Tales from Las Vegas

[DaveNV]

infinity if you dont play

Makes it very hard to win that way.

Dave

 

[ScoopKona]

Now what are the odds in winning the lottery.......1 in 292,201,338 millions.

Here's another "doesn't sound right at first" thing about gambling. The house doesn't make money off the losers. It makes money off the winners. Bob Stupak had a good (and short) book about this called "Win!"

Gambling win and loss probabilities are well-known. A slot machine that is set to 97% payout is going to crank out that three percent profit -- over millions of plays and years and years of service. Five people in a row might win. But in the end probability cannot be stopped (or even slowed down).

So, casinos receive expected value when the gambler loses a bet. And they pay out slightly less than expected value to the winners. That "slightly less" is why billion-dollar resorts get built in Las Vegas. Everyone always says "they don't build the casinos with the money from the winners." But in fact, that is EXACTLY what happens. The best way to check the math is with video poker. The odds of ending with any four of a kind are one in 423. Now just check the payouts and see what the screwage is. This is why "the house always wins." Even when the player wins, the house still wins. The MIT guy told me the secret was to let 10% of all visitors leave with slightly more than they started with (and a very small percentage who strike it rich). Everyone else? Take every single penny from them -- all the way to financial ruin, if possible.

 

[Ralph Sir Edward]

But you don't waste any money, either. . .

 

[ScoopKona]

But you don't waste any money, either. . .

Only if you lose. The best course of action is to bet the one dollar and win it all -- and then never gamble again. The chances of that are infinitesimally small. But it's more than zero. That is the lure of gambling. Someone is going to win. But it's almost certainly not going to be me. So I don't bother. (Except the once I described above.)

People who gamble are (in general) not good with money. That's why there are so many stories about lottery winners who crash and burn after winning millions. (A pair of coke-snorting bar flies in my home town won. By the end of the year, one was dead and the other was in jail.)

 

[am1]

Makes it very hard to win that way.

Dave

About the same as if you do play.

 

[easyrider]

The house doesn't make money off the losers. It makes money off the winners.

How did you figure this ?

Bill

 

[am1]

I use yo play a lot of online casinos. Poker was more exciting but still mind numbing. Video poker, slots and blackjack.
Trick was I would sign up more heavily bonuses and bet big hopefully to triple up or more or bust. If I got to a nice amount o would continue playing low stakes till I could withdraw. Video poker was the best/worst as depending on what cards you picked you could double. BJ was only perfect play and slots was betting the maximum and all lines to increase return.
Not sure if it was that or me in general but y killed any allure of gambling.
After it was bootstrapped banned in the US the dumb money dried up and I was going to turn to sports betting or timeshare rentals.

 

[pedro47]

Here's another "doesn't sound right at first" thing about gambling. The house doesn't make money off the losers. It makes money off the winners. Bob Stupak had a good (and short) book about this called "Win!"

Gambling win and loss probabilities are well-known. A slot machine that is set to 97% payout is going to crank out that three percent profit -- over millions of plays and years and years of service. Five people in a row might win. But in the end probability cannot be stopped (or even slowed down).

So, casinos receive expected value when the gambler loses a bet. And they pay out slightly less than expected value to the winners. That "slightly less" is why billion-dollar resorts get built in Las Vegas. Everyone always says "they don't build the casinos with the money from the winners." But in fact, that is EXACTLY what happens. The best way to check the math is with video poker. The odds of ending with any four of a kind are one in 423. Now just check the payouts and see what the screwage is. This is why "the house always wins." Even when the player wins, the house still wins. The MIT guy told me the secret was to let 10% of all visitors leave with slightly more than they started with (and a very small percentage who strike it rich). Everyone else? Take every single penny from them -- all the way to financial ruin, if possible.

A slot machine is set to payout 97%. Please named the casino and the slot game you are playing, I will fly to Vegas this week. LOL

 

[am1]

How did you figure this ?

Bill

Probably the same way he figures he knows the best or second best restaurant in the world for each type of food when I am sure he has been limited to actually trying very few.

 

[ScoopKona]

A slot machine is set to payout 97%. Please named the casino and the slot game you are playing, I will fly to Vegas this week. LOL

I have a friend who repairs slot machines in Las Vegas. He keeps 94 cents in his pocket all the time.

"How do slot machines work?"

"Give me a dollar."

"Here!"

"Here's 94 cents in return. That's how slot machines work."

Most slots payout somewhere in the nineties. The exception being penny slots, which are notoriously stingy.

There are machines in Las Vegas that pay out more than 100% -- you'll never know where they are and they never pay big jackpots. But casinos can (and do) occasionally advertise they have 100%+ slots available. The gaming commission agrees. And people can get on one of those machines and STILL lose all day long. Many slots have a switch for tournament play which jacks payouts up by an order of magnitude. And people can hop on one and still lose all day long. "Dems da breaks!"

