
Originally Posted by
Anna Bollick
Uh... don't bet with your own money?
If you have just GOT to gamble, stick with games where skill can be an advantage, and develop the required skills. A good blackjack program and a LOT of practice (warning... practicing is expensive!) can have you grinding out enough to leave you a net winner. Poker, in places where a good game is played and clearly understood rules are enforced, is another way to hold onto your money and hopefully see a nice bit of a win now and again. Like blackjack, poker skills can be developed with the computer and honed at the table. Forget about kids poker... 7 stud or texas hold-em are the serious games, and I think 7 stud has the most potential for the exercise of skill. hold 'em is more deception than anything else, and when that is well understood by you and your opponents, it reverts largely back to a game of chance and a simple decision regarding your hole card working with the up cards better than the average cards that might be in your opponents' hands. Everyone talks about how complex and psychological hold 'em is, but I find it simplistic and B-O-O-O-O-O-ring! Stud is my game, and I am sad to see it declining in popularity these days.
I used to amuse myself at the roullette wheel, especially on UK jaunts where there is no double zero and the house advantage is very small. Betting progression schemes can easily be proven NOT to work, and it is furthermore easily proven that if you play long enough, you will certainly lose everything you got. Nevertheless, I have more wins than losses by tracking even money bets and putting my money on red/black etc whatever is "hot", and doubling my bet if I lose. A recipe for disaster? absolutely! But more often than not, I walk away a modest winner. Or, I start playing single numbers, again, betting on the 4 or 5 numbers that hit the most. This could actually have some merit, due to the imperfections of the wheel and the repetitiveness of the dealer's spins. In theory, these imperfections could negate the house advantage, and so it has seemed. When I have won a tidy sum in this manner, the dealer is generally switched out or the table closed for "maintenance". German casinos are particularly cruel about that... if you win, something is wrong, and they fix it LOL! Wow... I really must take a trip somewhere!
Funny, but we have a quite big casino mere blocks from my condo, and I have only been inside maybe twice. I just don't have a desire to play in Harrah's for some reason. Actually, I don't believe they have re-opened, anyway. Maybe Vegas? Haven't been there in AGES, Girlfriend! Gotta love the shows, too! And they are okay with people who don't exactly conform, if you know what I mean.
A good GENERAL rule, if you MUST gamble and simply can't devote the time to learning to be a winner in games that can be won, or you just don't have the aptitude or concentration, is to regard gambled money as money you have decided to get rid of. In other words, figure out how much you want to lose, and let that be what you carry into the casino. Don't gamble on credit! You are TOSSING that money, but maybe enjoying the excitement, the attention, the risk, etc.
Sports betting? Frankly, I stay away from it, but mostly because I am not interested in the sports enough to learn more about the teams and the players. The guys who make a living handicapping have it all over me. Oh, yeah... that goes for the horses and dogs, too. Are you smarter than the experts? If not, then bet the line that the experts pick. But wait a minute... are the experts picks on the up and up? Who knows? Stay away from sports bets except among friends who you don't mind possibly becoming enemies.
Now I just got a great idea on how to decide who does the dishes this afternoon! Now, where did I put that two-headed quarter, anyway?
Love
Anna