Royals are a rare case. More players are affected by the wide range of pay tables on the $1 side bet in Bonus Let It Ride. At its best, this is a wager for jackpot chasers who don't much care about house edges. At its worst, it's a way to donate money to the casino.
| CASINO | BONUS | DESCRIPTION | DOWNLOAD |
 | yes | A sophisticated casino experience. It brings luxury & prestige to online gaming. over 70 games, live dealers, 24/7 support & 10 progressive jackpots! Plus $1,000 welcome bonus & a trip to Monaco! |
|
 | yes | One of the leading online casinos. It appeals to both new and experienced players, with excellent graphics, a user-friendly interface, and constant bonuses! It features over 70 games, 10 progressive jackpots, and even live dealers! Their sign up bonus is $500 FREE! Which is an AMAZING offer! |
|
 | yes | A non-stop celebration! You'll be thrilled with the constant bonuses, features, & promotions offered to you by this casino. They have over 70 fun games, some of which feature live dealers! 10 progressive jackpots & multiplayer games assure that you won't get bored when playing! |
|
| The casino that never sleeps! New York casino took the big apple & brought it to the online gaming industry. Their spirit is one of fun, action, & excitement! They present you with over 70 games, which you can play alone or in multiplayer mode. They feature charming live dealers to deal your cards for you live. |
The "best" version--and I use the term loosely--pays $20,000 for a royal flush, $2,000 for a straight flush, $100 for four of a kind, $75 for a full house, $50 for a flush, $25 for a straight, $9 for three of a kind and $6 for two pair. The house edge is a whopping 13.8 percent.
Others are far worse. One entices players because it adds a $1 return for a pair of 10s or better, but drops three of a kind to $4 and two pair to $3. The house edge soars to 23.7 percent. Another increases four of a kind to $300 and full houses to $150, but drops three of a kind to $5 and pays nothing on two pair. House edge: 36.5 percent. Ouch! And double ouch!
ROULETTE: The large majority of roulette wheels in the Online Casinos United States have both a zero and a double-zero, leaving a house edge of 5.26 percent on every bet except the five-number wager on 0, 00, 1, 2 and 3, which has a house edge of 7.89 percent. But wheels with just one zero exist, and they cut the house edge nearly in half, to 2.7 percent. There are a number of single-zero wheels in Las Vegas, notably at Monte Carlo and Paris, some in high-limit rooms in Atlantic City, and both Mississippi and Louisiana have a few.
Single-zero roulette is even better with the en prison rule, rare in the United States, in which even-money bets are not immediate losers if the ball lands on zero. Instead, the wager is placed "in prison." If it's a winner on the next spin, the player gets the bet back. En prison drops the house edge to 1.35 percent.
BACCARAT: The banker bet wins more often than the player bet, and the house doesn't need to add any extra rules or charges to have a 1.36 percent edge on player. However, the house has an edge on the banker bet only because it charges the bettor a commission on any winning bets on banker. At most casinos, the commission is 5 percent, and the overall house edge on banker is 1.17 percent. However, casinos sometimes try to attract players by lowering the commission to 4 percent. That drops the house edge on banker to 0.7 percent. This isn't common, but when you find such a game, it's as good a deal as you'll get in baccarat.
Double down on 11 against all dealer up cards, instead of just doubling against 2 through 10.
Double down on 9 against 2 through 6 instead of 3 through 6.
Double down on 8 against 5 or 6 instead of just hitting against all up cards.
Single-deck variations for soft totals
With Ace-8, double down against 6 instead of just standing against all up cards.
With Ace-7, stand against a dealer's Ace if the dealer stands on all 17s. If the dealer hits soft 17, or in multiple-deck games, hit soft 18 vs. an Ace.
With Ace-6, double down against 2 through 6, instead of just doubling against 3 through 6 as we do in multiple-deck games.
With Ace-3 or Ace-2, double down against 4, 5 or 6 instead of just against 5 and 6, as in the multiple-deck game.
