How'd you find the Wizard's site(s)?

From the discussion of the Wizard's wikipedia entry, it ocurred to me to tell the story of how I found the Wizard's sites.

It starts in late May of 09. I'd returned from Vegas after having tried craps and still not quite understanding the game well enough. I began looking up craps on the web. Eventually I found a site called something like "the best damned craps website." It contained a lot fo useful info, but it looked as if it hadn't been updated in some time. Among the information was a link to a site called "The Wizard of Odds," which the craps site owner highly recommended.

I clicked on it (coincidentally I'd been playing a casual game called "Emmerald City Confidential," set in the Wizrd of Oz's universe; it's an interactive, noir-type detective story, atually not bad at all).

At first I was overwhelmed by the sheer amount of information on the site. Not just craps, but also every other game ever played, or so it seemed. If my quest for basic info on craps were analogous to searching for water in a desert, then the Wizard's site was like stumbling on the floodgates of Hoover Dam.

What happened over the course of the next few months was that I erratically looked over the whole site (well, most of it). I say erratically because I'm rather disorganized in my thinking, something that I believe helps the creative process along. Anwyay, I learned a great deal. But as important as the info ont he site is the way it is presented. No doubt a lot of it goes over my head because I'm not very good with math, but the Wizard does offer an English translation. In every case you can easily find what the house edge is for a particular bet, even if you don't know even basic addition. And this is one of the grat triumphs of the Oddss site: it's accessible to anyone.

Oh, but there was so much more, too. There were reviews of new games, reviews of casinos, odds and ends about Vegas and other things. The site was alive (ie frequently updated). In particular there was the often published "Ask the Wizard" section. This is important because it shows a site owner in touch with his readers. And it helped, too, that the Wizard writes in a pleasant style that's easy to follow, presenting facts and observations separately from his opinions.

After ransacking the Odds site for info and following some of the links there, I'd check up on it for updates every other day. Eventually one update included the anouncement of the launch of the Wizard of Vegas site and forum. That was great! It's also completely in character. I think I was among the first to join, and certainly have been an active participant since.

I don't have to tell the story of this site because you all know it, including my part in it.

Since we are sharing. Wile living in AZ I became interested in poker because of the boom, a friend playing, and the idea it had no house edge. This migrated into interest in BJ after seeing the "Breaking Vegas" special. Then a general casino interest after reading the book "Casino." In the book Frank Rosenthal is mentioned as having worked for a bookie known as "The Wizard of Odds."

Eventually I googled "Wizard of Odds" and naturally the site came up. Reading 10 years of Q&A took some time, mostly while I played online poker. The site got me more and more interested in casinos and other bets. It made me know how little I knew.

Checking in on WoO updates, and even got a question answered, I saw the announcement for this site. At the time I had a job where there was little to do and the owner didn't seem to mind web surfing (no, I do not know if they are hiring) I became a contributor here. It was a welcome relief from the trolls on usenet. Since then, here I am. Because of the site I took craps school; met a and conversed with local media; and had a ball at WoV East Con.

Probably my first trip to Vegas when I was looking for a strategy for Pai Gow poker. Ironically, I ended up getting the strategy from wikipedia rather than WoO. WoO doesn't have a great strategy for PGP other than the pair-splitting rule.

Then I really got into the tiles strategy (fascinating!), and eventually delved into the other areas of the site including Spanish 21 and BJ. The S21 strategy is one of the best things on the site, I think. Has saved (maybe even made?) me tons of $$.

WoO is great but is by no means complete. But I get about 80% of my gambling info from there. In some ways it's not ideal for the absolute beginner.

I found the Oz site about 10 years ago. The info posted in 2001 about let it ride in Blackhawk was a result of info I provided the WIZ. Only discovering Vegas OZ about a month ago as a result an Ask the wizard answer stating the question had been discussed on Vegas Forum. Link from Oz to Vegas isn small print at bottom of page.
Might have discovered it earlier as I stop by once a week to seek new answers if posted. Thought #268 was latest but #269 is posted on left side ??? Wonder how many other people miss it too !

I googled something and it was there.

Quote: teddys

WoO is great but is by no means complete.

Perhaps not. But you know the joke about finding things in the last place you look? Everything is in the last place you look, because once you find it you stop looking. It's like that with the Wizard's Odds site. And when I fail to find something there, I ask here.

Quote:

In some ways it's not ideal for the absolute beginner.

What do you mean by "absolute beginner"? After my second trip to vegas I thought I had figured out VP well enough, then I found there were actually different pay tables for the same game. What does that make me?

My first visit to Las Vegas (years ago) was terrible! I went completely unprepared, never having gambled before, and felt humiliated after losing my gambling budget in about ten minutes at a blackjack table at the Bellagio. However, I also discovered video poker on that trip and had a blast playing it, although I never knew if I was making the right choices strategically.

Flash forward maybe ten years for my second attempt at a Vegas trip. This time I wanted to be ready, so I searched for video poker strategies on the Internet, and huzzah! The Wizard appears! Next weekend will be my seventh trip.

I still don't play at the Bellagio.

Back when my parents were living with us (I was taking care of my mom while my dad was at work,) my dad and I were watching a 3 Card Poker tournament that was televised, and I mentioned the game looked like fun but the Pair Plus seemed to be a bad bet. My dad liked the idea of catching lucky and scoring big. So I poked around online looking for information and came across the WoO site. I asked a question about available software for practicing the game, and loved that you had to answer a simple math problem in order to ask a question! That was awesome, even if he never answered.

I ended up buying a Hoyle Casino CD-ROM and discovered many more games, and went to the WoO site for strategies, which I printed up and carry to casinos. I like to try out games before playing them for real.

And, I was right about the Pair Plus.

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Investors Business Daily article.

Casino Player Magazine. This was before they screwed subscribers out of the Fun Book and before the magazine arrived at your home 2 months late with outdated information. I hope they've straightened things out but I've been long gone for awhile. On a scale of 1-10 their customer service was 0.

Mine is similar to Nareed's, but I was looking up craps before a vegas trip.

No clue how I discovered the wizardofodds.com site but he emailed me about this site and I'm proud to say I was the first person to join.

Turn left at Greenland.