Honest answer, yes, but here’s the
explanation why
February 20, 2009
Dear Mark: My
favorite slot to play is video keno. I’ve been
playing them since their inception. I find I win
more than a live keno game, besides, they don’t
offer a live game anymore where I play. Now,
video keno is no longer available. I complained,
and I was told they were no longer profitable.
How can a slot machine not be profitable? Was I
being told the straight story? Alice J.
To begin with, Alice, you are correct in your
assessment that video keno is a better play than
that of a live keno game. For a live keno game
the medium house edge is 28%, whereas with video
keno it is 7.5%. And although video keno does
have better paytables for the player, even at
7.5%, it still should be an overall winner for
the house.
I think what they meant, Alice, by no longer
“profitable,” is that all machines need to show
reasonable results or their replacement is
inevitable. A gaming machine’s performance is
measured by two factors: the amount of coins
wagered daily (“coin in”) and the amount
collected daily by the casino (“win”). My guess
is that the video keno machines’ performance
faltered, possibly due to lack of play, so the
slot manager decided a change was needed in the
slot mix. Out went video keno.
Another potential problem with video keno, at
least in the slot manager’s eyes, is that far
too many players play just one coin at a time.
Furthermore, the game itself takes longer to
play than just yanking the handle of a slot
machine. Tallied together, you’re making smaller
and fewer bets per hour on video keno than you
would on a comparable reel slot machine, which
also can make them overall less “profitable” for
the casino.
Dear Mark: Great column last week on
Spanish 21. I tried it for the first time
this weekend, I liked it, and even won a little
money. You forgot to mention it in your column,
but the game also offers a pretty neat surrender
feature when doubling down. You might want to
pass that along to your readers. Tom S.
Yes, Tom, some of Spanish 21’s player-friendly
rules are doubling down on two or more cards,
double downs up to four times after splits, and
the “double down rescue" that I failed to cite.
If you happen get hit with a stiff (an
undesirable card) on a double down and are not
satisfied with it, you can double-down rescue
(aka, surrender, forfeit or concede) part of the
hand. Here the dealer takes the original bet and
you retain the double portion of the wager.
For example, suppose you are dealt an 11 against
a dealer's 9 and you choose to double down. You
draw a 4, putting you on a 15 and on tenterhooks
for a dealer bust. Double down rescue allows you
to surrender your primary wager and keep the
double down portion.
Dear Mark: If one is not a card counter and
simply plays correct basic strategy, Is there
any disadvantage to a table employing continuous
shuffle machines? I do not like these
units, but cannot come up with any concrete
reason why they should put me at a disadvantage
versus dealing from a shoe. Cliff M.
I’ve written time and again on this subject,
Cliff. Possibly you missed it, but the “concrete
reason” is that continuous shufflers hurt all
players because the dealer never stops to
shuffle, meaning, you’ll see an increased number
of hands dealt per hour, yielding a richer
opportunity for the built-in casino advantage to
work against your wallet.
Gambling Wisdom of the Week: “It’s
(gambling’s) fun, exciting, it only sucks when
you lose.” --Charles Barkley
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