Reason #2 why the Wizard likes Bovada:

No-hassle practice games

Most online casinos spend more effort trying to separate you from your money than they do trying to give you a good experience. They have all kinds of popup windows, they usually make you download their software, and if they do offer play-in-browser games then you have to register an account before you can play. And if you register they start sending you emails trying to get you to deposit real money.

But Bovada is different. They have no popup windows at all, and their practice games play right in your browser, with no download, and no registration required. You don’t even have to give up your email address. It couldn’t be simpler: just one click and you’re playing the game.

I wish all online casinos showed this much respect for their players. Other casinos practically ask for your first born child to play for free. Meanwhile Bovada is patient and does not twist anybody’s arm to play for real money. You can play as long as you like for free with no obligation. The real-money games are available if that’s your preference, but if not, you can play the free practice games for as long as you like without hassle.

Visit Bovada

Ask the Wizard #27

Edition Date: Sep 26, 2000

I disagree with a statement you made regarding random number generation in computers. While it is true that a sequence will appear and repeat after time, it is not true that this is unavoidable. The trick is setting a correct seed. If you are using a UNIX-based architecture, one method is to set the seed to the seconds passed since 1/1/70, which is a constantly updated variable inside the system. Since you are using Visual C++ and J++, they should reset themselves to some random seed each time they are run, but it would be wise to set the seed yourself during the program. I think you would be wise to set the random seed each time a new deck is ’dealt’ to the current time on the machine or something similar. In this way, yes, you will be using the same loop of numbers, but at least you will be picking moderately ’random’ points along the way, so as to not make it a total loop.
— Joe B. from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

When using Visual C++ the seed is evidently always the same. If I give the program the same input the output will always be the same after a random simulation. It is my understanding that this is what Microsoft intended, so that experiments could be replicated exactly. Visual J++ is evidently different based on my games, otherwise the same hands would occur in the same order every time. I would be interested to know how to assign the seconds since 1/1/70 as the seed. Is this a function and if so what is the name of it? Postscript: Since this writing I have a slower but much better way of calling random numbers. Click here for more information.

Is there an online gaming site with Macintosh support?
— John from Boston, Massachusetts

I don’t know. If any Mac users out there can help then please send me an e-mail. I’ve been asked this several times.

I know of a casino in the Seattle area that has six-deck payout odds for the match the dealer bet in Spanish 21 with an eight-deck shoe. I am curious how this effects the house advantage?
— Chris from Seattle, Washington

This lowers the house edge from 3.06% to 1.42%.

I believe I remember reading that if there is a group of twenty people in a room the odds of two of them sharing the same birthday is less than 50/50. Is this true?
— Ginny from Seattle, Washington

The probability of 20 different people all having different birthdays (ignoring leap day) is (364/365)*(363/365)*(362/365)*...*(346/365) = 58.8562%. So the probability of at least one birthday match is 41.1438%. Also, 23 is the fewest number of people needed for the probability of a match to be greater than 50%.

I play pai gow poker in Atlantic City. Frequently I observe a player playing two hands. My question is: does looking at 14 cards out of 53 give the player any kind of advantage. If so, what %, what kind of change in strategy does entail. Would appreciate any advice.
— John from Baltimore, Maryland

Sometimes in pai gow poker the dealer sets aside a dragon which is offered to each player in turn. This is like playing two hands and is likely what you are observing. However when playing the dragon hand the rules generally specify that it must be set according to the house way. If the player could set the dragon hand at will it would definitely help, assuming he could apply the information from his original hand properly. I can not give an exact percentage, this would be very complicated to determine.

In Spanish 21 you state that the house edge is .34% using your basic strategy and dealer stands on soft 17. How does the super bonus affect this percentage? That is to say, what would the house edge be without the super bonus? Also, what are the odds of hitting the super bonus on any given hand?
— Randy from Toledo, Ohio

In a 6-deck game the probability of a super bonus is 1 in 668382, and in an 8-deck game it is 1 in 549188. The house edge without the super bonus would be 0.03% more either way.

