Buffets are a Nevada
State treasure
9 July 1999
By Mark Pilarski
Dear Mark,
I enjoy going to Las Vegas not only to gamble
but to feast on all the different buffets. Why
do you think they don't offer buffets with the
same fanfare in the Midwest casinos as they do
in Las Vegas? Chuck M.
On those days, Chuck, when you have to try as
hard as you can to keep up with the losers, your
only salvation is to get up from a losing table
and enjoy the comfort cuisine of a rich bounty
buffet.
Casinos here have long realized that the formula
for success in a casino is to attract as many
people as possible, with the least amount of
marketing costs, and keep them in their facility
for as long as they have money in their pocket.
A buffet is one of the best ways of doing that.
The Rio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas is a
perfect example of a casino whose tremendous
success is rooted in its Carnival World Buffet.
Why the chow-line dining experience hasn't
caught on at all the heartland casinos, where
eating quantity over quality has always
prevailed, is beyond my grasp.
Dear Mark,
When making a bet on the "bank hand" in
baccarat, why do they charge a 5% commission?
Wouldn't this make it an inferior wager compared
to a "player hand" bet? Bradley G.
Based on the mathematics of baccarat, the player
hand should win 44.6% of the time, the bank hand
45.8% and the tie 9.6%. If we discount ties, the
player hand statistically will win 49.3% of the
time and the bank hand 50.7%.
Because the bank hand wins more than 50% of the
time, the casino neutralizes this edge you would
have over the house by charging a 5% commission
every time you win a bank hand bet. By charging
this hidden tax, the casino's advantage is now
1.17% for bank hand and 1.36% for the player
hand. But even with the commission added, you
can see that the bank hand is still a slightly
better bet than the player wager.
By the way, Bradley, the above wagers are some
of the best bets you can make in a casino, but
the tie bet should always be avoided: house
edge, 14.1%.
Dear Mark,
I understand most of the logic behind basic
strategy, but one play always makes me nervous
and that is doubling down on a 10 against a
dealer's 10. If I assume the dealer has a total
of 20, then only a ten card or ace will allow me
to win. Am I right to assume that there are more
chances I'll draw a 2-9 card than a 10 or ace?
If so, why double my bet in such a risky
situation? Allen H.
Blackjack is a game in which the proper hit,
stand, splitting and doubling decisions are
necessary to cut the house edge down to a
minimum. These proper decisions are called basic
strategy and have been arrived at by computer
simulations of millions of hands.
Your case in point, doubling down on a 10
against a dealer 10 is NOT one of those times.
Basic strategy dictates you hit your hand, not
double down. This stratagem is the same for both
single and multiple deck games.
Dear Mark,
You have mentioned in previous columns both your
favorite books and movies on gambling. Do you
have any favorite songs on gambling? Stathis Z.
Hmmm. A beloved song on gambling. Yes I do. Two
actually. There's A Place in the World for A
Gambler by pop singer Dan Fogelberg and Luck be
a Lady by Frank Sinatra.
There's a place in the world for a gambler
There's a burden that only he can bare
There's a place in the world for a gambler
And he sees
Oh yes he sees.
|
