slot machines articles

For quite a while now now, slots games make up a big part of total casino revenues all over the world. Slots games are so popular because they are the easiest casino games to play, do not require any additional knowledge and have the highest payout rate compared to other gambling games in the casino. And you will find slots games just in any casino, be it in Las Vegas, Monte Carlo or somewhere in Asia.

You’ll see hundreds of slot machines right after you enter the casino. They all look very attractive so that you would want to sit down right away and play slots games, without going to the table games. Slot machines may look alike, but beware, payout percentages and winning combinations differ from one machine to another. Read the rules on the machine first, before playing it.

If you want to play slots games, you’ll have to drive all the way to Las Vegas or Atlantic City or any other territory near you where gambling is permitted. There you will find hundreds and thousands of slot machines that will suit any type of player, from rookie to a high roller. But if you don’t want to waste your time on travelling anywhere, there’s a good option for you.

In 1975, Stanford Wong came out with Professional Blackjack by Stanford Wong. Our hero had a Ph.D. in economics and this helped him a lot in his researches. This book was the next big advance for card counters. Wong described his playing style, which included table-hopping shoe games to avoid playing at negative counts. As four-deck shoes were the most widely available games in Las Vegas by that time, this original approach was brilliant. Land-based casinos looked for card counters by watching for their betting spreads. It had never occurred to the casinos that a counter might be watching a table from the aisles, waiting for an advantageous count before jumping in to maximum bet.

All the counting system Wong published had common feature was the Hi-Lo Count, and like Revere’s count, used the easy divide-by-remaining-deck(s) approach to running count adjustments. Some fifteen years after Harvey Dubner had proposed the Hi-Lo count values, his system was available in a format both fully optimized with strategy of blackjack indices, and presented with a simple methodology of play. Wong’s table-hopping approach to shoe games was in many ways similar to Al Francesco’s Big Player (BP) team approach, but allowed a solo card counter to attack shoe games invisibly, and without a team of spotters.

During the early 70th, Dr. Nick Bace began developing the first concealed blackjack computer, and by 1972, Keith had started using a computer in the Nevada casinos to play max bet blackjack. By the mid-’70s, Nick and his son, Marty, had met Al Francesco, and they would be putting together teams of players using computers to beat the blackjack tables.

Nevada had no laws at that time prohibiting the use of devices at their tables. Nick’s first computer weighed fifteen pounds. He went on to develop dozens of concealable computers and other electronic devices over the next two decades, ever smaller and more powerful.

This computer communicated its decisions to the player with buzzes and taps on the sole of the player’s foot. It was not easy to use one of these devices. It essentially entailed learning to “type” with your big toes. Even once you had memorized the codes, inputting them via the toe switches was a chore. It took weeks or even months of practice to get to the point where you could use the device at casino-dealing speed without foot cramps stopping you.

In the toe of each shoe there were two “switches”, or buttons - one above each big toe and one beneath - for a total of four switches. Each switch conveyed a different code to the computer, which was a small epoxy-encased device that was strapped to the calf beneath the trousers. The computer itself was about the size of a pack of cigarettes, but thinner. By using a series of toe taps, kind of like Morse code, the player could relay to the computer everything it needed to know in order to make a decision in a blackjack game: which cards had already been dealt, what cards the player held, and the dealer’s upcard.

To the most of public, one of the most incomprehensible things about professional blackjack strategies is hole-card play. The one feature that can be found in all of these strategies is that the player either knows the dealer’s hole card, or has valuable information about that hole card. To most casual blackjack players, this seems absolutely incredible and impossible, unless there is some sort of cheating going on. But it’s not impossible, and in fact, most hole-card strategies are perfectly legal.

James Grosjean’s Beyond Counting (now out of print, though a second edition has been announced) is widely regarded as the hole-carder’s bible. A meticulous mathematician, Grosjean was the first person to accurately figure out the hole-carder’s edge at blackjack with perfect reads and perfect play (just over 13 percent), and in addition to his work on blackjack, he provided some of the first detailed hole-card analyses of games like Three-Card Poker, Let It Ride, and Caribbean Stud Poker.

Most players, even if shown a dealer who is flashing, would not be able to spot the hole card anyway. Holecarders spend hundreds of hours training their eyes to see something that flashes by in a fraction of a second, often cast in shadow.”

Hole-card players speak their own language and have their own heroes. Most consider card counting too weak to be worth the trouble. Many quickly attain notoriety in the casinos and a degree of fame among other pros that appreciate the rare skills they have developed. But let’s look at some of the forerunners of today’s players, describe some of the most common hole-card strategies, and get a historical overview of this type of legal strategy.

