https://michaelorlov.com/blog/ Notes from Orlov Games on how the games work underneath: paytables, odds, strategy and the maths. en Tue, 27 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://michaelorlov.com/blog/slot-stacked-symbols.html https://michaelorlov.com/blog/slot-stacked-symbols.html Tue, 27 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Brasslight Slots Stacking a symbol on a reel strip cuts how often it shows but fills more rows when it does. On an invented 30-stop strip, 60% of windows fall to 26.7%. https://michaelorlov.com/blog/pool-bridge-stance-straight-stroke.html https://michaelorlov.com/blog/pool-bridge-stance-straight-stroke.html Tue, 27 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000 8balls Why a 1 or 2 degree error in the cue's line is enough to miss a pot: the geometry of the bridge, stance and stroke, with the miss distances worked out. https://michaelorlov.com/blog/omaha-sit-and-go-50-30-20-payouts.html https://michaelorlov.com/blog/omaha-sit-and-go-50-30-20-payouts.html Tue, 27 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Omaha Poker In a 50/30/20 Sit and Go, chips are not prize share. With stacks of 5,000, 3,000 and 2,000 the chip leader's equity is 38.4% of the prize pool, not 50%. https://michaelorlov.com/blog/holdem-minimum-defence-frequency.html https://michaelorlov.com/blog/holdem-minimum-defence-frequency.html Tue, 27 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Holdem Coach Minimum defence frequency is pot ÷ (pot + bet): the share of your range that must continue. A half-pot bet asks for 66.7%; pot odds ask a hand for 25%. https://michaelorlov.com/blog/fives-and-threes-partners-four-player.html https://michaelorlov.com/blog/fives-and-threes-partners-four-player.html Tue, 27 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Fives and Threes Dominoes How the four-player partnership game works: partners opposite, 7 tiles each, no boneyard, one shared score to 61, and the tactics that follow from it. https://michaelorlov.com/blog/diesel-or-electric-trains.html https://michaelorlov.com/blog/diesel-or-electric-trains.html Tue, 27 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Valley Rail Diesel-electric trains carry a power station on board; electric trains take power from a wire or rail, from 750 V DC up to 25 kV AC. https://michaelorlov.com/blog/deuces-wild-lone-deuce.html https://michaelorlov.com/blog/deuces-wild-lone-deuce.html Tue, 27 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Video Poker With one deuce and nothing else useful, you keep the deuce alone and draw four. What that draw makes, and which suited pairs are strong enough to join it. https://michaelorlov.com/blog/dead-mans-hand-named-hands.html https://michaelorlov.com/blog/dead-mans-hand-named-hands.html Tue, 27 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Poker vs Dealer Aces and eights is plain two pair: 1,584 of 2,598,960 five-card hands, 1 in 1,641. Hickok's 1876 hand, its disputed fifth card, and other named hands. https://michaelorlov.com/blog/boost-pressure-what-a-pound-adds.html https://michaelorlov.com/blog/boost-pressure-what-a-pound-adds.html Tue, 27 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Pink Slip Kings At sea level each psi of boost packs in about 6.8% more air before heat. 15 psi gives a pressure ratio of 2.02, but compression heat takes a large share back. https://michaelorlov.com/blog/block-puzzle-reduced-motion.html https://michaelorlov.com/blog/block-puzzle-reduced-motion.html Tue, 27 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Big Ben Blocks Screen motion can cause dizziness and nausea for some people. What reduced-motion settings are, what WCAG says about animation, and what a calmer design swaps. https://michaelorlov.com/blog/blackjack-true-count-bet-ramp.html https://michaelorlov.com/blog/blackjack-true-count-bet-ramp.html Tue, 27 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Blackjack Coach A bet ramp ties bet size to the Hi-Lo true count. With each +1 worth about 0.5% and a 0.5% house edge, break-even is near +1. A 1 to 8 unit ramp, worked. https://michaelorlov.com/blog/blackjack-five-card-charlie.html https://michaelorlov.com/blog/blackjack-five-card-charlie.html Tue, 27 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Blackjack 21 Big Cards Offline A five-card Charlie wins any hand of five cards that has not bust. How rare that is, why a third of such hands still lose, and what the rule is worth. https://michaelorlov.com/blog/why-trains-cant-stop-quickly.html https://michaelorlov.com/blog/why-trains-cant-stop-quickly.html Mon, 26 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Valley Rail Steel wheels on steel rail grip far less than rubber on road, so a train at 120 km/h needs about 800 m to stop where a car needs about 80 m. https://michaelorlov.com/blog/video-poker-penalty-cards.html https://michaelorlov.com/blog/video-poker-penalty-cards.html Mon, 26 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Video Poker On 9/6 Jacks or Better, suited J-T beats K-J (0.497 to 0.486) until a spade sits among the discards. Then K-J wins, 0.486 to 0.480. Counted draw by draw. https://michaelorlov.com/blog/slot-history-one-armed-bandit-to-video.html https://michaelorlov.com/blog/slot-history-one-armed-bandit-to-video.html Mon, 26 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Brasslight Slots Four dates show how slots changed: the 1890s Liberty Bell, 1963's Money Honey, the 1976 video slot and the 1984 virtual reel patent, with the odds each allowed. https://michaelorlov.com/blog/pool-and-snooker-differences.html https://michaelorlov.com/blog/pool-and-snooker-differences.html Mon, 26 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000 8balls Pool and snooker compared: table size, ball size and count, how each game is scored, what a foul costs, and where the 147 maximum break comes from. https://michaelorlov.com/blog/poker-hand-nicknames.html https://michaelorlov.com/blog/poker-hand-nicknames.html Mon, 26 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Poker vs Dealer Trips is three of a kind (54,912 hands), a boat is a full house (3,744), a wheel is A-2-3-4-5 (1,020 plus 4 steel wheels). Each nickname, counted. https://michaelorlov.com/blog/omaha-blockers-nut-card.html https://michaelorlov.com/blog/omaha-blockers-nut-card.html Mon, 26 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Omaha Poker On a three-heart flop 20.9% of opponent hands hold a flush. Each heart in your four cards removes some, and the ace of hearts removes every nut flush. https://michaelorlov.com/blog/holdem-continuation-bets.html https://michaelorlov.com/blog/holdem-continuation-bets.html Mon, 26 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Holdem Coach A continuation bet follows a preflop raise. Two unpaired cards miss the flop 67.6% of the time, and a half-pot bluff only needs b/(p+b) = 33.3% folds. https://michaelorlov.com/blog/fives-and-threes-long-suits.html https://michaelorlov.com/blog/fives-and-threes-long-suits.html Mon, 26 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Fives and Threes Dominoes Each number is on 7 of the 28 tiles. How often a 7-tile hand holds 4 or more of one, and how the rest of the suit shrinks for your opponent.