Experience the glitz and glamour of Tinsel Town right here in Tunica. Step into the dazzling world of Hollywood Casino, where the elegance and excitement of Las Vegas meet superior Southern hospitality to create something as glittering as Hollywood itself. This premier entertainment destination offers an unforgettable experience for visitors seeking thrills, relaxation, and a… Read more »
Sam’s Town Spotlight If rustic, relaxed, and rewarding sound like a truly special time, you’ll want to take part in all of the excitement at Sam’s Town Hotel & Gambling Hall Tunica. Step into a world of high-stakes thrills and an appealing atmosphere that provides great gaming, fantastic food, and all the amenities you’ll ever… Read more »
You don’t have to visit the Emerald Isle to discover the luck of the Irish. Towering over the eastern banks of the mighty Mississippi River, the Fitz Casino & Hotel in Tunica invites you to enjoy an unparalleled gaming and entertainment experience. Step inside one of Tunica’s friendliest casinos and you’ll be transported to an… Read more »
There’s no bond quite like the one between a father and child, a connection that often creates lifelong special moments and cherished memories. This year, why not take that quality time to new heights with a trip to Tunica, Mississippi? This inviting town is a veritable playground for grown-up adventures that you’ll both love, meaning you’ll… Read more »
Ready yourself for the adrenaline rush of a lifetime as you step up to Tunica’s bustling blackjack tables. Casino connoisseurs know that the progressive 21+3 variant is where it’s at – not only do you get to play classic blackjack, but you can also win big on the side bet. Keep your eyes peeled for… Read more »
Travelers to Tunica tend to want the odds in their favor. With a wide variety of gaming spread across six different first-class casinos, some folks may wonder if certain poker games are more winnable than others. Spending money with plans of making a profit is an investment, but like all investments, profit isn’t guaranteed. That’s… Read more »
Timing is Everything . . . If you’ve ever visited one of Tunica’s six casinos, you know that the action never stops. In fact, something about the bright lights, game sounds, and the allure of achievement make visitors require very little rest. It’s hard to ease excitement, but sometimes you need to eat, sleep, or… Read more »
Most visitors already know that Tunica provides a wealth of adventures and offerings, including world class golf and the region’s best casinos, but the dining scene is just as diverse and delightful. When in town, you’ll probably want a range of different meals depending on your itinerary. From local favorites to formal settings, Tunica’s restaurant… Read more »
Super Bowl Sunday is the most anticipated day of the year for NFL fans in the Mid-South. If you don’t have tickets to the big game, we invite you to watch and place your bets in Tunica for the Big Game.
Happy 2023! Most casinos will be offering party favors with a New Year’s Eve countdown. See below for specific promotions or events happening on New Year’s Eve. Fitz Casino & Hotel Car-A-Week & Promo Cash Giveaway Farewell to 2022 Hot Seat Gold Strike Casino Resort Entertainment: Third Coast at Stage2 Dining Specials: Horseshoe Casino &… Read more »
The casino is fun, a LOT of fun. And sometimes the fun sneaks up on you and leaves you with a price to pay come morning. We’re not talking about gambling losses. No, we’re taking about that dear-sweet-goodness-I-am-no-longer-21 morning hangover. Sometimes you show up for a good time and the good time hits back. But… Read more »
College football is wrapping up this month and some of your favorite SEC, AAC or Conference USA teams will be heading to bowl games this year! You don’t need the bright lights of a stadium to enjoy the majesty of the South’s most beloved pastime. Instead, you can travel to Tunica and experience high-end amenities,… Read more »
The casino life is big, flashy, and full of fun, so it’s no wonder Tunica is the perfect backdrop for stories, movies, and more. As we gain a reputation for the place to be we try to keep up with who is saying what and how Tunica shows up in pop culture. We’ve started compiling… Read more »
Just like most sports and recreation, there’s etiquette involved in the casino experience. It can be daunting not to know the unspoken rules. So, we’ve put together the low-down for the soon to be high-rollers. If you’re new to the casino scene, here are a few things to keep in mind:
Looking for a good time this 4th of July? Need to getaway? Check out this list of promotions and events at each casino in Tunica. For a complete list or more details for specific promos or events, visit tunicatravel.com.
We all know life is better when there’s a playlist. Songs can transport us to our favorite places and moments in our lives. All the movies we know and love best have a slapping soundtrack (and one that we probably know by heart!). We’re here to make your next Tunica road trip a pure cinematic… Read more »
1st Jackpot Tunica Entertainment: Unfazed at Stage Bar from 8p-12a Party favor distribution New Year’s Day – $500,000 myLuxury Car Experience grand prize drawing at 10pm Fitz Casino & Hotel Car Giveaway 12/31 @ 11:30p New Year’s Eve countdown with party hat distribution on casino floor All-You-Can-Eat Buffet $19.99: December 31 4p-11p & January… Read more »
An ideal destination for couples and adults over the age of 21, Tunica, Mississippi, and the surrounding area are home to a plethora of exciting gaming opportunities, locations along the Mississippi Blues Trail, relaxing accommodations, and much more. If you’re planning a road trip, allow Tunica Convention & Visitors Bureau and Gateway to the Blues… Read more »
There are times sports bettors think they’ve zeroed in on multiple winners and are tempted to bet parlays — betting multiple teams, with all required to win for the bettor to collect.
The temptation is in the payoffs. Let’s use parlays on point-spread bets as an example.
Twenty-one—a number that fills us with adventure and hope. Of all the traditional games of chance, blackjack enjoys a special place in our hearts! It’s the one we learned first, the game we played for nickels with family or at sleepovers. It’s like an old friend tucked into a deck of cards. Even now, among… Read more »
Many blackjack players have quirks where they deviate from basic strategy. I recently shared a table at one who would not sit at 16 under any circumstances.
