Anything can and will
happen
21 September 2007
By Mark Pilarski
Dear Mark: During a recent trip to Tunica, I
played extensively on a $1 video blackjack
machine (max bet $5). As long as I bet $1 and
used basic blackjack strategy, I did fairly
well. The moment I bet $3, $4, or $5, (but
stayed with the same playing strategy) my
percentage of wins plummeted and the dealer's
natural blackjacks increased exponentially. Are
video blackjack machines programmed to recognize
the larger amount bet for the purposes of
increasing the prevailing house edge for that
hand? R.C.R.
Can video blackjack machines be programmed to
recognize a larger amount bet and then stiff you
accordingly? YES. Are they on the casino floor
as we speak? NO!
Technology does exist for machines to be set to
act other than randomly. Such machines can be
programmed to avoid giving you those elusive
blackjacks, giving the house a much bigger
advantage. But those machines are illegal in
Nevada, New Jersey, Mississippi, where you
played, and most other gaming jurisdictions that
pattern their gaming regulations after the
above-mentioned states.
Like all of today's cybernetic slots, video
blackjack machines use a random number generator
(RNG) software algorithm to determine the game's
outcome. The number of coins played cannot
influence the end result.
What I would like to discuss is your gambling
timeline. Your gambling timeline was possibly
limited to maybe hundreds of hands of blackjack,
not millions, so any percentage return, can, and
will happen. The Law of Averages does not have
time to work during such a brief casino visit.
That said, you should never put your faith in
the heady fantasy that happy aberrations in
gambling odds will not happen, even in games
that carry the smallest house edge, like
blackjack with your crafty play.
Dear Mark: If I were to insert a $100 bill in a
dollar slot machine where they advertised a
return of 98%, how much on average would I have
to run through the machine before I would go
totally broke? I ask because this past weekend I
played through $100 in less than 10 minutes.
Marty C.
First, Marty, see above where I talk about a
gambling timeline as to why your billfold took a
lickin' lickety-split; then here's the simple
formula for your question. Take your initial
investment ($100) and divide it by the house
edge (2%). In this case the answer is $100/0.02
= $5000. But due to the high volatility of slot
machines and your gambling timeline being so
short, apparently anything DID happen.
Dear Mark: On a lot of video poker machines,
four Deuces through four Fours pay higher than
four Fives through four Kings. Why would lower
hands pay higher? Aren't the odds of getting a
four-of-a-kind the same, and Kings worth more
than Deuces? Jan L.
Yes, Jan, with a 52-card deck and four of each
card, the odds are the same for any
four-of-a-kind appearing.
The reason that four Threes pay more than four
Queens is presumably because a lot of players
don't keep their low cards as often, therefore,
four Threes will come up less frequently than
Four queens. They're banking on your behavior of
discarding those lower cards to make it easier
for them to pay a bigger bonus for those low
four-of-a-kinds.
Gambling Wisdom of the Week: "Once the courts
decided it was legal for Indians to build
casinos on their lands, Indians have been
gleefully making Mr. Paleface pay for the wrongs
he's done to native people over the years."
--Barry Meadows, "Blackjack Autumn"
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