Have you ever heard of a slot player who wins every time they play? My Aunt claims she does. Kate S.
Sounds to me more like delusions of grandeur, but just for tittering, if Auntie’s gone to the casino no more than three times over the past 10 years and won each time, then therešs a possibility she’s not waggish when she states she wins every time out. Any more than five, maybe 10 times playing, though, will produce the effect dictated by the absolute and unrelenting laws of chance.
While anyone can have a short and merry winning streak like your Aunt, if one plays long enough against an opponent who has a built-in advantage, and believe me, Kate, slot machines have a huge built-in advantage, one has to lose.
Dear Mark,
Does the house have any advantage over the player when it uses automatic shuffling machines? Ted G.
If you’re questioning, Ted, whether the machine shuffles the cards differently than a mere mortal would, thereby giving the house an inequitable advantage, the answer is no. Automatic shufflers have only one distinct advantage over the anthropoids in card-shuffling. They deliver more hands per hour than a minimum-wage-plus-tips Homo sapiens could possibly do. Increasing hands-per-hour generally multiplies the benefits-per-hour for the entity with the built-in edge. And that “Surprise, surprise!” in almost all cases is the casino. (Only exception: really devout card counters.)
Dear Mark,
Is the triplet a good wager in Sic Bo? Clay C.
The triplet is a wager in Sic Bo that on the next shake of the three Sbobet dice, the same face will come up on all three. For example, you wager $5 that three 6s will appear. If that happens, you are paid 24 to 1 on your $5 for $120. But the true odds of this happy if rare occurrence are actually 35 to 1. So, Clay, no matter how you crunch the numbers, the house edge is 30.5%.
Yikes!
Wouldn’t you agree, Clay, that going for the Sic Bo triplet is just not smart betting? There are far better bets in the casino than most of the wagers on Sic Bo. Scout around and find a new game.
Dear Mark,
How does the banker hand have the advantage over the player’s hand in Pai Gow Poker? Scooter T.
In Pai Gow Poker, most casino players typically wager against a banker, though the game does allow any player who can bankroll the table’s action to be the banker.
Players and banker are each dealt seven cards, which are then divided into separate hands of two and five cards each. The object of the game is to beat the dealer’s two-card hand with your two-card hand, and the banker’s five-card hand with your five-card hand. The skill of Pai Gow Poker lies in your skill and judgment in composing your two- and five-card hands. The banker’s advantage is that the banker wins on copies. A “copy” is when a player and a banker have the same two-card hand, or the same five-card hand. For example, both player and banker have a queen and a nine as their two-card hands, creating a tie or copy. Therein, Scooter, is the bank’s advantage the rule that the banker wins on copies.
Gambling thought of the week: “Make no mistake, Lady Luck is a seductress, and shall tempt you mercilessly. And in this day and age of debit cards, credit cards and ATMs, itšs just too easy to rationalize, “Just a little more.” Melissa Raimond (Strictly Slots)