In April, I was playing video poker and noticed that anytime the woman next to me had three of a kind on an initial deal, she’d pause, stand up, take a deep breath, then sit and make her draw.
I finally mentioned it, and she said, “I guess it’s superstition. I know it doesn’t really help, but somehow it feels right to me if I have a chance at four of a kind or a royal.”
I followed up with a group of slot players. Most said they have no superstitions, but a few have things that make them feel luckier.
Let’s get the obvious of the way: the whole human race is in desperate need of a vacation. After months indoors or cooped up in our homes, we’re practically gasping to be somewhere, anywhere, else. At this point, the stages of quarantine coping are proving to be more cyclical than linear, but signs of hope… Read more »
Southern culture has no better representative than its food. The spirit, tradition, and values of the South are spices in themselves, translated through the tastebuds for a deeper understanding of place and people. Both inside and out of its six world-class casinos, Tunica, Mississippi, is still very much a Southern city. In fact, the glamor… Read more »
Are you wanting to visit Tunica but curious about what the casinos are doing to protect you from COVID-19? Here are 10 things to know before visiting. Q. Are employees required to wear masks? A. Yes, all casino employees are required to wear masks at all times. Employees are also screened and have their… Read more »
Chef Otis Dickerson, originally from Baton Rouge, Louisiana brings his love for Southern quality and tradition to the new 662 Bistro at Horseshoe Casino Tunica. The restaurant’s menu is heavily influenced with the flavors of Creole and Southern cuisine. The menu looked so good we knew we had to try it our as soon as… Read more »
Where there’s a will, there’s a way. Even in the midst of a global health crisis, Tunica’s six world-class casinos are committed to providing the same sensational, heart-pounding entertainment known throughout the South and beyond. With sanitation and safety in mind, Tunica has scrubbed every square inch of felt, leather, and neon to give guests… Read more »
The Tunica hospitality industry is excited to welcome back our visitors. All 6 Tunica casino properties are now open for business. Careful planning and new policies have been developed by our attractions and casino resorts in an effort to provide a safe and enjoyable entertainment experience. The safety of our guests and employees are of… Read more »
When sports bettors turn to baseball, point spreads, or a “run line,” are available just as they are in football or basketball. If the Reds are playing the Cardinals in St. Louis, with the Reds listed at +1.5, then Cardinals bettors need them to win by two runs or more, while Reds bettors win if Cincinnati wins the game or loses by only one run.
More commonly, though, baseball bettors focus on the money line. The run line isn’t as popular as point spreads in football and basketball.
The Tunica hospitality industry is excited to welcome back our visitors as we begin to reopen our destination amenities. Careful planning and new policies have been developed by our attractions and casino resorts in an effort to provide a safe and enjoyable entertainment experience. The safety of our guests and employees are of the utmost… Read more »
The Tunica Convention and Visitors Bureau is actively and carefully monitoring travel conditions in coordination with the Center for Disease Control, U.S. Travel Association, Mississippi State Department of Health, and local officials regarding COVID-19. Our main priority is the health and safety of our visitors to Tunica, MS. The Mississippi Gaming Commission has announced the… Read more »
Let’s ring in the New Year in Tunica, Mississippi! Here is your guide to New Year’s Eve events in Tunica.
Spending the 4th of July weekend in Tunica this year will get you in the patriotic spirit, but it’s not the 4th of July without seeing the beauty of red, white, and blue in the sky. Here is where you can watch the fireworks in Tunica.
There’s nothing quite like snatching victory from the jaws of defeat to make you feel good about a day in the casino. One big win at the end that erases previous losses and makes you a winner doesn’t happen anywhere near often enough, but it feels great when it does.
Table games players have their own styles and preferences. One of the divisions is between those who will play all night and those who prefer short sessions.
I’ve often told slot machine players that when they play pick’em bonus rounds, their choices make a real difference.
Blackjack basic strategy includes a number of decisions that can give a player second and third thoughts. One of those comes when you have a two-card 11 and the dealer has a 10-value card face up. Basic strategy calls for you to double down — you make a second bet equal to your first, then get just one more card on the draw. That second bet against a strong dealer card is what gives players pause.
In a previous entry discussing the point spread, over/under and money line wagers at sports books, I mentioned that the house typically charges an extra 10 percent on point-spread and over/under bets. To win $10, you must bet $11.
Bettors are sometimes misled into thinking that gives the house a 10 percent edge, which would be very high casino standards.
Actually, the house edge is 4.55 percent. Here’s how it works:
The legalization of sports betting no doubt will bring throngs of new players who need to know the ropes before they bet.
Old hands who have wagered in Nevada or online already know the basics, but for those finding a new betting experience in Mississippi, here are a few of the basic ways to bet.
About a month ago, I told of being at a table with a blackjack player who insisted on standing on all 16s, including the soft ones, no matter what the dealer had.
In a common six-deck game in which the dealer hits soft 17, basic strategy for soft 16 is to double down if the dealer’s up card is 4, 5 or 6, and to hit if the dealer has anything else. Never stand on soft 16.
My experience drew responses from others who have encountered players who have trouble with soft hands. Let’s share a couple of their tales.
When video slots started their rise to prominence in the late 1990s, the most popular games were in nickel denominations, there were relatively few paylines — five, nine, and eventually 15 — and you could choose the number of paylines and amount per line you wanted to play.
Incredible Technologies is always trying something new on its slot machines, and right now a lot of the excitement revolves around its Power Wheel games.
