People who love to gamble -- my mother was one of them -- are often reluctant to travel to Las Vegas, Atlantic City or any place where gambling is legal. Some like one of my letter writers are terrified.
Claudia is a widow in her 60s who lives near Joplin, MO. She has a small trailer and two horses, a grey gelding and a brown mare that she delights in caring for on a couple of acres out in the country.
I met Claudia when I lived in Springfield. She is one of the finest, most honest individuals I have ever come across. She was happily married to a great guy for many years and when he passed away unexpectedly, it devastated her.
Claudia hates to be alone. Her trailer is less than 30 miles from three casinos and she began spending her leisure time here just to be around people and for something to do.
Now my friend Claudia is a reasonably intelligent woman but she does not claim to be a professional gambler. She doesn't study the odds like professional gamblers do. Her favorite games are the ones the majority of casino goers play -- slot machines and blackjack.
We have exchanged emails over the past couple of years and I pretty much know her pattern. She has won a couple of good-sized jackpots on the slots. Casino marketing teams at places like Indigo Sky, Downstream and Cherokee lure her and hundreds of players like Claudia with promises of free buffets, cash-back vouchers that she can use to play the slots, and even free rooms if she wants to stay the night.
The problem is that despite these perks, Claudia is a loser.
Her problem in my opinion rests in the games she plays.
I tried to persuade her to switch from games of pure chance, which slot machines are, to games of skill. Blackjack requires skill if you hope o end up with more money in your pocket than you brought into he casino. It is no recognized as a pure skill game like poker, which was my first recommendation to her, but it will at least give her a chance to recoup her losses from those games of chance.
Choosing the right game for your temperament and income is one of the most important things you can do before you enter a casino.
Before you go to gamble, check out the odds against you. It's easy to do this. Simply go to the Internet, do a Google search on the game you wish o play, and find out what kind of odds you are facing. That might persuade you to find another game that will be more in your favor.
I admire Claudia's spirit. Slot players are fantastic people who continually go against the odds to try to hit a big jackpot. When they do line up the symbols that fill their purses or wallets with cash -- and many of them do -- my hat goes off o them.
Over the years, I have had lightning strike me in the form of slot machines gone wild and roulette tables hat seem to line up my numbers. But I realize when this happens, I am swimming against he current and beating odds that will remain in place long after I leave.
Here is my point: use the games of skill like poker and blackjack as your main money games, and add slots, dice and he other games of chance as backup games for fun as well as profit. You probably won't hit a jackpot, but lightning does strike on occasion and you'll have a lot of fun getting there.
pinkxxx
8 years ago
Ive tried to add other games in my play , but being a creature of habit I tend to stick with Im comfortable with and like the most . Let my luck fly there . Ive never liked table games too much , esp black jack. Ive found people at the table to be rude and there is a lot of pressure on you unless you really really know...
Ive tried to add other games in my play , but being a creature of habit I tend to stick with Im comfortable with and like the most . Let my luck fly there . Ive never liked table games too much , esp black jack. Ive found people at the table to be rude and there is a lot of pressure on you unless you really really know what youre doing. At least when I sit down at slots its just me and the the machine , I can play in my timeframe and no one to comment or bother me..lol
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jade
8 years ago
You can bring a horse to the water, but you can't make em drink. Ya know why? Know matter how much sense a particular theory makes, it is just not right for that particular person and I agree with your theory, in theory. But, at the end of the day, I'm still gonna play the slots. Change is ultimately inevitable. If you...
You can bring a horse to the water, but you can't make em drink. Ya know why? Know matter how much sense a particular theory makes, it is just not right for that particular person and I agree with your theory, in theory. But, at the end of the day, I'm still gonna play the slots. Change is ultimately inevitable. If you just stand still long enough something will change, but if you are the one that has too initiate the change, that is an entirely different matter. Some people are either unwilling or unable to change their behavior for one reason or another. Some times, the reason for change is just not enough. There is a lot to be said for "the comfort zone," that is why they call it that and if everyone did take your advice today, you probably wouldn't win as many poker games and the big profits that are made off slot machines would decrease so drastically that casinos would have to find another way to make up for that loss. It may sound deep, but you could be endangering the whole gambling industry with your advice. Ha, ha, ha ha.................... just kidding.............................
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caroline.brown 8 years ago
i always feel too intimidated to sit down at a table, and if i lose at slots, its just no luck, but if i lose at black jack, its a loss thats directly due to my bad judgement. i have seen the video black jack and poker machines, are they the same probability as other slot machines?
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Vanenhox
8 years ago
I read a book many years ago by an author from the old days by the name of Scarne; it left a big impression on me and I played a lot of blackjack an actually roulette instead of slots; because according to scarne there were only a few games casinos offered with worse odds than slot machines--he wrote long long before the...
I read a book many years ago by an author from the old days by the name of Scarne; it left a big impression on me and I played a lot of blackjack an actually roulette instead of slots; because according to scarne there were only a few games casinos offered with worse odds than slot machines--he wrote long long before the internet and online gambling but his book is still quite relevant and if you are interested in gambling in general it is a fascinating and comprehensive look at the whole field of gambling John Scarne the New Complete Guide to Gambling http://www.amazon.com/Scarnes-New-Complete-Guide-Gambling/dp/0671630636
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