Evaluating the best video poker strategy books of the millennium.
Gambling strategy books used to be all the rage. Anyone hopping on
a flight to Vegas would pick up the latest edition of a pro-authored
tutorial to read along the way. In those days, the world’s most
renowned gamblers – people like Edward Thorpe, Stanford Wong, and
Doyle Brunson – were the best selling authors in the business.
Times have changed so much since then, as have the games they
wrote about. Thorpe’s blackjack theories have been expounded upon.
Stanford’s card counting seems almost primitive today. Brunson’s
poker strategy could be picked apart by a college student going on
three days of Monster energy drinks in place of sleep.
But there’s one game that hasn’t changed; one game that’s been
strategically documented throughout the decades. And it just so
happens to be the highest paying game on the casino floor – if you
visit the right casino, that it. I’m talking about video poker
machines. And while it’s true that the strategies in the older video
poker books remain valid today, the way the machines are built has
changed. And for that reason, today’s evaluation will only include
guides written in the current millennium.
Best Video Poker Strategy Books of 2000+
In order to remain entirely fair and unbiased, I’m basing the
following evaluations on the opinions of actual readers of these
books – readers who bought them with the sole intent of improving
their skills at the casinos.
Please note that, while I have provided links where you can
purchase each book, I am not receiving any kickbacks for doing so,
and cannot guarantee the price or availability of the books via those
links past the publication date of this article.
The Video Poker Edge, Linda Boyd (2005)
Linda Boyd published her second edition of The Video Poker Edge: How to Play Smart and Bet Right, in 2005. I’ve picked this book for two very important reasons. First of all, it’s written specifically for beginners. It starts by teaching you everything about the game, its history, proper etiquette, etc., then moves into the strategy department, detailing how to identify the highest paying games and how to play the most commonly profitable hands. Secondly, she is 100% honest about the nature of the games. She does not pretend that you can beat them – not without finding that one-in-a-million machine with an above 100% RTP. (Yes, they do exist). Ms. Boyd teaches players to be realistic, conveying that probabilities dictate you will lose in the long term, but that you can make your bankroll last a lot longer playing the “right” way.
Video Poker for the Intelligent Beginner, Bob Dancer (2009)
Bob Dancer is the world’s leading authority on winning video poker strategies. His success stories are known far and wide. His authoring of Video Poker for the Intelligent Beginner is aimed at players who want to learn the ABCs of the game, as well as the XYZs of becoming a video poker master. What impresses readers most is how easy Dancer makes it to identify games with a positive expectation. Most casinos don’t have them, of course, but when you find one, following his advice can net consistent profits. Strategy charts are provided for all the most common games and pay tables.
As for becoming a video poker master, this book comes highly
recommended. If you want to learn more about Bob Dancer himself,
check out his previous best-seller, Million Dollar Video Poker
(2003). Any true enthusiast will enjoy the read.
“A Winner’s Guide to…” Series, Bob Dancer (Varies)
Starting in the early 2000’s, Bob Dancer wrote and published a 6-volume series on video poker games that’s since become known as his “Winner’s Guide Series”. Each book covers the precise game play strategy and charts for a single game, covering all known pay tables for each.
If you’ve already read a beginner’s guide and are looking to expand your knowledge about a particular game – maybe one that’s specifically available at your local casino – these volumes are lauded as the best video poker strategy books in the literary realm.
The complete series includes:
Vol. 1 – A Winner’s Guide to Jacks or Better
Vol. 2 – A Winner’s Guide to Double Bonus Poker
Vol. 3 – A Winner’s Guide to Full Pay Deuces Wild
Vol. 4 – A Winner’s Guide to NSU Deuces Wild
Vol. 5 – A Winner’s Guide to Pick’em Poker
Vol. 6 – A Winner’s Guide to Double Double Bonus
Poker
Dealing with obnoxious blackjack players and dealers.
Blackjack
is widely regarded as the most entertaining game in a land-based
casino. Socialites who enjoy the communal atmosphere of a
multi-player game gather at the tables, alongside those who prefer
blackjack for its supremely high, strategy-driven RTP. It’s a win-win
for all but the most casual, solitary-minded casino goers.
But
sometimes, the experience at a blackjack table isn’t quite up to par.
Every once in a while, you may run across an obnoxious player who
doesn’t know how to keep his opinion to himself. Sometimes, the
dealer may forget his place, treating customers like second-class
citizens instead of the bread and butter they are for their
employers, the casino.
What
do you do when this happens without losing your cool? Here’s some pro
tips to help you out…
Dealing
with Obnoxious Blackjack Players
The
last thing we want to put up with at the blackjack table is another
player who thinks he’s smarter than we are. If you’ve ever had your
game play criticized by another, you know what I’m talking about.
Some
do it because they’ve had a few too many drinks. Others do it because
they’re under the impression that your decisions are effecting their
game, and they’ve decided to take out their bad luck on you. Either
way, it’s not appropriate.
You
could just get up and leave, but you shouldn’t have to feel bullied
in such a way. You could explain to him why you made the move you
did, and that mathematical probabilities do not change based on the
decisions of others. But I promise you that won’t go over well. And
there’s always the chance that his argument is correct – not yours
– and you come off looking like a total idiot.
The
best thing you can do here is completely ignore him. Don’t leave.
Don’t argue. Just remain calm, play your game to the best of your
ability, and don’t show any emotion whatsoever towards this player.
So long as you don’t appear perturbed by him, odds are he’ll become
so frustrated he gets up and leaves first.
How
to Handle a Rude Blackjack Dealer
The
job description for any professional blackjack dealer will include
supporting the players in their endeavor to beat the house. No dealer
is ever told to root for his employer. They are trained to be polite,
helpful, and give the best advice whenever a player asks for it. His
boss doesn’t care, because he already knows the rules of the game
give the house an edge.
If
you happen across a dealer who’s blatantly hoping you lose, something
is terribly wrong. This dealer is obviously in a very bad mood. Maybe
he’s running a double shift and/or has had too many run-ins with
obnoxious players of his own. Maybe he’s a disgruntled employee
hoping to get himself canned so he can collect unemployment. Whatever
the case, he’s out of line, and you’re left to deal with it.
