Heed the golden rule of
gambling
29 October 1999
By Mark Pilarski
Dear Mark,
If there was one golden rule of gambling you
would give to first-time players, what would it
be? Bob H.
The same golden rule that Peter Lynch, the
legendary stock picker and former fund manager
of Fidelity Magellan, believes; "Never invest
money you can't afford to lose." The same holds
true in gambling. Never gamble above your means
or with money you can't afford to lose.
Dear Mark,
I have read that you should always play the
maximum amount of coins when playing the slot
machines. I have a friend who argues that you
will hit jackpots more often if you play only
one coin at a time, then bet more. In the long
run, does it make any difference at all how many
coins I play at a time? Clyde B.
The idea behind your friend's theory is that you
will save money "priming" the machine for a big
jackpot. Till I'm blue in the face, this won't
happen. All pulls are random, Clyde, and the
number of coins played has absolutely no effect
on determining when or what type of winning
symbols will appear on the machine.
For almost all multiple-pay and multiple-play
machines, the maximum coin line tends to yield a
better percentage payback. Note on the paytable
the proportional difference in the size of your
payoff. Example: One coin inserted pays 500
coins, two coins; 1000 coins, three coins; 4000
returned. Paydirt when three coins are played.
If you can afford to play the maximum coin
amount, do so. If you cannot, switch to a lower
denomination machine.
Dear Mark,
Recently I was on a blackjack game minding my
own business and as you say "playing with my
hard-earned money," when out of the blue an
individual standing behind me (he wasn't
playing, just watching) decided he would
instruct me on how to play each and every hand.
How would you have handled this annoyance?
Ronnie G.
The patron you described is called a kibitzer: A
spectator at a game who makes unsolicited
comments, unwanted advice and drives everyone
bonkers. Solution: Call over the pit boss and
explain your predicament. He or she will have a
very sympathetic ear since the nuisance is not
gambling.
Dear Mark,
Over the years I have been an avid keno player.
Now after reading your comments many times about
keno, I have refrained from playing and limit my
play to the many other games and bets you
recommend. Coincidentally, I seem to be winning
more. Though I have never hit a keno ticket
solid, my favorite tickets in the past were a
5-spot, 7-spot, 8-spot and a 9-spot. What were
the odds of me hitting one of those tickets?
Alice C.
In past articles, Alice, I have listed the
astronomical odds of some keno tickets that need
calculators using exponential notations to
figure. Below I'll list the probability of
hitting the smaller tickets solid.
1/1 One in 4
2/2 One in 16
3/3 One in 72
4/4 One in 326
5/5 One in 1,550
6/6 One in 7,752
7/7 One in 40,979
8/8 One in 230,114
9/9 One in 1,380,687
10/10 One in 8,911,711
And what will the average casino pay you for
hitting a solid 10? A $2 wager returns a measly
$45,000 in Atlantic City and $100,000 in Nevada.
Chump change considering your chances are almost
nine million to one. Doesn't the lottery start
to sound good about now?
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