It might limit multiple points days to 2x or 3x on video poker while offering higher multipliers on the slots. And it might offer greatly reduced or no comps on video poker games paying 99 percent or more.

By doing that, the operators assure themselves that the greatest rewards will go to the players who generate the most profit for the casino: The slot players. And it prevents turning marginally profitable video poker games into losing propositions for the operator.

From an operator’s perspective, that’s how it must be, with more comps to slot players than video poker players because they are more valuable to the casino.

Over the past 50 or so years, I’ve read my fair share of books containing trip reports written by card counters. But none was as unique, and well-written, as the recently published The Blackjack Insiders. (Publisher: Huntington Press). 

This is not a how to play and win book on blackjack; rather it’s an interesting and thrilling story about how a blackjack dealer decided to turn the tables on the casinos and beat them at their own game.  

The dealer is Andrew Uyal, who was employed as a blackjack dealer (and later a floor supervisor, and pit boss) at the CasaBlanca Casino in Mesquite, Nevada. At age 25, Andrew is an up-and-coming employee who is well-liked by his peers and supervisors, with a lot of potential for advancement. However, Andrew was recently divorced (a costly one), had a young son (B.J.) to support, and because he didn’t earn a big salary, money was tight. He was ready for a change.

His shift boss, Mark Stevens, takes a liking to Andrew. It turns out that Mark has been secretly card counting on his days off, and convinces Andrew to try card counting under his tutelage.

Fortunately for Andrew, Mark spends his days off teaching him everything he needed to know to succeed at card counting. This included learning the basic playing strategy, how to count the cards, how to bet and deviate from basic strategy based on the count, and a whole lot more. This was intense training and practice that continued for weeks until Andrew could accurately play his hands through an entire shoe several times (with Mark dealing) without making any playing or betting mistakes.  

Andrew and Mark began their card counting adventure with weekend trips to Las Vegas. Mark was so confident of Andrew’s ability that he staked him with “five one hundred dollar bills” and smartly told him to “start with small bets.”  Andrew’s first trip as a card counter was successful. 

It turned out that Mark was subsequently let go from his job as casino shift manager so he began playing blackjack full time. Later, after changes in management were made where Andrew was working (not to his liking), he subsequently resigned and joined Mark playing blackjack for a living.

The book chronicles the many subsequent trips the two of them made to casinos not only in Las Vegas but New Orleans, Biloxi, Tunica, Vicksburg, Laughlin, California,  Wendover, Foxwoods, Kansas City, St. Louis, and elsewhere. The chapters explain in great detail how each trip went; places where they stayed, names of casinos they visited, the types of playing conditions they encountered, the casino heat they experienced; the different barrings they experienced, the big winning and losing streaks, and the emotional highs and lows.  

One thing that you’ll quickly discover when you read this book is their aggressive playing style. Their goal was to win as much money as they could from each casino they visited so it was common for them to play long hours in the same casino with aggressive bet spreads and some very unusual (but mathematically correct) deviations from basic strategy based on the count (e.g., doubling on soft 20 and a 7 against a dealer’s 6 upcard based on the index number).  They were not too concerned about being backed off at any one casino because they decided early on that they were going to go on the road to play blackjack professionally for only a short period of time (it actually lasted about a year), and probably wouldn’t return to any casino that backed them off until six months had passed.

(As an aside, the above tactics used by Andrew and Mark were different than what I used when I began card counting some 50 years ago. With only a limited number of legal U.S. casinos back then (i.e., Nevada) my goal was on longevity (i.e., playing in a manner that stayed under the casinos’ radar). But times have changed. Today, over 30 states (commercial and tribal) offer legalized blackjack games.  The result: the younger (and probably smarter) card counters mostly use the above “hit-and-run, burn-out, advantage-play technique.” I’m not saying this is wrong; just different.)

