Four Card Keno To Win Bigger, More Often And Play Longer
How It Changed My Gambling Life

It never was my intention to become a Four Card Keno enthusiast. Let alone developing a strategy for the game.

My game of choice was Video Poker and I sort of looked down on Keno players for playing a game with terrible odds. Plus, Keno doesn’t give you much to say about the outcome. But here I am, telling the true story of how I came to develop a simple method of winning more often, playing for a longer period of time, and experiencing bigger jackpots playing Four Card Keno.

Just about everything I had read about gambling told me that
Over a period of time and after some deep research and experimenting I created a system of what I call Keno Smart Charts. Little did I realize that thousands of Keno players, all over the world, would be using my strategy to get more bang out of their Keno bucks. My email inbox is literally filled with hundreds of letters from Keno players thanking me for sharing the system with them.

Mine is not a sappy rags to riches story. I want to be clear about that. The truth is that I was a successful video poker player when I made this discovery. I would be considered to be a semi-professional; traveling to Las Vegas regularly as a comped player. You probably know the drill – free suites, free dinning and shows. I wasn’t a ‘whale’ by any means but my wife would jokingly refer to us being marked as ‘tuna fish’.

From what I knew, only the games of Blackjack and Video Poker would give you a fighting chance in the casino. Not only that, but most of us are taught to stay away from Keno because it’s one of the worst games in the casino. As a student of gambling I understood that so I rarely played Keno. And I thought I was so smart for doing so.

Eventually the casinos got wise to advantage Video Poker players and many of them tightened up the pay tables on the machines and took away a lot of the benefits that they were giving us. And as I got older it was increasingly more difficult to travel. For those reasons and others my wife and I made the difficult decision limit our video poker to local Indian casinos where the pay tables were just short of being criminal. But we limited our play and considered any losses as the cost of entertainment.

It was on one of our nights out that some guy sitting across from me yelled out, at the top of his lungs, “I got it.” He had been playing Four Card Keno and he had just won a big $7,000 jackpot.

That’s when I decided to dig deeper into video keno. I discovered that a 7 spot in Four Card Keno had roughly the same odds as getting a Royal Flush as in video poker. And the kicker was that a 7 spot paid $7,000 for my dollar bet while the Royal only paid a thousand (for 1 $1.25 bet). Since the video poker tables were so bad in the Indian casino, I could totally rationalize playing the ‘worst game in the house’, Keno – and specifically, Four Card Keno.

Seeking Four Card Keno Success

Being a former video poker player I naturally thought in terms of playing Keno with some sort of strategy. Even though I knew that it was strictly a game of chance, my instinct was to find a way to put that chance as much on my side of the ledger as possible. To my way of thinking, life is like that. There’s always a way of doing something that’s better than the other way. So, for the the longest time I found testing different things. I tried different patterns, certain rows, straight lines, squares, filling up an entire block. Every now and then I would hit a nice jackpot but in the end it seemed like everything I read about Keno was true. But still, I kept on trying to find a better way. A system for a game of pure luck.

One day I was playing Four Card Keno and I hit a 7 spot but it was on two of the four cards. Holy cow was I excited. That was serious money. What made it happen was hitting a the 7 spot on the two cards of course. And wanting to do that again took me on a journey to unlock the absolute best way of playing Four Card Keno. It was immediately obvious that having some numbers in common between the 4 cards was part of the key. But there was more. What was I missing?

In my mind there was something different about the numbers that I played when I hit those two 7 spots. So I took a closer look at the numbers on the other other two cards. What was interesting was that the other two cards were also winners. Just smaller amounts. But winners nevertheless. Seeing the relationship between those lesser wins to the big hits led me to develop my system of Keno Charts.

The idea would be to expand the available numbers and and at the same time having a perfectly balanced amount of numbers overlapping between cards. So I fired up the computer and went to work. What I found blew my mind. Don’t get me wrong, I was skeptical at first. But I just knew that I was onto something big. After many hours of test games, calculations and experimenting with different spots, I proved that it was possible to play Four Card Keno many times more efficiently and, best of all, win bigger jackpots do it much more often.

Keno Math Made Easy

There was one problem that really bothered me. It just took too long to calculate the proper numbers to play on the four cards for all the different spots. Especially on the larger ones like 6, 7 and eight spots. It simply took too much time away from actually playing the game. I had to come up with an easier way.

