Treasure Hunting Nickel
Machines
13 October 2006
By Mark Pilarski
Dear Mark,
In Pai Gow Poker, what is the rank of the Joker
when it applies to a flush? For instance, let's
say my five-card hand consists of an Ace, Jack,
7, 5, and four of hearts and the Joker to
complete the flush. The dealer has an Ace,
Queen, Jack, 4, and three of spades. Since the
Joker can be used to complete a flush and also
as an Ace, wouldn't my hand beat the dealer's
being that my Ace, Ace (Joker) Jack bets the
dealers Ace, Queen, Jack? David N.
Your five-card flush hand, David, would still
beat the dealer's, but you couldn't use the
Joker as an additional Ace for your flush in
hearts. You beat the dealer because the Joker
would be used as a King, which beats in your
example the dealer's second card Queen.
To complete a flush, (or straight or straight
flush), the joker can substitute for any
specific card not already in the hand, but not
duplicate a card (e.g. two Aces as above) with
but one exception: an Ace can be treated as a
fifth-suit ace, which allows for the possibility
of five aces.
Dear Mark,
I have the hardest time locating nickel machines
in the casino. Is there a place where casinos
typically place them? Helen M.
Unfortunately, Helen, there is no way I can tell
you where your casino's slot manager places
their nickel machines, since when it comes to
slot mix strategy (physical placement of
machines), no two casinos are doing it exactly
the same.
Slot management places its machines
strategically to maximize customer appeal and
potential casino earnings, and one of their
variables, coin denomination, can be blended
into the casino floor in infinite variations.
The easiest way to locate nickel machines on the
casino floor is to look at the lights on top of
slot machines. Called candles, the bottom of the
light is colored and that color can tell you the
denomination of the machine. Typically the
nickel machine candles are red, quarter machine
candles are yellow, and dollar machine candles
are blue.
Dear Mark,
When you come up to machine that you want to
play, and you happen to find another player's
club card in the machine, what am I supposed to
do with the card? I gave a left behind card to a
cocktail waitress walking by, and when the
player came back looking for it, he was pretty
perturbed that it wasn't still there. I thought
I was doing him a favor, but I guess not. Debra
E.
When I low-dose Ginkgo Biloba, I too forget to
pull out my Player's Club Card more than I would
like to admit in this column.
Luckily, slot etiquette is that when a player
forgets the player's card on leaving the
machine, it is customary for the next patsy, I
meant player, to place the other player's card
on top of the machine for later retrieval.
That's where I look for mine when I leave it
behind.
Now if only I can only recollect which machine I
was previously playing on.
Gambling Wisdom of the Week: "…That is the best
strategy to solve the problem. I mean, I – you –
one has a stronger hand when there's more people
playing your same cards." George W. Bush, WH
Press Conference, October 10th, 2006. (Actually,
you have a stronger hand when your opponents
don't play the same cards.)
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