Another striking point you’ll learn from this book is the comaraderie that developed between Andrew and Mark. They rarely played together, each had his own bankroll, and they mostly played in different casinos on the same trip. (Sometimes, one or the other would also take solo playing trips.). However, after every playing session or extended trip, they would communicate the highs and lows of their session and trip. Often Mark would encourage Andrew not to worry when he experienced a losing session. (Some of the other benefits of team play, besides the motivational support you get from your team members, especially when you have a really bad session, are the reduction in variance; practicing together and watching the improvement in each player’s skills; and probably the most important benefit, being able to win a lot more money with less risk than playing solo.) 
 
Although you’ll read about the many euphoric winning sessions and streaks that they enjoyed, you’ll also learn about what can happen to a card counter’s emotions when he or she experiences a long losing streak.  (Like Andrew’s long five-month losing streak where he lost $16,000, about half of his bankroll. Chapter 16 describes this losing streak; it should be mandatory reading for any wannabe card counter.)

There are other points in the book that may be overlooked by most readers but shouldn’t be. They include:

• The use of Current Blackjack News to check on the blackjack rules for a casino  before they visited it.
• How they used their experience as dealers and floor supervisors to know what to expect when certain situations arose while they were card counting.
• How to cash out a lot of (winning) casino chips in any one casino.
• Why you should refuse to hand over your ID to a casino boss.
• What to expect if you get a tap on the shoulder when you play.
• What to do (and not to do) if the above occurs.
• How to play independently as a card counting team, track your winnings, and split profits.
• How to use blackjack software to determine your session bankroll and check if unusual events that occur are in the realm of a possibility, even if the odds are long.
• Learning to deal with the solitude, long hours, constant travel, wild bankroll swings, and adversity that come from being viewed and treated as criminals by casino bosses.

What’s in it for you if you purchase and read this book? A great real-life story on how a depressed blackjack dealer having a tough time during his life took the risk to become a card counter, and go on the road to play blackjack professionally for a living.  Andrew ended up winning a fair amount of money over the year he played with Mark. (I’ll let you find out exactly how much he won when you read the book.) But it was more than just the money. When Andrew looked back on his one-year adventure, he wrote the following on the last page of his book.

“I thought about how much the game of blackjack had done for me. It started by giving me something productive and engaging to focus on during a tough time in my life. It grew to help me financially. It afforded me a chance to travel the country … A mere card game had changed my life and put me on the path toward success ... At the end our goal was accomplished. We played. We saved some. Most importantly, we collected great memories during it.”

Note: After their successful one-year journey as professional card counters, Mark planned to take a 9–5 job at a financial advising company, and Andrew made the move to Las Vegas with his son to work in the casino industry. The book ended appropriately with this quote:

“The End Is Just a New Beginning.”

The recently opened Encore Boston Harbor casino is situated just 14 minutes away from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, home of the famous MIT blackjack team. The team has been out of operation for nearly 20 years, but that location begs a question: What would the world’s most famous card counting syndicate have done with a new casino in such close proximity? “We would have played it until we got kicked out and couldn’t play it anymore,” Andy Bloch told 888.com. A veteran-member of MIT blackjack and later a successful professional poker player, Bloch added, “I don’t know what the rules are at Encore, but I am sure we would have figured out a way to beat the game. We did it at a lot of other casinos – including Foxwoods and Mohegan sun, which both opened near MIT.”

While there is no telling what MIT’s current crop of math geniuses are cooking up for the New England outpost of Encore, its opening does present a good time to revisit the groundbreaking blackjack team that upended casinos around the world and revolutionized the concept of advantage play. 

The team was founded by Bill Kaplan (no relation to the author), fresh from managing a group of card counters in Las Vegas. After weathering player burnout there, he relocated to Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he planned on attending Harvard Business School. “I was sitting in a Chinese restaurant [in Cambridge], talking about all this, and some MIT kids came over,” he told Boston magazine. “They said, ‘Are you talking about blackjack? We’ve been playing for a few months, trying to make money.’”

Suddenly, a new crew fell into Kaplan’s lap. In 1980, the MIT blackjack team was born. As Kaplan explained it, the team’s success was largely based on intent and organization. “We ran it as a business,” he said. “Training, extensive training, checkout procedures, two hours of perfect play, leaving the table right. It was really run more tightly than most businesses.”