Again I went to work. I started working with spreadsheets thinking that they could make the process easier. Yes, it could be done but it was still a hassle. Then one day I was testing a spreadsheet for various five spot numbers and I saw a pattern develop. It was a pattern, not numbers, that was common between different winning spots. If I could duplicate the pattern, regardless of the numbers that I was using, it would be phenomenal.

Was it possible that there was a way to setup winning patterns for every Four Card Keno spot? Could I increase my chances of winning no matter what spot I played? The answer was a resounding YES! Indeed, I had stumbled upon a simple way to strategically balance any numbers across all Four Card Keno cards. That meant more hits, bigger jackpots and longer playing time – for sure! Best of all, with the charts that I created, anybody could do this!

How To Download The Four Card Keno Smart Charts

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Video Poker machines that have full pay schedules (99% and more payback) are becoming harder to locate these days. It would appear that recreational players are either unacquainted with the difference between full pay and short pay games or they simply don’t care. In any event, many casinos are cashing in on ignorant gamblers that place their bets centered on emotion or myths as opposed to the math.

Losing is something which knowledgeable Video Poker players avoid. The main reason they took the time to study the game initially was to learn how to win. When they stumbled upon a casino with only short pay schedules for video poker, they feel like they’re being ripped off. Sometimes the payouts could be so low that it’s not worth playing certain games. But better paying video poker games are still available. You may not necessarily find the best full pay games just like the past but some games are still a lot better than others.

Why Video Poker Is King For Comps
Generally, comps like rooms, food and gifts given by casinos are on the basis of the sum of money that’s wagered by the player. Comps are just incentives to entice individuals to gamble more. Casinos know that the additional money that people gamble with the much more likely they are to lose. That’s because the long-term odds are in favor of the casino. That’s not true as it pertains to video poker. The casino still possesses an edge but it could be pretty slim.

Proficient video poker players have discovered how to get back the majority of the money that they placed into playing the game. They accomplish that by utilizing proven strategies that give them the very best statistical advantage. They recycle their winnings in and out of the machines, using the same money over and over again. Those wagers are tracked by the casino through the players club card. Comps and benefits are then calculated by the casino, on the basis of the sum of money that’s put into the machine. Now consider that a well trained video poker player can play 300 to 1,000 hands each hour with minimum loss. At that rate it indicates betting hundreds as well as thousands of dollars each hour, much of it with recycled money – yet every penny counts toward comps and other benefits. And remember that there’s the excitement of winning with a royal flush.

That’s the short story. As it is in just about any hobby, you can find different degrees of understanding and nuances to playing video poker. You will find a large number of different variations of the games and strategies to opt for each one. Some worth your time and others not. There are many books that explain the math behind the strategies, statistical variances, analysis of probabilities, and the endless subtleties of the games. The good news is that armed with only a basic understanding of the games and a little practice, you can certainly do quite nicely in the casino. And it can alter your gambling life.

You can learn the basics and expert strategies at the VideoPoker page. Whether you’re an experienced player or just attempting to find out more about the games, you can practice and play for free there. So consider yourself invited. There’s lots of information regarding playing the game correctly and you can play the most used games and new ones which can be just hitting the casinos. There’s no real gambling – although games are identical as to what you’ll find in a casino. It’s really plenty of fun and you’ll receive a bunch of free information to help you win more at video poker. There’s alternatives for inexpensive, ad-free upgrades and even Professional Video Poker Training available. You’re welcome to play at your leisure, anytime – 24 hours a day.

You will find only two games in the casino that give gamblers a long-term fighting chance. One is blackjack and the other is video poker. With opportunities as high as 100% returns, plus comps, it’s easy to see why so many people opt to play video poker. Invest some time to understand this exciting game and you’ll come to know just why video poker is definitely, still the king of comps and cash jackpots.

Please visit  the VideoPoker page to learn, practice and play your favorite Video Poker and Keno games for free. And for expert Video Poker Training online, look at the Video Poker Pro page.

Formerly The Mystic Gambler

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If you’re familiar with gambling in a casino, you know that they make their money from having an edge (an advantage) on every game they have on the floor. However, there are rare instances when casinos have made mistakes.

When that happens things can go very wrong for the casino.  The following account is a fascinating story, as reported by Steve Bourie, about one of those instances that occurred many years ago at a casino in Canada.

