Tag: Gambling
View All TagsSlot Machines / Themes / Amanda Bynes / Gambling / → All Tags
What Slot Machine Is Amanda Bynes Playing?
Over the weekend, former child actor, Amanda Bynes, decided that she needed to hit the slot machines at Revel in Atlantic City. In between slot sessions, there may have been some odd behavior which shouldn't surprise anyone familiar with her recent antics (see TMZ for details). When looking at the photo above, we couldn't help but wonder what slot machine she was playing.
It looks like as if Amanda Bynes is playing a .25 cent reel slot machine. Perhaps she was playing the most recent release of the Top Dollar slot machine. We prefer the original Top Dollar slot machine, but maybe we're the crazy ones.
Gambling / Football / Fantasy Football / Station Casinos / → All Tags
Station Casinos Gauging Interest In Fantasy Sports Gambling
Fantasy football is a multi-billion dollar business. Gambling is a multi-billion dollar business. What do you get when you put the two together? Something that will become a multi-multi-billion dollar business, perhaps. We tipped you off to expect more gambling on football last year after G2E.
Fantasy sports betting was made popular by fanduel.com where players pick a fantasy sports team (it's available for most sports) and risk money in a pool against other players. The website keeps a small percentage of the money paid for each league while the winners of the pool keep the the rest. Games are as little as $1 to enter, but the prize pool for those games is pretty small. This has become a huge business for Fan Duel where they are earning millions on millions on millions of dollars. Gambling on fantasy sports is a pretty cool concept and casinos are beginning to latch on to the idea.
Slot Machines / G2E / Gambling / Global Gaming Expo / → All Tags
It's Your Turn To Pick A Slot Machine Theme
New slot machine themes and technology are usually announced by manufacturers around the Global Gaming Expo (G2E). It seems like things are different this year with "The Walking Dead" slot machine being announced and Willy Wonka being released over the past couple of weeks.
This brings up the question of what themed slot machines we'd like to see to in the casino. Last night, Girly Girl got the ball rolling when she commented that she'd like to see a "Breaking Bad" slot machine. There are so many different concepts that we'd be eager to see, but there's only so much space on the casino floor.
College Football / Golden Nugget / Sportsbooks / Gambling / → All Tags
Early College Football Spreads Are Out
On May 1, we told you it was coming. And, today, it's even closer. The college football season is upon us. Too soon, you say? Well, the college football season is at least upon sports bettors in Vegas. As has been tradition over the past seven years, the Golden Nugget is the first casino and sportsbook to release point spreads for college football games. The games aren't just for the first week, either. These are the 250 games the Golden Nugget considers the "Games of the Year."
These 250 games (it's actually 248) will be available to bet today at 1 p.m. and should change often. Wagering limits are set at $1,000 for sides and $500 for totals. Each time there is a bet of either limit size made, the point spread (or total) will change. Our friends at DonBest.com have the point spreads for all 248 college football games of the year, but here are some highlights if you can't make it out to the Nugget:
Players Clubs / Gambling / Vegas Observations / → All Tags
How Much Are You Worth To A Casino?
On the surface, casinos are houses of entertainment. Whether we're gambling, dining or seeing a show, there is fun to be had. Behind the scenes is a different story. Casinos are big businesses run by number crunchers. Every square inch of a casino and hotel in Vegas must be accounted for. In fact, every person that walks through the doors has to be accounted for.
Counting beans isn't fun for most of us, but it's interesting to see how, as customers, we're valued. While perusing the UNLV Gaming library, we found the math behind how casino bean counters derive the value of a gambler and how they attribute that value to players clubs. This isn't for the lighthearted so buckle up, we're in for an information roller coaster!
Blackjack / Tournaments / Stratosphere / Slots / Gambling / → All Tags
Weekly Blackjack Tournaments Turn Up At The Strat
One of the most frequent questions we get about gambling is from people looking to get into tournaments -- specifically blackjack tournaments. Most blackjack tourneys in Vegas are by invite only for casino players club members while slot tournaments are more widely available in many different casinos. Stratosphere, however, is changing the game up a little. While Station Casinos is offering a free slot tournament every Sunday in June, The Strat is offering blackjack tournaments every Saturday.
Besides being different games there is a monetary difference in to the tournaments as well. Registration for blackjack tournaments at the Stratosphere is $40 for Ace Play players club members. Everyone that reaches the final table will receive some form of monetary prize, ranging from $800 for 1st place to $150 for 6th or 7th place.
