Gambling Guide
Ask the Wizard #64
Jonathan from New York City
You are of course quoting me from my March 24 column. This is a good and fair question. I should point out that taking or laying the odds in craps does not help the player to win more, only to bet more at no additional expense. The reason I encourage craps players to bet on the odds is that it is the cheapest bet on the table and is truly a craps bet. All odds, as well as place, buy, and lay bets win if one number is thrown before another. This is a very fundamental aspect of the game. It only makes sense for the player to make the bet with the lowest house edge. Refusing the odds in craps to bet on something else instead is like refusing a free coffee refill in a restaurant and instead buying another cup.
As I pointed out in the last column some video poker games allow the player to make a double or nothing bet with no house edge. The reason I am not as forceful about taking this bet is that it does not follow the flow of video poker. The video poker player is generally not there to make a mindless even money bet. Gambling should be thought of as entertainment, for which the player should expect to pay for. If the player doesn't get any entertainment value out of the double up feature then he shouldn't pay for it, even with no house edge. So my advice to the video poker player is make the double up bet if you enjoy it, otherwise don't.
George from Cresskill, USA
You can play both of these for free at any Unified Gaming casino. See my casino index for a list of them.
Janice from Muskego, Wisconsin
They used to allow early surrender against an ace.
Janice from Muskego, Wisconsin
It is my understanding they shuffle after every hand in the single deck game. When I have played the six-deck game you can hear a shuffling sound and the bottom of the screen says "shuffling" from time to time. Perhaps you were only playing the single deck game. It seems like they do this at random times. The lost connection is a known annoyance with Unified Gaming software. I mention it myself in my review. Some people say if you disable your sound card it helps with this problem.
Ray from Maple Glen, Pennsylvania
The standard deviation of 100 hands of 9/6 Jacks or Better is 1001/2*4.416 = 44.16. You can then use this information to determine what is the probability of winning or losing more than a specified number of units. For example the winning or losing within two standard deviations, or 88.31 units, is 4.55%. There is more to it than this. Please see my part on the standard deviation in my section on the house edge.
Mike from Mesa, USA
It doesn’t make any difference.
