A shuffle through the Gaming mailbag
August 11, 2008
Q. Let us say I am playing a keno machine at the minimum bet amount and as I am playing, the machine the machine emits various numbers each play. Instead of me betting the minimum amounts the machine allows, let’s say I was betting the maximum bets allowed by the machine.Would the same numbers come out on the maximum bets as they did on the minimum bets or might they be different depending o the numbers I was playing?
A. The answer is the same as it would be on slot machines, video poker, video blackjack or any other electronic game. If your timing was exactly the same, you would get the same results. The random number generator that determines which numbers are drawn is not “told” how many credits you are wagering. Numbers drawn on a keno machine --- or symbols on a slot reel or cards on video poker and blackjack --- do not change with the size of the wager.
The random number generator runs continuously, so any change in timing will bring about a different result. Maybe it takes a fraction of a second longer for you to move your hand hit “bet max” instead of “repeat bet,” or a fraction of a second less than to hit “bet one” plus “draw.” That fraction of a second will change your result. That doesn’t mean the result will be better, and it doesn’t mean it will be worse. Just different.
In the long run, the percentage of winners will be the same with minimum bets as with maximums.
Q. I’m new to craps, and was wondering if you could explain something to me. If I make place bets, I can take them down whenever I want. If I bet don’t pass, I can have the dealer take it down whenever I want. But if I bet on pass, I can’t take it down after the comeout. Why is that? My wife and I had dinner reservations, and it was time to go, but I couldn’t go until my bet was decided. Given how mad she was, I’m not sure it was worth sticking around the extra five or six rolls to win my 10 bucks.
A. Casinos are in business to make money, and if they allowed us to take our pass or come bets down whenever we wanted, it would severely impede that goal. They’d be giving money away.
Pass and come bettors have an edge on the comeout roll. There are eight ways to win, wit six ways to make 7 and two ways to make 11, and only four ways to lose with two ways to make 3, one way to make 2 and one way to make 12.
The rolls after the comeout establishes a point are when the casino makes money. The player becomes a 6-5 underdog if the point is 6 or 8, 3-2 if the point is 5 or 9 and 2-1 if the point is 4 or 10.
Naturally, the casino wants our money in action when we’re the underdogs.
There’s no such conundrum on place bets, where the odds are the same on every roll, or on don’t pass/don’t come, where players are underdogs on the comeout but favorites after there’s a point. Taking down a don’t pass/don’t come bet after the comeout pads the house edge.
Q. If you’re dealt two pairs in Deuces Wild video poker, should you hold both pairs?
A. It depends on the pay table. If four of a kind pays 5-for-1, as in full-pay Deuces Wild in Nevada, hold just one pair. If four of a kind pays only 4-for-1 and full houses also pay 4-for-1 --- as on many Deuces Wild machines in the Midwest --- hold both pairs.
Dealt two 9s, two 6s and a Queen of mixed suits, for example, if you hold either pair, there are 16,125 possible three-card draws. Of those, 10,623 will leave you with a losing hand, while 4,572 will bring three of a kind, 615 will bring four of a kind, 385 will bring a full house and 20 will bring five of a kind. Note that we get four of a kind MORE OFTEN than a full house. That’s one of the effects of the wild cards in Deuces Wild.
If you hold both pairs, there are only 47 possible draws --- 47 losers and 8 full houses. Holding both pairs means you give up any chance at three of a kind, four of a kind or five of a kind.
In full-pay Deuces Wild, where four of a kind pays 5-for-1 and full houses 3-for-1, all that will leave you with an average return of 2.81 coins per five coins wagered for holding one pair, besting the 2.55-coin average return for holding both pairs.
Change the pay table to the “Not So Ugly Deuces” game that is the best Deuces Wild pay table found in the Midwest, and you get a different result. Four of a kind payoffs are reduced to 4-for-1, and full houses increased to 4-for-1. The average return for holding just one pair drops to 2.74 coins per five wagered, while the average return for holding both pairs soars to 3.40. It’s a no-brainer --- the best play is to hold both pairs.
I do not recommend playing Deuces Wild if four of a kind drops to 4-for-1 and the full house return stays low at 3-for-1. However, if you find yourself on such a machine, the better play is to hold just one pair. The game the late video poker guru Lenny Frome called “Colorado” Deuces Wild has such a pay table. Average return when holding one pair is 2.62 coins, to 2.55 for holding both pairs. A close call, but your best play is to break up the two pairs.
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