| The idea of
suddenly striking it rich has crossed just about everyone's mind at
some point. While lottery sales soar and more lotteries become legal
in new states, casinos continue to be cash generating machines. Few areas
of entertainment are as fascinating as casinos and Steve Wynn's
$2.7 billion (yes billion!) hotel-casino in Las Vegas is evidence that
there is no slowing down. In fact, Las Vegas is the fastest
growing city in the United States. So as tourists continue to flock to
sin city, the question that should be asked is: can you beat the casino? The answer is, well, no and yes.
This is part 1 (of 2) on beating the casinos. You
Cannot Beat the Casino
Casinos offer a variety of games which admittedly can be fun. These
games are there for different levels of skill, interest, and
experience, and they have different maximum payouts depending on the
game. Regardless of your choice, there is one major commonality
between all casino games: If you play by the house's rules, you cannot
win. Casinos are in the business of making money and a lot
of it at that.
The reason that governments are increasingly changing
their laws to accommodate casinos is that it's just so easy for them
to take your money when you don't think of it as a form of taxation.
In fact, government-run casinos are essentially tax-dollar-generating
entities. You have fun while giving your money away but the bottom
line is that you are giving it away!
How Slot
Machines Take ALL of Your Money
Every
single game in the casino is very carefully designed for you to lose
money and for the gaming house to win. Slot machines are among the
most common and recognizable games in a casino. Here's
an example of how a slot machine takes your money.
Suppose you
walk into a casino with $1 to spend and sit in front of a slot
machine that offers a 97% payout. You would know their rate of payout
is 97 cents on the
dollar because some casinos tell you. That's right, they actually
state how much you are going to lose and people STILL play!
So you put
that precious $1 in the machine's slot and pull the level (or press
the button, depending on how lazy you are). You will get 97 cents
back, having lost 3 cents on the spin. You then take your 97 cents and
put it back into the slot. You will get 94.1 cents back (97 cents x
97% payout = 94.1 cents). Since you haven't smartened up, you put your
94.1 cents in and get 91.3 cents back and so on, until all of your
moolah is gone.
Now suppose
you actually won 50 cents on the next pull of the ol' one armed
bandit. You'd have 141.3 cents or $1.41. The psychological impact is
that you think you're becoming a winner! A few more of these and a new
mansion in Beverly Hills can't be far behind, you're thinking.
However, as soon as you put that dollar and forty one cents back into
the machine, the 97% payback takes control and your winnings
decrease.
The more you
play, the great the 97% payout will affect you. Eventually, regardless
of the ups and downs, the slot machine will take all of your money
(unless you stop playing, of course).
So if you walk into a
casino with $1, spend it on a slot machine and win $100 on the first
try, quit while you are ahead because the games are sure to suck it
back up! Never gamble what you can't afford to lose so if it's worth
the entertainment value of gambling away that $100, then go for it!
The truth is
that if you ask a problem gambler what a good day is, he/she will tell
you it's those days that you walk in with $50 and it allows you to
play all day, versus losing it all in one shot soon after entering the
casino. The bottom line here is that even gambling addicts know that
the loss of cash is inevitable.
Casinos
are in Business to Make Money, Not Make you a Zillionaire
It's
rare that a casino is so unprofitable that it closes. They do
everything they can to get you into their establishment. For
example, as you stroll down the boardwalk in Atlantic city, you see
many hotel-casinos with their unique gimmicks that try to lure you in. They
know that once you're in, they will be making money off of you.
That's
why casinos offer tons of freebies. It all looks free but you are
simply paying for it in different ways. High rollers are the big
spenders, spending tens of thousands to millions of dollars in
casinos. These walking banks usually have more money than they know
what to do with, probably mixed with some form of gambling addiction,
an addictive personality, or a competitive disposition.
In any case,
these people get "comped" meaning that the casinos offer
everything to them for free. They get flown in for the night, tickets
to the hottest shows in Las Vegas, stay at the best hotels, sleep in
the richest suites, and get their meals taken care of. It feels good
to get everything on a complimentary basis but always remember how
much these people spend before they get to that level.
Casinos
Track You
Aside from the security issues, casinos have a vested interest in
tracking you. It's peculiar that many people try so hard to protect
their personal information and keep it away from telemarketers and
such, yet they will galdly use a comp-card which they insert into a
slot as they play games at the casino. That way the casino knows how
much money was spent and how long the person played. If someone does
enough of both, they get comped with VIP status, depending on the
amounts in question.
Funny
Stuff
Every once
in a while I get a good laugh when someone claims to know somebody who
is a professional gambler. "What's so professional about what he
does," I typically ask, "is he an expert at losing money?"
If anyone
tells you they are a professional gambler, take my word for it, they most
likely don't know what they are talking about. Playing by the
rules you cannot beat casinos.
Beat
Casinos: Continued
Now that you've read about how you can't beat a casino, go ahead and
read "You can beat the casinos
- the MIT Blackjack Team - MIT Card Counting Team" which is part 2 of this
article.
BrianX
Lifestyle Articles
>>
More
Lifestyle Articles in BrianX Magazine
The
News and its Bias are Manipulating You
Photographers & Pricing: Why
Your Boyfriend Sucks as a Photographer
Casino Report Part 2: MIT
Blackjack Team
Tips for Living a Longer Life
Fake
Online College Diplomas and Degrees
How to Promote Yourself as
a Model or Actress
Tips and Advice on Throwing a
Great Party
The Best of U2: Greatest Hits
- Top 100 U2 Songs
|
