Winston
Lorenzo von Matterhorn
- Joined
- Jan 31, 2009
- Messages
- 9,560
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Basic statistics. The probability distribution function has a little tail at one end in the "win" area for your first bet. The more you play the skinnier the peak gets (always on the "lose" side) and less tail in the "win" side.Been to Vegas many times (when my in laws were retired there) and one thing I learned, the longer you play, the more likely the house gets it all back.
Interesting to me that people think they can ever come out ahead by gambling. If that were true, the casinos would go out of business. And of you know a trick for beating them, like counting cards in Blackjack, they usher you right out the door.
In my college years, I worked at a 7-Eleven. We sold lottery tickets. Everyday, we would have people who could not afford their groceries lining up to buy tickets. They would often spend $20 - $50 on tickets (and that was in the 80s), and then come around to the check-out counter and buy groceries with food stamps.
There was one man to whom I said one day, "Sir, why don't you take that $50 each week and put it in a savings account. At the end of the year, you have over $2500 earning interest."
He looked at me and said, "I don't have time for no bank. I need my money now."
And when they made laws allowing people to claim gambling losses on their tax returns ...it got worse.
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