Comments on: Skill and Luck – and Karma?

By: Starr Piercy

Starr Piercy — Fri, 26 Jan 2018 20:59:13 +0000

I carry warm gloves in the winter and give them to beggars instead of money. They seem to really appreciate them, and if they already have a pair, they can trade them within their community for other items.

By: Jim Bucceri

Jim Bucceri — Mon, 15 Jan 2018 22:40:17 +0000

I too remember reading this story the first time around. Was this really from 2003? That would have been 15 years ago. It seems like I just read it only a few years ago.

By: Bob Gilbert

Bob Gilbert — Mon, 15 Jan 2018 03:00:23 +0000

Jean, I’ve always wanted to meet you and Brad and maybe some day I will. I am a hardcore coupon run play every advantage I can muster and VP player so this story above and Brads good deed reminded me of an event some years ago.. what I call Santa Vegas. It was a December trip. I come in the as the Rodeo leaves and all the prices drop. I am using both LVA & ACG coupons up that expire in just a week or 2 and have a lot extra and as I would go around I would give or offer coupons to people that I wasn’t going to use. ( Sometimes they would look at me like “whats the catch” and I would say” its free money you want it or not?” ). soo..I was up at Ramparts went in and played and came out for a phone call to a friend back East who was checking up on me. I realized I had an extra coupon to use and joked with my friend, “Its a tough job but someone’s gotta do it!” So I went back in. I had played a match play at craps after winning some VP money and low and behold the guy who had started playing at the table when I left was on” the run of his life” . His rack was full of blacks and greens. I waited for him to hit the point ( again ) and laid down my little $10 plus mplay. He calls out” is that all you are playing with? ” I said, “That’s all i got”. he mumbled something to the dealer I didn’t hear and there some chips thrown and he rolls the come out and gets an 8. I don’t even back my bet , More chips from him and he hits the 8 ! And I am expecting my $20 plus back and the dealer forks over like almost $200 !! I go “what happened !? ” he said he ( the
shooter) backed you up on the Hard EIGHT !” well talk about coupon karma I kept playing and betting for the dealers and though he didn’t last much longer I left with just short of $500. !! Call it what you will there is nothing wrong with sharing the wealth a little even in,.. especially in Vegas. All the best Bobby V

By: John

John — Sat, 13 Jan 2018 16:04:33 +0000

Love the way you tell a story. It becomes a teaching moment with humor.

By: Mark Beadling

Mark Beadling — Sat, 13 Jan 2018 03:22:22 +0000

I have remembered this story since you first wrote it. It has encouraged me to have the discipline to limit my play to only the best pay schedules and offers I can find.

Thanks for printing it again.

By: Sharon Walker

Sharon Walker — Fri, 12 Jan 2018 23:41:40 +0000

I like you Jean Scott. You always make me smile.

By: Kevin Lewis

Kevin Lewis — Fri, 12 Jan 2018 23:26:02 +0000

Well, obviously, it doesn’t matter if before playing, you donate $1000 to a homeless shelter or you strangle a puppy. There’s no such thing as karma, and no such thing as luck, for that matter. If you say “nonsense” to that, I defy you to find any indication of its existence, the way you could magnetism, heat, or gravity.

The value of the play was the inherent EV of the play + $25. That was true whether you lost every hand or hit seven royals. The results don’t matter; luck is illusory; the only thing that counts is EV. But man, have I had a hard time convincing people of that.

And for what it’s worth, I wouldn’t have given the guy a dollar, because I would thus be encouraging him to bother more people after me. I don’t want to make anyone’s day less pleasant, and I feel that you and I have the right to not be solicited. I agree, give your dollars to a homeless shelter; they won’t go to buy booze or cigarettes.