Maybe so, But it can be argued that people who work for most businesses do not casually misplace six-figures worth of said business’s money.  Such was the case when one of the MIT players haphazardly forgot a paper bag loaded with $125,000 of blackjack revenue. He left it in an MIT classroom. A janitor spotted the sack of cash and stashed it away for safekeeping. With the help of Alan Dershowitz (who helped defend OJ Simpson and got tangled up in the recent Jeffrey Epstein scandal), the money (which was originally thought to be drug related) was returned.

Outrageous as it sounds, misplacing $125,000 might be easy when you’re making much more. According to former MIT player Mike Aponte, “MIT won over 10-million in six years. It’s not like everyone became a multimillionaire, but it was a relatively small group of people. I put in $1,500 in the summer. By November, my investment was worth $100,000. Then I just kept rolling it over. “

Beyond the MIT team’s business sense, another important reason for its success stemmed from players operating at peak levels when it really mattered. “There were people who played better in the casinos than they did during practice sessions,” said Jon Hirschtick who played on MIT from 1984 until 1993. “My best play happened in the casino, for high stakes, under pressure. A lot of blackjack players are ADD; so they can focus more [than people without the disorder] but cannot control it. One thing we can do, though, is focus on cards coming out of a shoe.

For all of the focus that is required to win at blackjack – Hirschtick remembers sitting with a fellow player in Atlantic City and discussing the high-end cars they could afford to buy – plenty of entertaining anecdotes did emerge. One of the best concerns John Chang, an MIT blackjack wizard on whom Kevin Spacey’s “21” character was partially based. 

Chang became overly recognizable as a card-counter and, as a result, drew heat that radiated to his fellow players. “My teammates didn’t want to play with me unless I got into a fantastic disguise,” he said. “My girlfriend told me she could dress me up as a woman. Her shoes were my size and she had everything I needed. I did it three times: in Illinois, in the Bahamas and in Atlantic City.

The first two outings went off without a hitch. Atlantic City, though, was another story. “I was sitting at the table, next to a Chinese woman; I saw her dainty hands and put mine under the table,” Chang continued. “Upstairs [in surveillance], they were looking at my hands and laughing. Then an Asian host came over and whispered into my ear, ‘We know who you are.’ I got up to leave and some security guard said to me, ‘Lose the pearls, Esmeralda.’  It was embarrassing. I ran around the casino to make sure I wasn’t being followed as I made an exit.”

Other times, Chang and his collaborators left on their own accord, before things got too hairy. He remembers another play in AC, one in which they were tracking shuffles, when his partner got dealt a 19 on one hand and an 11 on the other. He knew that the next two cards would be a 2 and a 10. The guy doubled on both, correctly expecting 21s. As Chang remembers it, “I said, ‘Let’s get out of here before they arrest us.’” 

They successfully escaped the casino but MIT could not outrun changing tolerance levels within the gambling dens they frequented. By 1997, the best spot to play was MGM Grand in Las Vegas. The casino took the biggest action and no gender-defying disguises were required. 

That year, on June 28, 1997, the night of the Mike Tyson vs. Evander Holyfield championship fight, things felt particularly promising.  “I was sitting at an MGM table, with all yellow chips [worth $1,000 each], ahead $70,000; the fight had started and there was enormous action in the pit; nobody raised an eyebrow,” Chang said. As blackjack games raged on the gambling floor, the third round neared its end, inside MGM Grand Garden Arena, and a frustrated Mike Tyson chomped off the top of Holyfield’s ear. “Then, after the fight ended prematurely, there was a riot. Tables got overturned, chips got stolen out of racks, people got arrested. This coincided with Kerry Packer winning $26-million and everybody became chicken-shit about taking big action.”

It was not the end of the MIT team. But it was the end of an era for high-stakes advantage players. The real wind down came three years later, in 2000, brought on, at least partially, by an MIT player’s disgruntled girlfriend who identified team-members to key people at the now defunct Griffin Detective Agency. Griffin maintained a database of cheaters and advantage players, erroneously making no distinctions between the two. With most of the team-members made, playing in the casinos quickly became untenable.

