Ask the Wizard #110
"Anonymous" .
Good question. I can't think of any.
"Anonymous" .
Here it is. I assumed the dealer stands on soft 17 and double after a split is allowed. I assumed an infinite number of decks for the sake of simplicity. Any differences between this strategy and 8 or fewer decks would be very borderline. The house edge assuming infinite decks is 9.36%.
"Anonymous" .
The vast majority of gaming mathematicians are employed by manufacturers of slot machines. To break into this field all I can suggest is to let the resumes fly. It would also help to attend the Global Gaming Expo to learn more about the business. If you wish to follow in my footsteps in self-employment it will take a few years at least to build up enough business to make a living at it. Again, it would help to attend the gaming shows to drum up some business.
First off, great site you have here; it’s a great gaming resource. In (omitted) , I ran across an interesting game, and unless I misread the rules/paytable, I think it returns over 100%, although it is very volatile. The game is called "Shockwave Poker". For the majority of hands, the game has a negative expectation:
Royal Flush 800
Straight Flush 100
Four of a Kind 50
Full House 10
Flush 7
Straight 5
Three of a Kind 3
Two Pair 1
Jacks or Better 1
"Anonymous" .
Thanks for the compliment. Ordinarily the return would be 97.107% in normal mode and 287.6532% in Shockwave mode, using Cindy Liu's Video Poker Calculator (no longer online). Ignoring the rule about one four of a kind per Shockwave Mode the expected value of Shockwave Mode is 10*(2.876532-1) = 18.76532. Adding this to the value of a four of a kind in the regular game we get an expected return of 101.43%.
"Anonymous" .
In Nevada, and I think other major gambling markets in the United States, the balls truly are random and the outcome determined by the balls. However in class II slots, sometimes found in Indian casinos, anything goes.
"Anonymous" .
Thanks for your comments. I had a feeling the other dealer was overstating the race/gender effect on tipping.