One of the latest is Heat ‘Em Up Power Wheel, involving a big wheel display for bonuses. A five-reel video slot, each reel three symbols deep, Heat Em Up has a classic look with 7s, bars, bells and cherries among the symbols.
Among the many video poker games IGT produces that offer bonus multipliers in exchange for an extra bet, the most popular appears to be Ultimate X.
That’s especially true among low-denomination players, who love the Ultimate X option when playing nickel multiple-hand games. And it seems there’s an incentive for playing more hands.
Readers have shown me repeatedly over the years that one good story deserves another. And last month, after I shared a couple of tales of how craps players learned the game my inbox brought a flurry from other players.
Let’s share a couple more:
My mailbag — or email box or social media messages — occasionally brings inquiries and theories about changes to the games we play.
Two of those arrived in the last few months, one was from a craps player, the other from a blackjack aficionado.
Video poker areas in casinos liven their mix with bonus games that can multiply your winnings when triggered by certain winning hands.
These games usually are variations on Triple Play, Five Play and Ten Play Poker, where you play three, five or 10 hands at once. And all such games require an extra bet to activate the bonus feature.
Is it worthwhile to activate the bonus, or does it reduce your payback percentage?
Games work for casinos only if customers will actually play them. A game that seems too complicated or that intimidates players won’t do its job of encouraging wagering.
Craps has a reputation of being difficult for newcomers to learn yet is the second most popular table game behind blackjack. Everybody who plays was a beginner at one time. I asked some craps players how they learned.
I’ve mentioned there are several optional pay tables at Pair Plus in Three Card Poker. One reader asked “Why isn’t the pay table standard?”
Players who try to sort good bets from the bad sometimes find difficulty with new games that involve more than one round of betting.
Those games have two figure that could fairly be categorized as house edges. A reader recently pointed out that wizardofodds.com lists a house edge of 4.91 percent for Mississippi Stud Poker, but also an element of risk of 1.37 percent.
Slot machines with ancient Egyptian themes or East Asian imagery have long resonated with slot players. Incredible Technologies puts its own spin on both in new games we’ll be playing in 2018.
Most blackjack players understand it’s best to hit soft 17 rather than stand. But many won’t go the next step and double down . . .
Video poker decisions frequently come down to choosing between two viable options. Players who want to get the most out of the games learn early that a low pair is more valuable than a single high card, to use one commonly occurring example. Recently, a reader wrote to ask about the situation with partial flushes.
Players frequently tell me stories about big wins, ask questions about how the games work, or to point out unusual things they see in casinos. In the case of a reader named Melinda, she just wanted to share how nice people had been at her table, and how that helped her win at Mississippi Stud.
Casinos often use side bets on table games — especially blackjack — to spice up the games and draw a little extra action from players.
The house edge on side bets almost always is higher than on the main game. That led a reader to write and ask, “Is there ever a time to make a side bet like 21 + 3 or Lucky Ladies at blackjack, the Dragon Bonus bet at baccarat or the Prime bet in Three Card Poker? [If the house edge is higher], why not just play the regular game and skip the side bet?”
A craps player wrote to me recently to say he’d found an automated game that looked like it had better odds than he found at table games.
Pop culture themes from movies, TV, music and games have long been part of the fun of playing the slots. Let’s check out a few of the new themes we’ll be playing in the coming year.
Ever since Scientific Games acquired WMS Gaming in 2013 and Bally Technologies in 2014, it’s been inevitable that we would see WMS-Bally mashups in new slot machines.
Monopoly Hot Shot, on its way for 2018, combines long-standing successes from both companies.
Basic strategy players know there’s a best average play for every hand in blackjack. That’s what you’ll find in strategy charts online and in books.
One of the most important strategy tips for video poker players to remember is that low pairs are almost always more valuable than high cards. You win more hands when you hold a Jack or higher, but have larger average payoffs and win more money when you hold low pairs instead.
A reader asked recently if that also applies to having two high cards in the hand.
Slot players love to share their stories when they win, and readers have contributed a couple of recent tales from their early days of playing.
Whether it’s classic cars, bicycle rides, crawfish or live blues performed on a train depot stage, this year’s festival line-up in Tunica has something for everyone.
Every year, slot machine manufacturers roll out dozens of new games, and I’ll be featuring several coming attractions next month.
Before we ring in the new, though, let’s ring out a few old. I asked some of my slot-playing readers to tell me about old favorites that are long gone but they wish they could still play.
I’ve long used Three Card Poker as a change of pace game. I don’t play it as often as I play blackjack or video poker, but it’s easy and I enjoy relaxing over a session now and then.
When I play, I stick to the ante-play option, where you match up your hand against the dealer. Most of the other players bet both on ante-play and on the Pair Plus option, where any pair or better wins.
One thing I like to stress to players trying to learn the games is that the odds are unchanging. No matter how long it’s been since a 7 was last rolled in craps, the odds are 1 in 6 on the next roll, and no matter how long it’s been since the ball landed on 00 in roulette, the odds are 1 in 38 on the next spin. The exception is blackjack. There the odds change on every hand as cards are dealt and removed from play until the next shuffle.
There may still be a chill in the air but Tunica’s upcoming entertainment is heating things up. With big name concerts from Blues Traveler and Jonny Lang to Phillip Phillips and the comedy of Bruce Bruce and Rodney Carrington there is sure to be something for everyone.
Skill-based gaming is a niche slot machine manufacturers hope to grow, especially as young players who grew up on video games come of age.
There are many approaches to attracting new gamblers, with one innovative new product being Konami Gaming’s Beat Square, expected to roll out early in 2018.
There are players who want to cut the house edge as far as they can, and will change games in order to do it.
Most players, however, have a favorite game or a few favorite and will stick to those even if one outside their range has a lower house edge.
