Gambling with an Edge --- October 4

[BobDancer]

Tonight’s Gambling with an Edge show features
Brian McAllister --- a long-time winning player. Brian played many of the same
video poker promotions that I did in years past --- but he used different
techniques to beat the house. Although the exact promos are long gone, the
differences in techniques should provide insight to modern-day players. After
all, every winning player does it a little bit differently from each of the
others, and everybody needs to find their own niche.

 

GWAE may be heard live Thursday
evenings from 7-8 in Las Vegas on 1230 AM or from www.klav1230am.com from
anywhere. The shows are archived the next day on bobdancer.com. You may
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your device.

[BillyJoe]

 After all, every winning player does it a little bit differently from each of the others, and everybody needs to find their own niche. 
I could not have said that better myself, Bob...

[BillyJoe]

Bob, I would have liked to have heard your Thursday's radio show, but it appears that your website is down.

[BobDancer]

Bob, I would have liked to have heard your Thursday's radio show, but it appears that your website is down.
   Really?  I didn't know. I'll look into that, but it will be Monday before it's fixed because the people who run it aren't there on weekends. In the meantime you can download the podcast from www.wizardofodds.com or www.richardmunchkin.com 

[BillyJoe]

[QUOTE=billy joe]Bob, I would have liked to have heard your Thursday's radio show, but it appears that your website is down.
 
 
 
Really?  I didn't know. I'll look into that, but it will be Monday before it's fixed because the people who run it aren't there on weekends. In the meantime you can download the podcast from www.wizardofodds.com or www.richardmunchkin.com
 [/QUOTE]
Thanks, Bob. I was able to listen to the show via the link above. It was a good show (your comment about 'deceased people still voting in Chicago", which is my home town, notwithstanding ).
I thought Michael's "Element of Risk" was interesting. You mentioned the Double Down game as a possible VP application of this concept. Would you think that Double Pay (or now, Deal Draw) would also apply?
Although I never visited it, I remember Bob Stupak's Vegas World adds. Sounded too good to be true when I saw them, but I guess they were real.
So let me understand your idea of 'shooting some angles' in a casino in order to get an edge. Exchanging promotional chips for cash because they look enough like a real chip of a larger value to deceive the casino cage?   Sounds like plain, old thievery to me. If this is your definition of an "Advantage Player", I, personally, will stick with my moniker of being a "Recreational Player".   

[BobDancer]

[QUOTE=billyjoe 
I thought Michael's "Element of Risk" was interesting. You mentioned the Double Down game as a possible VP application of this concept. Would you think that Double Pay (or now, Deal Draw) would also apply?
  [/QUOTE]
 The concept of "element of risk" only applies to games where there is an optional additional bet. The game I referred to on the air was an IGT --- later videopoker.com --- game called Double Down Stud. In that game, you saw your first four cards and then decided whether or not you wanted to pay more to see a fifth card. Therefore, some of your games were played at 5 coins per line and some at 10 coins. If you've never played this game it's available on this site for you to look at. In the new WMS No Risk Double Up I discussed on the air, you pay 10 coins up front. In Double Pay you pay 10 coins per line. But in these cases EVERY hand is played at the same rate so the house edge is figured on that total amount. The metric is more useful to table games where proper strategy has you betting extra coins some of the time (like doubling down or splitting in blackjack). It's a rare event for that to happen in video poker. For those of us who mostly play video poker, this metric is not particularly useful. Also, the metric only applies to SMART additional bets. In Three Card Poker, for example, you can make an optional Pairs Plus bet at the outset with a house edge of something like 7.3%. This metric presumes you never make a sucker bet like this. But if your hand has a queen or higher (this is slightly simplified), you DO make an additional bet --- called a RAISE --- for the same size as your original ANTE bet. So since you sometimes bet one unit and sometimes bet two units, this metric gives you valuable information. Bob 

[BillyJoe]

[QUOTE=billyjoe] 

I thought Michael's "Element of Risk" was interesting. You mentioned the Double Down game as a possible VP application of this concept. Would you think that Double Pay (or now, Deal Draw) would also apply?

The concept of "element of risk" only applies to games where there is an optional additional bet. The game I referred to on the air was an IGT --- later videopoker.com --- game called Double Down Stud. In that game, you saw your first four cards and then decided whether or not you wanted to pay more to see a fifth card. Therefore, some of your games were played at 5 coins per line and some at 10 coins. If you've never played this game it's available on this site for you to look at.
 
In the new WMS No Risk Double Up I discussed on the air, you pay 10 coins up front. In Double Pay you pay 10 coins per line. But in these cases EVERY hand is played at the same rate so the house edge is figured on that total amount.
 
The metric is more useful to table games where proper strategy has you betting extra coins some of the time (like doubling down or splitting in blackjack). It's a rare event for that to happen in video poker. For those of us who mostly play video poker, this metric is not particularly useful.
 
Also, the metric only applies to SMART additional bets. In Three Card Poker, for example, you can make an optional Pairs Plus bet at the outset with a house edge of something like 7.3%. This metric presumes you never make a sucker bet like this. But if your hand has a queen or higher (this is slightly simplified), you DO make an additional bet --- called a RAISE --- for the same size as your original ANTE bet. So since you sometimes bet one unit and sometimes bet two units, this metric gives you valuable information.
 
Bob
 [/QUOTE]
Thanks for the response, Bob. I am familiar with, and have played, Double Down Stud in the casino. Personally,I did not care for the game that much.
 
As for table games, I could see where the "element of risk" could also apply to games like Let It Ride, Crazy Fours and Ultimate Texas Hold 'Em. In each of those games, you can adjust your wager on each hand depending on the cards you receive or see.
 
Not sure if it is available, but it would be interesting to see a casino edge breakdown for those table games.

[BobDancer]

 
As for table games, I could see where the "element of risk" could also apply to games like Let It Ride, Crazy Fours and Ultimate Texas Hold 'Em. In each of those games, you can adjust your wager on each hand depending on the cards you receive or see.
 
Not sure if it is available, but it would be interesting to see a casino edge breakdown for those table games.
  That kind of information is frequently available on Shackleford's www.wizardofodds.com website. Bob