Reason #1 why the Wizard likes Bovada:

Excellent customer support

The thing that separates Bovada from the rest is its customer support. Many other online gaming companies outsource their support. It can be difficult getting a response from them, and if you do it is often slow and handled by somebody with little understanding of gambling or even of English. But Bovada’s support is handled by Bovada, and their support staff is actually knowledgeable and helpful.

I’m so confident that you’ll have a good experience with Bovada that if you have a problem getting paid and you can’t resolve it with them on your own, I’ll talk to them myself. I personally have known the Bovada management for about three years and always found them to be professional, friendly, and knowledgeable. I have also personally visited one of their call centers so I could see first-hand how they handle customer issues. (More on my mediation service.)

If you have a problem with any other casino besides Bovada, I can’t help you. I get complaints from players of other online casinos every day who have difficulty getting paid. However that isn’t my job nor my problem. If you play at Bovada after clicking through my site I’ll stand behind you 100%. Any place else and you’re on your own.

Visit Bovada

Ask the Wizard #8

Edition Date: Mar 25, 2000

I started playing poker with my friends once a week (5card draw, stud, 7card stud). We have seven players at the table. It seems to me the probability of getting the hands would be reduced dramatically due to the numbers of players being allocated cards from a 52 card deck. Do you have a mathematical formula that could direct me in the proper direction?
— Tim from Santa Rosa, California

No, the probability of getting any given hand is the same regardless of how many other players are at the table. An unseen card is an unseen card, it doesn’t matter if another player has it or it is still in the deck.

What is the best manual card shuffle the house can use to protect the games and increase hands per hour? Also what are your feelings on shuffle machines?
— Bry from Laporte, USA

Shuffling is not my area of expertise. However in my opinion if the house spends extra time shuffling they will lose more than they will gain. The extra time shuffling will mean less hands per hour dealt. The added randomness of the shuffle will not benefit the casino much. Studies by Stanford Wong as described in Professional Blackjack do indicate that cards next to each other before the shuffle are disproptionately likely to stay close together after the shuffle. However this will not matter to the typical player and is difficult to exploit by even the professional player.

Great site! I am interested in your thoughts on card clumping. The theories I have read seem to have some merit in regard to the method dealers now use to pick up cards (naturals first, then breaks, and finally standing hands), and then insufficient shuffling of 8-deck shoes to fully mathematically randomize. This would seem to lead to a reduced probability of dealer busting, thus breaking down the Basic Strategy odds. Keep up the great work!
— Bob from Hooksett, New Hampsire

Again I am not an expert on topics related to bias in the way cards are collected and shuffled. I am sure there is a lot of truth to what you said in your question, however I am not convinced the impact on the return of the game is anything more than minute. This topic is seldom addressed among blackjack experts, which I think speaks for itself. I do think it makes for an interesting tangential study, and I do not wish to minimize the efforts of those studying it, but in my opinion the average player does not need to be concerned about the card clumping effect.

I noticed on your page for three card poker you advise to stay with Q/6/4. A dealer in Tunica told me Q/J. Why the difference and is the Q/6/4 suggestion based on actual computer generated odds? Seems a pretty good game with low house odds, no skill involved. What do you think?
— Weintraut

I have no doubt that Q/6/4 is the optimal strategy for three card poker. Stanley Ko independently came up with the same advice. This strategy is based on a computer program which analyzes all 22100 possible combinations of the player’s three cards and for each one the remaining 18424 possible combinations of the dealer’s three cards. If you follow the dealer’s strategy you will be folding on some hands which have an expected return of more than -1 (the return by folding). Overall, however, it shoudn’t make a big difference. For a game of little skill three card poker is actually not that bad when comparing the house edge to most other games.


