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Gaming Guru  Take Your Losing Like a Chump3 December 2013
By Frank Scoblete I was on my Facebook page writing about a swapping arrangement I was advocating, which was a deal between our country and those countries where most of our illegal immigrants come from. My idea was to take able-bodied but lazy Americans who refuse to work – thereby scamming their fellow citizens out of money for welfare checks – and exchange these able-bodied leeches for immigrants who want to work and are in fact desperate to work. So the exchange went like this: You send us non-American-workers and we send you non-worker Americans. I thought of that as a fair-trade, kind of like the odds bet at craps. The non-working Americans will fit right into these poor countries perfectly because then there is probably no work to be had which is what they like. The non-American-workers will fill the bill here by working, paying taxes, becoming citizens and not feeling entitled to anything other than a shot at the American dream. I was taken to task for such thinking. I was called cruel for suggesting that our welfare recipients should be forced to work even though they are able-bodied. How dare I have that kind of attitude? Welfare recipients have the right to choose whether they work or sponge. Anyway that was the counter-argument. Which brings me to casino gambling. I have the same cruel attitude when it comes to games of chance one can play in the casinos. I am annoyed by players who do not play the correct strategies at the games; players who ultimately cost themselves a lot more money in losses than they need suffer. Casino gambling does not require the intellect of an Albert Einstein or Stephen Hawking to understand the proper way to play the games. You just have to understand which are the good bets and which are the bad bets. So what is the formula? Simply this: The house edge and the speed of the game determine which of the games to focus on and which are the games to avoid. Take baccarat. There are three bets at this game, the Player bet (house edge of approximately 1.24 percent = expected loss of $1.24 per $100 wagered); the Banker bet (house edge of approximately 1.06 percent = expected loss of $1.06 per $100 wagered) and the Tie bet (house edge of 14.4 percent = expected loss of $14.40 per $100 wagered). Right off the bat you know that the Tie bet is a sucker bet because the house will drain you of your money in short order. Now we have to take into consideration the speed of the game – how many decisions do you face in an hour of play? In the high-roller room at the traditional baccarat table of 12-14 spots, the game is quite slow – maybe 40 decisions per hour. Betting on either Banker or Player, this game will be a close contest owing to the low house edges on those bets. But there is another kind of baccarat game, mini-baccarat, which is played on a table similar to a blackjack table. This game has the same rules but is lightning fast. You can face upwards of 150 decisions per hour. Now, even with a low house-edge, the mini-version of baccarat becomes a far more dangerous game. Given a player who can afford $100 minimums, which table would be best to play $100 per hand? There is no question as to what the answer should be. And what about craps? The same holds true for this game. There are a few excellent bets at the game (the pass line with odds; the don’t pass with odds; the come with odds; the don’t come with odds; the placing of the 6 and 8; the buying of the 4 or 10 for $25 or $50 if the commission is paid on wins only) and a multitude of bad, awful and horrendous bets at this game that can come in with percentages from 9 percent to 17 percent and sometimes more (that horrendous Fire Bet that is over 20 percent). Still, go to just about any craps table in America and what will you see? Correct; you will see players make all the worst bets at the game. Why do they do this? You can read this web site and issue after issue great gaming writers steer you in the proper direction concerning what games to play and how to bet them. There are literally hundreds of good books on the games but still, players just seem to want to throw their money down a rat hole. So, am I supposed to have sympathy for these players as I am supposed to have sympathy for able-bodied people who refuse to work? I think not. Like able-bodied welfare recipients, the players should play the game correctly, just as those recipients should get their butts off the seat and look for a job. The casinos do not exist to give you their money. They offer you choices – some are decent choices, some stink. No casino player should choose the choices that stink. They should always work hard to make the right choices. Frank Scoblete's newest book is CONFESSIONS OF A WAYWARD CATHOLIC and SLOTS CONQUEST. All available from Amazon.com, or at your favorite bookstore, or by mail-order by calling 1-800-944-0406. Join Frank on his web site at www.frankscoblete.com. This article is provided by the Frank Scoblete Network. Melissa A. Kaplan is the network's managing editor. If you would like to use this article on your website, please contact Casino City Press, the exclusive web syndication outlet for the Frank Scoblete Network. To contact Frank, please e-mail him at fscobe@optonline.net. Do Casinos Want Some Winners?26 November 2013
FROM CARL: I am of the opinion that casinos want some players to win. If everyone loses, who would want to come to the casino in the future? I think that the winners get the losers to hope and that hope sends the losers back for more and more. What do you think? FRANK RESPONDS: You could be right but looked ... (read more)
Don't Kill the Other Video Poker Players!19 November 2013
FROM JANE: I, too, read your column in CasinoCityTimes.com and in the hard copy of Casino Player and Strictly Slots. I wish to share my frustration with people who regularly play progressive VP machines with one or two coins. When I ask them if they realize they are playing a progressive, they claim they ALWAYS know. ... (read more)
Two Dice Having a History12 November 2013
FROM LAWRENCE: I like to read various web sites including your web site here and at www.frankscoblete.com. I think you and your writers have the best information in the business. One web site I read has a writer who said that the dice don’t have a memory but they have a history. He then says you can bet that history, although he doesn’t say it exactly in those words. ... (read more)
Ask Frank: Spanish 21 StrategyHello there, Living in Canada, I find that the rules are more liberal here than at other casino locales, such as the dealer standing on all 17s for Spanish Blackjack. In your book, Armada Strategies for Spanish 21, there is only a strategy for when the dealer hits soft 17. I w... (read more)Ask Frank (Playing Winning Craps)Dear Mr. Scoblete: In your book Forever Craps, you recommend to play one Don't Come bet per shooter without odds in order to reduce your exposure to the house. I usually play at casinos that count the spread and odds. If I play one ... (read more)Bad Ways to Play Good Casino GamesYou've met this guy before. He's cantankerous, witless, and loud. He knows everything about everything when it comes to casino games. He's a self-made expert who knows more than all writers and mathematicians combined, and as he doubles on his thirteen against the dealer's ... (read more)The Craps to English DictionaryCraps is another country, a kingdom with its own mores, legends, myths, rites, rituals, superstitions and government. It also has its own language, much of it easily misunderstood as sexual or scatological references. For those of you interested in journeying to this ... (read more)Craps Crap and Craps Gold - Part 1What do the following sayings have in common? "An apple a day keeps the doctor away." "Better late than never." "High fences make good neighbors." "Always play the Pass/Come and take full odds." Answer: The above statements are true. Yes, some people might quibble and say that you can eat as ... (read more) |
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