Known as the “Casino Answer Man,” John Grochowski is the writer of hundreds of columns on gambling topics, slot sites and a large collection of books on gambling. His most notable series, the “Answer Book” series, focuses on helping settle complicated questions about various casino games that new and intermediate players may have.
He has also done considerable work in sports writing for non-gambling topics.
Born and raised in the suburbs of Chicago, Illinois, Grochowski stayed in the Chicago area throughout college, where he began gaining experience writing and editing for the University of Illinois student newspaper, the Daily Illini. Grochowski took this experience and began a career writing for newspapers, working as a sportswriter and copy editor for two smaller newspapers in the Chicago area. The major turning point of his career was landing a job as a copy editor with the Chicago Sun-Times, where he worked for years before beginning the work that he became most famous for.
According to the Las Vegas Advisor, Grochowski became the first gambling columnist at a notable newspaper in the entirety of the United States when he began his iconic gambling column in the early 1990s. Grochowski worked at the Sun-Times during one of its most thriving eras and was colleagues to writing greats such as Roger Ebert.
After beginning his column in 1994, Grochowski would go on to write a number of books themed around answering common questions about casino games and casino game topics. Throughout the late 90s and early 00s, Grochowski wrote four books that formed his “answer book” series. The Video Poker Answer Book, The Casino Answer Book, The Slot Machine Answer Book, and The Craps Answer Book all hit shelves with good receptions, teaching players how to better play and enjoy casino games. In his Casino Answer Book, he highlighted the concept of house advantage for new gamblers as something that could be beat with the correct approach.
In the 2000s – the 2010s, Grochowski began a series of “Casino Answer Man” shorts on various radio stations, and he also made a number of television appearances, including winning $125,000 on the hit game-show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.
Grochowski has had an active blog since early 2010 in which he regularly writes about gambling topics. He has also guest-written for other gambling sites, including his most recent New Guide to Online Slots/Ultimate Guide to Online Slots which updates and improves upon his previous work on the topic of online slots.
As is characteristic, he tends to focus on questions that newcomers to the games might have. For example, in Online Slots, Grochowski discusses the ways that players can verify that online slots are actually random while also touching on the topic of house advantage online.
Interestingly, Grochowski has also written a handful of fiction short stories mean to illustrate concepts in gambling. The most recent example of this is a short story titled The 2 Percent Solution in which Sherlock Holmes reveals to his companion Watson the way that certain casinos and gambling tables ensure that they continue to make money.
In the end Sherlock educates Watson on the complex processes of deduction one can use to enjoy gambling more, or, with enough passion and devotion, make some money.
Grochowski also frequently does question and answer sessions with readers on his website, which he publishes in a digest format from time to time. Grochowski is now regarded to be one of the top ten gambling experts in the world.