What is warp play? In the old days, dealers used to manually peek under their tens and aces to see if they had a blackjack before satisfying the players’ hands. This constant bending up of the corners on the tens and aces tended to put a warp into these cards if the casino did not change its decks frequently. An observant player could see the arc in a dealer’s hole card created by hours of bending the corners of the tens and aces. Warp play was simply using this information to make strategy decisions.

Spooking is something else again. It used to be standard procedure for dealers to manually peek under any 10 or ace to see if they had a blackjack, in which case they would immediately turn up the card and collect all bets without playing the hands. Some dealers, in peeking, angled the card in such a way that a person standing behind them, or sitting at another table on the other side of the same pit, could glimpse the card also. It wasn’t long before players started working in teams to take advantage of such dealers. The guy behind the dealer was called the spook. He would signal his buddies playing at the table with whatever information he could get on the hole card. Dealers don’t peek this way anymore, and this is one of the reasons why.

What is front-loading? A front loader is simply a sloppy dealer who flashes his hole card as he is placing it beneath his upcard. It’s actually a pretty descriptive term, since one common way that such a dealer inadvertently flashes the hole card is by tipping the face of the card up toward the “front” of the table as he is “loading” it. A player who sits in a seat that provides him a view of this card is said to be “front-loading.”

The best game for beginners in online casino gambling? Of course you mean slots! This game will allow you to practice as often as possible without losing money. Soon, you’ll want to start winning. Once you’ve decided that you’d like to collect bonuses and that you’d like to see how your lady luck is treating you, you will be able to move on and play real slots for real money. Absolutely no problem! There are literally millions of slots games out there and you can be one of the many people who have fallen in love with how they choose to play slots. Don’t be fooled, though. Slots are not a game that is solely for the beginner’s to gaming casinos. Professionals are also like to spend dollar or hundred on slots. Slots is played by and loved by so many people. Win cash bonuses, win huge payouts, enjoy communities of players, and relax from the comfort of your home. With new technology, you can even try your hand at luck when you play slots online.

Look at them, video poker machines lined up at the entrance to any casino, or lurking in the corner of social clubs where the local gambling ordinances permit them. There will be times when players have a hot streak and it will seem like all the jackpots are falling. Then those streaks will go cold. That’s just the way statistics work their way to the one mathematical certainty. They are there to take the hard-earned dollars from suckers. Keep hearing them complain they’re not winning enough. Keep seeing them coming back to the machines. There’s only one thing you can say about these people. They have worked out the one important feature of the machines. The House has an edge. No matter where you go in the casino world, whether its to some swanky place or online, the paytables are set in a way that gives the House a mathematical advantage.The House will win in the end. So let’s put those sore losers right. There’s no need for the House to rig the machines. The casino operators are going to win in the long term without having to cheat. There’s no way they will spoil a sure thing by risking detection as a fraud by regulators.

How does one decide on the casino game that is right for them? The easiest aswer is start with the first thing you’ll meet. But the follow up answer is: grow with what you like. What do I mean by that? If you find yourself browsing, looking for the best in casinos online and you find one that you like, go for it. Most importantly, if the site offers a variety of the game that you like plus provide you with the other famous casino games you want to try out, you should definitely get in on the action. If you enjoy the casino games offered and what to try them out, why not? All too often, folks find a game that they like and stick with it which is fine. However, being that playing these online casino sites is really one big game of chance and odds, it would be safe to say that by trying your luck at more games, you are increasing your odds, don’t you? So be smart when you find the online casino that’s right for you. Find casino that is best for you. This will leave you feeling like you are playing smart, increasing the odds that you will be back to patronize that particular gambling site.

There is nothing worse than trying to figure out new software and to bring to life a site that really isn’t great to begin with. I have tried this often enough with my new gaming software and have since given up. The great thing is that you don’t have to be a genius at computer technology in order to enjoy good old fashion, new technology, when it comes to casino games. While sites compete with each to be the best in offering casino games online, you can bet that you have a large pool of options to choose from. If you like the slow and easy style of playing slots online, you can find them as well as so many other types of games on the better sites. But don’t forget: you are playing to win, right? Why else would you play and improve? Well, fun goes without saying. Online casinos have a knack for providing fun for those who are interested in getting better at the casino game of their choosing. But why else would someone dedicate their free time to playing casino games? No doubt, it’s money. It’s not a greedy thing or even a needy thing. Playing for money helps encourage a healthy competitive nature in an individual. Winning at casino games can also boost self-esteem in someone. If you are ready to win at progressive slots or other popular online casinos, you should start today. Within moments you could feel better than before.

