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Gaming GuruWinning Can Make Slot Game a Favorite15 May 2012
By John Grochowski Every slot player has a favorite game, one to seek out on each casino trip. Sometimes it's because the theme is particularly engaging, or because a bonus event is especially fun. But often, players like a game because they've won on it. Let's listen to a few players as they tell what hooked them on their favorite games. Laura: It's Monopoly for me. I've played ever since the first ones came out. I decided to give the nickel video a try. All around me, people were cashing out thousands of nickels. They didn't have the tickets, it was all coins. When you got to the bonus, you could go more than once around the board. I was doing really well, and then I landed on Boardwalk. THAT was exciting. I won so many nickels the machine couldn't pay me, a change girl and a supervisor came over and paid me. Yay! I cashed out, and went over and played the quarter game, and I went to Boardwalk there, too! I was hooked. All this time later, if there's a Monopoly game where you can go around the board, I'm going to give it a try. Joe: My wife and I had the most unbelievable run of luck on Red, White and Blue. We play other things, of course, but when we're walking through the casino and one of us spots Red, White and Blue, we'll look at each other and smile, and say, "Should we?" Of course we should. She started it. Martha was playing, and doing pretty well, while I was walking around and playing other things. A little craps, some blackjack. I was losing money, and I guess I had that look. I found Martha and she pointed to the machine next to her and said, "Play this for a while." You can guess what happened. Red 7, white 7, blue 7. I won $10,000 and she said, "I told you! I could feel it." Not 20 minutes later, she did it --- red, white, blue, $10,000. Unbelievable. But that's not all. Two weeks later, she went back one morning when I was at work. She went to her same machine, and she won it again. Yep. Red, white and blue 7s. I guess that's getting to be a long time ago, probably 15 years. But it's still a game that keeps us coming back. Audra: My first big jackpot game on a Blazing 7s three-reel game. I still remember the exact amount: $1,173 on a dollar progressive. It was so exciting! I was there with my boyfriend and another couple, and I think I had been in a casino only two or three times before that. They counted the money out to me, with 11 $100 bills, then the rest. I'm not sure I'd ever held a $100 bill before, and certainly had never held that much money at once. I play a pretty good mix of games. A lot of pennies on video, still some quarter and dollar three-reel games. One of the games I look for is Blazing 7s. It still has magic for me. Jerry: You don't see this one around all that much anymore: Cash Crop. When I see it, I play it. It's a video slot, and in the bonus you grow crops in a field, then pick plants for bonuses. You get extra if you get a gold or silver plant, but you have to watch out and not pick on a gopher. That can end the bonus. My son and I were playing it in Vegas, and every time we turned around we were going back to the bonus. On every crop, we kept picking the right plants, getting the bonuses and getting to raise another crop. We played for hours, and never hit that cold streak. We started with $20 in nickels, and must have taken $400 out of that machine. It's still a game I can't resist. Emily: For me, it's The Hangover. The first time I played, I won about $80. That's not much, I know, but it was right when my girlfriends and I were about to leave. My husband and I had seen the movie, and I knew the game was out, but this was the first time I played. I only played for 15 or 20 minutes, but I went to the bonus four times. Once I got to go to the Villa and go from room to room, touching swords and TVs and whatever, and before you know it I had more than 10,000 credits. They were pennies, so it didn't make me rich, but still I was $80 to the good. I took my husband out for pizza when I got home. We went back a couple of weeks later, and I won another $20. I guess I'm hooked. This article is provided by the Frank Scoblete Network, John Robison managing editor. If you would like to use this article on your website, please contact Casino City Press, the exclusive web syndication outlet for the Frank Scoblete Network. A Shuffle Through the Gaming Mailbag10 May 2012
Q. My dad retired to Vegas and every time I visit him (two or three times a year) we play hours and hours of video poker. We almost always play Double Double Bonus. We play single play, Triple Play or Five Play.
I would without a doubt call my dad an expert player. The one area we disagree on is when we are dealt three to the royal along with a pair of Aces. ... (read more)
The House Has the Edge in 21 + 38 May 2012
Calculating odds in casino games is mostly pretty straightforward arithmetic. There are different degrees of complexity, and there certainly are traps. Goodness knows I've fallen into a few myself.
The devil is in the details, and a reader named Jason missed a fine point recently when he emailed me to say he thought players have an edge on the blackjack side bet 21 + 3. ... (read more)
A Shuffle Through the Gaming Mailbag3 May 2012
Q. I saw a craps game with cards. It used two cards instead of a dice roll. You played just like at a craps table with 10 times odds. It had the same craps layout. What do you think of this game? What are the odds?
A. The came is called Card Craps, and it's primarily used in markets such as California ... (read more)
Craps SystemsCraps players love systems, trying to mix and match bets in hopes of finding the magical formula that will beat the casino. Just about any system will work sometimes, and when a player wins with a system, it encourages another try, and another, and another. In the long run, of course, the casino comes out on top. ... (read more)Multi Strike PokerIt was a Friday morning in Joliet, and I'd been playing a little video poker aboard Empress II, waiting for the 11 a.m. opening of Empress I and its video poker room. Soon, if it hasn't already happened by the time you read this, Empress' new barge will open, ending such little scheduling inconveniences, but on this day, I found myself passing time with a little quarter Triple Play Poker. ... (read more)Comps - The BasicsA colleague of mine likes to refer to casino comps as "free stuff." And for those who know their basic strategy in blackjack, optimal strategies for certain video poker games and who know how comping systems work, the "stuff" really is free--the value ... (read more)Basic Strategy for Spanish 21In the last couple of weeks, we've looked at basic strategy in blackjack. Sit down at most blackjack tables in any jurisdiction, play basic strategy and you'll narrow the house edge to a half-percent or so, perhaps a little more or a little less depending on house rules. ... (read more)Single-Deck Basic StrategyThose whose casino memories stretch back far enough may recall a time when the standard "Las Vegas Strip" blackjack game was dealt from a single deck of cards, with the dealer standing on all 17s. That started to change in the 1960s as operators grew ... (read more) |
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