{"id":119776,"date":"2019-07-02T09:35:08","date_gmt":"2019-07-02T16:35:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/gambling-with-an-edge\/?p=119776"},"modified":"2019-07-02T09:35:08","modified_gmt":"2019-07-02T16:35:08","slug":"whats-your-take","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/gambling-with-an-edge\/whats-your-take\/","title":{"rendered":"What\u2019s Your Take?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bonnie and I were recently returning from a cruise and were waiting in the Fort Lauderdale airport for our flight home. We were sitting next to some Vegas friends who were on the same cruise — a man and his wife, their 13-year-old son and their 11-year-old daughter.<\/span><\/p>\n

I was absorbed in a book and wasn\u2019t following what was going on, but all of a sudden, the girl, Kelly, asked me if I wanted her to get me a free drink from a vending machine? There were sodas, water, and a few types of energy drinks available. Maybe other choices as well. It was across the room and I didn\u2019t look closely at it.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAnd just how are you going to get me a free drink?\u201d I asked. \u201cThey are usually sold at a premium in an airport and not given away.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDaddy found this code on the Internet. You enter the code into the vending machine, and it thinks you\u2019re an employee. You then get whatever you want.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHave you tried it?\u201d I asked.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWell, we tried it and got to the last step and then we chickened out. I\u2019m not a thief and couldn\u2019t bring myself to do it for me. But to give to somebody else, that\u2019s different. And I really want to see if it works. So, what do you want?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI want to pass on this,\u201d I replied.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Kelly then asked Bonnie, who didn\u2019t really understand what Kelly was suggesting, so she looked at me for guidance. I told her it looked like a scam that may or may not work. But if it does work, it\u2019s clearly stealing from the vending machine company. When I phrased it that way, Bonnie wanted no part of it either. Kelly got a similar response from both her parents.<\/span><\/p>\n

Since none of the adults wanted to do this, Kelly concluded that it wasn\u2019t the right thing to do — so she let it go. Had she taken the free drink, I would hope one of her parents would instruct her otherwise. For me to do so would be hypocritical, as I\u2019ve done far worse. Some of those instances readers of my columns have heard about. Some they haven\u2019t.<\/span><\/p>\n

This is something I might have said yes to 25 years ago. I was new in Vegas and desperately trying to make it. Three dollars saved is three dollars earned.<\/span><\/p>\n

Even then, however, I wouldn\u2019t have done it in front of five people who knew me and looked up to me. It would have been something I did by myself or with at most one accomplice.<\/span><\/p>\n

This time there was a dome on the ceiling housing a security camera — which may or may not be active. They didn\u2019t have those 25 years ago. You could just look around and see whether anybody was watching. Not anymore. Although it is doubtful the security system was there to protect against this kind of scam, you never know. The chance of being caught definitely enters into the equation when you\u2019re considering crossing a line.<\/span><\/p>\n

Would you have taken the free soda?<\/span><\/p>\n

In casinos, there are numerous situations not so different from this one. When they unexpectedly arise, you need to make a decision. Those with a strong moral compass have no trouble at all with these decisions. The same is true for those with no moral compass at all, although they make the opposite decisions from the ones in the previous category. Where it presents problems are for those of us who look at each situation as a new problem to consider.<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve heard it said that the difference between an advantage player (which I consider myself to be) and a cheat (which I do not consider myself to be) is that the advantage player always does things in a casino legally. I wonder. Temptations arise and we make decisions. Even on the decisions we can justify to ourselves, others may decide we have \u201ccrossed the line.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

I chatted about this article a bit with a friend and he listed a couple of cases that would be taboo for him that I thought would have been acceptable for me. And vice versa. He was amazed that I considered something off limits.<\/span><\/p>\n

Dan Ariely is a professor at Duke University and the author of many books and articles including \u201cAsk Ariely,\u201d an advice column in <\/span>The Wall Street Journal<\/span><\/i>. One thing I\u2019ve learned from reading Dr. Ariely\u2019s works is that the decision we make now (when temptation is far away and just a theoretical concept) can be different than what we decide in the heat of the moment. Although Ariely\u2019s conclusions are often about sexual matters, I believe they also apply to financial matters. Getting \u201cmore money\u201d is one of the major things that inspire those who gamble — whether it\u2019s gambling with or without the advantage.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"youtube\"<\/a>\"instagram\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bonnie and I were recently returning from a cruise and were waiting in the Fort Lauderdale airport for our flight home. We were sitting next to some Vegas friends who were on the same cruise — a man and his wife, their 13-year-old son and their 11-year-old daughter. I was absorbed in a book and […]<\/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":[2,3],"tags":[428],"yoast_head":"\nWhat\u2019s Your Take? - Gambling With An Edge<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/gambling-with-an-edge\/whats-your-take\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What\u2019s Your Take? - Gambling With An Edge\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Bonnie and I were recently returning from a cruise and were waiting in the Fort Lauderdale airport for our flight home. 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