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?