Casino de Montreal first opened for business in October 1993 and one of the games it offered was keno. It was the typical keno game that uses the numbers from 1 to 80. Twenty numbers out of the 80 are selected randomly and players try to guess which numbers will be chosen. In this particular game, players guess anywhere from 1 to 20 numbers.

Interestingly, the casino offered the pick 20 on two types of keno games – mechanical and electronic. That’s a lot of keno patterns. In the mechanical version the numbers were printed on 80 standard ping pong-type balls and were chosen by a blower system that mixed the balls and then allowed the balls to escape to a chute one-at-a-time so the numbers could be called out. The electronic version used a computer chip called a random number generator (RNG) to determine its 20 numbers. These electronic machines had been used in numerous Las Vegas casinos for years and are known to be reliable.

>>> Learn, Practice and Play Video Poker and Keno For Free <<<

Daniel Corriveau was a freelance computer consultant who enjoyed using his skills to look for patterns in winning lottery numbers. When the new casino opened in his home province of Quebec he decided to turn his attention to the casino’s keno game. Eventually, he thought he detected specific keno patterns in the electronic version of the game and he went to the casino on April 10, 1994 to test out his theory. By the end of the evening he had hit 19 out of 20 numbers three consecutive times, plus some other number combinations for a total win of $620,000.

Knowing that it was statistically impossible to accomplish such a feat, the casino personnel immediately shut down the electronic game and decided not to pay Courriveau until they conducted an inquiry into what had happened. After all, they wanted to make sure that there wasn’t some elaborate scheme underway to defraud them.

After conducting a full-scale police investigation, including a polygraph exam, the casino called a press conference 17 days later to announce that Courriveau had legitimately won his bets and presented him with a check for $620,000.

So how was that possible? Did Mr. Courriveau really discover a winning system for predicting keno numbers? In a way he did – for that particular machine. The key was to be found in the keno patterns.

It turns out that there was an unknown bug, a problem, with the electronic version of the keno game. Although a RNG can literally produce hundreds of millions of different number combinations it always has to have a starting point, or seed, to begin its calculations. It then uses that number to do the math to come up with a new number which then becomes the seed for the next calculation. It then uses that number to do the math for the next calculation and that result becomes the seed for the next calculation. This process is repeated continuously. The one thing to keep in mind, however, is that because the calculations are always the same the RNG needs a different seed each time or else it will come up with the same numbers. In other words, if the starting seed doesn’t change, the RNG will simply come up with the same results time after time.

As mentioned before, the electronic machines had a history of working perfectly in Las Vegas, but in Las Vegas the casinos are open 24 hours a day. The machines are on all the time. It was different in Montreal. The casino didn’t  operate on a 24-hour schedule. The machine was shut off at some point every night for several hours. When the machine was turned on the next day it always started its calculations at the initial seed which was programmed into it. Since the seed never changed, the machine simply kept repeating the same keno patterns of numbers. Mr. Courriveau was lucky enough to spot the pattern but anyone probably could have done the same had they kept a history of the winning numbers. After the problem, the casino still offered keno, but only the mechanical version. The electronic keno game never reopened after Courriveau’s big win.

Discover how to take advantage of keno patterns using your own numbers for any spot (3 through 10): Keno Smart Charts Download

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A solid gambling strategy will serve you well.

Several days ago, I caught up with an old friend here in town. As we were discussing a variety of people we knew, a “condition” was mentioned with at least a couple of them – “gambling problem.”

Living in Las Vegas, you meet a variety of people who gamble for a living. A few are moderately successful and most, regrettably, are not. The ones that are successful are generally poker players, sports gamblers, video poker players and blackjack players– probably in that order. Those are the games that have an actual gambling strategy that people can learn

There’s a reason why these four games are the games of choice for the successful gamblers. Poker is a game of math, but also one of true skill. You are playing against other players and thus it is very possible for you to be better at the game than the others. I’m looking forward to casinos putting in more games of skill.

I’m an okay poker player, but I would think I can potentially have an advantage at some games of skill over others. A few months ago, I played a skill-based poker game at a table game convention. It was a Three Card Poker variant where you can pick your cards by being faster than the other players.

Two skills are needed – recognizing which cards you want and quick reflexes. I’m good at both of those. I’m looking forward to this game being in the casino someday. At the demo, I didn’t win every round, but I won more than my fair share, which is all you need to do when playing against other humans.