For most of us, hitting a really big jackpot is a rare event. You never know when — if ever — the next will come.
The event has seemed to be not so rare for one woman, according to a reader who wrote that his sister-in-law had two $20,000 jackpots in a month and a dozen or more of $10,000-plus in the last three or four years.
Mississippi Stud Poker calls on you to raise your bets or fold after seeing three cards and again after seeing four cards.
The dividing lines can seem arbitrary, but they’re not. For those who play basic strategy for Mississippi Stud, the dividers are based in the math of the game.
You’re in a casino, having a tough day, and you’re down to your last $5 with time for one more bet before you go home. What do you do?
Unless they play at dollar level or above on single-hand games or quarter-level or above on multi-hand games, video poker players rarely reach the $1,200 threshold that requires a tax form before they’re paid. A royal flush with five quarters wagered brings a $1,000 jackpot — a nice bonanza, but well below the tax trigger.
Newcomers to craps sometimes are confused by the details. It can take a while to sort out the ins and outs of a game with so many different ways to bet. One such novice player asked me why the one-roll bet on any 7 is said to be such a weak play.
One challenge facing blackjack players is that the rules aren’t precisely the same in one casino as another, or even sometimes at one table as opposed to another in the same casino.
There are a number of optional rules, including late surrender, which after the dealer checks to see if he has blackjack, allows you to give up half your bet instead of playing it beyond your first two cards.
After 20 years of multiline video slots in casinos, I find most players don’t even look to see the shapes of the paylines anymore.
When there were five lines or nine lines, everyone wanted to check to see how the lines ran and how their winning symbols lined up. With 30, 40 lines or more, most players today just accept their total winnings and move on. The 243-ways-to-win slots with no traditional paylines are another matter.
One of the tools slot machine designers use to keep the games fun and interesting is the stacked reel, where a number of consecutive symbols are the same.
Things can really get interesting when the stacked symbols are wild, matching any other symbols to help form winning combinations.
Even gaming events that you’re unlikely ever to see happen can be fun to talk about, and there are enough “what ifs” that conversation about them can be endless.
One that a player brought up recently involves blackjack. There are four Aces in each deck, so in a six-deck game there are 64 Aces.
When you go on a casino overnight trip, especially one that’s going to last two or three days, would you rather get a big win early in the trip or late? Early, and all the pressure’s off your budget. You can play to your heart’s content. Late, and you’re sure of bringing the big bucks home.
When I learned blackjack basic strategy about 30 years ago, the plays others made were real eye-openers to me.
Players today are better than they once were. I don’t see anywhere near as many mistakes at the table. But I do still see some doozies. Here are a few I’ve seen in the last few months, at six-deck games in which the dealer hits soft 17.
When my husband, Frankie, and I heard that there was a new Grammy Museum just two hours south of our home in Memphis, it was the perfect reminder of a trip we had been wanting to take for so long—a cruise down the Blues Highway on our motorcycles, but first we had to make a stop at the Gateway to the Blues Museum and Visitors Center in Tunica.
There are so many possibilities in roulette, it’s easy to design a system that wins more often than it loses. Problem is, when the losses come, they’re much larger than the wins and wipe out any profit – and then some.
“It’s the perfect spot for a boy’s weekend,” my wife said. I gave her a sidelong look. She tried to prove her point: “Steakhouses, casinos, cigars…”
A play that will win the most hands isn’t always the play that will win the most money. I was asked recently if there are other games where it’s better to make plays to win less often because they win more money.
When I first started to play in casinos, I used to see many slot players taking two or more machines at a time. I even saw a woman playing an entire row, starting the reels spinning on each machine, not waiting to see the results until she returned to each machine in her rotation.
In any game where strategy makes a difference, there are fine points and there are players who struggle with small differences.
One such game is Mississippi Stud Poker, in which players must ante to start, then may raise by betting one to three times their ante after seeing their first two cards, again after seeing the first of three community cards and a third time after the second community card is exposed.
A perfect day in the casino means different things to different people.
When I asked about players’ perfect days a while back, many told me about blackjack. Some told me about the terrific steak they ate – comped, of course – or about shows and shopping.
Betty is a reader whose perfect day involves a nice meal and a little shopping, and as long as she doesn’t lose big on the slots, she’s happy.
I’m often asked, “How does the casino gets its edge,” and the basic answer always is, “By paying winners less than the true odds of winning.” Casinos take your full bet when you lose, but pay only a portion of the true odd when you win.
One of the things that sets video poker and video blackjack apart from slot machines is that electronic games that use representations of playing cards must offer fair odds. Nevada took the lead, naturally enough, but Mississippi followed suit when its casinos opened in the 1990s, and so did other states.
Regular readers know that I love to hear close encounters of the winning kind. Slot and video poker players have been great about emailing me their experiences in winning back to back jackpots, or at least jackpots within a few plays of each other.
The latest comes from Suzanne, a video poker player who wasn’t sure her story qualified because it involved royal flushes by two different players.
Alex is a regular reader, a blackjack player who long has played at traditional tables with a live dealer and real cards and chips. He tried out a game with video betting, and later had some questions about the experience.
There is a seemingly endless variety of video poker games, each with their own pay tables and strategy nuances. One Interesting game is Super Double Bonus Poker.
Regular readers of this blog might remember Charlene, a slot player who usually played three-reel games with her husband George, but who played video slots when she was on her own. In a blog entry published March 27, Charlene explained her husband wanted nothing to do with video slots, which he doesn’t see as real gambling.
If you play enough blackjack, sooner or later you’ll see someone try to make every possible play, for better or worse. That includes doubling down on blackjack, a play most casinos won’t allow. That doesn’t stop players from trying.
