Gamblers Conceit

In general Bob is correct. Many gamblers fall into the trap that the casino sets. Many gamblers are an unhappy, delusional bunch. I can assure you that I do not fall into that group. I generally set a 'budget' of less than a day's wages for my gambling trips, and have never even lost that much, and that doesnt include the free rooms and food. I enjoy the mental side of the game immensely..... I love when the dealers cannot set their Pai Gow hands as well as I can, when they don't notice the straight.... as these errors can turn the house advantage into a player advantage... I love when they offer me a nice free room even though my 'theoretical loss' really shouldn't justify it.... I love playing with like minded individuals, and we can discuss a particular play....
I understand the casino is trying to separate me from my money.... So is every other business entity I deal with....
Bob, I know you just cannot understand it, but I love the feeling I get in a casino.... I feel bad for you that you can't ever get that feeling...

Quote: SOOPOO

Bob, I know you just cannot understand it, but I love the feeling I get in a casino.... I feel bad for you that you can't ever get that feeling...

That feeling is the essence of the entertainment value provided by the casino. It's hard to define and viewed differently by different people and it varies greatly from one casino to another. I get that feeling at MGM, Mirage and Wynn. I went to the WinsStar in Oklahoma once and I saw what Bob sees. Every one I saw looked like a hollow eyed loser. I was glad to be out of there when I left.

Quote: SOOPOO

In general Bob is correct. Many gamblers fall into the trap that the casino sets.

Many people fall into the trap McDonald's sets, with rampant obesity...many people fall into the trap that Seagram's sets, with excessive drinking....many people fall into the trap that Visa and American Express set, falling into the credit card debt hole...and the list goes on...
In general Bob is incorrect. If he were correct, no one would have any business getting out of bed, and into the world.
There are countless excuses for a human being to fail in taking responsibility for their actions.

Quote: SOOPOO

Many gamblers are an unhappy, delusional bunch.

This is only because people in general are an unhappy, delusional bunch.

Quote: SOOPOO

I can assure you that I do not fall into that group. I generally set a 'budget' of less than a day's wages for my gambling trips, and have never even lost that much, and that doesnt include the free rooms and food.

So far, so good....

Quote: SOOPOO

I enjoy the mental side of the game immensely..... I love when the dealers cannot set their Pai Gow hands as well as I can, when they don't notice the straight....

"So I can pocket an extra nickel as the dealer gets written up and fired, to lose his home. YESS!" Pure schadenfreude. (And to quote: "Many gamblers are an unhappy, delusional bunch"). Such a person wouldn't return change when incorrect change is given at a drive-thru or other business transaction, as a cash transaction is simply that, and wrong money is nothing but wrong money when you know it.
To SOOPOO I say that malpractice is sad to see in all of its forms, - and is often overlooked for the extra cash.

Quote: SOOPOO

...as these errors can turn the house advantage into a player advantage... I love when they offer me a nice free room even though my 'theoretical loss' really shouldn't justify it....

I enjoy the room because I gave action, win OR lose. And if I had lost, I didn't mind paying for it, as I didn't use my mortgage money. I deserve the room equally on my action basis, win or lose.

Quote: SOOPOO

I love playing with like minded individuals, and we can discuss a particular play....
I understand the casino is trying to separate me from my money.... So is every other business entity I deal with....

I understand that the casino, as well as every other business, is to provide a service that I am expected to pay for.

Quote: SOOPOO

Bob, I know you just cannot understand it, but I love the feeling I get in a casino.... I feel bad for you that you can't ever get that feeling...

Don't walk into a casino if there's a good chance you'll regret it and hate yourself for it.

Quote: mickeycrimm

The "must hit by" slots first appeared in Nevada when Mandalay Bay opened in 1999. The Mandalay Bay opening turned into a casino hustler's convention because the casino floor was full of advantage slots like the IGT Vision Series, Silicon Gaming's Odyssey machines that had multiple advantage games on them, and the William's advantage slots like X-Factor. There were also a half dozen linked banks of "Must hit by" slots, better known today as "mystery progressives." But back then Acres Gaming called the program Lucky Coin Bonus System.

Excellent post, but then all of yours are.

The casino I refer to is Wheeling Island Hotel, Casino, Racetrack because there are no other casinos close enough to even be likely worth my time with respect to Progressive vulturing. I will say that the majority of their Progressives there are not linked, (a few of the Quick Hits machines, specifically the Nine-Line playing up to Five units per Line at the $0.05/denom are) so the advantage is that when you find an advantageous machine, it's yours. The disadvantage, necessarily, is you combine the slow meter rise with an unlinked Progressive, and you're probably not going to find such a, "Must Hit By," machine at an advantage.

That's the other thing about the Quick Hits Platinum slots, even with the unlinked Progressives, you can find one returning over 100% fairly routinely, by which, I would say that I mean at least one in about three random visits. The payout schedule, even including the Progressives, is fairly bottom heavy on those, so the lowest three Progressives are also where you get most of your value.