Next up are sports gamblers. I love sports, but I don’t gamble on it much. I used to occasionally do a $5 parlay card during football season to keep it interesting, but not in a few years. I know a few guys who do this well. They have a lot of data they pour through to try to get an edge. While the wagers are made with casinos, you are to some extent wagering against other players and if you know how to parse the data, this is another area where you can gain a true gambling strategy..

The latter two are more of my zone. They are video poker and blackjack. Not a surprise that they have a lot in common. Both games are routinely close to 100%. In the case of video poker, you need to seek out the 100%-plus games. It has gotten harder, but they are still out there. You can also seek out video poker tournaments and maximize cash back and comps to keep the game incredibly close to 100%.

Blackjack is a lot like video poker. You can play the basic game at 99.5%, and with comps and cashback and some tournaments, you can keep it very close to 100%. If you learn to count, then it is like seeking out the 100%-plus games of video poker, except that counting is technically not allowed and you might get banned from a casino.

That leaves all the other games for the not so successful gamblers. Now, if you’re just a tourist coming to Las Vegas for a week to have some fun, playing the other table games is not going to ruin you. Most games have a 1% to 2% house edge and if you wager $150-$500 per hour, you’re talking a loss rate of $1.50 to $10 per hour.

Even if you play for 20 hours across a week, you’re still talking about a maximum of $200 over your trip. This is not a lot of money for a week of fun. And it is not exactly a guarantee of a loss. Over 20 hours of play, you may very well win.

The problem comes in when you start playing regularly and for more money games that simply are mathematically against you. If you don’t realize playing a game with a 98% payback means you will lose 2% of your total amount wagered over the long run, then unfortunately, you’re probably not going to realize you also need to play using the right strategy in order to keep it to that 2%.

Luck can play a part, sure. Hit a Royal Flush at Let It Ride and you’ll make some good money. But, these games were all built using math and in the long run the math is always right. The reason why successful gamblers pick the game I mentioned earlier is because the math tells them you can win (or keep it very close to even) over the long run. They play those games using the right strategy.

The bottom line is that math dictates everything about every game. This is why Expert Strategy was created – to help the player learn the three key components. Know which games to play. Know the right strategy for those games. Know what to expect when you play.

Practice and Play Video Poker and Keno – 100% FREE (non-gambling)

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There still seems to be an opinion out there that keno is a poor game to play, that it is a sucker’s game, and should be avoided due to its “high” house advantage (house edge). Is this really true? On the surface, maybe, but in reality, no. In fact, in some cases the house edge at keno is actually competitive.

As this column is being written there are keno opportunities with practically no house edge. The 9-spot progressive at The Atlantis Reno is over $1,200,000 thus is close to 100% return. The 10-spot Mega Keno is over $2,000,000 and climbing and may approach break even before it is hit. The other progressives get to positive territory at times.

On top of this, casinos such as The D offer returns of 85% on special tickets (Deano rate), throw in comps and offers, especially tourneys, and you are close to break even as well. In some tournament situations you might even have a mathematical advantage.

Those who worship lowest house advantage are neglecting another part of the equation, game speed. If you play a $5 keno ticket every 10 minutes with a house edge of 15%, in an hour you would lose, on the average (ignoring comps), $4.50.

If you are an average blackjack player with standard rules at a $5 table, you would lose about $10. If you have a fair concept of basic strategy you would lose about $5.

Betting $5 on the pass line at craps would yield similar results.

Game speed is just as important as house edge. Thus, before one bad mouths keno they should do their research. You may say many keno tickets hold 20% to 30%, which is true, but just like you look for the best bets at craps to lower the house edge, the keno player can do the same by looking for tickets and special rates that return more.

For example, the 80-cent rate downtown in many casinos averages about a 25% house edge, but if you play the 5-spot the house edge drops to 18%. This rate is available at the California Hotel (Island Rate), Fremont (pop 80 rate), El Cortez (40 cent rate) and The D (Deano rate).

Of course, just like there are very poor bets at many table games there are poor bets at keno. Just avoid them, and look for the better returning tickets.

If you are from out of town, plan your vacation around a keno tournament and you really have the best of it. The tourney prize fund basically eliminates the house edge and you still get free or discounted rooms and meals, and often a small gift as well. This can be the best that Las Vegas has to offer.

Use the excellent transit system to get around while in town, subscribe to Las Vegas Advisor to get their excellent coupon book and The Casino Guide and you definitely have the best of it. Thus, you will find playing keno within your means is not a bankroll buster or a game to be avoided, but a good game to play and be enjoyed.

