Dear Mark,
I follow your advice religiously and have gone from being a losing player to a
break-even one. I vaguely remember a column of yours in the past where you gave
a tip on getting the best of the casino even if your casino wagers have a 2% or less house edge. Please refresh my memory. Hal S.
Yeah, Hal, I have one to go from breaking even to adding some booty to your
billfold. You can cut your cost of playing any game that has less than a 2% casino advantage by using a casino player's card. The cost of using
one is zip, and as you play a percentage of the total bets made are returned
to you in the form of a comp, with many casinos actually giving you hard currency.
Ready money can sometimes turn a break-even session into a winning one. One
downside, Hal, is that far too many players bet a king's ransom for a free trip
to the buffet. A free feeding frenzy at the trough is a weakness even I have.
Dear Mark,
You recommend betting either the player or bank hand in baccarat. Seems when
betting the bank hand, they charge a 5% commission. Since you only
recommend wagers with house advantage of 2% or less, and they are charging
a 5% commission, how does this wash? Mark H.
Agreed, Mark, they do charge a 5% commission when you bet the bank
hand in baccarat, but only when you win. Even so, is it still a sweet deal?
Yep, because the rules for drawing cards for the player hand are different from
those applying to the bank hand. That 5% commission is just the juice
the casino wants for that rule change. Without their charging that 5%
commission, you would actually have an advantage over the house. So, to make
the casino's edge roughly the same for the bank and the player's hands, a 5% commission is charged on every winning bank hand. In the future, Mark,
do not let that 5% commission scare you out of making one of the best
wagers in the casino for the player. Even factoring in the commission, the casino's
edge is a paltry 1.17% on the bank hand and 1.36% on the player hand.
Dear Mark,
What is a more valuable hand in Jacks or Better video poker, an open-ended straight,
or a low pair? Art T.
As to your first question, Art, you should always keep a low pair over a four
card open-ended straight with this one exception: keep an open ended straight
if it contains two or three high cards. For example, a 10 of hearts, jack of
diamonds, queen of clubs, and king of hearts is a keeper over a pair of 10s.
Gambling quote of the week: "There are few things that are so
unpardonably neglected in our country as poker. The upper class knows very little
about it. Now and then you find ambassadors who have sort of a general knowledge
of the game, but the ignorance of the people is fearful. Why, I have known clergymen,
good men, kindhearted, liberal, sincere, and all that, who did not know the
meaning of a 'flush.' It is enough to make one ashamed of one's species."
Mark Twain