Some MIT counters moved on to different forms of gambling. Others found new businesses to succeed in and there are those who continued to plug away at blackjack. Chang falls into the latter camp. While he more or less remembers MIT’s biggest win – “As a team, it was $400,000 or $500,000 on a Super Bowl weekend” – Chang tries to keep from getting too hung up about his own short-term performance. “I don’t think about money in terms of what I can buy,” he said nonchalantly. “I’m just playing a game.”

888casino was in pole position at the 2019 EGR Awards ceremony at Grosvenor House, in London. An illustrious gala event was hosted on Thursday, October 24, 2019, with hundreds of e-Gaming aficionados in attendance. The prestigious EGR Awards is regarded as the gold standard of the online gaming industry, with awards for gaming excellence across multiple categories. Several headline categories are showcased, including Affiliate of the Year, Bingo Operator, Casino Operator, Mobile Operator, Operator of the Year, Poker Operator, Rising Star, Socially Responsible Operator, and Sports Betting Operator. Nominations in each category are certainly impressive, none more so for a casino operator than the EGR Casino Operator of the Year Award.

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888casino is passionate about gaming. We understand that players have many choices when it comes to choosing their favourite online casino. This highly competitive industry is populated with many world-class providers, and we need to stay on top of our game to keep our players satisfied. To this end, we have been pouring lots of effort into making our product an industry-leading contender. In 2018/2019, 888 Holdings PLC enjoyed tremendous success. We are on track to double our inventory of games by the end of the year, and we are seeing improvements in all of our metrics worldwide. As regulatory changes continue to shape the global online gaming landscape, our management teams are burning the candle at both ends to ensure that we are positioned for success in new markets. As safe and secure online gaming operators, we take pride in being a responsible online casino. Player safety always comes first at 888casino.

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At 888 we have a lot of jackpots. As a courtesy, we like to call our players to congratulate them and answer any queries they might have. 

While every jackpot winner is a delight to speak to, this one was particularly heartening. 

Our winner lives in Kent, but is originally from East Africa. Rather down on his luck, E.Y was sleeping on his friend’s couch at the time that he hit the jackpot. 

So what happened?
E.Y opens a new account at 888, makes a £20 deposit to get an additional £50 bonus, and starts playing the slot-game, Millionaire Genie. 

Pretty quickly he finds himself up £80, but it’s a rollercoaster ride and he’s soon down again. At one stage he’s up £200, but Lady Luck is a fickle one. At £70, E.Y decides it’s time to cash-in.

But while walking the dog, he decides to give it just one more spin at £1.5 for good luck and… DING! DING! DING! 
JAAAACCKKKPOOTTTT!!!

At first the coin doesn’t drop. He merely receives a notification and clicks “OK”. But after checking his account balance, he sees he’s been credited with a jaw-dropping 2.9 MILLION POUNDS!

It all sinks in when seconds later he receives our call to confirm his win and to quickly guide him through the next steps. 

How will he spend it?
Overcome with relief and euphoria, E.Y tells us that he’s been volunteering at his local church’s homeless shelter. Inspired by its impact, he plans to open a similar charity, first in Kent and then in his hometown in East Africa. He also wants to invest in expanding opportunity in his local community back home, by opening a school and library there.

A few days later we gave him a follow-up call to confirm that the funds had hit his bank account. E.Y told us that he was surprised by how quickly the funds had gone through and thanked us for the support. “The follow up call and everything you do is superb…you make someone feel valued”.

Before thanking him for his time, we asked the player if he had any other plans for that day. He said he had to go somewhere, as he’d invited someone out for lunch. When we asked, he said it was a homeless chap he was treating to lunch.

It's a hive of activity at the casino with nattily-clad dealers hosting rollicking games of live roulette, live baccarat, and live blackjack. Eager players swarm to these gaming enclaves, ready to place their bets. The unmistakable allure of the casino captivates our attention in ways few hedonistic pursuits can. Words like engaging, immersive, and thrilling come to mind, but they simply don't do justice to the unmistakable pomp and grandeur of the casino. Whether it's a sprawling land-based casino on the iconic Las Vegas strip, or a fully licensed online casino, players cannot seem to get enough of the scintillating attractions on offer.