>> Practice Real Keno & Video Poker For Free <<<

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The idea of themed slots, while once a hotly competitive item, may soon give way to newly developed skill based digital games that are soon to show up in a casino near you.

Skill-based gaming developer GameCo announced Monday it will develop games based on three popular movies: “Mission: Impossible,” “Paranormal Activity” and “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.”

Skill-based games are seen by some industry observers as a way to appeal to younger gamblers and keep gambling relevant as players fond of traditional games grow older.

And the topic of skill-based games was on everyone’s lips at this year’s Global Gaming Expo, with trade show booths offering demonstrations of games with the kind of action, like shooting zombies, found in Xbox or PlayStation games.

GameCo already has a video game-like gambling machine in casinos in Atlantic City titled “Danger Arena.” It’s a first-person shooting game where the player fights robots.

However, the idea of making games with themes from movies, television or other pop culture icons is something common to the world of traditional slots and video poker. In fact, one critique of the industry is it merely releases old games with new pop culture themes.

However, GameCo’s move into the world of movie-themed games is not as incongruous as it seems if you listen to the company CEO Blaine Graboyes.

In a recent interview, Graboyes said his company is trying to appeal to a new generation of gamblers but it is very much focused on operating in the current casino business environment.

“We have one product line, and it’s essentially a slot,” Graboyes said. “It’s not virtual reality or online play or mobile or social. You see some companies, and they’re all over the place. What we’ve heard from casinos — and followed in our business —is ‘give us a plug-and-play replacement for slots but make it

appeal to new gamer audience.’”

“Our platform makes it easy to port games to be in a gaming environment. If you opened our machine, you would think it would be a slot inside,” he said.

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Slot machines have always ruled the gaming floor at Rivers Casino on the North Shore.

But casino executives are betting on arcade-style games and so-called party pits to attract younger gamblers.

The thinking is that the industry will need to offer games that look and feel different to engage the millennial generation.

“They’re so surrounded by awesome technology all the time that the concept of a slot machine is boring to them,” said Marcus Yoder, vice president of sales at Gamblit Gaming, a California company that develops digital games for casinos.

According to the American Gaming Association, young people ages 21 to 35 visit casinos more than any age group. Yet just 2 percent of millennials play the slots.

“Even though the slot machines that are out there are beautiful machines with fantastic graphics, it’s still the function of pressing a button and waiting to see what happens,” Yoder said. “And that’s just not interesting.”

Lawmakers in Nevada, New Jersey and Massachusetts have passed legislation to allow casinos to offer arcade-style games.

Pennsylvania’s House of Representatives approved similar legislation in June, but the Senate has yet to act on the bill.

The legislative session ends Nov. 30, after which all bills die.

State Rep. George Dunbar, a Westmoreland County Republican and the bill’s primary sponsor, said he likely would reintroduce the bill next session.

“They have to continue to reinvent themselves,” Dunbar said of casinos. “One way to reinvent themselves is to find things the younger generation is used to and want to participate in.”

Gamblit’s video games combine skill and chance.

In Smoothie Blast, players fill a blender with fruit. Filling the blender faster with different combinations of fruit results in a larger payout.

There still is a house advantage, but players experience greater wins as they get better at the game.

Some manufacturers are developing tabletop games in which two or three people play at one time. Others are investing in virtual gaming.

“All of those could be in our future,” said Andre Barnabei, vice president of slot operations at Rivers Casino.

Research has found that millennials want their casino experience to be social. They often come to a casino with friends and socialize while gambling, said Shannon Redmond, vice president of marketing at Rivers Casino.

Baby boomers are the exact opposite.

“They have no problem coming to the casino by themselves,” Redmond said. “And they like the choice where they can say, ‘I want to sit at this slot machine and not talk to anybody. Or if I feel like being social today, I can talk to my neighbor.’ ”

Rivers Casino has a party pit on Thursday nights that caters to younger players. The atmosphere is more social, and the average wager is lower. You can play blackjack and other table games for only $5 a hand.

Nick Thrash, 21, of Baldwin Borough goes to the party pit every week with friends. They usually spend about two hours at the casino.

Sometimes, Thrash will play the slots, but he prefers blackjack.

“You feel like you’re in control of your money a little more,” he said. “Plus, you get to sit down with your friends and have a few beers.”

