Gambling With an Edge - guest Stanford Wong

Our guest this week is Stanford Wong. We discuss controlled dice throwing, and his book, Wong on Dice. Bob and I also discuss "scares" which in video poker means near misses of a royal flush, but in blackjack usually involves security guards.

Stanford Wong podcast

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Dice Control

Stanford Wong will be on Gambling With an Edge this week to talk about dice control, and his book, Wong on Dice. The book is not really a "How to" on dice control.  It reads more like a chronicle of how he got interested, what he did then to convince himself it was real, then his experiences in learning to do it, and finally the reactions of other professional gamblers resulting in a large wager. Throughout the book Wong mentions a class called Golden Touch which he took in learning dice control, and a book called, Get the Edge at Craps by Sharpshooter. So what is dice control?  Can you really throw two cellulite cubes six or more feet down a table and have the results not be random?  And more importantly, if you can develop this skill can you win any money at it?

Gambling With an Edge - guest Ed Miller

This week's guest is Ed Miller, author of Small Stakes No Limit Hold Em, and How to Read Hands, as well as 4 other books on poker.  We discuss win rates for Las Vegas ring games, how hard is it to learn to be a winning player, how long can you go on losing as a winning player, and his appearance on the TV show Queer Eye for the Straight Guy.

Ed and Bob in the house.

Ed Miller podcast
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Small Stake No-Limit Hold Em by Ed Miller, Sunny Mehta, and Matt Flynn

We are having Ed Miller on the show this week, so I checked out some of his books. I am happy to say that Small Stakes No-Limit Hold Em is excellent. If you are a beginning or intermediate player this is a great book to start with if you are interested in cash games. Obviously many of the concepts will transfer to tournaments, but the focus is on 6 handed 1-2 or 2-5 games.

The book starts out explaining that much of your win rate comes from stealing blinds, and then explains different approaches to this. It explains value betting with good hands, the 3-bet 4-bet 5-bet game, isolating players, and more. One of the things I found most helpful was explaining stack to pot ratios. That is, choosing the size of your bets not just on the size of the pots, but on the size of your stacks. This is nothing new, but I thought it was very well explained in this book.

There are two things that might give the reader pause, but don't let this dissuade you. The first is that all of their examples are based on online 6-handed games. My experience in 9-handed ring games is that there is much more limping, and rarely can you steal the blinds outright. But the majority of the info will apply to larger ring games. The second thing is the chapter on "profiling opponents using stats." This was an eye-opener to me. I have not played a lot of online poker, and that is no longer possible in the US. I was aware that you could look up stats on all the online players at the major poker sites, but had never done it. What a mistake! In the book they show you what stats are available, and how to use them. It's like bringing a bazooka to a knife fight. As regular readers of this site know I believe online poker will be back, and soon. If that happens this book moves from just an excellent book to a "must have."

California jumps into the free online poker market

Saturday California opened their own free online poker site. I'm not the only one who believes that legal online poker is coming soon, and everyone is trying to position themselves to capitalize. The CA site is called Calshark.com and is operated by a group called COPA, the California Online Poker Association. This is a coalition of CA card rooms like the Commerce, and Bicycle, along with various Indian tribes like Morongo and San Manuel. You can see all the members here http://www.calonlinepoker.org/online-poker-facts/who-we-are/. This group is spending millions of dollars lobbying in CA in an effort to control online poker when the law gets passed.
I checked out the site.

The Good
They are using Playtech software so the site is miles ahead of the South Point site. The graphics are much better, you can make notes about the players, you can change backgrounds, although I really would like an option of no background, and you can use 4-color decks which I like. Two other very good features, you can play in a browser version if you don't want to download, and you can log in as a guest if you don't want to give them any information. (Obviously that will have to change if and when they are allowed to play for real money.)

The Bad
I couldn't resize the window. The cards and betting amounts are a bit hard to read so I would like to be able to make the whole screen bigger. I was using the browser version so maybe this is better in the download version.

The Ugly
On each player's turn a large clock face appears at their spot and counts down 15 seconds. It is too large, and annoying. You do have a time bank of an additional 30 seconds that you can use if you have a tough decision.

The Stupid
You can buy virtual gifts and drinks for other players. They call this "social gaming" and are planning a facebook app. So what? You're going to buy virtual drinks for some dude pretending to be a girl, and then go to Farmville and hook up in a cucumber patch? Just show me the money.

I hear that Barona will be launching their own free site soon, so this will compete for CA players. I'll let you know when it comes out, and give it a review.

South Point free online poker site. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

On our show last night we discussed the fact the South Point has opened a free online poker site. I believe you will start to see these springing up like weeds starting with Caesar's and MGM, but who knows, maybe even the Cal Neva will try to get into the act with a site that features 30-year-old beer-soaked carpeting. These businesses all believe that legalized online poker will be coming very soon, and they all want to be ready. They want to start building their data bases, and trying to induce customer loyalty. As your intrepid reporter I dutifully downloaded the software and signed up.

