By Travel Tunica on Monday December 28, 2015

On most casino games, the odds are the same on every play, with blackjack being the major exception. But for roulette, craps and even slot machines, past results have no effect on future outcomes. Nonetheless, when a streak is alive, it’s tempting to jump on. A player wrote to say he saw on a roulette table’s message board that 31 had come up four times in a row. He bought in and started betting 31 and the surrounding numbers on the layout --- 29, 28, 32, 34 and 35. The streak ended, he lost some money and wondered if he…

On most casino games, the odds are the same on every play, with blackjack being the major exception. But for roulette, craps and even slot machines, past results have no effect on future outcomes. Nonetheless, when a streak is alive, it’s tempting to jump on. A player wrote to say…

By Travel Tunica on Tuesday December 22, 2015

Everywhere you look, house edges on casino games are listed by percent – 1.52 percent on place bets on 6 or 8 in craps, 5.26 percent in double-zero roulette, 1.06 percent on the banker bet in baccarat, and so on. A reader asked me to translate that into dollars and sense for blackjack players. If you’re playing basic strategy, how much money of yours will the house keep? What if you’re just an average player who hasn’t memorized the strategy chart? Let’s run some numbers, assuming a basic strategy player assuming a 0.5 percent edge, a second player a little…

Everywhere you look, house edges on casino games are listed by percent – 1.52 percent on place bets on 6 or 8 in craps, 5.26 percent in double-zero roulette, 1.06 percent on the banker bet in baccarat, and so on. A reader asked me to translate that into dollars and…

By Travel Tunica on Monday December 21, 2015

Haven’t figured out your New Year’s Eve plans yet? Check out what Tunica has to offer for your celebration on December 31-January 2. Most casinos will be offering party favors and champagne toast at midnight on New Year’s Eve. Stage Bars on New Year’s Eve Sam’s Town – Aces Wild Bally’s Casino – The Soul Shockers Hollywood Casino - Kalimba – The Spirit of Earth Wind & Fire Horseshoe Tunica – Jamie Baker & the VIP’s / Party Planet / Radio Incorporated Tunica Roadhouse – Grady Champion / Carmen Hicks Gold Strike – Electric Circus For a complete list of…

Haven’t figured out your New Year’s Eve plans yet? Check out what Tunica has to offer for your celebration on December 31-January 2. Most casinos will be offering party favors and champagne toast at midnight on New Year’s Eve. Stage Bars on New Year’s Eve Sam’s Town – Aces Wild…

By Travel Tunica on Tuesday December 15, 2015

Many modern video poker machines enable you to change games or change coin denominations without ever leaving your seat. If you’ve been playing Double Double Bonus Poker and want to change to Super Aces, you can just touch an icon on the screen to launch a new game. If you’ve been winning big at a quarter game and want to try your hand at a dollar version, you can touch the screen to change that, too. Players sometimes wonder if they would have been dealt the same cards if they were playing a different game or denomination. That was on…

Many modern video poker machines enable you to change games or change coin denominations without ever leaving your seat. If you’ve been playing Double Double Bonus Poker and want to change to Super Aces, you can just touch an icon on the screen to launch a new game. If you’ve…

By Travel Tunica on Tuesday December 8, 2015

The last few weeks I’ve been writing about new games displayed at the annual Global Gaming Expo, with table and slot games we’ll be playing in the coming year. For me, Expo week is almost like a second Christmas as the wraps come off those goodies, so let’s take a look at just a couple of more new slots. When Multimedia Games and Global Cash Access merged, they rebranded the company as Everi, pronounced “every” – fitting enough for a company that produces cash handling solutions as well as slot games.    One fun new slot game that caught my…

The last few weeks I’ve been writing about new games displayed at the annual Global Gaming Expo, with table and slot games we’ll be playing in the coming year. For me, Expo week is almost like a second Christmas as the wraps come off those goodies, so let’s take a…

By Travel Tunica on Monday November 30, 2015

With Homer and Marge characters handing out doughnuts – with sprinkles, of course – the crowds at the Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas just had to see what was going on. What it was, of course, was the debut of The Simpsons as a slot machine, a big attention-grabber from Scientific Games. Scientific Games has quickly become a major force in the casino world, having acquired slotmaking  giants Bally Technologies and WMS Gaming as well as WMS’ sister company Williams Interactive and table games leader Shuffle Master. This was the first year all those companies were in the same…

With Homer and Marge characters handing out doughnuts – with sprinkles, of course – the crowds at the Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas just had to see what was going on. What it was, of course, was the debut of The Simpsons as a slot machine, a big attention-grabber…

By Travel Tunica on Tuesday November 17, 2015

“Interactivity” has been a buzzword among slotmakers ever since they started putting bonus events on the games in the 1990s. At Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas, International Gaming Technology showed it doesn’t just want you to be an active participant in the game, it wants to make you part of the game. For the TMZ video slot, IGT partnered with Warner Bros. to develop a game based on the entertainment news and celebrity gossip website and TV show. There’s a camera built into machine, and when you sit down, it takes your picture and voila! You’re part of the…

“Interactivity” has been a buzzword among slotmakers ever since they started putting bonus events on the games in the 1990s. At Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas, International Gaming Technology showed it doesn’t just want you to be an active participant in the game, it wants to make you part…

By Travel Tunica on Thursday November 12, 2015

Each fall at the Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas, I take time away from the seminars and from tours of the major slot manufacturers’ booths to seek out new table games. This time around, a few new takes on blackjack stood out, variations that will be available to casinos in the coming year. Scientific Games, which acquire longtime table games leader Shuffle Master, was showing Zappit Blackjack.  No doubt you’ve suffered through a blackjack session with stiff hand after stiff hand, been dealt yet another 15, and felt like you’d just like to zap it. That’s just what Zappit…

Each fall at the Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas, I take time away from the seminars and from tours of the major slot manufacturers’ booths to seek out new table games. This time around, a few new takes on blackjack stood out, variations that will be available to casinos…

By Travel Tunica on Tuesday November 10, 2015

I like to share readers’ stories of their best days in the casinos. Here’s one that wasn’t a huge win, but the price was right. A woman was out with her some friends, and each had $10 in free play to start the day. “We were trying to decide what to do with the free play, and one of the ladies said, ‘I’m just going to play for pennies.’ I took the machine next to her. It was Black Knight. It had 30 lines, and I was betting 60 cents a spin. “On my very first spin, I got the…

I like to share readers’ stories of their best days in the casinos. Here’s one that wasn’t a huge win, but the price was right. A woman was out with her some friends, and each had $10 in free play to start the day. “We were trying to decide what…

By Travel Tunica on Monday November 2, 2015

One of the quirks of roulette games that have both 0 and 00 – the common arrangement in the United States – is that the five-number bet on 0, 00, 1, 2 and 3 has a higher house edge than other wagers. If you make that five-number bet, the house edge is 7.89 percent. On everything else, it’s 5.26 percent. That prompted a reader to email, asking if there was something special about those numbers that caused the higher edge. There isn’t. They come up as often as any other numbers. It’s the payoff when you bet them all together…

One of the quirks of roulette games that have both 0 and 00 – the common arrangement in the United States – is that the five-number bet on 0, 00, 1, 2 and 3 has a higher house edge than other wagers. If you make that five-number bet, the house…