Great web page wiz! I like to think of myself as a wiz of sorts. Question- I like to play casino blackjack- mostly Las Vegas, I’ve been using Hi Opt 1 counting without great success. In Casino Player Magazine Aug. 2000 pg. 50 is a system comparison table. It claims that Uston APC, Halves Count, Revere Apc, Advanced Omega 11, & Hi Opt II are the most profitable counting systems. Can you comment on these and tell me the point values assigned under these systems?
— Andrew from Jupiter

A book could be written in response to this question. Please excuse me for only scraping the surface. On page 107 of Uston’s ’Million Dollar Blackjack’ he indicates that following card values for the Uston Advanced Point Count:

Card	Value
2	+1
3	+2
4	+2
5	+3
6	+2
7	+2
8	+1
9	-1
10	-3
ace	counted separately

It is very true that this is a more powerful system then {-1,0,+1} systems like the Hi Opt I. There are different ways to measure the strength of any given system. My opinion is that the serious player should use the most powerful system that they are comfortable with. It is better to play a level 1 system (like the Hi Opt I) well than to play a level 2 system badly (like the Hi Opt II).

A suggestion, really, O Wizard--when next you print up your book, could you make it smaller? Perhaps a pocket edition that could fit in a purse?
— Maryanne K Snyder from Redmond, Washington

Thanks for the suggestion. While the manuscript is 8.5" by 11" the actual book, if there ever is one, could be of any size. Most gambling books are about 5.5" by 8" which would fit in a purse. So far no publisher has shown an interest in the book.

Are Indian Casinos held to the same standards as non-Indian? Is the pay out regulated as overall per month or regulated per machine? If payout is overall, couldn’t a casino adjust payouts for any machine at any time of day or week? 3. When walking into one of these "Indian" casinos, I can stand for 5 min, listen to the bells and tunes, and know if it will be a good day. Take 300 slot machines with fixed payouts and listen, given the same number of players should produce the same frequency of sounds. It doesn’t. I think all of the new machines are networked and changed based on overall psychological factors of gamers.
— K Foster from Temecula, California

In general Indian casinos are either self-regulated or not regulated at all. Don’t assume any kind of minimum return on the slot machines. Changing the overall return on the slots would require opening each machine and changing the e-prom chips. This could be done overnight I suppose but I don’t think they would be this devious. Your sound level hypothesis sounds interesting but I would need more information on decibel levels, number of players, and playing speed before I am convinced the difference isn’t due to chance, different playing speed, standing in a different part of the casino, or incorrectly estimating the number of players.

How is it possible for casinos to program their slot machines to pay out a regulated percentage if the slot machines run off a random number generator? It would seem there is no way to know what number or combination (winning or losing) is next.
— Steve from Milton, U.S.

The casinos don’t actually program the casinos to pay a certain percentage but determine the weighting of the reels so that the theoretical return is whatever they wish. In the short run the actual return can be either much higher or lower than the theoretical return. However the laws of mathematics dictate that the actual return will get closer to the theoretical return the greater the number of trials.

Biloxi, Mississippi casino has singledeck blackjack dealt to the buttom. What is the casino’s edge on this game? Does the basic strategy for blackjack still hold still hold for this game? by the way, blackjack in this game pays even money.
— Roger from Baton Rouge, U.S.

Dealing to the bottom of the deck would not help the basic strategy player but greatly benefits the counter. There would be no changes to the basic strategy. However this game may be of interest to card counters. Vegas World (now the Stratosphere) in Las Vegas used to have such a game but I don’t think card counters ever took it seriously because of other adverse rules like a blackjack only paying even money.

Ask the Wizard #27

Is there an online gaming site with Macintosh support? — John from Boston, Massachusetts

I know of a casino in the Seattle area that has six-deck payout odds for the match the dealer bet in Spanish 21 with an eight-deck shoe. I am curious how this effects the house advantage? — Chris from Seattle, Washington

I believe I remember reading that if there is a group of twenty people in a room the odds of two of them sharing the same birthday is less than 50/50. Is this true? — Ginny from Seattle, Washington

A suggestion, really, O Wizard--when next you print up your book, could you make it smaller? Perhaps a pocket edition that could fit in a purse? — Maryanne K Snyder from Redmond, Washington