Observing Dumb Gamblers (add your story here)

Went to one of the local casinos over the holiday weekend ......
I was waiting for Rock'n Rita outside the restrooms, and was observing from a distance a man playing video poker.

He was playing regular Deuces Wild, and was dealt 2 Deuces, which he held, along with the King of Hearts.......

Then a few hands latter he was dealt 2 Deuces, which he held, and this time held them with the Ace of Clubs....


Obviously this guy didn't know how to play correctly, but even if this was his first time ever playing VP,
one would think that it would be a very obvious decision to hold just the Deuces in each instance.

............. I guess I was just so surprised to see such an uneducated player.


Does anyone else have a "Dumb Gambler" story ???


Happy New Year Everybody !!!!!

Rick

I have observed many. A common mistake I witness is the person playing Double Double being dealt a pair of Aces and another pair and keeping both pairs. I see this a lot.

A few years back, we were at a casino in South Dakota playing BJ with the wife. A man came and joined our table. He hit everything except 20 and obviously 21. Made no difference what the dealer had for a face card he was hitting! The dealer called the pit boss over the first couple of times to observe. After a few times doing it the pitboss just shook his head and moved on.

One time I remember in the shoe he actually hit a 19 and drew the deuce for 21. Otherwise he burnt through his buy-in of $200 pretty quickly.

This reminds me of the very first time I gambled. My wife and I were on an overnight "Gambling" cruise. A "knowledgeable" friend told us Blackjack is easy, just always assume the dealer has a 10 underneath. We knew nothing about hand signals or table etiquette. We bought in for a whopping one hundred dollars and hit on couple of 18's and 19's when the dealer showed a 10 card. Before long we were tapped out.

Another example, and it is quite sad, is a lonely old man my wife used to work with. We would see him on the gambling boat out of Treasure Island, Florida. He would play two hands of BJ at 25 a hand. He was a hunch player without a clue. He would burn through 5k just about every trip. His main purpose was to impress everyone and get lots of attention.

He burned trough his inheritance (his father left him some cattle property east of Tampa). Before you know it the boat cut him off and he died a couple of years later broke and embarrassed.

Although I did not "witness" it in person, I did see videos. And read about it too...

I'd like to nominate the "Singer Play System Special Plays".

As a side note, when gambling, I may not agree with a persons play, but if they promise not to tell me how to win my money, I won't tell them how to lose theirs.

Who's hosting the awards ceremony?

I'm much too self-centered to look or care how other people are playing...

As for myself, I've made plenty of dumb mistakes throughout my learning curve at the tables and got lots of dumbf@ck looks in the process. I remember walking up to a craps table and putting down 10 dollars on the pass line in the middle of a point roll. Yeah...not too bright. Live and learn.

oh...and you'd think after 1000 spins of the roulette wheel I would learn to wait for the dealer to remove the peg from the board before grabbing my winnings. Nope. I get yelled at every trip =)

I remember once walking up to a deuces machine and noticed the last hand played, they had held 2 deuces and a jack. They drew the other 2 deuces and had cashed out and left.

I've seen many people keep a high pair, flushes and straights when dealt 4RF. Many people keep a high card instead of a low pair playing JOB games. The list is endless. The % of people who have any clue about VP strategy is very low.

Years ago when I used to go on these "up and backs" out of LAX, I was playing BJ at the now defunct Maxim Hotel.

All of a sudden there was a big commotion coming from the slot area. Seems like a husband and wife were playing side by side slot machines, and the woman hit the jackpot. Only problem was, she only had one coin in instead of the 3 coins needed for the BIG Jackpot.

Well things finally got under control, until 15 minute later. Now an even louder commotion started, but this one was even worse than the previous one. I ran over to take a look at what was happening. When I got there, I could see the husband have the wife bent over backwards on the machine she was playing, and was strangling her to death. Apparently the woman had hit the same jackpot AGAIN, and even though she had hit a mini jackpot just 15 minutes earlier, HAD ONLY PLAYED....you guessed it....ONE COIN AT A TIME!!!

They apparently needed money desperately, and his wife just blew any chance they had of getting out of the hole!

I have shared this one before. Some years ago, i was playing blackjack at a local casino. It was a $25 double deck table. The table is pretty full. The dealer deals and her up card is an 8 or something. I know it was not a bust card and I know it was not a face. The guy in the 5th spot starts to signal to split his 2 face cards. I guess he must have reacted to the gasp of horror that came from the rest of the table. Because he suddenly wants to hit his 20. The dealer asks him if he is sure. He says yes. She lets him know that unless he draws an Ace, he will bust and again asks him if he is sure. He says yes. Then she finally calls a suit over for the guy to confirm in front of her supervisor that he wants to hit his 20. And she deals him a 2 and he busts. The rest of the table cashed out and fled immediately after the hand was finished.


The guy didn't appear overly drunk, and even if he was, he had plenty of chances to back out of making this stupid hit

I make it a personal point to never comment on--and try not to even think about--other people's play. It's their money and they are free to play it anyway they want.