More than thirty years ago, country music artist Travis Tritt recorded a song called “Lord Have Mercy on the Working Man.” The song is about the social injustices suffered by blue-collar workers.
One of the lines in the song is, “Why’s the rich man busy dancing while the poor man pays the band?” Today I’d like to apply that line to the gambling situation.
In gambling, it’s not so much the rich man versus the poor man, but rather the knowledgeable player versus the rest of the gamblers. While knowledgeable players sometimes have money, earning money in a casino and being wealthy are not the same thing at all. Casinos make most of their money off of well-heeled gamblers who buck the odds and lose.
Video poker is not a game where the losing players give money to the winning players. At least not directly. Indirectly, however, casinos take money from the losing players, give that money to the winning players, and hold out a percentage of that money for expenses and profit.
My goal in a casino is to be the player who is “busy dancing,” both literally and figuratively, while the losing players end up paying for my ride. I want to enjoy winning, dining, hotel rooms, cruises, and various other goodies while actually accumulating money during the process. It doesn’t always work out that way, of course, but that’s my goal.
Obviously, only a relatively few players manage to do this over time. Casinos need to make money overall in order to stay in business. But if losing players lose enough, that leaves enough for the knowledgeable players to enjoy the fruits of the game while still keeping the casinos afloat.
There are problem gamblers whose addiction causes considerable pain and hardship for their families. While I know these people exist, and their losing contributes to the money from which I’m paid, I largely ignore this aspect of gambling. I don’t know anything I can do to ease this problem.
I’ve been questioned periodically whether or not I feel guilty letting others pay for my good times, and my answer is always, “No.” I believe that players, problem gamblers aside, have a choice as to whether or not they gamble.
Players know that overall, casinos win. Not from every player. Not all the time. But most players realize the odds are stacked against them. Some of us believe we have a system that works. Some of us are correct in this belief. Most aren’t.
Many players who wish to join the ones receiving these benefits can join the ranks by studying. Not everybody is up to learning how to play well, but many are. Even if you are intellectually capable of learning how to play well, it takes effort and discipline — and many aren’t up to that.
For me personally, I’ve tried backgammon, blackjack, poker, and sports betting. I’ve become convinced that I don’t have what it takes to succeed in those games — except sometimes when lucrative promotions are in effect. For whatever reason, I can do it in video poker and can’t do it in the other games.
Each person has to work out which game, if any, is his/her path to gambling success. If you can do it— great. If you can’t, you are going to be a person who donates money to more successful gamblers. If that idea is offensive to you, then your choices are to get better at one of these games, quit gambling altogether, or learn to live with big losses in the casinos.
I think what I find most offensive about wannabe “APs” is their insistence/delusion that they can win at everything. I know one particular individual who made many appearances on GWAE and who, far as I can tell, is indeed expert at slots. I say “far as I can tell” because I have no slot expertise and I am trusting GWAE to have vetted him in some way.
The problem is that, and he did this on his first GWAE appearance, he nonchalantly mentioned (when questioned) that he also won at online poker and sports betting. Well, my bullshit antennae immediately blinked red because I really don’t believe more than 1 in 100 online poker players win. And the sports betting winners are even fewer in number. So this guy was claiming to be a real Leonardo Da AP.
My point is that I commend someone like Bob Dancer who adheres to that Dirty Harry line from Magnum Force, “A man’s gotta know his limitations.”
I’m always amazed when someone says they win at “sports betting” — LOL — as if all sports are one thing. It blows my mind. As if all obstetricians can perform brain surgery. Well, maybe they can, but I don’t want to be on the receiving end of the results.
Lots of people, myself included have made good money at on-line sports books, poker rooms and casinos. Almost all of my profits were from sign up bonuses. It was easy money but not so much now. Not bullshit just the right timing.
Since online sports betting has been available where I live (Indiana), I am several thousand ahead (with avg bet of $10-$20). But, almost all of my profit is due to 1) sign-up bonuses and 2) college basketball. I’m a net loser on NFL, baseball, and other sports.
Well, the common thread for that particular AP is that all the games he mentioned are beatable. I can make money playing video poker. I can also beat low level live table poker. Sports betting for me is not beatable unless you milk the bonuses and promos. On line poker was certainly beatable even with the occasional cheating scandal because back in the 2000s, on line poker was throwing money at you.
Maybe gamblers exaggerate their abilities. I don’t doubt that the person mentioned could beat all of those games, under the right conditions.
Online poker and offshore sports books did throw money at you 20-25 years ago. But you had to be clairvoyant to avoid things like the Jesus Ferguson/Helmuth-promoted Ultimate Bet cheating and the arrest of the Millennium Sports head honcho (with a dozen associated books under it). I was lucky with UB — never got cheated out of anything. Not so with Millennium — lost about 12K (and was fortunate I had minimal money in it during off-season).
What I despise these days is when an alleged “AP” rounds up two dozen of family and closest friends, gets them to sign up for various and sundry sports books, and then keeps the majority of their bonuses under the auspices of “advantage play.” That’s exploitation.