The Good
1. It's free. (Notice this list is very short.)

The Bad
1. The software looks and feels like online poker from 10 years ago. It is slow and clunky.
2. You can't resize the table windows.
3. The graphics are poor, and because you can't resize the window it is hard to read.
4. The buttons for call, fold etc are too small and react slowly.
5. The speed makes you feel like you are on a dial-up connection.
6. You can't change the background or make notes on the other players.

The Very Ugly
1. Every window is rimmed with annoying flashing advertising. Just what you want when you are looking at the screen trying to make a decision, 5 different ads in 10 different colors flashing away at different rates.

As you can see my opinion is that this software is not ready for prime time. But I guess that is exactly why they are rolling it out now, to learn from mistakes, iron out the kinks, and be ready when the real money hits the felt. Let's hope other casinos do better.

If anyone else checks it out I'm interested in your thoughts.

Gambling With an Edge - guest Michael Kaplan

Our guest this week is Michael Kaplan. Michael is the author of Aces and Kings: Inside Stories and Million-Dollar Strategies From Poker's Greatest Players which is a great book with New Yorker type profiles of all the top poker players.  He is also the gambling writer for Cigar Aficionado magazine which has lead him into becoming an advantage player at both poker and blackjack.  In this episode we talk about his travelling to Hong Kong for an article on horse racing, and his learning to play poker as a winning player.

Michael Kaplan podcast

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Gambling With an Edge - guest Darren Hay

Our guest this week was Darren Hay.  Darren is a video poker expert from the east coast.  Bob and I also discuss the case of 2 players from Poker Stars that were arrested at the Wynn for dice scooting, and the Global Gaming Expo (G2E) which was in town this week.

Darren Hay podcast

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Notes from G2E

The G2E (Global Gaming Expo) was in Las Vegas this week so I headed in to check things out. In the past it was always held at the Hilton Convention Center, but this year the dates were moved up, and the convention was moved to the Sands Convention Center.

Used slots?  Looks like the economy is hitting everyone hard.

While glancing through one of the show magazines I came across some interesting tidbits.  On Monday they had a seminar in: How to eject patrons without visibility or liability. Man am I sorry I missed that one.

In an interview with Penn Gillette he mentions that Gary Loveman (CEO of Caesars) told him that prior to running Harrah's not only had he never worked in a casino, he had never been in a casino.  Say what?!  Now I understand why all the Harrah's properties are the way they are.

Of course I had to run by the Shuffle Master booth.  They always employ the hottest models.  They must get a first round pick every year.

New Blackjack table

The shoe reads every card that is dealt out and reports the totals here on a screen in the rack.  Surveillance can log into any table and also follow what is going on. This is not a continuous shuffler.  There is a shuffle machine mounted behind it so they still have to open the shoe and switch in a new deck when time to shuffle. I asked the man there from Shuffle Master if he can see the composition of the remaining cards in the shoe.  His eyes got big as if I had just caught him with his hands in the cookie jar.  "Oh no.  No one can log in and see that."  Right, I'm sure.

Lots of people trying to sell these electronic tables for every game.

Typical gamblers, more interested in the games than a girl on a stripper pole.
A lot of companies were clearly trying to class up the joint.

Surveillance companies were there showing off the latest gear.

And an oldie but goodie.

There didn't seem to be anyone manning the booth.  I guess even the sellers know it doesn't work.

This company told me they train casinos to spot fake IDs.  You  know,
because underage kids go in and try to drink alcohol.

The other area of interest for me is the new games section.  Everyone wants to develop the next big hit like 3 Card Poker.  Here is 3 Card Craps.

This is for states like CA where they aren't allowed to use dice. I hope I end up liking this game as much as I like 3 Card Poker.

Here is a nice man named Max trying to sell his game Bad Beat Blackjack.

Would you buy a casino game from this man?

Looks like a shifty eyed degenerate to me.

That's it for this year's G2E.

Gambling With an Edge - guest Bob Nersesian 2

Bob Nersesian returned this week, and was as passionate and interesting as his first visit.  This week we discuss your rights in Indian casinos, (you have none) silver mining (whether it is legal for you to take credits you find in a slot machine), earning comps under a fake name, and much more. Click the podcast link on the right to hear his first visit, and the interview link to see my print interview with Bob.

Bob Nersesian podcast 2

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Gambling With an Edge - guest Steve Cyr

Our guest this week was Steve Cyr, Super host. He is the subject of the book, Whale Hunt in the Desert which contains many of his crazier exploits.  On the show we talk about loss rebates for big players, his controversial quote, "Stars are stiffs," and what a host can do for you.