They're not cash machines. They're probability machines. That's why so many people have gone broke using the Martingale betting "system." The fact gamblers think they need to "warm the machine up" and similar just goes to prove that you can fool some of the people all of the time.

 

[Wgk101]

Makes it very hard to win that way.

Dave

Yes but ifyou buy a ticket and I don’t. My odds are almost as good as yours to win

 

[VacationForever]

It reminds me of my saying to my husband "If we win the lottery, we will buy that big house etc...". His comeback is always that I haven't bought lottery tickets and need to get on it!

 

[PigsDad]

The best course of action is to bet the one dollar and win it all -- and then never gamble again. The chances of that are infinitesimally small.

I gambled, once.

I found a dollar bill in front of a Wheel of Fortune slot machine at Bally's. I bet the dollar, won a little less than $100

Wow! We are in the presence of a true anomaly in this world!

Kurt

 

[ScoopKona]

Wow! We are in the presence of a true anomaly in this world!

My wife's grandfather bankrupted their family with his gambling addiction. She and my mother-in-law are hard-core against gambling for that reason.

My lone spin of "Wheel of Fortune" was a crime of opportunity. It's a shame I didn't find four dollars in front of the machine, I would have made more like $1,000 if I had "bet max." But since I worked in a casino for more than a decade, I learned a great deal about the business. Enough to know that I got lucky with my "gamblin' career."

 

[pedro47]

Here's another "doesn't sound right at first" thing about gambling. The house doesn't make money off the losers. It makes money off the winners. Bob Stupak had a good (and short) book about this called "Win!"

Gambling win and loss probabilities are well-known. A slot machine that is set to 97% payout is going to crank out that three percent profit -- over millions of plays and years and years of service. Five people in a row might win. But in the end probability cannot be stopped (or even slowed down).

So, casinos receive expected value when the gambler loses a bet. And they pay out slightly less than expected value to the winners. That "slightly less" is why billion-dollar resorts get built in Las Vegas. Everyone always says "they don't build the casinos with the money from the winners." But in fact, that is EXACTLY what happens. The best way to check the math is with video poker. The odds of ending with any four of a kind are one in 423. Now just check the payouts and see what the screwage is. This is why "the house always wins." Even when the player wins, the house still wins. The MIT guy told me the secret was to let 10% of all visitors leave with slightly more than they started with (and a very small percentage who strike it rich). Everyone else? Take every single penny from them -- all the way to financial ruin, if possible.

Tell us based on your above post, how could anyone in your family lose money in Vegas?

Especially playing the slots, that have a payout over 97%. LOL

 

[joestein]

I would recommend the website: Las Vegas Advisor: Hotels, Shows, News, Deals, Coupons, Restaurants

I haven't been to Vegas in 17 years, but I use to subscribe for each visit. I found that they were always very value oriented. They have a top 10 list of best deals on their webpage. I would get a coupon book for joining - they were really great deals - Well worth the subscription. Not sure how it works now.

As for gambling... I am not a gambler because I don't care that much if I win $100, but I am pissed if I lose a $100. Exceptions for gambling that I feel is entertainment. We use to go to a fancy restaurant at the Meadowlands racetrack. I would bet $10 each race - because that was my entertainment spending for the evening - my wife and would look at the program and usually bet more on names than any knowledge. Same thing goes for getting invited to a card game - I consider the $50 or $100 buy in to be entertainment. I also enjoy charity events that feature casino games.

 

[ScoopKona]

Tell us based on your above post, how could anyone in your family lose money in Vegas?

Especially playing the slots, that have a payout over 97%. LOL

You realize that means for every $100 you put in, you get (over the long run) $97 back. It's easy to go broke losing money by the hour.

Grandfather-in-law lost a fortune playing baccarat. If played correctly, it has one of the lowest house edges in gaming. Over time, gamblers lose. A few can have a streak and be winners for a time. But as the the numbers keep grinding, only the house wins. And since people are bad with numbers, they will make larger and larger bets to try to "claw their way back to zero." This is the basis of the Martingale gambling "system." And a dandy way to go broke in a hurry.

In general, gamblers aren't good with money. If they were good with money, they wouldn't be gamblers.

 

[pedro47]

You realize that means for every $100 you put in, you get (over the long run) $97 back. It's easy to go broke losing money by the hour.

Grandfather-in-law lost a fortune playing baccarat. If played correctly, it has one of the lowest house edges in gaming. Over time, gamblers lose. A few can have a streak and be winners for a time. But as the the numbers keep grinding, only the house wins. And since people are bad with numbers, they will make larger and larger bets to try to "claw their way back to zero." This is the basis of the Martingale gambling "system." And a dandy way to go broke in a hurry.

In general, gamblers aren't good with money. If they were good with money, they wouldn't be gamblers.

Is ROULETTE the best game for gamblers for odds of winning ? My limit for gambling in a week stay for Vegas is $100.00 dollars.. We visit Vegas about every five (5) years.
We enjoy dining and the Vegas shows.