Single-deck variations for splitting pairs
With 2-2, if doubling after splits is permitted, split against 2 through 7 regardless of the number of decks. If not, split against 3 through 7 in single-deck blackjack, but only 4 through 7 in multiple-deck.
With 3-3, if doubling after splits is permitted, split against 2 through 8 in single-deck, 2-7 in multiple-deck. If doubling after splits is not allowed, just split against 4-7 regardless of the number of decks.
With 4-4, never split if doubling after splits is not permitted. If it is, split against 4, 5, or 6 in single-deck blackjack, but just 5 or 6 in multiple-deck.
With 6-6, if doubling after splits is permitted, split against 2 through 7 in single-deck blackjack, but just 2-6 with multiple decks. If you can't double after splits, split against 2 through 6 with one deck, 3 through 6 with multiple decks.
With 7-7, if doubling after splits is permitted, split against 2 through 8 with one deck, 2 through 7 with multiple decks. Split against 2 through 7 in all games if doubling after splits is not permitted. Also, hit 7-7 against a 10 in multiple-deck games, but stand in single-deck blackjack.
Always hold a royal flush, straight flush, four of a kind, full house, three of a kind or two pair.
Break up a flush or straight for a one-card draw to a royal.
Break up a pair of Jacks, Queens, Kings or Aces for a one-card draw to either a royal flush or straight flush.
OTHER HANDS
Hold a low pair, unless breaking it up will give you a one-card draw to a royal flush or straight flush, or a two-card draw to a royal. Also break up a pair of 10s to draw to King-Queen-Jack-10 of mixed suits.
Hold a four-card flush unless breaking it up will give you a draw to a three-card royal.
Hold a four-card open-ended straight unless breaking it up will give you a draw to a three-card royal or a four-card flush.
Break up three-card straight flushes if you have a winning hand, a pair, a four-card flush or a four-card open-ended straight. If both cards needed are on the inside--for example, if you hold 6-7-10 of diamonds and need the 8 and 9--also break up the hand if you hold one or two high cards (Jacks or better). Otherwise, draw to the inside straight flush.
Hold four-card inside straights with three or four high cards unless three of the high cards are of the same suit, or if the Queen and Jack are the same suit. Then go for the royal instead. Do not hold inside straights with fewer than three high cards.
Hold three high cards, with two exceptions. If two high cards are of the same suit, draw to the two-card royal. And if one of the three is an Ace, discard the Ace and draw to the other two.
Hold King-10, Queen-10 or Jack-10 of the same suit if you are not discarding any cards of that suit.
Hold one or two high cards, unless breaking them up would leave you with a one-card draw to a straight flush, flush or open-ended straight or a two-card draw to a straight flush.
One tricky decision comes with four parts of a flush and a high pair, such as Ace-King-Jack-8 of hearts with a Jack of clubs. In Jacks or Better, we'd keep the pair of Jacks for the sure payoff on the high pair and potential for more. But in 10-7-5 Double Bonus, we keep all four hearts.
In the lower-paying 9-7-5 Double Bonus, a 99.1 percent game in which the full house return drops to 9-for-1, we still make these flush pays. We revert to something more like Jacks or Better strategy if the flush return is dropped to 6-for-1.
Partial straights: Upping the straight payoff to 5-for-1 makes inside draws worth our while. In Double Bonus, we draw to hands such as 9-8-7-5 or Jack-9-8-7. In Jacks or Better, we draw to inside straights only if the hand includes at least three high cards.
Aces: Adjusting to the possibility of an 800-coin jackpot for four Aces, we make a play that would be regarded as very strange in Jacks or Better. In Double Bonus, if we're dealt a full house that includes three Aces, we discard the pair and hope for the fourth Ace. The full house payoff is high enough that if we're dealt a two-pair hand that includes both Aces, we hold both pairs, as we do in Jacks or Better. But if the full house return is dropped to 9-for-1 in Double Bonus, we make the opposite play, holding just the Aces.
