Dear
Mark: By showing my driver's license at our local casino, I get a casino
"fun" book. One of the coupons in it is a Match Play coupon
for $10. What would you recommend as a bet when using it. Danny H.
Match Play coupons
are often found in casino fun books and can often be had by going up
to the casino cage and just asking for one. When a player uses a match
play coupon with a real "even money" bet, then the match play
will be converted to a like amount in cash if the player wins. For example,
if the player has a $10 match play coupon and pairs it with a $10 wager
in blackjack, and if the player wins, his $10 will win $10 and his match
play will be converted to ten real bucks. Win or lose, the match play
coupon is then taken out of play. In the event of a push, as often happens
in blackjack, the match play coupon stays in play until the bet is resolved.
If the player happens to get a blackjack, the coupon is converted to
its face value, in your case $10, and not $15.
The competition
to accompany the match play coupon with your hard-earned cash should
be limited to wagers that have less that a two percent house edge. My
favorite would be one hand of blackjack, but you wouldn't go wrong with
a bank or player hand in baccarat, or a pass line bet or placing the
six or eight in craps.
Each of these bets
has less than a 1.5 percent casino advantage, which makes the true value
of a match play coupon slightly less than half of its face value, since
the probability of winning any of them is also less than half.
Dear Mark:
If I am using perfect basic strategy, does it matter how far in the
deck the dealer goes before shuffling? Sandy A.
How far through
the deck the dealer goes before shuffling is called deck penetration,
which is usually expressed as the percentage of the deck already dealt.
So, Sandy, for example, on a double deck game, "75 percent"
would be 78 cards already played.
Penetration is extremely
important to card counters because it appraises the quality of cards
remaining in the deck before the dealer shuffles, but that information
is not essential for basic strategy players like you. There is no advantage
to the basic strategy player whether the dealer were to allow 50 percent
penetration, then shuffle, or plunge on to the 90 percent penetration
level.
Dear Mark:
In a poker game that uses wild cards, which is higher, five of a kind
or a royal flush? Danny F.
Unless otherwise
stated, Danny, the five-of-a-kind typically beats a royal flush.
Dear Mark:
What is the house edge for both Three Card and Four Card poker? Les
L.
With Three Card
Poker, (and using this one simple strategy rule: bet with Queen-6-4
or better, fold with anything less), the house edge is 2.0 percent of
the ante, or 3.4 percent of total action.
As for Four Card
Poker, take notes, Les. When you use this simple strategy when putting
up your ante -- pair of 2's or less, fold; pair of 3's through 9's,
bet 1x ante; pair of 10's or better, bet 3x ante. The ante and the play
bet combined give a house edge of about 3.36% of the initial bet.
Gambling
Wisdom of the Week: "To gamble is to risk, that is, to
approach the "ruin factor." When I was poor the ruin factor
was not important. Hell, I was ruined anyway." --Mario Puzo