There
are three ways you can deal with this blackjack dealer, depending on
the severity of their attitude. If they’re just being annoying, don’t
tip them. If they’re beyond annoying, you may want to get up switch
to another table. As an absolute last resort, you can report them to
the floor manager, but only in extreme situations. Again, it could
just be they’re having a really bad day, and we’ve all had those
before.
The
best advice I can give you is to think before you act. Consider all
angles – all reasons why a fellow blackjack player or dealer might
be acting the way they are. Then approach the situation with a cool,
calm and collected demeanor. The high road is always the best road!
Caribbean Stud Poker tips & logical lines of defense.
The fundamentals of gambling teach us that the rules of a game are
imperative knowledge. Not knowing how to play will require far more
luck than skill to win. Thus, the rules are the first thing any smart
gambler will learn before attempting to place a wager on any new
game. But those who are familiar with the stochastic nature of casino
games will strive to attain a greater understanding of the logistics
behind them.
If you count yourself among that group, you’ll enjoy today’s lesson
in Caribbean Stud Poker statistics and probabilities.
We’ll delve much deeper than the ordinary theoretical RTP to see just
how likely you are to hit specific payouts when implementing a
perfect strategy.
Caribbean Stud Poker Tips & Logistics
I’m going to assume that you already know the basics of how to play
Caribbean Stud Poker. It’s a standard Ante/Play betting game with
streets (revealing of cards) rather than a draw phase (no in-depth
decision making). The only decisions to be made are how much to Ante,
and whether to Play the hand with a continuation bet (Raise).
As for strategy, these five rules are all you really need to know.
Easy Perfect Caribbean Stud Poker Strategy
When you have any pair or better, Raise.
When your hand ranks below dealer’s qualifying hand (Ace+King high), Fold.
If you have exactly Ace+King High…
Raise if the dealer’s upcard is 2-Queen, and matches one of your cards.
Raise if the dealer’s upcard is King or Ace, and you have a Queen or Jack.
Raise if the dealer’s upcard is lower than your four highest cards, and you have a Queen.
Caribbean Stud Poker Probabilities
Why do the above tactics work so well? Because the mathematical
probabilities of the game state that following these rules will, in
theory, diminish the casino’s house edge to the lowest possible risk
factor.
By hypothetical standards, Caribbean Stud Poker has a 5.224% house
edge (or 94.776% RTP). However, the edge is traditionally
calculated as the expected loss on the original wager.
When following the above strategy, player’s will raise 52.23% of all
hands, which comes to an average wager of 2.045 bet units per hand.
And when raising, the player has a slightly higher probability of
winning, or achieving a hand worth a high enough payout to be worth
the calculated risk (hence the recommendation to raise in the first
place). Therefore the element of risk falls to 2.555%.
Terrible beginner blackjack strategies could will cost you everything.
I’ve spent plenty of time writing everything from tips to detailed
strategies for the game of blackjack. I’ve described at length many
of the pros most famous and effective card counting techniques.
Today, I thought we’d try something a bit different – a reversal,
if you will. Today we’ll be discussing the three worst blackjack game
strategies that only beginners are known to erroneously invoke.
The problem is that, to a brand new blackjack player with no
experience or foreknowledge of how effective tactics work, these
concepts can actually sound like the perfect way to win the game.
That’s absolutely not the case. So if you are new to the game,
be careful you don’t fall for these all-too-common fallacies.
Three Terrible Beginner Blackjack Strategies to
Avoid
I was passing through Edmonton a few weeks ago with a friend and we
stopped in the River Cree Casino. While dining at the Kitchen Buffet
(pricey, but ask for a 2-for-1 coupon when you join the players club,
it’s excellent!) I overheard a conversation that made my gut wrench.
This was obviously a kid who had never been to a casino before, and
probably had one too many drinks before he got to the blackjack
table… his “perfect blackjack strategy”, as he called, was
this…
Follow the Dealer’s Rules
This poor kid thought that if he followed the same rules that the
dealer is forced to abide by, he would have to have an above 50% win
rate. It works for the dealer, why not the player? He was so excited
by this idea of his that I felt guilty for correcting him, but I
couldn’t let him go on believing that horrible distortion.
At first, he seemed to prepared to argue his point to the death,
until he finally stopped long enough to ask me why mimicking the
dealer’s moves doesn’t work. My response was simple – because
you can bust before the dealer ever plays.
Think about it, I explained to him. If you have 16 and always hit it,
you’re going to bust a lot (62% of the time, to be exact). The dealer
must also hit 16, but only if the player has already completed their
hand. The average player using basic strategy will bust about 16% of
the time, thereby losing some of those hands before the dealer ever
has to take that scary hit on 16.
Because the player goes first, and can bust before the dealer ever
plays, following the dealer’s rules is a terrible way to play
blackjack! It results in a house edge of about 6%; far worse than the
~1% edge in most games.
The kid finally caught on and realized the error of his ways. He
then proceeded to question my knowledge, asking if this strategy
would work instead…
Never Let Your Hand Bust
Oh, no, I told him, that won’t do either. Sure, it will save you from
facing immediate disaster when the dealer drops a face card on your
12+, but it’s not going to increase your odds of winning – quite
the opposite, in fact.
A more prosperous strategy requires hitting some hand values of 12 or
more. When basic strategy instructs players to do so, it’s because
your odds
of busting are lower than your odds of losing against the
dealer’s up card.
For example, if you’re dealt 12, and the dealer is showing a 10, odds
are higher that you will lose with the 12 than the odds of busting if
you hit it. There are 9 cards that won’t hurt you, and only 4 that
will. That’s a 69.2% chance you’ll survive the hit. Thus it is the
right move to hit.
Like our error-ridden ‘mimic the dealer’ concept above, never busting
also proposes about a 6% house edge.
