DEAL ME IN
Wordplay At Work
Mark Pilarski
Dear Mark: If casino claims that certain machines pays back "such and such" percentage, can I be reasonably sure than I'm playing on "such and such" machine."

Kay D.

Casinos regularly advertise their machines' "such and such" percentage payback, sometimes with percentages as high as 98% plus. But their claim (advertisement) most likely crawfishes with, "on select machines." The fishing expedition to find them falls to you, since in most cases that percentage is not posted on the machine itself, and generally will be limited to a few banks of machines in the casino.

If you can't locate banks of machines through signage that states they are certified to return a certain payback percentage, avoid the legwork, Kay, and ask a slot employee, and if he or she doesn't know, have one of them ask a direct supervisor.

Dear Mark: When I use my Player's Card while playing slots, will all my winning be automatically reported to the IRS?

Mary F.

The casino does NOT collectively add up your smaller wins and report the total to the IRS. Likewise, the use of a slot card has no effect on your tax liability. With any jackpot of $1,200 or more in a single spin -- which includes the original wager -- the casino will issue you a W2G and report the win whether or not a slot card is used.

Apart from your individual slot wins over $1,200, you are on the honor system on whether to report a net win over the entire year.

Dear Mark: I am about to play in my first EBJ tournament. Any advice?

Jimmy O.

Yeah, practice, practice, and practice some more.

What Jimmy meant by an EBJ tournament is an Elimination Blackjack Tournament, and the strategy needed by him to be successful differs from that designed for your standard blackjack game found in the casino. His main objective in this game is to beat his opponents, not the house.

So what I'm recommending is that Jimmy play as many FREE tournaments as possible, and one such web site, PlayUBT.com, allows anyone to do just that. (Note: I'm not encouraging online gambling with your hard-earned money, but playing with no skin in the game).

Playing countless hands, especially at high speed online, helps you figure out how to keep from getting knocked out, especially when you get to elimination hands, betting strategies, hand play, understanding position, and chip counting, all at zero cost.

Let us know how you do, Jimmy.

Dear Mark: Can you please explain why the dealer has the advantage in draw poker?

Stephan M.

Because with any draw poker game, before anyone does draw, the dealer gets information about how everyone bets before it is his or her turn to act.

Then at the time of the draw, he or she gets additional information about how many cards their opponents take, and, again, after the draw, he/she gets even more information about how they bet.

In a game like Texas Hold 'em, betting proceeds from the dealer's left, around the table and back to the observant dealer, amassing information on how each player plays their hand before having to act. This positional edge, Stephan, is known as dealer advantage.

Dear Mark: I read your article a couple of weeks ago regarding the odds of getting a royal in seven cards. What are the odds of getting one on the flop in Hold'em? I got one two weeks ago.

Ken B.

There's a total of 2,598,960 different possible hands that can initially be dealt to you, or 649,760 for each of four suits. Since you are only going to see five cards total at the flop, the odds of what would be a natural royal flush of your hand would be one to 649,760.

Gambling Wisdom of the Week: "Chance, in some form, is a fundamental part of the way we perceive reality and can never be eliminated."

~Mike Orkin

Got a question about gambling? Write to: Deal Me In, P.O. Box 1234, Traverse City, Michigan 49685 -email: pilarski@markpilarski.com + To order Mark Pilarski's "Hooked on Winning" audio cassettes-laminated win cards package ($12.95 plus $2 S&H) call 1-800-WINNERS.