I can’t say that I’m feeling very calm now. Had a bad run with the cards and lost a few dollars - got my pride wacked outa shape. Thought about playing video poker for a change of scenery, but ended up walking past the slot machines into the bar. And it’s not like he’s anteing up so much cash he gets any rights to bid me what to do. He’s like a piker - stingy bettor with a big mouth. Not worth the time of day, most days.

But, after the third screwdriver, he did get me to thinking. When I lost the third pot in a row to river cards against the odds, I confess to thinking I was caught in a skin game. Just a moment of anger. Ain’t no-one with the cojones to try anything against me for real - not with my connections. But there’s lots of folk get it into their heads that online video poker sites are cheating them. So I suppose I’d better say a few words of reassurance - not that it’ll actually boost your confidence. The truth ain’t designed to do that.

So, sit down in front of a video poker machine playing on a pay table that’s offering 9-6-250 like online at goldencasino.com. For those who’ve not boned up on the jargon, that’s a machine paying 250 per coin on a Royal Flush, 9 on a Full House and 6 on a Flush. That machine’s set up to pay back only a fraction over 98% of what it takes. Even if you play a perfect strategy on this machine, the theoretical return never gets above 100%. It bears saying again. No matter which lucky rabbit’s foot you got in your pants, the very best you can hope to do is to almost break even.

If I stopped there, there’s no sense in any casino cheating on the slot machines. But there’s no denying you’re right ’bout one thing. Greed’s the worm in the gambling apple. Don’t matter which side of the fence you’re on, there’s always some as thinks they’re gonna hit it big. So I’ve seen pit bosses and managers decide the Vig’s not enough and rig the games. I’ve seen a few do it to put the money in their own pockets - most of them got decent burials, too. Yeh, there’s some cheating going on, but most of it’s on your side and it’s not very subtle.

So why do some folk get so all-fired sure they’ve been cheated by slot machines? In a word: frustration. They were hot, certain their luck was in, but had a long bad session. That always makes the loss harder to bear - when your emotion gets in the way of your judgement. Gambling’s got streaks of luck both ways. On one hot August night in 1913, the roulette wheel in Monte Carlo came up black a record-breaking twenty-six times in a row. They were doubling their bets after every loss. But they tapped out of money before the streak ended. Was there anything wrong with the wheel? Nope! The math god smiled and it was true.

Just ’cause you come up empty on one or two sessions don’t mean nothing ‘cept your wins and losses’re averaging out over time. So don’t even try to say that online poker is rigged or something like this. There isn’t anything like this. So how many thousand hands of data you gonna pay to collect to test your hypothesis? It’s put up or shut up. No-one likes a sore loser unless they got the evidence to prove otherwise.

One last thought before the thinking’s done: some of you load up your own software to run alongside video poker machines - kinda like a coach. Me, I don’t have no problem with that, but some online casinos’re uploading Dynamic Link Library subroutines to identify the applications you’re running at the same time as the casino package. They might not like some of the things they find - not within the spirit of the game from their point of view. Remember the old Chinese philosoph saying, “Big fish eat small fish.”

Catch ya ’round.

Like most offline casinos, the casino has corralled a number of machines and members of the local slots club are rotated in every fifteen minutes to play for three minutes. The player who racks up the biggest score in those three minutes will be the winner. The total prize money fund is $200,000 with everyone in the top fifty winning at least $1,000.

Online, the same principles apply. Whoever enters the tournament is given a preset number of credits and a fixed time. The others have an entry fee. It is customary to return most of the stake money as prizes. This differs from the real world where the players may get other comps like drinks, meals or subsidised rooms in the hotel to offset any reduction in the prize money.

How can you play in a tournament? You need to be lucky. Whatever the time allocated, you must make sure you use all the credits you are given. The winner will have used all his or her credits, made the best decisions on holds, and been lucky with the draws.

Obviously, if you have never tried a slots tournament, the best way to find out whether you enjoy one is to enter one that is free. The fact that you pay nothing up front and may still win a prize makes this format the most attractive for a beginner. The commercial rationale for the casino is that playing even a free tournament gets you playing in that casino. Once you are logged in, you are likely to play for real on either side of your allotted time, so the casino makes its money out of your other online time.

This high pressure may not be for you. If you’re playing for fun, this may be taking life too seriously. But if you do want to improve your skills, playing a tournament or two will get the adrenaline running and build up your speed and accuracy.