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Posted on Tue, Dec. 30, 2003
Deal me in
Dear Mark,
Please pardon this simple question, but could you explain
what you meant when you stated in a column being paid "less
than true odds." Stan B.
True odds, Stan, is the ratio of the number of times a favorable
event will occur as compared to the number of times an unfavorable
event will happen. As for "less than true odds," here-tiz
in common talk with an example: Suppose you and I flip a coin,
a dollar a pop. If you lose, you pay me a buck.
If you win, I pay you only 95 cents. Sound fair to you, Stan?
Even though the odds of winning are a 50-50 proposition, the
game becomes inequitable when instead of you getting paid
$1 when you win, you're only getting 95 cents. Though getting
shortchanged a measly nickel doesn't seem like much, it adds
up as the number of coin flips increases. Casinos use this
same concept, being paid less then true odds, when you win
a bet at most casino games.
Note any casino paytable roulette, many craps bets, video
poker, slots, etc. and you'll see that their every payout
is for a reduced payoff, or "less than true odds." This difference
between true odds and less than true odds is called the house
edge, a percentage of each bet you make that the house takes
in.
The reason you are not paid true odds when you gamble is
that you need to make a payment, an entertainment tax if you
will, for the casino letting you play in their joint.
Dear Mark,
I had a friend who told me he made a few thousand dollars
a year just by walking around in casinos and looking for slot
machines that had money left in the tray or in credits. Sounds
like a way to make some extra cash. Is this legal? Who owns
that money anyway?
Laurie J. Whose money is it? T'aint your friend's, 'tiz the
casino owners. I've done this question before, and normally
I wouldn't repeat it, but just this last week I personally
observed two elderly gents trying to get buffet funds by circling
the casino floor looking for credits and loose change, so
it has earned a repetition. "Sea gulling" as it's called in
gamblese, is illegal.
It means purposively circumnavigating the casino floor looking
for orphan coins or credits on a slot machine, or even change
on the floor. If your friend continues to make a full-time
occupation of cruising the casino on the lookout for easy
pickings, he will eventually be caught and asked never to
come back, or "permanently 86ed" in casino-ese.
Luckily, if your pal Sticky-finger is caught, there is no
soundproof room with a glove-vice waiting. But that doesn't
mean there are not those like your friend who seek to make
a living scavenging the millions lost each year by gamblers
who forget their stored credits (winnings). Of course, I know,
Laurie, that you are not a casino conniver looking for an
easy score.
But a tip to you and other slot-playing patrons: before you
walk away from any slot machine, don't forget to press the
cash-out button.
Gambling quote of the week:
"Some people lose their heads cold sober. Cards, dice, pool;
it makes no difference. You want to make a living that way,
you want to be a winner, you got to keep your head. And you
got to remember that there's a loser somewhere in you, whining
at you, and you got to learn to cut his water off." Bert,
The Hustler (1959).
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