You no longer need to cut
off both ends of the ham
19 November 1999
By Mark Pilarski
Dear Mark,
I learned craps from my father, who learned it
from his dad. We play your recommended pass line
bet along with continual betting on the seven to
hedge our line bet. In past columns you don't
agree with that logic. Please explain. Marvin B.
Marvin, before you advance your crapology advice
to future generations, may I share an anecdotal
tale with you?
One day a young girl watched her mother prepare
a ham for Thanksgiving dinner.
"Mom, why did you cut off both ends of the ham?"
the daughter asked.
"Because my mother always did," said the mother.
"But why?"
"I don't know-why don't you call Granny and find
out why."
So the daughter called Granny and asked her.
"Granny, when you prepared your hams for baking,
why did you always cut off both ends?"
"My mother always did it," said Granny.
"But why?"
"I don't know-why don't you call your
Great-grandmother and ask her?" So the daughter
preceded to telephone Great-grandmother to
inquire why traditionally her family always cut
off both ends of a ham before cooking it.
"Great-grandma, when you prepared your ham for
baking, you always cut off both ends-why?"
"Well," Great-grandma said, "the pan was too
small."
It is time, Marvin, to let go of your
genealogically inspired gambling theories.
Though you feel you are hedging you wager by
betting the seven, it still doesn't change the
house advantage of 16.7%. By sticking strictly
to a pass line wager, maybe, just maybe, you
will be the first in your clan to win some real
money at craps.
Dear Mark ,
Does it make sense keeping a kicker in video
poker? Martha M.
NEVER, repeat never, hold a kicker. Holding
kickers (K, K, A) to any pair reduces your
return by more than 5%.
Dear Mark,
I like to bet the don't side on a crap game.
Isn't it a slightly better wager than a pass
line bet? Kenny K.
You are correct in assuming, Kenny, that the
don't pass bet (seven rolling before the point)
is a marginally better wager-a 1.4 percent
casino advantage versus the pass line's 1.41
percent-but craps is a game of community esprit,
everyone in it for the win together. By betting
the opposite you become the adversary, a villain
against the majority of players. Why let the
casino off the hook?
Dear Mark,
What was the largest amount ever won in
roulette? Jason C.
In January, 1994, a computer programmer from
London, England, wagered $220,000 on a single
spin at the Horseshoe Club in Las Vegas. Placing
the whole amount on red, he watched as the ball
found the red 7. Picking up his one-roll
winnings, he quickly deposited $440,000 in the
cashier's cage. The tuxedo-clad gentleman was
knowledgeable enough to play on the Horseshoe's
single zero roulette table, cutting the house
edge from 5.26 to 2.7%.
Dear Mark,
I really enjoy keno. Would you recommend video
keno or a live-action game? Rosa M.
The correct answer, Rosa, would be to suggest
politely neither.
The medium house advantage on all live keno
games is approximately 28%. On a video keno game
it is 7.5%. Why lower? Video keno has better
paytables. Take the 8-spot ticket: By hitting
four of eight on a video keno machine, you
double your money. You'll never find that on a
live keno game.
On paper, it looks like video poker is the
better deal. Not so fast my friend. At $1 a pop,
the most you could lose on a live game is about
$15, as that is the average number of games
called per hour. A typical video keno player can
burn through $15 in quarters in under five
minutes.
I recommend, Rosa, for those with a keno
fixation, video poker instead.
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