It stopped being fun (pt. 2)

That would presume that anyone listens to you, which is exceedingly rare. And your presence on this thread violates the rules laid down by Anthony. Bye now.

 I learned many years ago not to gamble at games that I did not know the rules for - doing so just cost me money while trying to figure out how to play the game intelligently. I prefer to let others play and evaluate the value of such games, and if I discern that the game was playable, and possibly profitable, then and only then I would sit down and play. Based upon my results would and does determine whether I will continue to play the same game(s) in the future. For me, this makes sense. 

Who cares.what you do or did when gambling?

PJ, my interest in gambling has definately waned over the years.  During my trips in the 1980's, I would gamble about 45 hours over a three night weekend.  Of course I only slept 2-3 hours per night back then.  Now I gamble about 15 hours over a three night weekend and I tend to be in Vegas 12 hours longer.  Plus, I now bet $15 a wager playing blackjack, while 20 years ago I averaged $25 I would guess.

Now that we're old guys, we spend much more time watching football in our Big Room (aka suite).  These games always involve beats by at least a few of the guys.  With 14 guys, we can make our own party, and we do.

 I just returned from 12 days in Vegas and I did my usual viewing of people playing blackjack. I am amazed at the people who keep losing to dealers who never seem to bust and/or seem to always draw a winning 20 or 21, which just beats the players. Also, it seems that the dealer always has a 20 when their face up card is a face card. Meanwhile the players keep betting, and keep playing hand after hand, and keep losing. The last time I sat down to play blackjack, the dealer shuffled and drew 7 cards to an exact 21, beating everyone, many who were dealt a 20. The second hand, I was once again dealt a 20, only to see the dealer turn over a blackjack. This scenario, after a shuffle, happens all to often, and when I am playing and this happens, I quit and leave the table. I have lost too much money over the years thinking that this scenario is just happenstance - it isn't. Watch how the discards are collected and how all dealers shuffle - these proceedures are done precisely and deliberately because they ensure that the cards, when dealt in future hands, will come out of the shoe giving similar results. Don't believe me, well do your self a favor next time you play and see how your results compare. Or, you can do as most do and continue playing and continue losing - after all it is your money and you can do as you please. 

"We don't need to cheat ya to beat ya."---quote from several dealers/floormen over the years.

Every casino game has an inherent house advantage. Sometimes that advantage can be overcome; other times it can be lessened; and sometimes there's nothing you can do about it. But regardless of which game you're playing, you are not being cheated.

It's very common, human nature, to think that when a series of unusual (and bad for the player) results occur, those outcomes must have been due to house cheating. However, we all have selective memories. If we get a hard 20 and the dealer gets a blackjack, we remember that. But if we get a blackjack and the dealer gets a hard 20, we don't really notice what the dealer had. Each of those two situations is equally likely. But we remember the bad one and label it unusual, without doing so for the good one.

The dealer draws to four stiffs in a row and makes a good hand each time. We get upset; we remember this; and maybe we think we were cheated. But we don't get that kind of luck with our stiff hands because the dealer always draws to them, and we don't! If you're going to play blackjack for money, you have to be prepared for the dealer to make more good hands than the players and bust more often than the players, because while the players sometimes stand on their stiffs, the dealers never do. So you're going to see the dealer sometimes make hand after hand and sometimes bust over and over. But no one accuses the dealer of cheating when she busts four times in a row!

Nevada is perhaps the most honest gambling venue in the history of the world. Why is that? It's because the casinos want the games to be fair! They know that their mathematical advantages will work for them in the long run. Gambling can be frustrating, and you can experience long losing streaks. And yeah, it might seem like "the dealer always has a 20 when her upcard is a face card." But if you stood back and observed, and actually kept track of that, you'd discover that the actual frequency is one in three (she would have flipped her hand over if she had an Ace in the hole). They're not cheating you; you're just getting unlucky. One-in-three occurrences can happen many times in a row quite naturally.

For this last, let's look at the odds against four dealer face cards up turning into four consecutive 20's. It's one over 3 to the fourth power, or 80 to 1 against (1/81). Unusual? Slightly. Evidence of dealer cheating? Nonsense!

Ever seen someone roll two elevens in a row at the craps table? 288 to 1 against! Was the shooter cheating?

Some gamblers may cheat though! Hahahahaha

Well I can't wait to make my trip in 12 days.  I'm looking foward to the suite at the Mirage.  Perhpas a few rolls of the dice at the crap table.  But I'm going to try to focus on sports betting and video poker this trip.  I've had more than my share of getting frustrated, so not this trip.  going to log each session at $100 on a $1000 bankroll and see how that plays out.  Looking forward to those jacuzzi spas.  Tried those at manadaly bay and it was great.  The female scenery was great too.  Looking forward to seeing some of my vegas buddies there.  Gotta try that southpoint monday night football that Anthony talks about.  Looking forward to seeing Anthony as well if he has time.  This is my Christmas Present to myself this year.  I hope to meet all my LVA'ers sometime in the future to just talk anything vegas.  Maybe all the luck will come my way this trip.  I can always hope, plus a money management and strategy on the craps table betting the pass, free odds bet.  Come bet to get the true odds of the bet and of course betting football.  Love the fall, best time of the year.

Merry Christmas fellow LVA''ers,

Dave

Nonsense!  

   Dealer 1 - OK.