Beating Vegas
Beating the casino ain’t easy. However, it is possible. A group of college kid card counters from MIT took casinos for several million dollars in the mid '90s. They used a tactic of figuring out when there were a high number of face cards left in the deck in which case the dealer would have a greater chance of busting (because they have to hit on anything under 17). When the deck got "hot" they would use code words to call in their "big players" who would recklessly bet thousands and then act astonished when they got lucky. They got kicked out of every casino in Vegas.
Last weekend I look a little stroll to Sin City with a couple of friends. I figured it would be a nice way to relax a little bit - it was anything but. I actually decided to try a little casino trick myself. It was nothing as fancy and complicated as the MIT card counters (I'm not nearly smart enough), but a tactic nonetheless.
Theoretically, if you double your bet after every time you lose in any game in Vegas, you will eventually win, thus winning your lost money back plus the initial bet. For instance, if you bet $5 and lose, you bet $10, then $20, then $40, and so on and so forth. Sound nice? It's not bad really, until you get into the $160 and $320 bets just to win your five bucks back. In order to get to that $320 bet you would have to lose six times in a row. So when you bet either black or red in roulette your chances of winning are 48% on each roll. Losing six times in a row is darn near impossible right? There is actually about a 2% chance.
Two percent isn't really that bad - not very likely. I've probably got a better chance of getting a legitimate phone number from Miss Nevada while hitting the $2 million jackpot on my first pull of the slot machine.
Now, you have to realize that a 2% chance applies to each six trial set. So if you do ten six trial sets (sixty spins), the chances of losing six times in a row in any one set is 20% - well within the realm of possibility.
Anyway, I was well aware of these odds before going to Vegas. I actually crunched some numbers before going. I know, I know, I should have been reading books on how to pick up women. Well, I was doing that too. Nevertheless, I said I wasn't going to try my ingenious roulette scam unless I had $635 in my pocket. This would be enough to cover six consecutive losses and put $320 on the seventh spin.
Now, in some moment of alcohol induced bravery, I decided to try my scam with only enough money to cover six spins. Why I did this, I'm not exactly sure, but for a while I was getting away with it. I went about ten spins when I didn't have to put more than $20 on the table. I felt like more of a genius than ever, and I looked at the casino workers with a gleam in my eye. Those dirty bastards knew I was up to something.
Shit soon hit the fan when I lost three times in row, then four, then five. Before I knew it I had $160 on black and that ball was spinning around the wheel. My heart pounded about four inches out of my chest until the ball finally settled on red - at which time my pounding heart sank to the beer stained casino floor.
"My scam backfired", I huffed to my commiserating gambling and drinking buddy.
I'm a helpless victim of circumstance.
Last weekend I look a little stroll to Sin City with a couple of friends. I figured it would be a nice way to relax a little bit - it was anything but. I actually decided to try a little casino trick myself. It was nothing as fancy and complicated as the MIT card counters (I'm not nearly smart enough), but a tactic nonetheless.
Theoretically, if you double your bet after every time you lose in any game in Vegas, you will eventually win, thus winning your lost money back plus the initial bet. For instance, if you bet $5 and lose, you bet $10, then $20, then $40, and so on and so forth. Sound nice? It's not bad really, until you get into the $160 and $320 bets just to win your five bucks back. In order to get to that $320 bet you would have to lose six times in a row. So when you bet either black or red in roulette your chances of winning are 48% on each roll. Losing six times in a row is darn near impossible right? There is actually about a 2% chance.
Two percent isn't really that bad - not very likely. I've probably got a better chance of getting a legitimate phone number from Miss Nevada while hitting the $2 million jackpot on my first pull of the slot machine.
Now, you have to realize that a 2% chance applies to each six trial set. So if you do ten six trial sets (sixty spins), the chances of losing six times in a row in any one set is 20% - well within the realm of possibility.
Anyway, I was well aware of these odds before going to Vegas. I actually crunched some numbers before going. I know, I know, I should have been reading books on how to pick up women. Well, I was doing that too. Nevertheless, I said I wasn't going to try my ingenious roulette scam unless I had $635 in my pocket. This would be enough to cover six consecutive losses and put $320 on the seventh spin.
Now, in some moment of alcohol induced bravery, I decided to try my scam with only enough money to cover six spins. Why I did this, I'm not exactly sure, but for a while I was getting away with it. I went about ten spins when I didn't have to put more than $20 on the table. I felt like more of a genius than ever, and I looked at the casino workers with a gleam in my eye. Those dirty bastards knew I was up to something.
Shit soon hit the fan when I lost three times in row, then four, then five. Before I knew it I had $160 on black and that ball was spinning around the wheel. My heart pounded about four inches out of my chest until the ball finally settled on red - at which time my pounding heart sank to the beer stained casino floor.
"My scam backfired", I huffed to my commiserating gambling and drinking buddy.
I'm a helpless victim of circumstance.
posted by John Poole at 8:52 PM
1 Comments:
It sounded so sure and scientific until the end, Damn! you've seen "Rounders" right?
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