Many casinos have added nightclubs, upscale restaurants and shopping centers to draw in young people, said I. Nelson Rose, a professor at Whittier Law School in Orange County, Calif., who blogs about trends in the gaming industry.

“Millennials like good food and music, so the bars and restaurants are filled. But the gaming floor is often empty,” Rose said. “They need to figure out ways to either get millennials to go down to the casino floor or bring the casino floor to the millennials.”

Some West Coast casinos have begun handing out portable devices that serve as slot machines. They are about the size of an iPad, Rose said.

Guests can sit in the sports lounge with their friends, and they have a slot machine in their lap.

“They don’t want to sit in front of a metal box with spinning wheels in a building the size of a warehouse,” Rose said. “The industry is looking around for whatever they can.”

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That’s when, after getting ‘black balled’ from the River Palms Casino, we played our way into The Edgewater Casino. It was before they removed all of the full pay video poker machines so we generally did very well. Of course we are advantage players so once in a while the stars would align and we would have exceptionally good sessions. On one occasion we just couldn’t do any wrong while playing NSUD (Not So Ugly Deuces) at the 50 cent level.

We were hitting four deuces about every 30 minutes or so and I also hit two royal flushes within the same three hour period. We could do no wrong. I was collecting TITOS (ticket in/ticket out slips) for the Deuces like crazy and sticking them into my shirt pocket – that’s $500 on each ticket! By the time we were ready to cash out I had collected nine $500 TITOS and another for $1,000 from a Wheel Of Fortune win.

So at the cashier’s cage I ‘dealt’ the TITOS out one by one so there was no mistake. As an advantage player I knew not to act braggardly about it because I don’t like to call needless attention to myself. But still, the sheer volume of tickets must have raised a flag with the cashier. His eyes were squinting, his lips would purse a little and he would glance quickly, back and forth, between the tickets and me. I could tell that he was suspicious.

Then came the questions. “What machine were you playing ?”, he asked. He wasn’t smiling. I could tell by the way that he looked at me and his tone that this wasn’t a casual question.

“Deuces. Right over there”, I pointed to the bank of machines. My face might have turned a little red but I didn’t want him to think that I was defensive. After all, I am an advantage video poker player.

Then came the bomb. “Are you cheating?” Shit. I was so tired. I was already in a fog from playing so long and it was late. What the hell was going on here?

All I said was, “No. How do you cheat?”

He looked me in the eye for a second then he motioned for his boss. I was feeling a little nervous but at the same time I knew that I had done nothing wrong. They exchanged a few words,  his boss initialed the payout, and we were on our way with our $5,500. But what the hell happened back there? We kept shaking our heads and asking ourselves, it’s video poker -how can you you cheat at video poker?

Years later – today as a matter of fact –  while reading a story in Wired Magazine, I would find how to cheat at video poker – and have the charges brought by the casino dropped!

John Kane was on a hell of a winning streak. On July 3, 2009, he walked alone into the high-limit room at the Silverton Casino in Las Vegas and sat down at a video poker machine called the Game King. Six minutes later the purple light on the top of the machine flashed, signaling a $4,300 jackpot. Kane waited while the slot attendant verified the win and presented the IRS paperwork—a procedure required for any win of $1,200 or greater—then, 11 minutes later, ding ding ding!, a $2,800 win. A $4,150 jackpot rolled in a few minutes after that.

All the while, the casino’s director of surveillance, Charles Williams, was peering > READ MORE

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If you’ve never played Jacks or Better video poker before or thought that learning the strategies would be too difficult, this technique is for you. It won’t make you a video poker pro, but by using these easy rules instead of guessing, you’ll be able to play longer, win more often and rack up a ton of points on your player’s card. It’s perfect if you’re going on vacation or if you just go to the casino once in a while.

And you can practice for free, anytime, at the Mysticgambler.com.

In the casino, simply look for any video poker machines that are called Jacks or Better. If you don’t see a Jacks or Better stand alone machine, you’ll often find it as a selection on most Game King machines. The strategy will also work for the game called Bonus Poker – but look at the paytable first to make sure that when you win with two pair that you’ll double your bet. So, for a five coin bet you’ll win ten coins when you get two pair. Avoid any game that doesn’t double your bet when you win on two pair.

You’ll sometimes get a winning hand on the first deal in Jacks or Better. If you do,the machine will let you know by making a sound and highlighting the the winning hand on the paytable. When that happens, hold the cards that make up the winning hand and throw away the others. If you’re dealt a pat hand, like a straight or a full house, hold all five cards.

