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Dear Mark
Do the slot machines have motors or magnets inside? I ask this because I have a defibrillator implanted for my heart, and I must avoid these things if they are large. Charles O. E.
Surely, Charles, you will still want to check with your doctor, but I was told by engineering at International Game Technology (IGT) that the only magnets inside a slot machine are those used for the speakers through which the machine emits those soppy sounds. The inside guts of a machine also have some small stepper motors. One, for example, drives the hopper that spits out winning coins. But none uses much power, running on 7 to 11 volts. Ask your doctor if that's a problem.
But, stay away from the roulette wheel, Charles. There, the dealer can dictate where the ball will land by stepping on a concealed super equalcoidal lever with his foot, controlling an endoplasmic magnet, which. Just kidding!
Dear Mark,
I had cause for anxiety when the pit boss came over during a shoe in blackjack and started going through the discards. That was the only place I saw this done. Did he suspect I was counting? Howard K.
Anxiety, yes; cause, no. Just doing his job, Howard. One responsibility of the casino pit boss is to check the quality of the decks on the game. He could have been examining for nicks, warps, or just the overall condition of the cards. The decks in a shoe, which generally hold six or eight of them, are changed about every eight hours. But, if the cards are showing unusual wear, he might have been deciding to change them before they were scheduled to come off the game.
Dear Mark,
I have to start this question with the statement "this may be a dumb question" but, when you win a jackpot on a slot machine, and all the bells and whistles are blowing, what happens if you put another token in and pull the handle? Does that cancel out my win? A person sitting next to me at the slot machines told me to do that when I got three 7s and won $700. I did not; instead I waited for the attendant and collected my money. Andrew M.
Clearly, you did the right thing because you collected your money. Many players like you fear what to do when they hit a big jackpot or are dealt a natural royal flush. No fears, Andrew. If your destiny is the big bonanza, most machines will automatically skip to the payoff mode, eliminating the possibility of you hitting the wrong buttons or pulling the handle by mistake. The critical word in the past statement is "most," so be on the safe side, Andrew, touch nothing while awaiting your payment from a slot attendant.
Dear Mark,
In a very recent column regarding blackjack basic strategy, you stated that the "team" of Baldwin, Cantley was the originator of this method. I always thought that Revere and his Basic Strategy book was the forerunner of this system. Kim V.
The Army team of Baldwin, Cantley published a count theory on basic strategy in 1956 in the Journal of American Statistical Association. Their strategy preceded Edward O. Thorp's book Beat the Dealer, published in 1962. Thorp's was the first book to present an accurate winning blackjack count strategy. Thorp was able to develop a "better basic strategy" because he had the use of an IBM 704 computer at MIT. Julian Braun of IBM followed by refining Thorp's work.
Lawrence Revere, whose Revere Point Count Strategy taught me card counting, published his book, Playing Blackjack as a Business, in 1969.
Gambling thought of the week: "When a gambler picks up a pack of poker cards or a pair of dice, he feels as though he has reduced an unmanageable world to a finite, visible and comprehensive size." -Annabel Davis-Goff, The Literary Companion to Gambling For more gambling strategy tips by Mark, check out the Deal Me In index page
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Machines are heart friendly, unless you hit the "Big One"