Are Modern Poker Tournament Payouts Too Top-Heavy?
While the top 10–15% of poker tournament entrants typically cash in, the largest prizes are often concentrated at the very top. This common structure, which sees winners…
Articles
New explainers from the desk and the newsroom feed. Each explainer takes one question about odds, rules or the law and works it through with the numbers and the source; the feed below it carries the latest items as they are filed.
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From the desk
EsportsAre Loot Boxes Gambling Under US Law?
US gambling law asks for consideration, chance and prize, and loot box cases usually turn on the prize. How courts have applied the test and what has actually been enacted.
EsportsThe CSGO Lotto FTC Case: Owners Posing as Lucky Players
The FTC's CSGO Lotto case was about undisclosed ownership in endorsements, not a ban on skin gambling. What the order required and the disclosure…
GamblingThe Hot Hand Fallacy in Gambling: What the Research Shows
A 2018 paper overturned the classic hot-hand study, but not for roulette. Where streaks carry real information, where they cannot, and what casino…
GamblingProfessional Gambler Tax Status: When Schedule C Applies
Filing as a professional gambler moves winnings to Schedule C but not past the section 165(d) loss limit. What Groetzinger requires, what changes and…
GamblingDoes the Wire Act Apply Only to Sports Betting?
The 1961 Wire Act still decides why legal sportsbooks geofence bettors. What 18 U.S.C. 1084 says, how the Justice Department reread it, and what the…
Casino9/6 Jacks or Better Meaning: How Two Numbers Set the Return
The 9 and the 6 are the full house and flush payouts, and those two numbers set most of a Jacks or Better machine's return. How to read the table and…
CasinoTriple-Zero Roulette: The Arithmetic Behind a 7.69 Percent House Edge
Adding a third zero leaves every payout unchanged and nearly triples the single-zero edge. Pocket-count arithmetic for 0, 00 and 000 wheels and the…
CasinoCraps Odds Bet: Why It Has No House Edge and What 3-4-5x Odds Do
The odds bet behind the pass line pays true odds, so it carries no house edge at all. The dice arithmetic behind 3-4-5x odds and how far it pulls the…
SlotsClass II vs Class III Slot Machines: Why Some Tribal Slots Are Really Bingo
A small bingo card on a slot screen means the game is Class II under federal law. How IGRA splits gaming into classes, why tribes use bingo machines…
SlotsMinimum Slot Payback by State: What the 75 Percent Floor Really Means
State rules set a floor on slot machine payback, from Nevada's 75 percent upward. What the minimum applies to, what it never guarantees a player, and…
BlackjackFree Bet Blackjack: Why the Dealer's 22 Pushes and What It Costs You
Free doubles and free splits look generous until the dealer lands on 22 and every bet pushes. How the trade works, what it does to the edge, and…
BlackjackDouble After Split and Resplitting Aces: What Each Blackjack Rule Is Worth
DAS, RSA and doubling restrictions each move the blackjack house edge by a measurable amount. A rule-by-rule price list and the basic strategy splits…
PokerForm 5754: How Staked Poker Players Split a Tournament Win With the IRS
When a staked player cashes a big tournament, Form 5754 lets the payer issue separate W-2Gs to each backer. What is filled in at the cage and who…
PokerICM on a Final Table: Working Out Chip Equity by Hand
The independent chip model turns stacks into dollars with one repeated formula. A three-player example worked step by step, plus what the model…
PokerRunning It Twice in Poker: Why It Cuts Variance but Not Expected Value
Dealing the board twice splits an all-in pot into two chances without changing what either player expects to win. The proof, a worked example and the…
BettingTheoretical Hold vs Reported Hold: Reading a State Sportsbook Revenue Report
A -110/-110 line implies a 4.5 percent hold, yet state reports show different numbers each month. How to read handle, revenue and hold, and why they…
BettingThe Federal Excise Tax on Sports Bets: Where the 0.25 Percent Goes
Every legal US sports wager carries a 0.25 percent federal excise tax under IRC 4401. Who pays it, how Form 730 works, and which bets are exempt from…
BettingWong Teasers Explained: Why Six-Point NFL Teasers Only Work Through 3 and 7
A six-point teaser at -120 needs each leg to win about 74 percent of the time. Here is the arithmetic, and why only legs crossing both 3 and 7 get…
Newsroom feed
Esports In Integrity Spotlight as Task Force Squares Up to Match-Fixing
Concerned betting officials from three states joined forces in early 2026 to combat rising esports match-fixing suspicions and broader integrity concerns. The…
How to Read a Betting Line Before You Place a Wager
A betting line packs three ideas into a few characters: who the market expects to win, by how much, and what the book charges for taking the bet. Reading it slowly…