This Cultist Can’t Offer Reader Counsel
August
28,
2009
Dear Mark: I’m
figuring you are the go to person regarding this
gambling related question. Could you please give
me some recommendations on gambling software for
Windows that you have tried over the years? Nick
G.
In April of 1984, I walked into a computer store
in Reno, NV, walked out with a Macintosh 128,
then drove my newest prized possession up the
hill to Lake Tahoe in a automobile worth half
what the computer cost. Scores of Macintoshes
since, and I’m figuring no less than 25, I’m
still with the Apple family. I’ve never owned,
met, acknowledged nor operated a Windows
machine. Apple’s slogan then, “if you can point,
you can use a Macintosh” appealed to the right
side of my noggin. I know, Nick, it’s not a
religion, it’s a computer, still, I’m just not
your “go-to” guy, especially when it comes to
doling out field test advice regarding Windows
gambling software.
So instead, I’m going to recommend that you
check out the Gamblers Book Shop at
(http://www.gamblersbook.com) or call
800-522-1777). Their collection of gambling
software is second to none, all meritoriously
described in their FREE catalog. Ask for it,
it's great.
Now if only I had bought some shares of Apple
along the way.
Dear Mark: I play blackjack at MGM
casino in Detroit, and have a question about the
number of decks used. Their tables are $10 to
$25 using eight decks and $50, $100 and $200
tables using six decks. My question is this: Is
it better to play at a table with six decks or
with eight decks, regardless of the
denomination? Sonia K.
I’m leery of giving guidance when I see the
words “regardless of the denomination” in the
question. Reason being, Sonia, I don’t want you
to be one of those every man-Jack and every
woman-Jill’s who mulishly stays at any table, no
matter what the denomination, getting whacked
hand after hand, figuring they are due.
The better way to play is to get on a game with
the lowest denomination table available, and
when things start going south, you’re only
losing the table minimum. When the Gods of
Gaming are rewarding you with good fortune, you
can progressively bet more.
Anyway, all other rules of the game being equal,
six decks handicap your play 0.54%, and eight
decks 0.58%. Hardly a noticeable distinction,
Sonia, when you’re taking a beating and getting
your head handed to you on a plate at 10X the
amount you could be betting.
Dear Mark: I have been told, by casino
employees, that the best bet in the entire
house, bar none, is to go to the craps table and
play $5 on the pass line, and $10 underneath. Do
you agree? If not, what would you say is the
best bet in the house? Larry M.
The suggestion from a craps dealer of making a
pass line bet, and taking odds, is a sound
guerilla gambling strategy. With a $5 pass line
bet on the number 10, if you win, your pass line
bet is paid at even money, bringing you $5 in
winnings, but your odds bet is paid at the 2-1
true odds, bringing you an additional $20. By
making use of them, double odds drops the house
edge to 0.6 percent, 10x odds to 0.2 percent and
100x odds, all the way down to 0.02 percent. So
yes, Larry, it’s one of the best bets.
But there are other good bets the casino offers
as well. Blackjack and video poker using basic
strategy, and baccarat.
Playing Blackjack correctly brings the house
edge down to well under one percent. Video poker
gives you another opportunity where playing
perfect basic strategy on a machine with a
decent pay schedule can reduce the house
advantage to well under one percent.
Baccarat’s offering has a slightly higher edge,
but is one of the easiest casino games to play,
especially since you don’t even have to know the
rules, the hitting sequence being predetermined.
The house advantage is either 1.17% when betting
the bank hand or 1.36% with a player hand wager.
Gambling Wisdom of the Week: “There
are three kinds of poker players: Raisers, who
make things happen, folders, who avoid things
that happen, and callers, who wonder, ‘What the
hell just happened?” --VP Pappy
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