At this point, I told our young friend that he should take some time
to study basic blackjack strategy, and warned him to stay away from
this third and final bad tactic that’s cost some beginner blackjack
players far more than they could ever afford to lose. I’m talking
about the potentially expensive error of using a…
Blackjack Betting System
These systems are advertises as sure-fire ways to win at all sorts of
casino games that pay even money. Blackjack doesn’t really qualify,
since you can split and double down, but a lot of players make the
mistake of using betting systems here anyway.
The idea behind a betting system is to bet progressively in such a
way so that even if you lose many hands in a row, once you do win,
you’ll make it all back, plus a small profit. These systems do not
work. It doesn’t matter if it’s a straight double-or-nothing, a
positive progression, or a negative progression system. They don’t
work for one simple reason. Casinos have table limits.
You can only place wagers so high before you hit the limit, and all
that takes is 8 consecutive losses. The odds of losing 8 hands in a
row aren’t great, but if it happens, you won’t be able to continue.
You’ll have lost hundreds upon hundreds of dollars, with no way to
win it back. Learn more about the inherent
flaws of betting systems here.
Cheaters
never win! Unless you happen to be one of these guys who won a
fortune by cheating at different casino games.
Cheating the casino isn’t exactly the best way to make your fortune. It’s not so easy, either, especially considering the last few decades or so worth of advancements in technology. Security surveillance is far superior to what was available half a century ago. But it does still happen.
We don’t hear about casino cheats too much these days for two simple reasons; mostly because there aren’t many willing to try it anymore, but also because those who succeed aren’t blasting the news across social media.
Cheating at Different Casino Games
Although not intentional, some casino games are designed in such a
way as to be more vulnerable than others. An entirely computer based
game can be hacked and its software re-engineered to perform
differently. A deck of cards offers no such mechanized manipulation.
Similar rules apply to the number of people involved in the
deception. Any single-player game – a slot machine for instance –
is going to be easier to manipulate with special tools or hacking
software. The fewer eyes upon you, the better. In the same token, a
multi-player game like blackjack is easier to exploit via
distraction, wherein the deceiver gives prying eyes something else –
something less suspicious – to train their scrutiny upon.
Famous Casino Cheats of Past and Present
I certainly don’t recommend cheating casinos – or trying to, as the
case so often turns out to be. I for one would never have the
gumption to attempt it, and I hope you would make the same smart
decision to keep your gaming on the up-and-up. But there are a lot of
people out there who did and do take the renegade plunge. Most of
them failed miserably, paying a high price for their crimes. But not
everyone…
The following is a list of famous fraudsters who pulled off some of
the biggest gaming heists in casino history. Between the most
successful tricksters of old and the biggest failures of all time,
we’ve got a lot of ground to cover, so for now, you can consider this
an ever-growing compilation of casino game cheats.
Richard Marcus – The Drunken Master
I’m starting here because his story is my personal favorite. Richard
Marcus, a former card dealer, was a supremely cunning individual who
used the commonality of social vices against the very casinos that
promoted them. In this case, slovenly drunken behavior.
Marcus’s skulduggery relied upon excellent acting skills, and a great
deal of courage, of which he had both. He was so adept at this
method, he gave it a name – “Savannah”. It’s awfully similar to
the comparably lame technique of past-posting, in which a player uses
slight of hand to inconspicuously add chips to a winning bet. But
Richard’s method was so much more convincing, if not a bit backwards.
In one of his more vividly detailed exploits, Marcus would play
roulette with all the vigor of a drunken master. Upon entering the
game, he would place two chips on a bet. The top chip would be small;
maybe $5. The chip beneath would be of much greater value.
If he lost the bet, he would irately grab his chips from the table –
going against every casino rule in the book – and fling them
straight at the croupier! In the process, of course, he would
cleverly replace the higher value chip with a second $5 chip, which
is exactly what the croupier would expect to find.
If Marcus won the bet, however, he would make a valiant show of the
fact that the chip beneath the $5 was of greater value, ensuring he
got paid for his acceptable, albeit unorthodox manner of chip
stacking. If security were to go back and observe the surveillance
video, nothing out of place would be seen. Such was the wisdom of
Richard Marcus, who managed to dupe the casinos out of an untold
fortune by doing the exact opposite of what was expected – cheating
on a loss, rather than a win.
“Savannah” was Marcus’s lucky lady, and she walked him across the
fiery coals of many gambling adventures without ever getting caught.
We only know of his insurmountable success because he wrote of his
duplicitous exploits in his best-selling books. Of course, by the
time he told the world what he’d done, he was already beyond wealthy
and retired from that swindling lifestyle.
Unfortunately, I’ve lost all respect for the man in recent years. Now, he makes all of his money by bragging and pitting his own kind against the enemy. He runs a blog that supposedly teaches others how to cheat at poker and casino games, and at the same time, offers services to the very casinos he once cheated, teaching them how to catch the people he is supposedly training to bilk them. Not cool, Richard!
Dennis Nikrasch – 2-Step Teaming & Scheming
Dennis Nikrasch (aka Dennis McAndrews) was a very talented man,
particularly skilled in lock smithing mechanics. He used those
talents to his lucrative advantage, taking the casinos for an
estimated $15 million before the FBI got hold of him.
Nikrasch’s story begins as a teenager, when learned the trade of a
locksmith. His unscrupulous ways began there, stealing cars and
burglarizing luxury homes in his community. His reputation grew
quickly, earning him a respected position with the Genesse Crime
Family. The police caught up with him in 1961, and by the time he was
released, he began eyeing new locks – the ones on casino slot
machines.
By simply observing the keyhole on a slot, he found he was able to
fashion a key that would open it. Once in, he used a series of strong
magnets to manipulate the machines into releasing their jackpots. His
actions went unnoticed for eight long and lavish years before one
casino’s security time finally caught on. He was arrested shortly
after.
Following a 5 year prison sentence, Dennis eventually returned to
Vegas in 1991, thinking he’d get right back to his old ways. Slot
machines had changed a lot since then, and Dennis had to come up with
a new way to cheat them. So he did. Nikrasch teamed up with tech
wizard Eugene Bulgarino, a former associate from the Genesse Crime
Family.
