Are you giving your money away at the casino?

ABBY: Is it me or are there a lot of people, including people who write about casino playing, that are off the wall with their methods of play and opinions about how the games are structured?

CINDY: Yes, I am not sure why either. The math of the games is clear. It isn’t hard to know what and how the casinos get their edges.

ABBY: Yes, you can easily know how the casinos get their edges and how to play the strongest game against the house. There are plenty of good books and articles people can read. Sure you can’t overcome the edge unless you count cards or influence the dice –

CINDY: And how many people can do those things?

ABBY: Maybe a handful? But seriously when I read many sites on the internet about gambling, except just details on how a game is played as opposed to strategies, these writers are crazy in their advice.

CINDY: What’s the biggest poor advice do you think?

ABBY: That trend betting can beat the games.

CINDY: Oh, yeah, in games like roulette and others like craps where the past has no influence on the future of what is going to happen, players cling to the idea that something in the past is dictating something in the future.

ABBY: In blackjack, the cards that have already been played dictate what cards are left in the shoe and a card counter who is really good can figure out if the future cards favor them or not. But even then that game is created by the random shuffle of the cards.

CINDY: But the past there has some meaning, but those other games? Phew!

ABBY: OK, and what about the blackjack strategies that some writers push on unsuspecting players? I mean there are writers who advocate splitting fives and not splitting eights or aces all the time – how can people follow these writers? And taking insurance which is a sucker bet at blackjack. That amazes me. All of that amazes me.

CINDY: OK, what about people who keep saying that the dealer is always assumed to have a 10-valued card in the hole? There’s a dumb idea. Those 10-values only make up 31 percent of the cards in a deck so the chances are the dealer doesn’t have a 10-value card in the hole.

ABBY: In craps there are so many bad bets that if there weren’t any really good bets that would be a game to never play! Players who consistently throw out their money on rotten bets are asking for trouble –

CINDY: Big trouble.

ABBY: Over time; not just some huge long run either. You can’t win at games when you are basically giving away your money.

CINDY: I think many players just lose their logic when they are playing and get into a mindset that they are going after the big win and they may get a big win here or there but those wins will not suffice to make them turn the game in their favor. Their losses will build up –

ABBY: Quickly –

CINDY: Yes, quickly.

ABBY: And maybe largely.

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.