Arizona Gaming Guide

what is on your mind! Our Mission:
The Arizona Gaming Guide mission is to keep our readers happy by giving them a magazine filled with the hints, tips, and advice they want and to keep our advertisers happy by producing a successful magazine, listening to their needs, and working together. Editorial Content:
The Arizona Gaming Guide always keeps it interesting and fun! Our readers play slots, keno, bingo, video poker, blackjack and table poker and we give them what they want - information and optimal strategies for all their favorite casino games. But that’s not all! Every issue is packed full with feature stories of Arizona casinos, gaming news, game reviews, articles about new casino technology, interviews with distinguished gaming executives, and cool casino trivia; editorials all carefully written by a team of professionals with a combined 50 years of casino industry experience! Letters to the Editor – Ever wondered if there is such a thing as a “hot” machine, or if you have a better chance of winning if you increase your bet, or what the payback percentage is for your favorite casino game, or if the unlicensed poker card rooms operating outside the casinos are illegal, or what the effects are of playing with a player’s card? Well, these are just a few of the hundreds of questions we receive from our readers every month. We carefully choose which questions and answers to print in every issue for our readers to enjoy. MVP Spotlight – Arizona Deptartment of Gaming Director Mark Brnovich, Arizona Indian Gaming Association Director Sheila Morago, Gila River Gaming Enterprises, Inc. CEO Harold Baugus, Hon-Dah Casino and Resort Director of Operations Eddie Lockett, and Bucky’s and Yavapai Casinos Slot Director Danny Crites are just a few of the many distinguished casino industry professionals we have featured in our monthly MVP Spotlight section. Game Review – Tired of the same old slot machines or table games? Looking for something new and exciting? We feature game reviews on all the hottest new slot machines like IGT’s S*x and the City and WMS’ Lord of the Rings. But, that’s not all because we search for and do write-ups on the old “tried and true” favorites as well. Table Games – Intimidated to sit down at a blackjack table? Our readers weren’t after they read our “Blackjack Hints and Basic Strategy” article. We always provide our readers with useful information such as reading body language at the poker table, the mathematics of poker made simple, the advantages of poker tournaments, avoiding illegal card rooms, and much more. Feature Stories – We love to do bright and colorful two to three page feature story spreads at the centerfold on our casino sponsors. We give our readers the exciting tour of what our casino advertisers have to offer in terms of gaming options, food, lodging, entertainment, tournaments, and so much more. But that’s not all, because we also provide our readers secondary feature stories such as the history of gaming, highlights from trade shows, responsible gaming, and the slot machine design and development process. Dollars & Sense – Optimal betting techniques and strategies, receiving the most benefits from a player’s card, avoiding the bankroll blues, and getting hints from a slot machine’s help screen are just a sample of some of the exciting topics covered in this section. Video Poker Corner – How often does a Royal Flush in Video Poker occur? A Royal occurs about 1 in every 40,000 hands. Our loyal video poker readers can tell you the answer to this question and so much more. In fact, they follow our monthly columns for, not only all the hints and tips on optimal playing methods on various poker games, but because of the opportunities to test what they have learned through our strategy quizzes. Video Keno – We introduced this section to our publication simply because our readers asked us to! Now they don’t have to wonder anymore whether 4-card keno is really better than single-card, whether changing the spots is a better strategy than playing with the same spots, and what the differences are between all the various games. Debunking Myths – There are many misconceptions about the casino industry and we’re here to debunk all those crazy tales. We’ve worked for slot machine manufacturers, we know the lab regulations, and we know what’s true and what’s not true. Myth: The casinos set their slots to be “tighter” or “looser” whenever they want. Myth: Casinos plan for and know when a progressive will hit. Myth: The slot machine is “due” for a win. Myth: Every spin on a slot machine is already predetermined. We know why all these myths are false and we have the facts to back up our claims. New Game Technology – Mechanical reels made to look like video reels? Video overlays on top of mechanical reel stepper slot machines? Sensory immersion with surround sound and three-dimensional graphics? Electronic versions of our favorites like Roulette, Craps, and even Texas Hold ‘Em? Gaming technology has come a long way and we’re here to tell our readers what’s new and how it works, and give them a sneak peek of what’s coming up in the near future. Sami’s Smackdown – Who doesn’t wish they could play at a perfect casino? You know, the kind where nobody’s sitting next to you blowing their smoke in your face or hovering behind you watching you play? In the perfect casino, everyone would be guaranteed at least one jackpot and annoying situations like getting a bonus only after you’ve switched down your bet would never happen. Sami’s rant column gives our readers the chance to get all their gripes off their chests. A Little Thing Called Luck – Find a penny, pick it up and all day long you’ll have good luck! It’s true! Gamblers are steadfast believers in fate, fortune, luck, timing, chance, destiny, superstition – call it what you want. Walk through any bingo hall and you’ll see a larger assortment of colors on the heads of the trolls sitting on the tables than you will in an art supply store. Why do we wish on a shooting star, birthday candle, wishbone or eyelash? Where did the “7” on a slot machine come from? Why is a rabbit’s foot, ladybug, or pure white cat considered lucky? Why is the number 13 or a black cat considered unlucky? Lucky Lana answers all these questions and more in her light-hearted luck column. Bet You Didn’t Know – For all of our trivia enthusiasts, this is a light and entertaining section on obscure gaming related facts and information. In the early 1900’s, the Bell Fruit Gum Company created a slot machine that dispensed chewing gum in various fruit flavors depending on which fruit a player managed to line up on the pay line. The bar symbols were actually shaped like a stick of gum with the company’s logo written across. Now, a century later, slot machine manufacturers are still designing slot machines with the same fruit and bar symbols originally created to promote chewing gum. Bet you didn’t know that!