Together, the two got their hands on some of the newer slot machine
models and dissected them from the inside out. It didn’t take long to
discover that the computerized machines ran on a microchip, as
opposed to the old mechanical reels, and that the microchip was
responsible for triggering jackpot payouts. After months of hard
work, he was able to replicate the chip, except that his version
would command the game to pay out its top prize the very next time
the reels were spun.
Nikrasch’s biggest problem now was finding a way to switch out the
microchips in a busy casinos without drawing suspicion or setting off
a machine’s tamper alarm. The solution was easy enough – recruit a
large team of helpers to disguise his actions.
While Dennis was sitting at a slot machine, appearing to play the
game, an entire crew of helpers were moving about the casino,
ensuring that his view was blocked from the casino’s security cameras
at all times. Once he had finished replacing the chip, he would leave
the machine and one of the team members would come along to play
instead. One spin later, that inconspicuous member struck the
jackpot.
There’s nothing uncommon about one player walking away and the next
one striking paydirt, thus the casinos didn’t catch on to what
Nikrasch’s team was doing for several years. Odds are they never
would have figured it out if Dennis hadn’t been betrayed by one of
his own partners.
Exactly who turned on him and why is a matter of speculation, but
it’s believed it was a woman from the team who wanted more than
Dennis was willing to give. When she tried to turn him in to the
police, the FBI was eager to get involved, but try as they might,
they could not find a single scrap of evidence that he had tampered
with any slot machine. The security cameras showed nothing, and he
left no trace of manipulation on any machine. Even IGT, the company
that manufactured some of the games he cheated, could find no hint of
tampering.
The FBI resorted to tapping his phone, but of course Nikrasch and his
colleagues were too smart for that. What they didn’t prepare for was
the bugging of Dennis’s home. The FBI overhead a conversation in
which Nikrasch invited Bulgarino to his home. Just hours before,
agents snuck in and planted listening devices throughout the house.
During the meeting, the two discussed every aspect of their previous
crimes in an effort to find areas of improvement. They spoke of
upcoming hits, and ways to spend their ill-gotten gains.
That was more than the FBI needed to storm the home and arrest them both. Dennis Nikrasch plead guilty to all charges and agreed to reveal all of his slot machine cheating secrets to help casinos catch other people like himself. For his cooperation, his sentence was reduced to 8 years.
Tommy Glenn Carmichael – Monkey Paw, Monkey Do
Tommy Glenn Carmichael was a product of the mid
1950s, a time when technology was all the rage. Electronic wonders
were coming out of the woodwork, and they fascinated Tommy. He was
that kid that ignored his friends pleading to visit the soda shop,
and instead stayed in his room, dismantling a ham radio just to see
how it worked.
When he grew up, Tommy’s love of small
machinery led him to open Ace TV Sales & Services in Tulsa,
Oklahoma. The business was going great, but then everything began to
fall apart. Prior drug convictions had him on probation and doing
community service. He was in the midst of divorce proceedings from
his third wife. Similar shops were opening all over town, driving his
revenue into the basement.
Tommy Glenn Carmichael was in shambles.
That’s when Ray Ming, an old high school buddy,
walked back into his life and change everything. Ray led Tommy
outside to his car and told him that the object inside his trunk
would change his life forever. He was right.
Within the confines of Ming’s trunk was a
small-scale slot machine and a cheater’s tool known as a “top-bottom
joint”. Neither Ray or Tommy knew how the gadget worked,
but they were determined to find out. Carmichael took the slot
machine home and disassembled it, learning the inner workings of the
game and how to exploit it with the mechanism. Finally, after
fiddling with the tool for many hours, he felt he was ready to use it
in a real casino.
His first trip to Vegas started with a nickel
machine, which he was to strike a $35 win on. He then moved up to
quarter slots, and by the time the weekend was over, he had taken the
casino for nearly $10,000.
His cheating ways continued with great success
for the next few years before casinos updated their machines to RNG
technology, forcing him to rethink his strategy. Unable to use the
top-bottom joint on the newer models, Tommy limited his gaming habits
to smaller casino joints beyond the strip, where the older machines
were still in use.
Smaller crowds made for easier detection
though, and it didn’t take long for police to catch up to him. They
followed him for a week gathering evidence before he was arrested,
charged and convicted of running an illegal gambling enterprise.
Since he was already on probation, he was sentenced to five years in
prison.
Years later, in an interview with USA Today,
Carmichael said about this time in his life:
“You think about what you did, and the mistakes, and how to correct them. You either get straight or get better.”
Carmichael got better.
In the years he was away, machines continued to
evolve, so Tommy decided to go back to school, so to speak. He worked
multiple minimum wage jobs until he’d saved enough money to purchase
one of the newer machines. Not a slot machine this time, but a video
poker machine. He spent more than a year learning the how the RNG and
micro-processing units worked before he was ready to head back out
into the casinos with his new invention – The Monkey Paw.
It’s engineering was genius, yet its operation
simple. Built with guitar string and steel springs, it did resemble a
monkey’s paw. And when it was inserted up the payout chute of a
gambling machine, it triggered a mirco-switch that released a payout.
Tommy was “winning” thousands of dollars
every outing, but just as before, times were changing, technology was
evolving, and casinos were updating to newer machines. Carmichael
decided to save some time and play it cool, disguising himself as an
affluent with interest in purchasing one of the new slot machines.
Under this presumption, he convinced a casino
employee to open up one of their new machines and explain how
everything worked. In that limited space of time, he conceived his
next big invention – The Light Wand.
As is turned out, the new games were just as
easy to cheat as the old ones, but instead of making contact with the
trigger, he needed only light to pass over it. Like before, the light
wand was inserted into the payout chute. When the light shown on the
sensor, coins were released.
Tommy Glenn Carmichael became extremely wealthy
at this point, not only because his new slot cheating device worked
so well, but because he was making loads of money on the side selling
them to fellow casino cheats. He was so rich at this point, he took a
6 month vacation from Las Vegas, pilfering the machines on casino
cruises in the Caribbean.