THE WORLD'S MOST EXCITING CASINO CARD GAMES

The card players among us are instantly drawn to strategy-based games like Blackjack, and Texas Hold'em. These feature-rich attractions come in many entertaining variants. The likes of Side Bets Multihand Blackjack, Side Bets American Blackjack, and 4 Decks Super Stakes Blackjack abound. These casino card games test your mettle, with tactical and strategic plays at every juncture. Blackjack, a classic casino card game, is played against the dealer – not against other players. The objective of the game is simple: Beat the dealer's hand total without exceeding 21. Blackjack is achieved if a player scores 21 with an Ace and a 10-value card (10, Jack, Queen, King). Blackjack typically pays: 3:2, although a growing number of casinos has the less favorable payout of 6:5.

One would be remiss to dismiss the social aspect of blackjack. The game is enjoyed by casual players and high rollers all over the world. From the illustrious Monte Carlo casino in Monaco to the extravagant Macau, from the seaside charm Atlantic City casinos, to the magnetic appeal of Las Vegas, Nevada. Casino card games dazzle the senses; they are the wildly entertaining attractions that pepper our screens in Hollywood blockbusters. The inimitable Texas Hold’em Poker reigns supreme as the ultimate competitive poker game. Players go head-to-head against one another in pursuit of the highest-ranking hand, with two hole cards, The Flop, Turn, and River to boot. From the grand stage at the WSOP at the Rio All Suites Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas to the WPT, ANZPT, Aussie Millions, and beyond.

BACCARAT

The world was introduced to baccarat hundreds of years ago. This charming casino card game is the darling of the well-heeled. Aristocracy, nobility, and royalty have all enjoyed baccarat in all its glory. Players are required to bet on either the Player, the Banker, or a Tie. Baccarat is unique in its execution; players don't compete against one another, or even against the dealer. Players must bet on a hand that scores the highest points total. The magic number is 8 or 9, deemed a natural in baccarat. Here is the kicker: it is impossible to bust in baccarat since every hand total greater than 9 automatically has the tens digit removed. 

Therefore, the only thing that's required is a rudimentary understanding of odds and probabilities with Banker hands, Player hands, and Tie hands. Certain casinos are even prepared to reduce the 5% vigorish on the Banker hand to make it more player friendly. As a rule, when playing with an 8-deck shoe, the house edge on the Player hand is 1.24% and the house edge on the Banker hand is 1.06%. The true house edge, excluding ties, on the Player Hand is 1.36%, and on the Banker hand is 1.17%. Leading aggregator platforms like Uonlinecasino provide players with many entertaining baccarat options at reputable online casinos. It's always best to practice baccarat in demo mode before playing for real money. The game features additional side bets such as the Player pair and the Banker pair, both of which pay out 11:1 Tie bets pay 8:1, or 9:1, depending on the casino.

ROULETTE WHEEL

Roulette is French for Little Wheel, but there's nothing small about this game's popularity. Invented centuries ago by a French mathematician named Blaise Pascal, roulette has evolved into arguably one of the most riveting casino table games in the world. It is peerless among its fans, and rightly so. This enthralling game features a free spinning wheel with numbers 0, 1-36 for European and French Roulette variants, and numbers 00, 0, 1-36 for American Roulette. The inclusion of the additional 00 dramatically changes the RTP (return to player) in roulette games, increasing from 2.70% to 5.24%. Players are utterly gob smacked with the electrifying appeal of roulette. It's a fascinating betting game with all sorts of bankroll management options available. These include the Martingale system, the Reverse Martingale, D’Alembert, Fibonacci, and James Bond.