Gambling / Craps / Roulette / Video Poker / → All Tags
Digging Into The Math Behind Gambling
To really love gambling is to know that the casino has the games all tilted to their favor. A couple weeks back we looked at how much of an advantage the casino has in each game. Games with a low house advantage offer us the best chance to play longer and possibly win. We're in the casino for a good time, not a long time. Math isn't our friend but in order to find the better games we have to understand be aware of it. After all, the casinos are studying the math to take our money so why not be on the same page?
When you know the math behind casino games, gambling becomes more about playing a game than taking a gamble. At the end of the day, there may be good runs and bad runs but based on the house advantage the casino should win money in every game. Let's look at some of the terms behind the math that explains how we win or lose our favorite casino games.
Gambling / Venetian / Palazzo / Station Casinos / Video Poker / WMS Gaming / Winning Streak Poker / → All Tags
Winning Streak Poker Is A Nice Change Of Pace
We tend to stick with the basic video poker games that have been around for a while, but every now and again something new hits the floor that peaks our interest. That recently happened when we finally decided to give Winning Streak Poker by WMS Gaming a shot. It has all the bright lights we love in a slot machine with the basics of playing video poker and looks like a nice compromise.
One of the best things about video poker is its simplicity. Traditional video poker games are one line where you'll use a little strategy to get the best hand. Multi-line games are similar as you're dealing with moves based on cards for one hand. Multiplier machines take the basic games and add random multipliers to the hand(s). Winning Streak Poker takes the basic game and amps it up a notch.
Poker / Open-Face Chinese Poker / Gambling / Chinese Poker / → All Tags
Open-Face Chinese Poker Is So Hot Right Now
The cool new kid on the poker block table is Open-Face Chinese Poker. As the name suggests, the game is a variant on Chinese Poker which isn't quite as popular.
Open-Face Chinese Poker may or may not be a fad, but there's one thing for sure -- people are playing it and loving it. The excitement over the game brought a host of questions about it on last week's World Series of Poker conference call because Phil Helmuth and every big poker pro are playing it. They're even playing Open-Face Chinese Poker hands on their mobile phone in-between hands at the poker table.
Open-Face Chinese Poker had its tournament debut earlier this year, but won't be played as an official tourney in this year's World Series of Poker. While WSOP decides how Open-Face Chinese Poker fits into the scheme of things, they will host an exhibition.
Gambling / Tips / Casinos / Survival Strategies / → All Tags
The House Advantage
Casinos have the edge in every game we play. We know this going in and, for the majority of people, gambling is more for fun. While mathematic probability can be used to determine the house advantage, players won't experience that in the short term. The math behind the house advantage isn't realized through a half-hour session, but through thousands of games. UNLV Gaming compiled a basic chart looking at the house advantage with different games in the casino:
Depending on the game and player, the casino edge may be larger than what the data typically suggests. As you can see from the chart, there are plenty of different house advantages for blackjack with stats based on three types of games when played with perfect basic strategy. The house advantage in those games can be lessened by learning advanced strategy. Similarly, the house advantage may grow based on rule changes like paying 6:5 for blackjack instead of 3:2.
Baccarat / Gambling / Golden Nugget / Stats / → All Tags
The Baccarat Takeover Of Vegas Continues
If you keep an eye on the casino business, you may have seen the repeated domination of baccarat in recent months. The casinos continue to make more money every month from baccarat. In March, all casino gaming revenue increased by $60 million over the same period last year and baccarat accounted for $35 million of that. There's a small house edge for casinos in baccarat, but since the limits are so high there is money to be had by both players and casinos.
Baccarat used to be a game of great mystery and was once only found in luxury resorts as part of hidden high roller rooms. That's no longer the case. Baccarat is becoming so popular that you can find it expanding out of the luxury resorts like Wynn and Bellagio and into downtown. The D already offers baccarat for its high rollers and, last week, the Golden Nugget added a baccarat pit in the hallway heading towards the Rush Tower.
Slot Machines / Gambling / Stats / → All Tags
Slots Are Looser Than You Think
Casino games are created to take our money. We know that going in so there's really few results that are worse than expected. Ya win some, ya lose some. Odds and returns are based on long-term play so, when you sit down, it's often during a hot streak or a cold one. You may hit both if you play a while and that's where long-term odds are really felt.
Slot machines generally win anywhere from 5% to 12% for casinos, but that doesn't get in the way of our desire to hear the loud noises and see the bright lights. When the Nevada Gaming Control board (NGC) does its monthly and annual casino revenue reports, they include all slot machines along with video poker, video keno (not to be confused with human keno) and the electronic versions of table games.