Or take a hand such as Ace of hearts, Jack of spades, 10 of spades, 7 of spades, 2 of clubs. Many players are tempted to keep Ace-Jack, maximizing opportunities to draw a pair of Jacks or better. In 10-7-5 Double Bonus, the best play is to hold Jack-10-7 of spades, with a long-shot chance at a straight flush to go with potential flush, straight and high pair draws. But in Super Aces, we hold just the Ace and hope for a miracle.
The most Ace-intensive game of them all is Triple Double Bonus Poker. Four Aces accompanied by a 2, 3 or 4 is worth 800-for-1--the same 4,000-coin bonanza for a five-coin bet that you'll get on a royal flush. Four Aces without the kicker pays 400-for-1.
That's a nice jackpot with or without the kicker. But here, unlike Double Double Bonus, the potential reward is large enough to entice us to go for the big one when dealt a low card along with three Aces. Given Ace-Ace-Ace-2-6, for example, we hold the three Aces AND the deuce, where in most other video poker games we hold just the Aces. That's true even when we're dealt a full house, with Aces over low cards. Dealt Ace-Ace-Ace-3-3, we hold the Aces and one of the 3s.
We even prefer a single Ace over two other high cards. Dealt Ace-Queen-Jack-6-3 of mixed suits, in most games we keep Queen-Jack to give maximize straight and high pair possibilities. In Triple Double Bonus, we hold just the Ace and trust to luck.
In the bonus round, the player sees a 36-square grid, with six squares across and six squares down. On this grid are hidden four ships: a carrier that takes up five squares, a battleship that takes up four squares, a submarine that takes up three squares and a destroyer that also takes up three squares.
The player's job is to touch squares on the grid to fire up to eight missiles. Each time you hit a ship, it is revealed on the screen and you collect a bonus. If you hit a carrier, for example, the image of the carrier will appear across five squares and you will know not to fire at any of those squares in the remainder of the round. Instead, you fire elsewhere to attempt to find the other ships.
The positions of the ships are fixed at the start of the round. They don't move, regardless of where you fire and regardless of whether you sink any. That means anytime you reach the bonus round, it's possible to sink all four ships and collect extra bonuses, and it's also possible to miss on every shot. But Vancura says players who target ships by the optimal pattern will sink an average of three ships per bonus round.
At the beginning of the round, your best play is to fire into the middle of the grid. Stay away from the corners. Zero in to one of the four squares at the very center--three or four squares down from the top, and three or four squares in from the left. If you miss, stay within that four-square mini-grid, on the space diagonal from your first.
If you miss again on the second shot, go into the square formed by the spaces one in from the outside, and target one of the corners. That is, fire at one of these four spaces: one down from the top and one in from the left; one down from the top and one in from the right; one up from the bottom and one in from the left; or one up from the bottom and one in from the right. If you miss again, fire at the opposite diagonal space.
I'd had a similar streak a few years ago. Over lunch in Las Vegas one day, I was talking with Las Vegas Advisor publisher Anthony Curtis about gambling results. I'd been holding my own at the blackjack table but was in the red on video poker.
Top Online Casinos | Online Gambling | Online Casino Directory
Online Casino | High Roller Online Casinos | Online Casinos | 9 |
"Don't worry about it," he said. "You'll hit a royal one of these days, and the bottom line will look a lot better."
I didn't hit a royal on that Las Vegas trip, but I did hit one on a riverboat about two weeks later. I hit another on a riverboat a month after that, then another month later came a third riverboat royal, a day before leaving for Las Vegas again. On that Las Vegas trip, I hit still another.
Four royals in three months, after going nearly three years without one.
That story struck home with Marjorie.
"That's just what it was like for me. I can't wait to go back. I think we're going again in the fall."
With big wins early in one trip, and big wins later in the next, I'd be anxious for the next time, too. When it comes to winning, any time is the right time.
Tiger 1
home
gamble1
gamble2
gamble3
gamble4
gamble5
gamble6
gamble7
Tiger 2
gamble8
gamble9
gamble10
gamble11
gamble12
Tiger 3
gamble13
gamble14
gamble15
Casino and other Advertisers