Earlier this year, I was asked to speak to a group of inexperienced players before their casino trip. One who had just started playing blackjack said he was confused over why the house had an edge. After all, the dealer is stuck hitting or standing according to set rules, while players can make decisions, and the dealer can’t double down, split pairs or get paid 3-2 on blackjacks.
Whether it’s the bounce of the dice or the turn of a phrase, funny things happen at the craps table. Just ask Wes and Faye, craps players who sent along their stories for our amusement.
Every month, the Mississippi Gaming Commission publishes statistical reports that tell us, among other things, how much slot machines are paying back to players.
Congratulation to the following winners of the Wayne Newton ticket giveaway. Each winner has won 2 tickets to see Wayne at Horseshoe Casino on May 20th. Even if you didn’t win you can still see Wayne by clicking here to purchase tickets.
Players float roulette systems past me several times a year. The variety of wagers available opens the door to creating combination bets, with players hoping different bets will cancel out each other’s weaknesses.
There are blackjack decisions that are cut-and-dried, and then there are those that are closer calls. One of the closer calls comes when you have 13 and the dealer’s face up card is a 2. Basic strategy tells us the best play is to stand and not take a chance on busting, but the difference isn’t large.
Some of my favorite tales from readers are those of back-to-back jackpots – or at least jackpots within a few plays of each other. They don’t happen very often. A 1 in 40,000 chance of drawing a royal flush in video poker translates to a 1 in 160 million chance of back-to-back royals. But given enough trials, anything that can happen eventually will, and there are plenty of trials in casinos.
Angie, my longtime friend, and I were celebrating our recent retirement with a Creedence Clearwater Revisited concert at Gold Strike—one of the eight casinos in Tunica, Mississippi. We may be a pair of little old ladies in training, but we know how to have fun. Starting with the drive.
Not all slot reels are created equal, regardless of whether you’re playing video slots or games with mechanical reels. Video slots were on the mind of a reader recently who asked if all five reels have to bet the same.
When players get serious about craps, they soon learn that the free odds have no house edge. You must make a pass or come bet at the full house edge in order to bet the odds after a point is established, but then the odds bet is paid at true odds.
We love seeing everyones photos from their trips to Tunica. Here are our top 10 for the month of March.
Casinos have a wide variety of game, and anyone who wants to gamble can find something that suits their playing personality.
That includes three-reel slots with mechanical reels. Over the last 20 years, they’ve been displaced by video slots as the most popular casino games, but three-reel slots still have their adherents.
Last month I relayed comments from a blackjack player who had trouble convincing himself to follow the basic strategy play of doubling down on 11 when the dealer had a 10 face up.
That brought messages from other readers who had their own moments of queasiness over basic strategy.
Many modern table games include two stage betting, with an ante and a bet. Players with strong hands then must wait to see if the dealer has a qualifying hand. If the dealer’s hand isn’t good enough, you win only on the ante and the bet is returned to you.
In a new wave of video slots with skill-based bonuses, we can expect to see some based on old-school arcade games in an attempt to appeal to multiple generations.
Surprise and delight is the standard at the recently opened Spa at Horseshoe and there is no doubt that you will experience both when you visit. The spa is the perfect way to unwind from the stresses of everyday life.
Sizing your bets properly and making sure you don’t overbet your bankroll are important parts of playing any casino game. Sometimes there are tax considerations, too. A video poker player wrote to me recently to ask advice on playing $5 single-hand games vs. $1 Triple Play.
Three Card Poker was designed with straight flushes as the highest paying hands. The exceptions are at casinos that offer a bigger payoff on mini-royals – Ace, King, Queen of the same suit.
As long as I’ve been paying attention – and this goes back to the 1980s – slot players have been told that higher denomination slots pay back a higher percentage than lower denominations.
Basic strategy charts tell blackjack players the play that’s best for them in every player vs. dealer situation. Those who count cards amend basic strategy to fit the composition of the remaining deck, but for most of us, basic strategy is a solid guide.
Helpful, cheerful dealers can make anybody’s day at the casino more pleasant. It’s especially important with novice players who are just trying to feel their way through the game.
Video poker deals are as random as humans can program a computer to be, but one player thought he saw a pattern developing that could have worked in his favor if only there was a way to let it play out.
“My wife and I were playing penny slots together, and she was playing Goldfish,” Barry wrote. “It’s a games she’s liked for a long time, and she usually gets a bonus really often.
One of the first things blackjack players learn when they start to get serious about the game is that fewer decks are better for players.
We’ve all watched poker on TV or walked past a poker table. Maybe you’re even like me and have played poker with family or friends at home, but until today, I’d never been given a real poker lesson in a casino. Travel Tunica decided Hollywood Casino’s poker room was the place to learn how to know when to hold ‘em and know when to fold ‘em.
Most new table offerings are new riffs on familiar concepts. Every so often, that leads to different game developers hitting on similar ideas at the same time. This year, I tried out two games that paid off on flushes of varying lengths, American Gaming Systems’ Chase the Flush and Shuffle Master/Scientific Games’ Flushes Gone Wild.
It’s almost time to put on your party attire and ring in the New Year. Here is your guide to New Year’s Eve events in Tunica.
The original Sphinx, an Egyptian-themed video slot with a free-spin bonus, has been a durable favorite that spawned several successor games. One is Sphinx 3D, one of the most popular games going today with amazing three-dimensional effects with no need for special glasses. How could IGT top Sphinx 3D? With Sphinx 4D, which adds a dimension of touch to the experience.
If you’re a video poker player, chances are you know Ultimate X Poker from International Game Technology. It’s the most successful multiline video poker game with an extra bet for bonus features.
