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Ask The Wizard #7

Just set up an account with Island Casino today. On their Unified Gaming games, what are the shuffle points for the one- and six-deck games? I presume one deck is shuffled after every hand. What about six decks?

Jay from USA

Both games are both shuffled after every hand. Thanks to Darla with Gambler's Palace (another Unified Gaming casino) for her help on this one.

Current odds for a boxing match between Vargas and Quartey are -240 Vargas and +190 for Quartey. How does this work if I put $100 for Vargas or $100 for Quartey?

Steve from Albuquerque, New Mexico

A $240 bet on Vargas will win $100. A $100 bet on Quartey will win $190. Of course, you can bet any amount, but the winnings will still be in the same proportion. If you bet $100 on Vargas, then you will win $100 × (100/240)=$41.67.

I have never been to Las Vegas so I was wondering are you allowed to use one of those cards for blackjack that tells you when you should hit or stand, etc. when you are sitting at a table.

Paul from Calgary, Canada

Yes, you can. They even sell them in the casino gift shops. However, it is bad etiquette to slow down the game by checking the card frequently. The least you should try to do is memorize what to do with a hard total, these situations happen most of the time. For non-obvious soft hands and pairs you can be forgiven for checking the card.

Why don't you hear about people trying to counterfeit casino chips? It seems to be way easier than trying to print U.S. money.

Bob

This is way out of my area of expertise. However, I can say that most casinos use RFID chips (Radio Frequency Identification) in their chips of $100 denomination and higher. As I recall, there was a case where somebody painted $100 black chips to look like purple $500 chips in Las Vegas, thus appearing to pass the RFID test. Other than that, counterfeit chips are not a problem you hear of often in Las Vegas.