Dear Mark,
I learned craps from my
father, who learned it from his dad. We play your recommended pass line
bet along with continual betting on the seven to hedge our line bet. In
past columns you don't agree with that logic. Please explain. Marvin B.
Marvin, before you advance your crapology
advice to future generations, may I share an anecdotal tale with you?
One day a young girl watched her mother
prepare a ham for Thanksgiving dinner.
"Mom, why did you cut off both
ends of the ham?" the daughter asked.
"Because my mother always
did," said the mother.
"But why?"
"I don't know-why
don't you call Granny and find out why."
So the daughter called
Granny and asked her. "Granny, when you prepared your hams for baking,
why did you always cut off both ends?"
"My mother always did
it," said Granny.
"But why?"
"I don't know-why
don't you call your Great-grandmother and ask her?" So the daughter
preceded to telephone Great-grandmother to inquire why traditionally her
family always cut off both ends of a ham before cooking it.
"Great-grandma, when you prepared your ham for baking, you always cut
off both ends-why?"
"Well," Great-grandma said, "the pan was too
small."
It is time, Marvin, to let go of your
genealogically inspired gambling theories. Though you feel you are
hedging you wager by betting the seven, it still doesn't change the
house advantage of 16.7%. By sticking strictly to a pass line wager,
maybe, just maybe, you will be the first in your clan to win some real
money at craps.
Dear Mark
,
Does it make sense keeping a kicker in video poker? Martha M.
NEVER, repeat never, hold a kicker.
Holding kickers (K, K, A) to any pair reduces your return by more than
5%.
Dear Mark,
I like to bet the don't
side on a crap game. Isn't it a slightly better wager than a pass line
bet? Kenny K.
You are correct in assuming, Kenny, that
the don't pass bet (seven rolling before the point) is a marginally
better wager-a 1.4 percent casino advantage versus the pass line's 1.41
percent-but craps is a game of community esprit, everyone in it for the
win together. By betting the opposite you become the adversary, a
villain against the majority of players. Why let the casino off the hook?
Dear Mark,
What was the largest
amount ever won in roulette? Jason C.
In January, 1994, a computer programmer
from London, England, wagered $220,000 on a single spin at the Horseshoe
Club in Las Vegas. Placing the whole amount on red, he watched as the
ball found the red 7. Picking up his one-roll winnings, he quickly
deposited $440,000 in the cashier's cage. The tuxedo-clad gentleman was
knowledgeable enough to play on the Horseshoe's single zero roulette
table, cutting the house edge from 5.26 to 2.7%.
Dear Mark,
I really enjoy keno.
Would you recommend video keno or a live-action game? Rosa M.
The correct answer, Rosa, would be to
suggest politely neither.
The medium house advantage on all live
keno games is approximately 28%. On a video keno game it is 7.5%. Why
lower? Video keno has better paytables. Take the 8-spot ticket: By
hitting four of eight on a video keno machine, you double your money.
You'll never find that on a live keno game.
On paper, it looks like video poker is
the better deal. Not so fast my friend. At $1 a pop, the most you could
lose on a live game is about $15, as that is the average number of games
called per hour. A typical video keno player can burn through $15 in
quarters in under five minutes.
I recommend, Rosa, for those with a keno
fixation, video poker instead.