Some people would go as far as saying that Pappy Van Winkle is like the unicorns of bourbons. With it’s smooth aged to perfection taste and only 7-8,000 bottles released each year you would probably agree. You will find Pappy on many fine restaurants and bars drink menus, but most likely it’s followed by when available and most of the time its not.
What do you do when a shark comes flying out of tornado right at you? Grab a chainsaw and defend yourself, right? And if the bonus credits mount while the sharks meet their maker, so much the better.
In the spirit of the Holiday Season, TunicaTravel has joined with our friends at Visit Mississippi to giveaway an all-inclusive trip to one of the Southeast’s favorite good times getaways – Tunica, MS!
Blackjack is the most popular casino game, so it’s only natural that new table games shown at Global Gaming Expo would include a healthy portion of blackjack variants.
I’ve seen “Casablanca” at least a dozen times. I’ve seen it in a theater as part of a series of classic films. I’ve seen it on TV in pre-home video days, and I’ve seen it on VHS and DVD. Until this fall’s Global Gaming Expo at the Sands Expo and Convention Center in Las Vegas, I’d never seen it on a slot machine. But when I saw a sign in the corridor touting a Casablanca slot at the Everi booth, I knew I had to take a look.
New table games shown each fall at Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas aren’t as quick to reach widespread distribution as new slots. There’s less turnover of games at the tables. Blackjack may be forever, but most new slots are here and gone in a few months.
Every year, I try out new games at the Global Gaming Expo and write about a few highlights. Most of the slot games are things you’ll see in casinos in the next few months.
With the exception of blackjacks, all player hands lose sometimes, and even blackjacks push if the dealer also has a two-card 21. There are times when even 20s just can’t seem to win. The dealer gets on a roll and pulls a 21 – and another and another. Player frustration follows.
Payoffs by bar-coded tickets have been with us for the better part of two decades now, but I still hear from longtime slot machine players who miss having coins pour into a tray after a big win.
Events that are extreme long shots to you and me are certainties to casino operators. Given thousands of plays a day, every day, rare outcomes and streaks are inevitable. Take the roulette streak that prompted a reader to contact me via email.
There’s a long-standing debate among craps players who bet on don’t pass/don’t come: Should you or should you not lay the odds once a point is established?
One fundamental difference between video poker players and slot machine players is that video poker players are a loyal bunch, sticking with the same games year after year, while slot players are always on the lookout for the latest and greatest.
Not all blackjack games are created equal. There’s a set of mix-and-match rules, and you’ll find different combinations in different casinos. Sometimes you’ll even find different combinations at different tables within the same casino. One key variation comes on whether dealers hit or stand on soft 17.
Slot machine themes have become important factors for those of us who play the games, those who design them and those who sell them to us. A great theme will attract players to the game. A great them used well will keep us coming back for more. Of the thousands of slot themes we’ve seen over the decades, which ones were used best? Which really captured the feel and fun of the source? I asked slot players for their opinions.
Most of video poker games we play today have been around for decades. Jacks or Better, Deuces Wild, Bonus Poker Deluxe, Double Bonus Poker and others have stood the test of time. Most innovation in video poker comes in games that require an extra bet to activate a bonus feature. Of these, the most popular has been Super Times Pay.
The use of random number generators make slot machines games of pure chance with odds that are the same on every spin.
There’s more to choosing a game to play than the house edge alone. For one thing, there’s the fun factor. No matter how well you play any game, there are going to be frequent losing sessions. You might as well choose a game you enjoy playing even in the tough times.
Do you believe in hot tables and cold tables? Do you think it’s luckier to play where other players are winning than to play where the spaces are wide open because players have been leaving with diminishing bankrolls?
Multi-hand video poker games are among my casino favorites, and have been ever since Triple Play Poker was introduced in the late 1990s. With the games, there is a temptation to players. On a quarter Triple Play machine, a maximum-coins wager is $3.75. What happens if your credits dwindle to less than that? Do you make a bet for less than full coins?
Hollywood Casino Tunica has planned several activities to take place during Responsible Gaming Education Week with the theme – SHINING A LIGHT ON RESPONSIBLE GAMING.
A couple of months ago, I walked through the arithmetic for the house advantage on the pass line in craps. It’s quite a lengthy calculation with a number of factors, but enough readers followed along that it brought a few questions.
Craps players have dozens of options with all the different combinations to play. On many multi-roll bets, they also have the option of taking the bet down before a decision is reached.
When you do win a hand-paid jackpot, many casinos ask you to play once more, so the winning combination no longer shows on the reels or screen. One big winner recently asked what happens if you refuse to spin again. Can the casino refuse to pay you?
Sometimes, things are so ingrained in experienced casino players that we forget newcomers haven’t yet learned all the ins and outs. Not long ago, I received email from a blackjack player who is working on learning basic strategy.
I may have mentioned before, I don’t offer advice while playing. If someone asks me, I’ll answer, but I’m not one to routinely weigh in on decisions that belong to others. But what do you do if someone is asking for advice on EVERY hand?
One of the many differences between video slots and three-reel slots with mechanical reels is that three-reel games almost always have an incentive in the pay table to bet maximum coins. On three-reel games, a max-coins bet brings a disproportionate jump in the top jackpot, so betting the max brings a higher payback percentage than betting less.
I’ve been playing video poker for more than 25 years, and I’ve had royal flushes on penny, nickel, quarter, dollar and $2 games.
One reader wrote to me recently with a question that could only come from a three-reel player. “I’ve noticed that the big-paying symbols are off the line a lot more than they’re on the line,” he wrote. “Is that intentional? Are the games programmed to tease players to thinking they’re close to a jackpot?