Upon his return, Carmichael decided to set up a
team. He partnered with Ramon David Pereira and his old prison buddy,
Michael Balsamo, among others. Each member had an important role,
scoping out the machines, keeping a watch for security, blocking the
line of vision from security cameras at just the right moments.
If the stories are true, these guys were so
successful that at their peak, they were raking in upwards of $5
million a day, virtually raiding the vaults of every casino on the
Las Vegas Strip. Then one day in 1996, it all came crashing down.
The group was running their scheme at the
Circus Circus Casino when authorities closed it. Tommy had no idea
the casino had updated its security cameras. His blockers were no
longer effective. Security saw everything. The moment Carmichael
inserted his light wand into a machine, a team of guards pounced.
He was charged with cheating, manufacturing of
a cheating device, and possession of a cheating device. However,
authorities didn’t have enough evidence to make all the charges
stick. They had to release him the next day.
Tommy Glenn Carmichael was arrested again in 1998, to no avail, and one last time in 1999. That time it stuck. He was sentenced to 1 year in prison and 3 years probation. After his release, he turned his life around, sort of. Carmichael began working with the casinos instead of against them, and made his new fortune developing tools to help stop cheaters. Might as well, since he’s engraved in Nevada’s Black Book of life-time banned players.
Ronald Harris & Reid McNeal – The Ruinous Nature of Greed
In the mid 1990s, a pair of seemingly unlikely comrades were getting rich quick off Nevada casinos. One was Ronald Dale Harris, a respected engineer with a strong background in computer programming and a convenient source of employment. The other was Reid Errol McNeal, an old school yard friend of Ron’s who just happened to be in the wrong situation at the right time.
The story begins in the early 1990s, when Ron Harris applied for a
job with the Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB). He had all the right
skills and his record was squeaky clean, thus he was a perfect
candidate for computer programmer. His responsibilities included
analyzing the state’s slot machine software for glitches and flaws.
In Ron’s defense, he had no intention of going rogue when he was
hired. However, his job granted him access to very sensitive
information, and it wasn’t long before he realized how easy it would
be the manipulate the system from his position. All he had to do was
alter the erasable programmable read only memory (EPROM) within a
slot machine to govern its payout release. And so he did…
Harris knew the inherent dangers of his actions. He knew that if he
went to the casino and won a jackpot himself, it would look awfully
suspicious. That’s when he decided to contact his old childhood
friend, Reid McNeal. The two had stayed in touch over the years,
enough that Ron knew Reid had recently lost his job and was hard up
for cash. Needles to say, it didn’t take much convincing to bring
McNeal aboard.
Ron would program the EPROM chips of certain slot machines to line up
a big win when a certain sequence of coins was entered. Then Reid
would play the slot machines his friend told him to play, in the
exact manner he was told to play them. For instance, one of Ronald’s
favorite sequences – one no other player was likely to insert by
accident – was 3 coins, 2 coins, 2 coins, 1 coin, 3 coins, then 5
coins. If that precise number of coins was inserted per play for six
plays in a row, the sixth spin would result in the big win.
At first, they were the perfect duo, splitting the profits down the
middle. They won relatively lucrative amounts of money, but never
more than a few thousand per strike. It kept the prying eyes of the
NGCB off their backs, and put far more in Harris’s pocket than his
day job allotted. But then, as criminals so often do, the two got
greedy.
In 1995, Ron wanted to try his illicit programming skills on keno
machines, but he didn’t feel comfortable doing it in his home state.
They left Nevada for the east coast, bringing with them all the
equipment required to manipulate a gambling machine on site. They
booked a room at an Atlantic City hotel and set their sites on a keno
machine at Bally’s Park Place Casino.
In the beginning, everything worked just as planned. Harris gave
instructions to Reid, who inserted $100 into the appropriate machine
and – as expected – won the $100,000 jackpot. It was the largest
keno prize ever paid by the casino. But instead of uncorking the
champagne bottles and taking pictures with oversized cardboard
checks, casino staff became instantly suspicious of Reid McNEal.
His first mistake was his lack of reaction. He did not seem surprised
or even excited by the 6-figure win. He remained perfectly calm and
asked for his winnings to be paid in cash. No payout would be
forthcoming however; not just because the casino suspected something
was up, but because any win of $35,000 or more required an
investigation to confirm the win.
As protocol called for, security protected their latest big-money
winner back to his hotel room, where they just so happened to find
Ron, along with all of the equipment the two brought with them to
manipulate the machines and cheat the casino. That was all police
needed to place the two under arrest.
Ronald Harris plead guilty to more than twenty counts, including abusing his position with the NGCB, using confidential information for personal gain, and rigging gambling machines from Las Vegas to Atlantic City. He was sentenced to seven years in prison, but was released on good behavior after serving just two. Reid McNeal cut a deal with authorities, testifying against his friend in exchange for exclusion. Subsequently, all charges against him were dropped.
Ida Summers – The Vegas Vixen
People often jump to conclusions when it comes to the roles women
play in large-scale casino cheating scandals. It is assumed that any
woman is merely a distraction – a decoy – directed by a man or
group of men to swing their hips and bat their lashes while the real
geniuses get the job done. That stereotype had nothing to do with the
success of the fraudulent femme fatale, Ida Summers.
Ms. Summers was, for the most part, a one-woman show, and one of the
most successful Vegas fraudsters of all time. And while she most
certainly distracted the dealers and pit bosses from what was really
going on at the table, it was for her own benefit.
Aside from her deviant charms, Ida’s claim to notorious fame was her
indubitable skill at sleight of hand. From the late 1960s to the
early 1970s, she pocketed thousands of dollars a day at Las Vegas
casinos, mostly by adding or removing cards – sometimes entire
decks or shoes of card! She was so adept at it, she eventually earned
the nickname Vegas Vixen.
We must attribute a great deal of her success to her beauty, and
ability to flaunt it. With a petite frame and slender physique, 5’2”
and under one hundred pounds, every head in the room turned when she
walked in. As competent as she was at sleight of hand, her
flirtations were her most dexterous skill, allowing her to easily
move cards around without notice.