Steve Cyr podcast

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Gambling With an Edge - guest Michael Konik

Our guest tonight was Michael Konik.  Michael is an actor, singer, and painter, but mostly Michael is a writer.  For over 5 years he was the gambling writer for Cigar Aficionado magazine, and has written 7 books.  Tonight was focus on his book, The Man With the $100,000 Breasts.  The title character won a $100,000 bet by putting in breast implants and keeping them for one year.  It is now 15 years later and he still has the implants!  What is up with that?

Michael Konik podcast

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Gambling With an Edge - guest Steve Fezzik

Our guest on the show this week is sports handicapping legend, Steve Fezzik.  Steve has won the Hilton Football Super Contest not once, but twice.  In this episode we talk about the difference between betting for a contest, and betting to get the money.  We discuss sports bettors being barred from casinos, and what happened when he won 4 ten-team parlays.

Fezzik podcast

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The Raiser's Edge

I was in college in Chicago in the 70s.  When not in class I would spend my time at a bridge, and backgammon club called The North Club.  The club was filled with bridge bums, backgammon sharks, gin rummy kibitzers, and in the afternoons we would get an influx of options traders.  At that time the Black–Scholes formula was new, and the smart guys, the guys who understood the math, were vacuuming up the money. Huge edges were to be had because these guys were playing the game at an entirely different level.

That was what I kept thinking about as I read, The Raiser's Edge: Tournament-Poker Strategies for Today's Aggressive Game.  Because of the internet where players can play 10 or 20 tables at a time at double the speed of a live table, and tracking software that has databases of millions of hands, and quants applying game theory to poker, the game has taken a giant leap forward.  This book is not for beginners.  It is dense, has many charts, and will need to be read many times to be fully understood.  But this is the future of poker.  10 years ago you never would have seen a chapter like, "Equilibrium solutions for 3 and 4-betting."  I believe you will start to see more and more chapters like that.  Just as computers are now the best chess players, and backgammon players, within 10 years I believe computers will be the best poker players.

The authors in this book talk about how fast the game is evolving.  Things that were working and profitable a year ago no longer are.  If you want to try to ride this wave, to get on the curve since no one can be ahead of it anymore, then you need to read this book, and the avalanche of books like it that are sure to come.

Gambling With an Edge - Guest Andy Bloch

Gambling With an Edge for September 1, 2011.  Our guest is Andy Bloch, professional poker player with over $5 million in tournament winnings.  He is also a former member of the MIT blackjack team.  This is the team portrayed in the movie 21.  In this episode we talk about the movie, about Andy being arrested in Monte Carlo for being a card counter, and about his famous heads up match against Chip Reese in the WSOP HORSE event a few years ago.

Andy Bloch podcast

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Our guest this week - Andy Bloch

This week on Gambling With an Edge our guest will be Andy Bloch.  Andy is a professional poker player with over 5 million dollars in tournament poker winnings.  Before moving into poker he was part of the MIT blackjack team which was the basis for the movie 21.  We'll ask him if all the girls at MIT look like Kate Bosworth.  If you are not familiar with the MIT team I have posted my interview with John & Laurie C.  John was one of the inspirations for the Kevin Spacey character in the movie.  You can see the interview below or just click the link on the right.  Be sure to check back Friday for the podcast of our show, or subscribe in itunes and get your episodes delivered to you every week.

My interview with John & Laurie C. - MIT Blackjack team

This interview was conducted in 2002

The history of blackjack has many roots at MIT.   Ed Thorp, author of Beat the Dealer, did his original computer analysis at MIT on their computer.  When Resorts International opened in 1978 a group of MIT students combined forces to attack the casino, and the “MIT Team” was born.  Though there were players from other schools, who refer to it as the “Boston Team,” the casinos labeled it the MIT team, and the name stuck.   Alumni from the team have gone on to great things.  Joel Friedman was the pioneer of risk-averse betting strategies, which he wrote about in his landmark 1980 paper. He also published in the Gambling Conference papers, on Kelly Criterion and optimal simultaneous wagers.  Other players went on to create Windows 3, and Windows NT.  Players have come and gone, the team has morphed and split into factions, but for over twenty years there has been a constant. His name is Johnny C.  I sat down with John and his wife Laurie, who is another member of the team.

We're now in itunes!

I'm happy to say that you can now download Gambling With an Edge to your iphone, ipod, ipad, or whatever.  Just go to the itunes store and search Gambling With an Edge.

Gambling With an Edge - guest Al Francesco

Gambling With an Edge for 8/25/11.  Our guest was Al Francesco who invented the "Big Player" style of play for beating blackjack and fooling casinos.  Listen to our interview here, and you can also read my print interview with him by clicking the interviews link on the right.

Al Francesco interview

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Al Francesco Interview

Al Francesco is one of the original 7 people voted into the Blackjack Hall of Fame. He hasn’t written any books, but Al is one of the first people to apply the theory to the tables, and take the cash out of the casinos.