Roulette has so many possible bets, players always are exploring ways to combine them in the hopes they’ll hit on a way to beat the house.
I’m always looking for tales of unusual things that happen in casinos. One came my way from a reader who wanted to share his experience with a big cash player.
I don’t like to get bogged down in math in this blog. All casino games have roots in math, but you don’t have to be able to do the math yourself to shop for the best bets. House edges are easy to find online or in books about gaming.
Nonetheless, I do get reader requests for explanations about the underlying arithmetic, especially in craps.
Video poker is a much different game than table poker. In video poker, you’re playing draw poker, is rare to nonexistent on the tables. You’re not playing against other players, you don’t have to try to read anyone else’s hand and you don’t have to evaluate whether to raise, call or fold.
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It’s not difficult to see patterns in wins and losses, and it’s all too easy to jump to conclusions based on small samples. Over the years I’ve fielded questions from readers who wondered if they should skip drawing to four-card straights because they missed several times in a row and from others who were convinced 20 was a losing hand in blackjack because they dealer drew a few 21s to beat them one night.
Giving advice at the gaming tables isn’t for everyone. I’ve played with some who love to tell others what to do, whether the advice is welcome or not. Others never give advice, or give it only when asked.
One of the absolutes in blackjack is that you should never split 5s. Most players aren’t even tempted, because they recognize they have a much stronger building block for a hand when they start with 10 than starting each of two hands with 5s.
Nontheless, I received an email recently from a player who challenged the notion. He reasoned that when the dealer had a weak card such as a 5 or 6 face up, he had an edge. If he was dealt another 5, he wanted the opportunity to get a third bet on the table.
At any game, players come in all levels of experience and knowledge. Some are more familiar than others with game rules, strategies or even the mechanics of how to make a bet.
Those who learn and use basic strategy at blackjack know there are strategy differences depending on whether the dealer hits or stands on soft 17.
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Players often send me tales of streaks at the tables, but they’re usually winning streaks. A reader named Mike sent me something a little different.
“I have a streak story for you,” he wrote. “ I was playing blackjack in Laughlin a few years ago, there were four players, and we all get pat 20s. The dealer has a 10 up and turns over a face card, so a push, with 10 10-values in a row.
Slot manufacturers are always looking for themes that will resonate with players in a big way, and Scientific Games is sure it has a winner in the Caddyshack slot machine.
Many poker-based table games involve an ante before you see your cards, and then a bet or multiple bets to keep playing. Caribbean Stud was the trend-setter, but we also see that format in Three Card Poker, Mississippi Stud and other games.
When you see a strategy table for any given video poker game, it’s almost always going to assume a royal flush pays 4,000 coins if you’ve made a five-coin bet. That’s the standard payout on machines that don’t have a progressive jackpot.
At some casino games, tipping, or “toking” the dealer is a pretty cut-and-dried routine. In blackjack, you place an extra bet at the front of your betting box or circle. It’s understood that’s for the dealer. If you split pairs or double down for yourself, it’s up to you whether you make a split bet or double for the dealer.
I hear regularly from Maria, a reader who mostly plays craps. She’s often found herself the only woman at the table, but it doesn’t bother her. She does, however, sometimes take some grief about being the only “wrong” bettor – a player who bets against the shooter by wagering on don’t pass and don’t come.
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Table games players have consistently shown a preference for live action. They like to play with real cards and dice and with human dealers.
Still, there has been an increasing acceptance of electronic table games, especially in roulette. Touch screens for electronic betting speed play as wagers are settled automatically, with no mistakes. There’s no down time waiting for dealers to pay winners and collect chips from losing bets.
When players ask me what game they should play, I ask them what they enjoy playing. I’m happy to explain that blackjack, craps, baccarat and certain video poker games give you a much better shot to win than you get on slot machines, but if slots are what you find fun, I’m not going to tell you to play a game you dislike.
It’s sometimes said that casinos make their money from winners. Of course, every time it’s said, there’s somebody who responds, “Then they should let everybody win and make even more money.”
Players sometimes have difficulty with the idea that slot machine results can be programmed and random at the same time. So for many years, I’ve used a comparison to roulette, where you don’t know when any given number will turn up, but the odds of the game will lead to a 5.26 percent house edge – the same as a 94.74 percent payback percentage.
From beginners to grizzled old veterans, craps players are always thinking about the ins and outs of their game. A couple of questions arrived recently, one from newbie on a basic concept and one from a veteran who was wondering about the possibilities of a different way to play.
When the World Series of Poker Circuit makes its Tunica stop Jan. 21-Feb. 1 at Horseshoe, it will be building on a tradition that began 45 years ago in Las Vegas. That’s when Benny Binion invited seven of the top poker players in the world to come to his casino for a tournament he called the World Series of Poker, and that’s grown into the mega-event that brings national ballyhoo and TV coverage every year.
On most casino games, the odds are the same on every play, with blackjack being the major exception. But for roulette, craps and even slot machines, past results have no effect on future outcomes.
Everywhere you look, house edges on casino games are listed by percent – 1.52 percent on place bets on 6 or 8 in craps, 5.26 percent in double-zero roulette, 1.06 percent on the banker bet in baccarat, and so on.
A reader asked me to translate that into dollars and sense for blackjack players. If you’re playing basic strategy, how much money of yours will the house keep? What if you’re just an average player who hasn’t memorized the strategy chart?
Many modern video poker machines enable you to change games or change coin denominations without ever leaving your seat. If you’ve been playing Double Double Bonus Poker and want to change to Super Aces, you can just touch an icon on the screen to launch a new game. If you’ve been winning big at a quarter game and want to try your hand at a dollar version, you can touch the screen to change that, too.