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Reason #1 why the Wizard likes Bovada: Excellent customer support The thing that separates Bovada from the rest is its customer support. Many other online gaming companies outsource their support. It can be difficult getting a response from them, and if you do it is often slow and handled by somebody with little understanding of gambling or even of English. But Bovada’s support is handled by Bovada, and their support staff is actually knowledgeable and helpful. I’m so confident that you’ll have a good experience with Bovada that if you have a problem getting paid and you can’t resolve it with them on your own, I’ll talk to them myself. I personally have known the Bovada management for about three years and always found them to be professional, friendly, and knowledgeable. I have also personally visited one of their call centers so I could see first-hand how they handle customer issues. (More on my mediation service.) If you have a problem with any other casino besides Bovada, I can’t help you. I get complaints from players of other online casinos every day who have difficulty getting paid. However that isn’t my job nor my problem. If you play at Bovada after clicking through my site I’ll stand behind you 100%. Any place else and you’re on your own. Visit Bovada	Ask the Wizard #8 Edition Date: Mar 25, 2000 I started playing poker with my friends once a week (5card draw, stud, 7card stud). We have seven players at the table. It seems to me the probability of getting the hands would be reduced dramatically due to the numbers of players being allocated cards from a 52 card deck. Do you have a mathematical formula that could direct me in the proper direction? — Tim from Santa Rosa, California No, the probability of getting any given hand is the same regardless of how many other players are at the table. An unseen card is an unseen card, it doesn’t matter if another player has it or it is still in the deck. What is the best manual card shuffle the house can use to protect the games and increase hands per hour? Also what are your feelings on shuffle machines? — Bry from Laporte, USA Shuffling is not my area of expertise. However in my opinion if the house spends extra time shuffling they will lose more than they will gain. The extra time shuffling will mean less hands per hour dealt. The added randomness of the shuffle will not benefit the casino much. Studies by Stanford Wong as described in Professional Blackjack do indicate that cards next to each other before the shuffle are disproptionately likely to stay close together after the shuffle. However this will not matter to the typical player and is difficult to exploit by even the professional player. Great site! I am interested in your thoughts on card clumping. The theories I have read seem to have some merit in regard to the method dealers now use to pick up cards (naturals first, then breaks, and finally standing hands), and then insufficient shuffling of 8-deck shoes to fully mathematically randomize. This would seem to lead to a reduced probability of dealer busting, thus breaking down the Basic Strategy odds. Keep up the great work! — Bob from Hooksett, New Hampsire Again I am not an expert on topics related to bias in the way cards are collected and shuffled. I am sure there is a lot of truth to what you said in your question, however I am not convinced the impact on the return of the game is anything more than minute. This topic is seldom addressed among blackjack experts, which I think speaks for itself. I do think it makes for an interesting tangential study, and I do not wish to minimize the efforts of those studying it, but in my opinion the average player does not need to be concerned about the card clumping effect. I noticed on your page for three card poker you advise to stay with Q/6/4. A dealer in Tunica told me Q/J. Why the difference and is the Q/6/4 suggestion based on actual computer generated odds? Seems a pretty good game with low house odds, no skill involved. What do you think? — Weintraut I have no doubt that Q/6/4 is the optimal strategy for three card poker. Stanley Ko independently came up with the same advice. This strategy is based on a computer program which analyzes all 22100 possible combinations of the player’s three cards and for each one the remaining 18424 possible combinations of the dealer’s three cards. If you follow the dealer’s strategy you will be folding on some hands which have an expected return of more than -1 (the return by folding). Overall, however, it shoudn’t make a big difference. For a game of little skill three card poker is actually not that bad when comparing the house edge to most other games.
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Ask the Wizard #8

What is the best manual card shuffle the house can use to protect the games and increase hands per hour? Also what are your feelings on shuffle machines? — Bry from Laporte, USA

I noticed on your page for three card poker you advise to stay with Q/6/4. A dealer in Tunica told me Q/J. Why the difference and is the Q/6/4 suggestion based on actual computer generated odds? Seems a pretty good game with low house odds, no skill involved. What do you think? — Weintraut

What is the best manual card shuffle the house can use to protect the games and increase hands per hour? Also what are your feelings on shuffle machines?
— Bry from Laporte, USA

I noticed on your page for three card poker you advise to stay with Q/6/4. A dealer in Tunica told me Q/J. Why the difference and is the Q/6/4 suggestion based on actual computer generated odds? Seems a pretty good game with low house odds, no skill involved. What do you think?
— Weintraut