Ida was especially fond of technique known as hand-mucking. It
involves exchanging one or two cards in your hand with outside cards.
In order for this to work, of course, you need the additional cards
to flawlessly match the current cards. She had no trouble solving
that potential problem, either.
Ms. Summers would either steal a deck cards right off the table when
the dealer was distracted, or she would use her charms to convince a
dealer to give it to her, even though it is thoroughly illegal to do
so. The Vegas Vixen was known to draw a dealer so deep into her
flirtations that when she asked for a deck of cards, just so she
could “practice at home”, they were more than willing to risk
their job just to make her smile and flash those beautiful eyes once
more before she left.
Having an entire casino deck to work with, Ida would slide cards up
her sleeve and discreetly pull them out as needed. She used them most
often at the blackjack table to give herself a hand of 21. She was
also known to cheat at Texas Hold’em poker and Caribbean Stud.
In her most daring adventures, she would stack an entire shoe with
“cold decks”, prearranged to guarantee beating the house. Of
course, replacing an entire shoe was much more difficult, and far
riskier, than replacing a few cards. This was one area in which Ida
Summers required help, recruiting a number of people to assist her in
the job. She would remove one shoe from the table and slip the
stacked shoe back in its place, then rest the original shoe in her
lap, just out of sight under the table, until an accomplice could
discreetly take it from her.
It’s crazy how successful she was in these duplicitous endeavors,
despite the seeming blatancy of her crimes. One could say it goes to
show how gullible men can be when it comes to the charms of a
beautiful woman. However, once the casino managers became suspicious
and brought the FBI in to investigate, it still took them several
months to gather sufficient evidence to prove she was, in fact,
cheating the casinos. This attests to her immense skill at sleight of
hand.
Eventually, she and several of her accomplices were caught. The
charges against her so well stacked that she should have spent
several years behind bars. But her days of charming weren’t over yet.
We can only assume that she was able to flirt her way out of the
courtroom, handed nothing more than probation, even though several
accomplices served time in jail.
Gambling 101: Probabilities predict theoretical returns, not future results.
Casino gambling can be a tumultuous thing. It comes with deep swings – ups and downs that can send our emotions soaring through the clouds one day, and our bankroll down into the doldrums the next. The transient nature of casino games is more volatile than most people realize, leading them to believe that with the right strategy, they can overcome the odds.
Therein lies one of the most common mistakes of novice gamblers –
the belief that acquiring enough knowledge will give them the upper
hand against the casino. Unfortunately for us players, it doesn’t
work that way; at least, not anymore. And thanks to super intelligent
computers that can crunch millions of numbers in under a second, it
never will again.
Knowledge and skill are the experienced player’s friend. They can
help the gambler to gain the best edge, but not a player’s edge. No
matter how smart or mathematically inclined a person is, they cannot
use that knowledge to predict the gambling future.
I know that a French Roulette wheel has two different levels of house edge. Even-money bets have a better payout rate than any other bets that pay 2-to-1 or more. I also know that those bets have a 1.35% house edge, which means players who make those bets should (collectively and over a long period of time) win back 98.65% of all those wagers.
This knowledge of the game should provoke me to place only even money
bets. Employing the skills that this knowledge has taught me, I will
avoid the 2.7% house edge of all other bets and stick only to those
that have the highest rate of return.
In this way, I am applying both knowledge and skill. But neither of
these assets can predict the game’s future. I’ve gained no insight as
to whether the next number will be black or red, odd or even, high or
low. It is not going to help me predict future outcomes. The only
thing my mental acuteness for French Roulette has given me is the
keen ability to, on average, lose less money than an inexperienced
player who wagers the full gambit of the roulette betting diagram.
Gambling’s Future Results are Unpredictable
Okay, you’re going to argue with me here. I know half the world predicted New England would win the Super Bowl over the Rams this year, and the other half doesn’t watch football. But it’s rare such simple bets come along. In a casino, they simply don’t exist.
None can predict with 100% assurance that will win the next slot
machine pull, hit 3 of 3 keno numbers, or be dealt a blackjack. None
can, with consistent accuracy, foretell when the craps shooter will
crap out or the baccarat banker and player will tie. Were there any
source of knowledge or superlative skill that gave players the
ability to predict the gambling future, casinos would have been
driven out of business long ago.
Play Smarter – Know The Difference
In gambling, the only realities are these:
Some players will win money
Some players will lose money
More players will lose than win.
Such is the ecosystem of casinos. Those who understand this – and
use combined knowledge and skill to make smarter decisions – will
not only have a higher chance of being among that first group of
winners. They’ll also have the wisdom to bet responsibly and take
their losses in stride.
Casino games that require skill to maximize odds of winning.
Gambling amusements are often categorized by their characteristics. Machines versus tables is the most common. Today, we’re going to divvy them up between skill games and non-skill games; that is to say, those that give a player better odds of winning with skill/strategy applied, as opposed to those that do not.
Before we get into the meat and potatoes of today’s topic, those of
you seeking the opposite experience may be interested in reading the
following:
No one has to implement a strategy to win these games. Everyone gets
lucky now and again. But if you want to win more often, driving your
odds to peak performance, these are the games you’ll want to learn
more about. I’ve chosen to list them in order of the best payback
percentage, with perfect strategy applied.
Video Poker
These can be the most rewarding games of all. The trick is to find
one with the right rules and pay table. At online casinos,
Microgaming’s All Aces VP (99.92%) and Jacks or Better with 9/6 Full
Pay (99.54%) are about as good as it gets. A few land-based casinos –
and I do mean a very rare few – still provide VP games with
100-101% RTPs. Learn
more here.
Blackjack
Of course, blackjack will land high on any list of this nature. It is
the most strategically driven game in any casino. Just memorizing a
basic strategy for the exact rules of the blackjack game you’re going
to play can lower the house edge to below 0.5%. The true RTP value
depends on the rules in play. For example:
Vegas Single Deck 99.69%
Double Exposure 99.68%
Classic Blackjack 99.60%
Spanish 21 99.58%
With these high-RTP variants, players who toss in an astute card counting system at a land-based casino can swing the edge into their favor.