The, "Must Hit By," machines at Wheeling Island are those in which the Progressive increases based upon amount won rather than coin-in. We've had a few threads here and there discussing this exact thing, and the Wizard threw in on one with a published formula to determine where advantageous play points are. My method of determining advantageous play points is more conservative than Wizard's formula, but Wizard is certainly right in his formula. I just don't mind being a bit more conservative.

Quote: EvenBob

people I knew years
ago who would cut coupons to save 50 cents
on a jar of mayo, and research a big purchase
like a lawn mower or a furnace so they could
get the best deal, yet would drop $600 in a
casino without a thought.

I would go so far as to say *most* slot players are like this.

I no longer think many gamblers "don't know" the house has an edge. I'm wondering now how many think they have come across a system that lets them beat it, though.

I like what Mickey was saying above, reflecting my own philosophy of gambling, whether it's gaming or life. (Yeah, and denial's just a river in Egypt; I get that part, too.) But it was people willing to gamble that came to America in boats, that started the revolution ("Our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor"), that set out for the American West with a mule and a pickax, on and on. Call it "pioneer spirit" or whatever, it's a willingness to risk for the sake of reward. It's also the Puritan heritage that proposes and/or passes anti-gaming laws in this country, among the many laws that tell OTHER people what they can't do because it's for their own good. (It's never "stop ME because I shouldn't do xxxxx." It's always, "I don't think YOU should be doing xxxxx.") I would never have become a pilot if I were risk-averse. Or, for that matter, an Air Traffic Controller (complete career change into the unknown based on opportunity + curiosity + gambler). Overall, I think it's called living a full life.

Quote: mickeycrimm

Besides a gambler, I'm also a genealogist.

Is that where you stare at womens private parts
all day while their feet are in the stirrups?

Quote: SOOPOO

I feel bad for you that you can't ever get that feeling...

Don't feel bad for me, the feeling I get in
a casino is one you'll never have. I don't
want the feeling you have, its too unreliable.

Quote: Paigowdan

Don't walk into a casino if there's a good chance you'll regret it and hate yourself for it.

But if people did that, Dan, the casinos would all close
and I'd have no place to play. And I love roulette, I
just don't like where I'm forced to play it.

Quote: EvenBob

Is that where you stare at womens private parts
all day while their feet are in the stirrups?

That's genealogy, not gynecology. Lol. And It's the Lewis & Clark Expedition, not Meriwether and Clark. I don't know what I was thinking last night. The funny thing is I live in Montana. Lewis & Clark discovered Montana. Their names are everywhere here. Lewis & Clark County. The Clark Fork River. There's a Clark street in every town. I had watched Ken Burns documentary on the Lewis & Clark expedition a long time ago. After discovering I was related to William Clark I watched it again. But this time I paid more attention.

Quote: SOOPOO

In general Bob is correct. Many gamblers fall into the trap that the casino sets. Many gamblers are an unhappy, delusional bunch. I can assure you that I do not fall into that group. I generally set a 'budget' of less than a day's wages for my gambling trips, and have never even lost that much, and that doesnt include the free rooms and food. I enjoy the mental side of the game immensely..... I love when the dealers cannot set their Pai Gow hands as well as I can, when they don't notice the straight.... as these errors can turn the house advantage into a player advantage... I love when they offer me a nice free room even though my 'theoretical loss' really shouldn't justify it.... I love playing with like minded individuals, and we can discuss a particular play....
I understand the casino is trying to separate me from my money.... So is every other business entity I deal with....
Bob, I know you just cannot understand it, but I love the feeling I get in a casino.... I feel bad for you that you can't ever get that feeling...

And from playing tiles with you, you love getting a copy hand when you bank! (I've never seen a grown man get so excited...:) )

Quote: EvenBob

Not only be ahead, but stay ahead and keep
getting farther ahead. Casinos rely on a dumb
public base thats ignorant of the math and is
superstitious and unwilling to learn the truth.

I was always amazed at people I knew years
ago who would cut coupons to save 50 cents
on a jar of mayo, and research a big purchase
like a lawn mower or a furnace so they could
get the best deal, yet would drop $600 in a
casino without a thought. No research, no attempt
to learn what they were doing. And if I tried
to wise them up, they'd argue that I was wrong
or get really angry about it.

They liked being chumps was my conclusion, they
liked the myth that they could turn $100 into $10,000
and keep it going indefinitely.

AMEN !! Yoou hit it right on the head evenbob. They are called Narcissts :)

Quote: teddys

And from playing tiles with you, you love getting a copy hand when you bank! (I've never seen a grown man get so excited...:) )

Addressing Soopoo's quote
I feel sorry for the one that is lying to themself. Is the Narcissts here. You fall into the same category as the unhappy delusional bunch. You are the one kidding yourself, your not kidding anyone else. None of us care enough to be concerned enough to care about you & the stories you tell oneself to justify the act.