The Classic Roman Myth Approach to Gambling
Dear Mark,
I'm about to make my first trip to Las Vegas. Can you give
me your favorite King Midas tip that will turn my trip into
gold? Jerome S.
Why King Midas, Jerome? When I think of King Midas my thoughts
turn toward greed. In Ovid's Greek tale, Midas was so greedy
he wanted everything he touched to turn to gold. To his
delight, his wish came true, and he proceeded to gild everything
in sight. But like a rapacious player who wants to win every
hand, his fate was tragic in the end. He killed his own
beloved daughter with his magical touch.
But you probably don't give a hoot about some Roman poet's
tale and only want a hot tip for success, so here's my favorite:
Only make bets that have less than a two percent house advantage.
You didn't mention what type of casino games you prefer,
Jerome, so I'll trumpet my favored plays below. All represent
wagers that have a house edge of less than two percent.
Blackjack:
With perfect basic strategy.
Video Poker: Again, using perfect basic strategy.
Craps: A pass line wager, odds on that pass line
bet and placing the six or eight.
Baccarat: The bank or player hand.
Slots: Yes, even a cybernetic one-armed bandit can
be a good play if it's advertised as a 98 plus percent return
machine.
Horace once said: "Gold can be slave or master." So can the wrong casino wager.
Dear Mark,
Every time I chip away (no pun intended) at the casino,
they return larger chips than those I'm betting. I get the
feeling they want me to cash out and keep what I've just
won. Why are they being so polite to a winner? Randall C.
Quite the contrary, Randall. The second you get on a hot
streak, casinos prefer pit employees to "change color"
or upgrade your chips. No, they're not being courteous,
just trying to induce larger play. Because most players
don't equate casino chips with real money, it's easy to
get caught up in the game and forget what you're actually
betting. Treat all chips, won or lost, like Friday's paycheck-your
hard-earned money.
Dear
Mark,
I have a system in roulette where I play all the odd black
numbers and if I lose I follow it by playing all the red
even numbers. The dealer took note of how I was betting
so he knew my style of play. While betting my odd black
numbers, I placed $2 on 17 black as the ball was about to
drop. Suddenly the dealer reached for my money and handed
it back to me. As you probably guessed, it came up 17 black.
To say the very least I was extremely upset and demanded
to be paid. The dealer said he couldn't pay me because he
had already called "no more betting" before I
put my bet on 17 black. The pit boss came over and agreed
with the dealer's decision.
Even though the ball did not land in a slot yet, and the
dealer probably knew my style of play, shouldn't I still
have been paid? Tom D.
Your
question reminds me of the roulette player who sent home
this telegram: "System working well-send more money."
As a rule, Tom, the casino wants the dealer to wait to the
final "reasonable" moment before he barks "no
more bets." The house wants to get as many wagers per
decision as possible because they hold a hefty 5.26% advantage
over the player on roulette. The long and short of it, Tom,
is that every casino has its own set of guidelines it wants
its dealers to follow. Additionally, every experienced roulette
dealer has his own sense of timing on when to halt wagering.
In this case, Tom, I side with the dealer (casino). The
simple solution is to get your bets in early. Better yet,
how about finding a new game that does not have such a precipitous
house edge? All you need now is a new system.
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