Page 12 - Jackpot Magazine Tunica ~ April, 2023

PLAY TO WIN
Winning streaks can happen at any time
“I’ve learned the lesson that the worst thing that can happen to a gambler is to let his recent losses or wins knock him off keel emotionally.”
— Fast Eddie Felson (Paul Newman) in the movie The Color of Money
I don’t know about you, but I’ve never had a real winning streak in a casino. I could say I’ve had a lot of losing streaks. I mean, every time I don’t win, isn’t that part of my losing streak? As for a hot streak — with a streak defined as a continuous period of specified success or luck — I can’t say I’ve had a continuous period of gaming success.
Gaming expert Henry Tamburin, author of many best-selling books on gambling, including Blackjack: Take the Money and Run, once wrote about his personal streak of 11 royal flushes in two months. Now that is a streak. In a past column for Jackpot!, Tamburin also wrote about an anonymous player who had a streak even bigger than that.
casino perks — cashback, bounce back, comps, etc.
During a period of
four weeks, you hit 12
royal flushes and won
do you contribute your good fortune to?
I think it was simply one of those wild streaks of positive variance.
In one stretch of 24 hours during your streak, you hit three royal flushes (and won $60,000). From your recollection of that memorable day, can you give some details on what it was like to hit the three royals?
All three royal flushes were at the same casino on two different machines. I was playing a 9/6 Jacks or Better single-line
was amazed at how many floor people and casino security personal showed up at the hand pay of this amount and frequency.
Hitting three royal flushes within 24 hours was truly remarkable. I think what surprised me the most was only five days later, while playing in the same casino, I was dealt another $20,000 royal flush (odds of being dealt a royal flush are 1 in 649,740).
Do you take advantage of casino promotions when you play, and if so, what were they?
I certainly do or I wouldn’t be able to have a positive return playing video poker. Here are a couple of casino promotions that I take advantage of:
Free play — It’s bonus play that gives me a chance to win without putting any money up. Playing with a player rewards card allows the casino to track my play and in effect extends my play.
Multiple point days — This gives me a huge advantage, especially since I convert all my points to free play. I do this because at my level of play the food, hotel rooms, etc., are comped. I find speed (i.e. playing fast) is also important on these days, especially since I want to play as many hands as possible during the extra- earning period.
Play-up offers — This occurs when a casino offers a bonus amount of free play for a specific number of points earned on set days. Additionally, if you earn more
points you receive more free play. Often the ratio of free play offered for more points earned is a better deal if one plays up to the max.
Do you have a question on the best way to play to win? Email jackpotmagazine@gmail.com.
Play To Win Again
The Best of... Series
$240,000. What
Tamburin verified the even receiving copies of the all the W-2Gs from the casinos. He asked the player questions and wrote about the lucky dude hitting 12 royal flushes and winning $240,000 in — ready for this? — four weeks’ time. Winning. Streak.
Here is a portion of Tamburin’s column with the lucky player, featuring questions and answers:
How long have you
video poker and when did you start?
I have been playing video poker for two years. Previously, I was a blackjack player and then I decided to add video poker to my repertoire because of the additional
12 JACKPOT! MAGAZINE April 2023
THE SOUTH’S LARGEST GUIDE TO GAMING & FUN • www.jackpotmagazine.com
player’s story,
Have you ever been on a real winning streak? Had two, three or more big jackpots in a row? Share your story with us today by emailing loribeth@m2mediacorp.com.
been playing
game. On each of these machines, I held three cards to the royal flush and drew the two cards I needed for the royal. The payout for each royal flush was $20,000 (total payout was $60,000).
Attitudes of casino personnel varied greatly, but in general I sensed that is they wanted “their share” of my good fortune. I