| In the look at the games that give you the best run for your money, I used a $10 bet on each game as the standard for comparison. On slot machines, that would mean betting two coins at a time on a $5 machine. In the Chicago area, $5 machines return about 96 percent of wagers to players. Steady play on a slot machine will bring about 500 spins per hour--for those who play rapidly, it's possible to get in close to 1,000 spins per hour. Using the slower pace, a two-coin bettor playing an hour on a $5 slot risks $5,000 per hour, and loses an average of $200. Compare that to the average hourly loss of about $2.50 for a blackjack basic strategy player betting $10 a hand, $4.20 for a craps player betting pass or don't pass, or even the $25 for a video poker player betting the maximum five coins on a $2 9-6 Jacks or Better machine. At lower slot denominations, the average bet and total risk falls, but the house edge rises. On a $1 slot, players who bet a maximum of three coins per pull will risk $1,500 per hour. The 95 percent return means average hourly losses of $75 per hour. On a quarter machine, three-coin bets mean a risk of $375 per hour, and a 93 percent return means average hourly losses of $26.25. Nickels? You don't want to know. If you bet a maximum 45 coins per pull on a nickel video slot, you risk $1,125 per hour. With 88 percent payback, average hourly losses are $135. Even if you bet only one nickel for each of nine paylines, average hourly losses are $27--more than the average losses for $10 bets on any of the "best run" games listed here two weeks ago. ROULETTE: Speed isn't an issue here. You play roulette only about a tenth as fast as you play the slots. If you get in 50 spins of the wheel per hour--and play sometimes is even slower--the average risk for a $10 bettor is $500 per hour. The problem with roulette is that the house edge is higher than on most table games. On a common double-zero game, the house edge is 5.26 percent on all bets except for the five-number wager on 0, 00, 1, 2 and 3. The house edge on that one is a hefty 7.89 percent. Assuming you avoid the worst bet, average losses for a $10 bettor at roulette amount to about $26 an hour. That figure is the same regardless of whether you bet the $10 on one proposition or spread it around on several numbers. BIG SIX: This old carnival game looks flashy and novice gamblers sometimes find it irresistible. Looks aren't everything. In Big Six, U.S. currency is placed in slots around a vertical gaming wheel, and the player bets on which denomination will be at the top when the wheel stops spinning. There are 24 stops with a $1 bill, which pay even money; 15 with $2, which pay 2-1; seven with $5, which pay 5-1; four with $10, which pay 10-1; two with $20, which pay 2-1; and two with special symbols, such as a joker and a casino logo, which pay 40-1. That 5.26 percent house edge on roulette would look great here. Big Six house edges are much higher--11.1 percent on $1, 16.7 percent on $2, 18.5 percent on $10, 22.2 percent on either $5 or $20, and 24.1 percent on the special symbols. In blackjack, any rule that increases player options is good, provided the player knows how to use the options. Permitting the player to resplit Aces decreases the house edge. The surrender rule cuts the house edge IF the player knows when to surrender. Some players surrender too much, increasing the house edge. On the other hand, restrictions on player options raise the house edge. We want to double down on any situation in our favor, and casinos that restrict double downs to totals of 9, 10 and 11 make the game that much tougher on us. So beyond basic hitting and standing, how do we best use the options we'll sometimes encounter? Let's check it out: RESPLITTING ACES: You're dealt a pair of Aces, so you split the pair to make two hands. Atop one Ace, you receive another. Now what? At most casinos, you're just stuck with a 12 that wins only if the dealer busts. If your casino gives you the option of splitting again, to make three hands, do so. |
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