The last few weeks I’ve been writing about new games displayed at the annual Global Gaming Expo, with table and slot games we’ll be playing in the coming year. For me, Expo week is almost like a second Christmas as the wraps come off those goodies, so let’s take a look at just a couple of more new slots.
With Homer and Marge characters handing out doughnuts – with sprinkles, of course – the crowds at the Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas just had to see what was going on. What it was, of course, was the debut of The Simpsons as a slot machine, a big attention-grabber from Scientific Games.
For the TMZ video slot, IGT partnered with Warner Bros. to develop a game based on the entertainment news and celebrity gossip website and TV show. There’s a camera built into machine, and when you sit down, it takes your picture and voila! You’re part of the TMZ team. Your photo is used as a reel symbol, in the background imagery and in bonus events.
Each fall at the Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas, I take time away from the seminars and from tours of the major slot manufacturers’ booths to seek out new table games. This time around, a few new takes on blackjack stood out, variations that will be available to casinos in the coming year.
I like to share readers’ stories of their best days in the casinos. Here’s one that wasn’t a huge win, but the price was right.
One of the quirks of roulette games that have both 0 and 00 – the common arrangement in the United States – is that the five-number bet on 0, 00, 1, 2 and 3 has a higher house edge than other wagers. If you make that five-number bet, the house edge is 7.89 percent. On everything else, it’s 5.26 percent.
That prompted a reader to email, asking if there was something special about those numbers that caused the higher edge.
“What is it about blackjack that makes players bust so much more often than dealers?”
Among those who have been playing in casinos as long as I have, there’s a sizable number who miss being paid in coins clattering into the tray of slot machines. On a September day when I cashed out by printing a ticket, the machine’s speakers resounded with an imitation of that sound, and a neighboring player told me she missed the real thing.
We were so excited to welcome Bill Clevlen to Tunica recently. Bill is a nationally syndicated radio host and and blogger for “Bill on the Road”. We want to share Bill’s experiences in Tunica with you.
A while back, I was collecting stories from readers on what games they like to play when they’re taking time off from their main games. What do blackjack players do when the dealer’s hot and their bankrolls are disappearing? What do craps players do when too many point-7 sequences eat into their stack of chips?
Roulette is one of the oldest games still played in modern casinos. Recognizably modern roulette wheels, with red and black numbers 1 through 36 along with zero and double zero, were in play in Paris in the late 1700s. The game itself has hardly changed at all, but some of the trappings have. For one thing, most roulettes tables in American casinos have a tote board showing recent numbers. When the boards were introduced, most showed the last 12 numbers, but now 18 is common, and sometimes there are more.
Some of the most frustrating hands at blackjack come when the dealer starts stringing out low cards. You see the dealer with a 14, and think there’s a good chance he’ll bust. Then comes a 2, and with 16, he just HAS to bust, right? Then, boom! Here’s comes a 5, the dealer has 21 and the whole table loses.
Sam’s Town Tunica has partnered with Pinot’s Palettes in Memphis to bring you a fun alternative to Thursday nights. Pinot’s Palettes brings a local artist to Sam’s Town Tunica who will guide you step-by-step through a featured painting. At the end of the night you leave with your own masterpiece.
Sometimes, you just can’t keep a good idea down. And blending slot machine excitement with tests of knowledge plays right to my taste.
I come into contact with players of all skill levels, and what seems obvious to a casino veteran often is a mystery to a beginner. That’s especially true for craps, where a reader named Lisa said she’d learned to play from her boyfriend and though she had it all down until she tried on her own.
If you’re in a casino that has slot games on the Pro Wave cabinet from the Bally Technologies division of Scientific Games, you can’t miss it. The Pro Wave is a eye-catcher, with a giant 40-inch, curved main screen for high-resolution graphics.
For almost all of us, a day or evening in the casino, or even a trip of a few days, is a nice break from everyday life. We’re excited for the wins when they come, but we know that more often than not, we’re going to be paying for the day’s entertainment.
But there are a few who dream of playing professionally. When I hear from them, I always urge caution. Take the video poker player who emailed recently to say, “I can usually get a royal flush every 30 days. I can be a professional player? I play video poker every day.”
No blackjack player likes to bust and wind up with a total of more than 21 that’s a loser before the dealer even plays his hand. But if we’re going to take the best chance to win, accepting the risk of busting is part of the bargain.
The Internal Revenue Service has proposed changes to federal tax requirements on that could triple the amount of paperwork when we win big on slots, video poker and other electronic casino games. In one proposal, you’d still have to sign form W-2G on any jackpot of $1,200 or more, but also would require casinos to use their player tracking systems to trigger tax forms on cumulative winnings of $1,200 or more above losses in one day.
Video poker games are designed to be as random as humans can program a computer to be. The odds of drawing winning hands are the same as cards were dealt from a real deck.
Still, when odd streaks happen, players can’t help but wonder if something more is going on.
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Basic strategy for the ante-bet portion of Three Card Poker is to make the bet of equal to your ante any time you’re dealt Queen-6-4 or better, but to fold and forfeit your ante with lower-ranking hands.
That strategy led a reader to email me with two questions:
When you’re a smaller slot manufacturer trying to compete with the likes of IGT, Bally, WMS and Aristocrat, you need to be nimble, creative and innovative.
Multimedia Games has been all of that, and expects to keep bringing the innovation now that it has been acquired by Global Cash Access. The new company is in the process of rebranding, and will reveal a new name in late August.
It’s nice to escape the monotony of a typical weekend and do something different. It’s even nicer when my friends and I can take a little road trip, and maybe raise a little hell in the process. Tunica offers that escape…
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