{"id":113077,"date":"2019-03-26T09:41:12","date_gmt":"2019-03-26T16:41:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/gambling-with-an-edge\/?p=113077"},"modified":"2019-03-26T09:41:12","modified_gmt":"2019-03-26T16:41:12","slug":"an-advantage-play","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/gambling-with-an-edge\/an-advantage-play\/","title":{"rendered":"An \u201cAdvantage Play\u201d I Detest"},"content":{"rendered":"

What is an advantage play? While I have never heard a precise definition, generally it is when you use your intelligence, knowledge, or guile to gain an advantage over some other person or group. The term is most often used in discussions about beating a casino.<\/span><\/p>\n

Counting cards at blackjack is a common advantage play. Using video poker knowledge to choose which machines to play and to play every hand correctly, combined with an understanding of slot clubs and promotions, is the type of advantage play in which I regularly indulge. Betting sports, where you have computed that the line should be -3 and the books have them at -7, is still another. As is seeking dealers who expose the bottom card or make incorrect payouts. Here we are extracting extra money from a casino \u2013 which is the entire point of intelligent gambling.<\/span><\/p>\n

Outside the casino, clipping coupons could be considered an advantage play \u2013 especially if sometimes you get the stuff for free. Doing all your shopping during sales and never paying full retail is another. Standing in the \u201c10 items or less line when you actually have 11 items is another. \u00a0The list is endless.<\/span><\/p>\n

In normal use of the term, advantage play includes legal actions and excludes illegal actions. With this definition, using a computer strapped to your thigh to help you figure out how to play blackjack accurately in Nevada is not an advantage play. It is an illegal one.<\/span><\/p>\n

The problem with this definition is that often what is legal or illegal is a gray area and must be determined by the courts — where it helps to hire good lawyers. While I strongly believe the edge sorting that Phil Ivey and Kelly Sun did at Borgata, Crockfords, and other casinos should be a 100% legal advantage play, the courts have disagreed. Sometimes you just don\u2019t know what is legal or what is not, although there is not doubt about the most egregious cases such as using a gun to rob a bank.<\/span><\/p>\n

Let me get to what bugs me so much.<\/span><\/p>\n

My wife, Bonnie, fell hard recently and hit on her buttocks\/hip area. Nothing was broken, fortunately, but she\u2019s 75 years old and the fall debilitated her. Although she may be walking without assistance when you next see her, for several weeks she used a walker, or a cane, or sometimes even a wheel chair. She asked her orthopedist to sign the form for a temporary \u201cDisability Placard\u201d to enable her to park close to places she needed to go. The doctor agreed and we went into the DMV to get the placard.<\/span><\/p>\n

While we were in the DMV, where we had no problem, on the next chair over was a woman writhing in pain. She could barely even sit down, and she was constantly moaning. Clearly, she was in agony. \u00a0\u00a0It was uncomfortable to see. We didn\u2019t know her and couldn\u2019t really help her, but someone hurting that much made our hearts go out to her.<\/span><\/p>\n

We finished before she did, and I left Bonnie by the front door of the DMV while I went to retrieve our car and pick her up. When I got there to pick up Bonnie and was helping her in the front seat, we saw the woman who was in so much pain exit the DMV, immediately straighten up, and begin to jog towards her car!<\/span><\/p>\n

Although there may be another side to this story, to us it looked like she got the disability placards merely so she can park up close to wherever she\u2019s going. This was clearly an advantage play. <\/span><\/p>\n

You might consider this smart until you consider that there are only a limited number of handicapped parking spots at many places, and the spot she\u2019ll be taking should be left available to someone who really needs it. <\/span><\/p>\n

When she signed up, Bonnie received two placards. One she placed in her own car, of course, and the other she gave to me. When she\u2019s with me, I park in a handicapped space. When she\u2019s not with me, I don\u2019t.<\/span><\/p>\n

On one occasion, the temptation to use the placard when she wasn\u2019t with me was strong. I resisted. But I might someday not resist.<\/span><\/p>\n

In order to help me \u201cpractice what I preach,\u201d I offer you the following promise: If you ever see me use a handicapped space inappropriately (i.e. when Bonnie\u2019s not around or when I don\u2019t qualify for one myself, which I don\u2019t currently but I\u2019m 72 years old and who knows what the future holds?), mention it and I will give you $100. If there are three of you in the group, I will give all three of you $100 each. <\/span><\/p>\n

Parting with a few Benjamins won\u2019t break me, but I don\u2019t throw money around. It would irritate me (at my own short-coming) should I ever have to pay money for something I shouldn\u2019t be doing anyway. I\u2019m not really famous, but I\u2019ve taught enough classes that tens of thousands of people in Las Vegas recognize me. Knowing that I might have to fork over some money if I \u201ccheat\u201d will assist me in walking the walk. <\/span><\/p>\n

Forgive the pun please, but we all need crutches, and this is one that will help me.<\/span><\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"youtube\"<\/a>\"instagram\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What is an advantage play? While I have never heard a precise definition, generally it is when you use your intelligence, knowledge, or guile to gain an advantage over some other person or group. The term is most often used in discussions about beating a casino. Counting cards at blackjack is a common advantage play. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6498,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[29,2],"tags":[428,196],"yoast_head":"\nAn \u201cAdvantage Play\u201d I Detest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"What is an advantage play? 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