Pai Gow Poker
A unique, 2-handed poker game in which players receive 7 cards to set
a traditional 5-card poker hand and a 2-card poker hand. The 5-card
hand must be stronger than the 2-card hand. If the player’s 2-card
and 5-card hands beat the dealer’s corresponding hands, the player
wins. If one beats the dealer, it’s a push. A good strategy will put
the RTP at 97.28%.
Caribbean Holdem
This is a house-banked poker game with dual betting rounds, the Ante
and Call. It follows the rules of Casino Holdem (based on Texas
Holdem), but with a different payout scheme for Ante bets and a
progressive jackpot. Using the right strategy here can net you an RTP
of 96.91%.
Three Card Poker
This house-banked poker game also presents two rounds of betting,
based on the strength of a 3-card poker hand. What makes it so unique
is the fluctuation in RTP based on your strategic decision. The Ante
alone carries an RTP of 96.67%. If making the Call bet (strategy
calls for a hand of Q-6-4 or better), the RTP rises to 97.99%. The
Pair Plus side bet falls between the two at 97.68%.
Let It Ride
Another
house-banked poker game, this one plays opposite of most. Instead of
placing progressive bets (Ante, Call, Raise, etc), the player starts
with three bets on the table. As the hand progresses, he can chose to
pull one or two of his bets down, it ‘let them ride’. With optimal
strategy, you can expect an RTP of 96.49%.
Caribbean Stud
This is a basic 5 Card Stud poker game but with the usual
house-banking rules, wherein the player competes against the dealer.
An Ante bet is made to start, then all cards are dealt with one
dealer card exposed. The player must then fold (lose all bets) or
raise (bet 2x ante) before all cards are shown. While strategy does
play a big role in this game, perfect decisions will only net an RTP
of about 94.78%.
Five fast ways to ruin your chance of winning video poker.
Did you know that video poker is one of the very rare gems at a casino that can afford a house edge of less than 0.5%? That’s a theoretical return to player (RPT) of 99.5% or better! Find the right rules and pay table, and that could rise to 99.92%. Even a perfect blackjack strategy can’t harvest that kind of RTP – not without a precision card counting team.
That 99.92% RTP is about the best you’ll find online (Microgaming’s
All Aces VP), but a few land-based casinos do still offer
machines that pay over 100%. The highest I’ve seen is 100.76%.
They are insanely rare, but they’re out there.
5 Ways to Ruin Your Chances of Winning Video
Poker
As generous as some of these games can be, it’s very much possible to
win at video poker. Even online, all you’ll need is a smidgen of luck
to beat those odds. That is, if you don’t make these common
mistakes… The following is a list of 5 easy ways to ensure you
will not win playing video poker.
#1 Overlook Pay Table Value
The pay table in a video poker machine is the most important piece of
information for players. It holds two key things to look for.
First are the payouts for a Full House and Flush. A Full House should
pay 9, and a Flush 6/ This is called a 9/6 Full Pay.
Second is the progressive value of a Royal Flush per coin wagered.
Betting 5 coins should offer a payout higher than the 5x multiple of
a 1 coin payout. (Hint: Bet
all 5 coins!)
The image above shows a 5-coin wager is worth 4,000 coins, as opposed
to an even multiple of 1,250. If the payout is 1,250 for a Royal
Flush, or the Full House/Flush pays are anything less than 9/6, do
not play the game… unless it’s got wild cards (see below).
#2 Only Play Jacks or Better
Despite popular belief, Jacks or Better isn’t the only good video
poker game on the casino floor. In fact, with the right pay table,
Deuces Wild, Joker Wild, Aces & Eights and
Double Bonus machines can all pay over 100% RTP. And, as I
mentioned earlier, the best online video poker game is All Aces
by Microgaming.
#3 Ignore Video Poker Strategy
There are three basic ways to play video poker.
1) You can randomly click cards to hold. 2) You can rely on your
gut instinct to decide what card to hold. 3) You can employ a
video poker strategy that determines exactly what cards to hold for
the highest possible odds of winning.
If you want to win, the third option is the only way to go. There are
some really good hand calculator apps out there for VP strategy, too.
Find one that offers the same rules/pay table as your machine, input
each hand as it’s drawn, and the app will tell you exactly how to
proceed. It really is that easy.
#4 Not Knowing Where to Play
Visit a casino often enough, and you’ll realize the layout rarely
changes. Be extremely observant, and you’ll notice that, despite the
unchanging layout, the machines themselves tend to move. The most
popular games move the most, which means that video poker machine you
found last month that paid so well, probably won’t be in the same
spot next time you go.
Thankfully, there’s this amazing website called www.vpFREE2.com.
This website provides a searchable list of casinos all over North
America. It lists the video poker machines they offer, including
their RTP and exact location in the casino! It’s updated daily by
actual players who visit these casinos and play the games. Pretty
amazing, right? You’re welcome 🙂
#5 Don’t Use a Player’s Club Card
To get the maximum value out of any casino experience, you have to
join the rewards club. At online casinos, it’s usually automatic.
Land-based casinos, however, require a bit of work on your part.
You’ll have to visit the Player’s Club desk and give them your basic
info to receive a card. Swipe this card in every machine you play
before inserting money, and the casino will track your play. Doing so
will earn you casino comps – everything from a free meal to a
weekend stay in the penthouse suite!
It really is possible to get an edge at casino games.
How many times have you heard that casino’s are in it to win it? That there’s no practical way to turn the tides in your favor? Or that you must have at least a little luck to walk away a winner? This is said so often because, for the majority of gamblers, it’s true. That’s only because the majority of gamblers are playing the wrong casino games.
Walk onto the gaming floor, and you’re immediately bombarded by the
reverberating sounds and flashing lights of reel slots and video
slots. Isle after aisle, they line the walls and gaudy carpets as far
as the eye can see. The casinos would love for you to stop here –
as so many players do – and start dropping your money into these
machines. Those who aren’t fooled by these may still find themselves
attracted to video poker, baccarat, roulette, the craps table, pai
gow poker or the big money wheel.