While many players swear by various betting systems, truth be told there are none worthy of mention. Every outcome on a roulette wheel is 100% independent of every other outcome. Numbers may appear to show trends and patterns, but these are easily debunked as nothing more than coincidence. Every time the roulette dealer spins the wheel, anything is possible. Red, black, odd, even, first 12, second 12, third 12, 1-18, 19-36, 2:1 bet options, 0, 00, or any other range of options can easily be conjured up on any spin. Certain roulette games will feature French wording like Tiers, Orphelins, and Voisins off to the side of the roulette betting deck. These neighbors bets are easy ways to bet on sections of the roulette wheel without placing chips on individual numbers.

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Joker’s Wild is a fun variation on video poker, one that has carved out its own niche of loyal players. Like all video poker games, Joker’s Wild comes in a variety of pay tables and payback percentages. 

Unlike the rest, it comes with a basic divide: Some games start the pay table at two pairs, and others start it at a pair of Kings.

And beyond that, there’s an intriguing variation. One version of Joker’s Wild Kings or Better puts the top payback on five of a kind instead of a royal flush. 

Four of a kind plus a Joker to make the set five pays 4,000 coins for a five-coin bet. With expert video poker strategy, five of a kind appears an average of once per 10,994 hands, meaning players hit the top jackpot nearly four times as often as they draw a natural royal flush in most video poker games.

Each Joker’s Wild game requires its own strategy to get the most out of the game. Let’s take a look at pay tables for three variations.

JOKER’S WILD KINGS OR BETTER

With expert play, this version returns an average of 99.29 percent. There are higher paying versions that return in excess of 100 percent – one raises the five of a kind return to 3,000 coins and another raises four of a kind to 100.

But the 100-percenters have mostly disappeared from offline and online casinos. Even this 99.29-percenter is not common, but it’s available in some casinos, while others reduce payoffs on anything but the bottom four hands.

 
JOKER’S WILD TWO PAIR 

With expert play, this one returns 99.08 percent, in the same ballpark as the Kings or Better version above. As with other games, there are higher and lower pay tables. Be pleasantly surprised if you find a higher one, but beware the low-payers.

You don’t get your money back on King or Ace pair and payoffs are lower on Joker royals and straight flushes. But you get a little extra on natural royals and there are higher returns on four of a kind, full houses, flushes and straights. 

The overall effect is a more volatile game with a similar overall return to the Kings or Better version above.

JOKER’S WILD, TWO PAIRS, FIVE OF A KIND JACKPOT

With expert play, the five of a kind jackpot game returns 97.19 percent. A 99.12-percent version with enhanced full house and flush pays seems to be out of circulation.

Note that natural royals, joker royals and straight flushes all bring the same return. With the emphasis on five of a kind, the others essentially are all just straight flushes.

For a time, this was the most popular video poker game in Atlantic City, but its popularity and availability have waned.

JACKPOT FREQUENCY

One of the main attractions of video poker is the royal flush jackpot, with 4,000 coins being the most common offering. On a 25-cent machine, that’s $1,000.

On non-wild card games, royals come up an average of about once per 40,000-plus hands, depending on specific game and strategy. Cards are dealt randomly, so it’s your strategy that makes the difference in royal frequency.

In the Joker’s Wild Kings or Better game detailed above, royals pay 4,700 credits, or $1,175 on a 25-cent machine. With expert video poker strategy, the average yield is one royal per 38,477 hands.

The first of the Joker’s Wild Two Pair games above pays 5,000 on a natural royal, $1,250 on a 25-cent machine. The average yield is one royal per 49,270 hands.

The Two Pair version that pays a 4,000-coin top jackpot on five of a kind gives a player betting five quarters $1,000 for those quints. Five of a kind comes up once per 10,994 hands – more than three times as often as royals on the Kings or Better game and more than four times as often as the Two Pair game with the jackpot on a royal.

That makes the five of a kind game a prime jackpot hunter’s game, even though those looking for the best overall payback will invest their money elsewhere.

STRATEGY DIFFERENCES

There is very little you can do to make five of a kind come up more often. If you have four of a kind, you’re going to hold it. Because of the chance at five of a kind, you’d rather start a hand with three of a kind than a straight, while in the other games you’d rather start with a straight. That doesn’t affect your strategy, however, because no hand can include a straight and three of a kind at the same time.

