Serial/parallel, Bet
Glossary, and WSOP-what a bargain!
16 February 2004
By Mark Pilarski
Dear Mark,
Let's say I am dealt four cards to a royal in
video poker. I discard one and hope for the card
that will give me a royal flush. My question is:
is the card already behind the card I just
discarded, or dealt from the top of a deck?
Dylan F.
O.K., we've said it. Jurisdictional gaming
regulations do vary, from place to place, but
most poker machines operate on a "serial" and
not a "parallel" basis. "Huh?" Dylan says aloud,
while thinking "Whaaa"?
On the serial basis, cards are shuffled and
dealt off the top of the virtual deck-just one
after another as they come off the top. An
example of the parallel basis, on the other
hand, is where five cards are dealt face up, and
five additional cards are then dealt unseen
underneath the initial, face-up five- parallel
to them, get it?
So, Dylan, if it's serial, which it probably is,
that next card is determined at the time of
player interaction with (draw from) the top of a
virtual deck, and not at the time of the deal
and card placement behind your five initial
cards.
But either way you get those cards, Dylan, by
gaming regulations in all legit casinos, they
will be randomly drawn.
Dear Mark,
Does the term "let it ride," mean "same bet,"
or, "parlay? Phil
Generally speaking, Phil, "letting it ride" is
betting your original wager plus any winnings,
making it more akin to parlaying than playing
the same bet. But, letting a wager ride in
certain gaming situations, for instance in
craps, can also mean taking down some of your
winnings.
For example: You place a bet on the six or
eight-which pays off at 7 to 6 -- so you're paid
$7 for every $6 you wagered. If the six hits,
you'd be sitting on $13 (your original bet plus
winnings), so, if you were then to instruct the
dealer to let it ride, she'd toss you back $1
and keep $12 (increments of $6) on the six.
Dear Mark,
Who came up with the idea of the World Series of
Poker? Was it always played at Binion's? Leroy
D.
Benny Binion himself came up with the concept
for the World Series of Poker back in the 1950s,
when he played host to a high-stakes poker game
between Nicholas "Nick the Greek" Dandolos, whom
many considered the world's best poker player,
and Johnny Moss, a friend of Benny's from Texas.
It wasn't until 1970 that Binion launched the
first World Series of Poker tournament, with all
the hoopla of crowning a "World Champion." Poker
players from around the country descended like
locusts on Binion's Horseshoe Hotel & Casino for
a chance at the title. The tournament's first
winner was determined by popular vote. Later,
the tournament developed into its current
format, a "freeze out" event, in which players
are systematically eliminated until one player
grins over a pile of all the chips.
The World Series of Poker has been held at
Binion's Horseshoe Hotel & Casino in downtown
Las Vegas since its inception, though this year
is still up in the air after federal authorities
shut down the Binion's due to $500,000 in unpaid
employee benefits.
Harrah's recently purchased property in Las
Vegas, along with the "Horseshoe" brand name, as
well as the rights to the popular World Series
of Poker, so I anticipate, Leroy, the WSOP will
crown its 35th World Champion of Poker.
Gambling quote of the week: "The most common
Tell is the pulse of a man's neck. On a lot of
people, the pulse in the neck is visible. If so,
a man can't hide it, since nobody can control
their heartbeat in stress situations. When you
see a man's neck just throbbing away, you know
he's excited, and usually he's excited because
he is bluffing.-Doyle Brunson, How I Made
$1,000,000 Playing Poker (1979)
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