There are so many games just waiting to take your money. And the
casinos know they’re going to win, because these games cannot be
beaten. A few players may get lucky and beat them, but many more
players will lose, earning the casino its dues. That is, unless you
know which games to play, and how to exact the ever-illusive player’s
advantage at the casino.
Three Ways to Get an Edge at Casino Games
There are exactly three ways to gamble your money, and slide the
advantage into your favor while doing it. Only one is found directly
on the casino floor, and you can probably guess which one it is. I’m
talking, of course, about blackjack.
The other two you’ll have to do a little extra walking to get too;
one being the poker room, and the other the sportsbook.
Unfortunately, for Canadians like myself, sportsbooks aren’t legal.
You will either need to visit a foreign casino or take your wagering
to international gambling websites to gain an edge with sports
betting.
Blackjack Player’s Edge
The criteria for surpassing a 100% RTP in blackjack sounds simple
enough. It only takes two things – a basic strategy and a good
card counting technique. The strategy part is easy. You can
print out a situational decision-making chart for the game and keep
practicing until you get it down. Counting cards will be a bit
tougher.
Being able to keep up with the count is only the beginning. You must
be a able to do it flawlessly, size your bets appropriately, and be
so perfectly nonchalant about it that the dealer, pit bosses and
security surveillance team don’t suspect you’re doing it. Most
casinos will kick you out for it, not because it’s illegal, but
because they have ‘the right to refuse service to anyone‘.
Profitable Poker Pros
Casinos love to host poker games, because it doesn’t matter who wins
or loses. The casino wins a small percentage of each pot (i.e. poker
rake) regardless of the action on the table. Poker pits player
versus player, and therefore the player who is most skilled is going
to win more often. Like house edge casino games, luck can swing one
players way over another regardless of skill, but in the long term,
skill will prevail in any legitimate poker game.
Being the bet poker player at the table is no easy task, though, especially since the big live/online poker boom of 2003 (aka the Chris Moneymaker Effect). Its takes a special set of skills to truly excel in poker, calculating math quickly in your head, making smart value bets and accurately observing poker tells.
Sports Betting Advantage
If you’re a terrible actor and supreme mathematics isn’t your thing,
how about trying your hand at sports betting? Pick a sport you
follow, or want to follow, and learn everything you can about it. Get
to know the athletes and/or teams. Understand outside influences that
might impact a game, like weather, turf conditions, injuries or
suspensions.
Having a good head for the games is just one aspect of being a good sports bettor. You have to understand the odds and different types of bets, like straight-up wagers, points spreads and over/unders, and live betting features. The more you know, the more you can slide the scales of profitability into your favor.
The average gambler relies on luck. The smart gambler doesn’t need
luck. Choosing the right games and playing them with ultimate skill
will produce a positive expectation for long-term profitable results.
More online blackjack rules than you can shake a stick at!
If there’s one thing land-based casinos have taught us, it’s that all blackjack games are not created equal. To the untrained eye, all they may appear to be the same. But any veteran gambler knows there are many differences to be observed. Every rule variation, no matter how slight, will impact the expected return to player (RTP).
Most casinos know that delivering blackjack tables with an affable
set of rules is crucial for attracting wise players to the casino
floor. But they usually have a little extra room for those less
valuable games, making them look more attractive with lower limits or
special side bets – something less educated gamblers are often
drawn to.
Online casinos, on the other hand, have taken this concept to the
brink of RTP destruction! They aren’t bound by spacial limitations.
They can proffer as many variants of blackjack as they wish, never
running out of room or seats. And if you’ve visited any of the bigger
online and mobile casinos, you know exactly just how many variations
that can be!
More Online Blackjack Rules Than You Can Shake a
Stick At!
As a quick example of what I’m talking about, let’s take a glance at
the game variety provided by LeoVegas Mobile Casino.
This particular operator is among the industry’s most popular, in
part because it employs so many software brands; nearly 50 of them,
plus its own proprietary software as the cherry on top.
Many of those big-name brands offer one, if not a few, blackjack
variants. And when you put them all together as LeoVegas has, it
creates a plethora of blackjack titles to choose from; all with
slight (if not monumental) rule alterations. All told, this popular
mobile casino currently supports 27 RNG-based blackjack titles,
and no less than 9 live dealer blackjack offerings.
That’s at least three dozen ways to play blackjack. And if you don’t
know what to look for – if you can’t recognize the differences in
the rules and pay tables – you may be getting terrible value for
your bankroll budget.
Best Blackjack Rules for Minimal House Edge
Some rules have a minuscule effect on a blackjack game’s RTP, while
others can be significant. At the same time, some rules benefit the
player, while others benefit the house. The following list contains
all common rule variations and their effect on the casino’s edge.
Note that a positive integer is good for the player. A negative
integer benefits the house.
Number of Decks
The number of decks used can have a large impact on the house edge in
blackjack. A shoe can contain anywhere from 1 to 8 decks. The golden
rule here is to play with the least number of decks possible.
Number of Decks
House Edge Effect
1 Deck
0.48%
2 Decks
0.19%
4 Decks
0.06%
6 Decks
0.02%
8 Decks
0.00%
Payout for Natural Blackjack
The payout for a natural blackjack can be one of the most significant
differences in a game. A 2-to-1 payout is best, but extremely rare.
You should generally look for the standard 3-to-2 payout. Anything
less will decimate the house edge.
Natural Blackjack Pays
House Edge Effect
2 to 1
2.27%
3 to 2
0.00%
7 to 5
-0.45%
6 to 5
-1.39%
1 to 1
-2.27%
Blackjack Tie Pays
House Edge Effect
3 to 2
0.32%
1 to 2
0.11%
Other Blackjack Rule Variations
Next up is a list of all common rule variations that don’t fall into
the above categories. That doesn’t make them any less important,
though. Pay close attention to all rules that deliver an added
advantage to the player.
