discontinued table games that (inadvertently) gave the player the advantage

I'm always fascinated to learn about the house edge on games... and understand that, besides counting-cards on certain tables, there won't be a table game that gives the edge to the player (for obvious reasons).

But before casinos followed the Wizard's lead and conducted in-depth mathematical analyses, were there any other table games that gave the edge to the player? Anything from a certain company's roulette wheel that was later discovered/proven to be improperly-balanced... or a variant of blackjack that, if you played it just right, could give you a slight edge until casinos wisened-up and discontinued them?

In one of his books, Stanford Wong mentions a game with a player advantage called Ying Yang Yo. As I recall, he sent a friend to pound the game until the casino closed it down. I would imagine there was a mathematician behind it, who just made a mistake. Sometimes casinos will offer rule changes on existing games that give the player an advantage. Some examples I know of are:

* The Sahara (I think) paid even money on banker bets in baccarat.
* Some casino in Biloxi paid 80-1 (usual odds are 60-1) on the 3 and 17 bets in sic bo.
* The Horseshoe in Vegas had a 5-card Charlie rule in blackjack.

Santa Ana Star Casino is permitting buy bets on 4 and 10 in craps with no commission. That means that house edge is zero. So far it is working as a promotion. If someone walks in and plays that bet and nothing else with large bets the casino may change their mind. But it is still within their legal rights to simply ask that player to stop playing, even though he is playing according to the house rules.

If this idea spreads it will probably be restricted to some multiple of the line bet (like free odds on the point).

That was discussed in another thread, and I mentioned those rules in my craps page. The Betfair Internet casino offers a variety of games with no house edge. I think they cap the max bet at $50 or so.

As you said, probably a promotion to get people through the door, and subject to change if players get too greedy with it.