Journal Howzer's Journal: So much misinformation about "gambling"!
You see, there are two large groups of people interested in spreading misinformation on this topic, which explains a lot of the seeing and hearing and opinion-forming that's going on. Those two groups are:
The Casinos
Who want the public as ignorant as possible about the odds, the legalities, and expert play of their "games". The other group is, oddly enough:
The Gamblers
Who, again, want to believe, and usually want their loved ones to believe, that the "games" can be (easily) beaten, if only you had the right "system".
A recent topic showed this clearly. I'm sure those MIT kids went to Vegas and had a blast. I'm sure, too, that if they played some kind of "basic strategy" they came home about even, in fact just slightly behind. Let's say a class of 30 went. I would bet 10 came out slightly ahead and 10 came out slightly behind. 6 poor shmucks lost their roll, and 4 guys doubled their money. Of course, when you tell the story of the "Maths Boys In Vegas" you spend a lot of time on the 4 (or 14 if you tell the "better" story) guys that made like bandits, and almost no time on the 16 guys who lost a little (or a lot) each to finance them. Get the picture?
There are systems, and I tried to illustrate the very special kind of brain required to actually use one, without much success. There's too many people saying exactly the opposite.
All I can do is repeat myself: I know hundreds of gamblers, and they all have a system. Out of all of them, I know one person who, over a long period of time, has beaten the casino. The maths is simple. He has an extraordinary mind, this casino-beater. And he's nothing like Dustin Hoffman from bloody "Rainman". A character like that would be asked to "Play any game you like sir, but you can't play blackjack here." at any casino in the world in five minutes or less.
Am I saying most gamblers are liars? Yes. If you have a problem with that statement, please click the link and get some help.