Instead, the strategy differences among these games are driven by the bottom of the pay table, where King and Ace pairs don’t always bring payoffs Other pay table chances make differences, too.

Here are a few sample hands to illustrate the differences. For the sake of clarity and brevity, let’s refer to the Kings or Better game as JWKB, the Two Pair game with a top jackpot on natural royals as JW2 and the Two Pair game with the top jackpot on five of a kind as JW5K.

**10 of clubs, 9 of clubs, 8 of clubs, 7 of clubs, Jack of hearts

In the JWKB, where straights pay only 15 credits for a five-credit bet, and in JW5K, where straight flushes pay 500, the best video poker play is to hold the four consecutive clubs. But in JW2, with 250-credit pays on straight flushes and 25 on straights, it’s better to hold all five cards.

Average returns per five coins bet are 20.8 on the clubs and 15 on the straight tin JWKB, 25 on the straight and 23.33 on the clubs in JW2, and 36.98 on the clubs vs. 20 on the straight in JW5K.

**King of diamonds, King of spades, 9 of diamonds, 7 of diamonds, 5 of diamonds

The Kings are a paying hand in JWKB, but it’s better to hold the four diamonds in JW2 and JW5K.

Average returns are 6.92 credits on K-K and 5.42 on the diamonds in JWKB, 7.29 on the diamonds and 3.69 on K-K in JW2, and 5.21 on the diamond and 3.74 on K-K in JW5K.

**King of diamonds, King of spades, Queen of clubs, Jack of hearts, 10 of spades

This is a similar to the previous hand, only with four parts of a straight instead of four parts of a flush.

Average returns are 6.92 on K-K and 3.02 on the four parts of a straight in JWKB, but 4.69 on four to the straight vs. 3.69 on K-K in JW2 and 3.75 on four to the straight vs. 3.74 on K-K in JW5K.

**Ace of hearts, Queen of spades, 10 of diamonds, 7 of clubs, 6 of spades

In JWKB, you’ll hold a lone Ace in hopes of pairing it up for a paying hand. The average return is 2.29 on the Ace alone, and the next best options are Ace-10 or Ace-Queen at 1.65 each.

On the others, it’s better to hold a card closer to the middle of the deck for a long shot at a straight or straight flush. Even there, the reward potential is so small many players discard all five cards. In JW2, average returns are 1.29 if you hold the 10, 1.29 on the 7, 1.25 on the 6 and 1.22 on a complete redraw – all better than 1.18 on the Ace. Similarly in JW5K, numbers are 1.22 on 7, 1.21 on 6, 1.20 on a redraw and only 1.11 on an Ace.

**Joker, King of hearts, Queen of hearts, Jack of hearts, 3 of hearts

In JW2, the strongest play is to hold the flush at a flat 35-credit return instead of the 26.56 average on four parts of a Joker royal.

The other two games have higher Joker royal paybacks and lower flush paybacks, so it’s better to hold four parts of  a Joker royal. Average returns are 36.04 on four to a Joker royal vs. 25 on a flush in JWKB and 40 on four to a Joker royal vs. 25 on a flush in JW5K.

Joker, Ace of spades, 9 of hearts, 6 of diamonds, 4 of clubs

The Joker plus the Ace for a winning two-Ace hand in JWKB, so the best play is to hold Joker-Ace with an average return of 8.47 credits vs. the 6.90 on holding the Joker by itself.

On the other two, the best play is to hold Joker-9. There are no high pair plays, and Joker-9 maximizes chances for straights or straight flushes  Average returns on JW2 are 6.56 on Joker-9, with Joker-Ace well down the strategy table at 5.78. In JW5K, averages are 6.41 on Joker 9, with Joker-Ace farther back at 5.64.

The main lesson is that if you’re playing Kings or Better versions of Joker’s Wild, you need to be aware of potential high-pair paybacks. In Two Pair versions, there are no high pair paybacks, so high cards that would be automatic holds in other games often are just discards.

 

*Credit for the cover photo in this article belongs to Joel Ryan/Invision/AP Photo*