 

[ScoopKona]

Is ROULETTE the best game for gamblers for odds of winning ? My limit for gambling in a week stay for Vegas is $100.00 dollars.. We visit Vegas about every five (5) years.
We enjoy dining and the Vegas shows.

John Lennon played roulette when he came to Las Vegas during his "lost weekend" separation from Yoko. His strategy was to bet on every single number except one on every spin. He was broke in two hours.

Your strategy should be, "What game will give me the most time playing and therefore the most 'free' drinks before I lose my $100?"

And the answer is "not much." $100 doesn't go anywhere at the tables these days. And it doesn't last long in slot machines. You could be done for the week in as little as five minutes. I'd take that C-note and spend it all in a restaurant instead -- at least you're getting something for your money that way. Gamblers say they gamble "for the entertainment." Well, different strokes. I don't find anything about any of the casino games entertaining. Remove money from the games, and nobody would ever play any of them. They're all just variations of a random number generator.

 

[VacationForever]

Easiest way to not lose money, use slot machine app on your tablet. That cured me of any urge to play slots in LV.

 

[pedro47]

John Lennon played roulette when he came to Las Vegas during his "lost weekend" separation from Yoko. His strategy was to bet on every single number except one on every spin. He was broke in two hours.

Your strategy should be, "What game will give me the most time playing and therefore the most 'free' drinks before I lose my $100?"

And the answer is "not much." $100 doesn't go anywhere at the tables these days. And it doesn't last long in slot machines. You could be done for the week in as little as five minutes. I'd take that C-note and spend it all in a restaurant instead -- at least you're getting something for your money that way. Gamblers say they gamble "for the entertainment." Well, different strokes. I don't find anything about any of the casino games entertaining. Remove money from the games, and nobody would ever play any of them. They're all just variations of a random number generator.

I liked your suggestion take the C-note and enjoy a good meal. Excellent suggestion. LOL

 

[Brett]

John Lennon played roulette when he came to Las Vegas during his "lost weekend" separation from Yoko. His strategy was to bet on every single number except one on every spin. He was broke in two hours.

Your strategy should be, "What game will give me the most time playing and therefore the most 'free' drinks before I lose my $100?"

And the answer is "not much." $100 doesn't go anywhere at the tables these days. And it doesn't last long in slot machines. You could be done for the week in as little as five minutes. I'd take that C-note and spend it all in a restaurant instead -- at least you're getting something for your money that way. Gamblers say they gamble "for the entertainment." Well, different strokes. I don't find anything about any of the casino games entertaining. Remove money from the games, and nobody would ever play any of them. They're all just variations of a random number generator.

"What game will give me the most time playing and therefore the most 'free' drinks before I lose my $100?"

I've heard poker and blackjack (if you're good)

 

[SmithOp]

Is ROULETTE the best game for gamblers for odds of winning ? My limit for gambling in a week stay for Vegas is $100.00 dollars.. We visit Vegas about every five (5) years.
We enjoy dining and the Vegas shows.

You can have fun with $100, just don't count on winning. We had a recent trip to Tucson, stopped at several casinos for meals and to spin a few slots, minimum bets on penny slots, less than $1 a spin. Get a players card.

My son took $100 and at the end of the trip he had $912, Mr lucky. His best win was the last stop, signed up for a players card and got $20 free play. He was betting 68 cents and hit bonus free spins after 5 spins, cashed out over $200 once the free play finished. He quit then, won it all on house money.

There's a guy on YouTube, professor slots, claims that casinos will give you a "taste" of winning within the first 10 spins. It gets you hooked to chase another win. He has a strategy of only 10 spins then change machines.

I ended up losing the $200 I took. We had some laughs and a few free beers, a few nice meals.

I think blackjack has the best odds against the house if you can find a single deck table and count face cards, but the minimum bets are crazy now, no $1-$2 tables.

Sent from my Lenovo 10e using Tapatalk

 

[ScoopKona]

I've heard poker and blackjack (if you're good)

If you're good at blackjack they won't let you play. "Your game is too strong, sir. May we suggest you try the slot machines or one of the other table games?"

 

[dayooper]

We look at gambling as entertainment, not money making. We take a small amount, play the low amount games (there's an automated roulette wheel at The Cosmo that my wife likes that you can play $0.50 a spin) and leave when our money is gone. If we win any decent amount, we pull that out and put back some of the original money we brought. If we win? Great! If we lose? We already consider the money we lost as gone before we went entered the casino. Normally we take home slightly more than we brought on a trip, but also have never won anything on a trip either. For us, it's like going to a movie or a show.

We also love exploring the casinos. The next time we go, we want to hit the 5 secret bars/restaurants at The Cosmo (Secret Pizza, Ghost Donkey, Ski Lodge, The Barbershop and The Pawn Shop). We will explore other places and see what's interesting.