Any winning hand could be dealt to you – even a Royal Flush – but the most commonly dealt winning hand is a pair of High Cards. High cards are the face cards Jack, Queen, King and Ace. The others are called low cards. A pair of any high cards qualifies as a pair of Jacks or Better and is a winning hand. A pair of high cards is the lowest paying winning hand as it only pays even money – the amount of your bet. Profitable winning hands begin with two pair.

If you’re not dealt a winning hand, look for a low pair. You don’t want to miss a low pair when playing Jacks or Better. A low pair is also a common hand and even though it doesn’t pay anything by itself it’s the most convertable hand that you can be dealt. A low pair can easily convert to the profitable hands of two pair, three of a kind, a full house or four of a kind. However, if you have any four cards that are the same suit, hold them whether you have a low pair or not. And also hold three or four cards that are part of a Royal Flush.Those are the only non-paying hands that are better to hold than a low pair.

Holding a low pair is crucial to winning at Jacks or Better. Keeping a low pair is much better than holding one or two high cards, regardless of whether the high cards are suited or not. The chances of a low pair converting into a profitable hand is better than just holding high cards, even though they look pretty.

So, lets say that you’re dealt a jack and a queen of hearts, a seven of diamonds, a seven of spades and and a nine of clubs. You would hold the two sevens (the low pair) and throw away the Jack, Queen and the nine. Yes, even though the Jack and the Queen are both hearts, and two cards of a Royal Flush, you throw them away when playing Jacks or Better. Your brain might fight you on this but the odds of converting the low pair to a profitable hand are better.

There is another hand that’s better than holding one or two high cards but still not as good as a low pair.  That’s four cards to an open (outside) straight. Look for a four card straight  if you don’t have at least a low pair. But in Jacks or Better you never draw to an inside straight.

With no low pair and no four card straight you can now look for the high cards. Hold any two suited high cards over two that are unsuited. If you happen to have three unsuited high cards, hold the lowest two.

If you don’t have two high cards to hold you can hold a single high card. However, there is a special two card hand  that’s a little better than holding a single high card.  That’s when you have a Ten that’s suited with a Jack, Queen or King.  Notice that the Ace isn’t included. Never hold  a suited 10 and Ace. You are better off throwing all your cards away – which is our final play. If you don’t have at least one high card, through all five cards away and get five new ones.

Watch for the video on Youtube so that you can see live action play and the decision making as it happens with each hand of Jacks or Better. And practice for free anytime at  the Video Poker site.

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At one time, racetrack casinos contributed to as much as $239 million a year to the tax coffers of Delaware. But now the state’s casino revenues have fallen tremendously as a result of the growth of gambling destinations throughout the Northeast. This has prompted the industry to ask for tax breaks.

Delaware’s democratic Governor, Jack Markell stated, “It’s a different world for the Delaware casinos,” . Markell supports reducing the tax burden on casinos by as much as $20 million a year to allow them to compete with the expanded competition.

In the past ten years, more casinos have opened in the Northeast than in any other part of the country. The expansion has caused a shakeup in the Northeast region. New projects presently planned have many people wondering how many casinos the area can possibly support. As it is, states that adopted casino gambling early on, such as Delaware, New Jersey and West Virginia, are seeing revenues siphoned off.

Since 2004, twenty six new casinos have opened their doors creating a 39% uptick in yearly gambling revenues in the mid-Atlantic and New England, according to research conducted by the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. In the 1990s, Atlantic City enjoyed a monopoly on the East Coast regarding casino gambling but now there are 24 casinos within 100 miles of Philadelphia. Because around a dozen more gambling venues are slated to open from Massachusetts to Maryland, fears of losing tax revenues in states such as Rhode Island are growing.

The casino-building escalation is “a declaration of war—indirect war—by the states,” according to the Rev. Richard McGowan, a casino expert and Boston College adjunct associate professor. “What they’re saying is, ‘I want the revenue. I want the revenue back.’ ”

According to newly published Fitch Ratings report, the Northeastern market “is reaching a saturation point.” Gambling and business analysts are warning that similar market shakeouts are occurring in Indiana and Mississippi but on a smaller scale.

Surprisingly, Pennsylvania, which has charged out of nowhere to become the state with the second-most gambling revenue, after … Continue Reading “Casino Boom Pinches…”  (Wall Street Journal)

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