EV thoughts

The thread on whether you should ever take 'even money' on a black jack has me thinking about what to do about EV. Many years ago I played BJ as a card counter at very low stakes. I would make, in general, small amounts on my infrequent trips to Atlantic City. But it felt like work. Then I realized that while actually at work I could make far more per hour than I did at BJ. So now I use EV as a guide to what I do in a casino. I love playing pai gow. I love the table comeraderie. I love when I bank and I get a copy hand. I love when I can elbow the player next to me out of making an error. I LOVE when the dealer missets his hand to my favor. I love when the dealer has to make a play that I know is not best because they have a weak set of house rules. Given all that, I know the 5% commission is a price I am paying for all that I 'love'. But I can guarantee you that the 'EV' for me at playing pai gow is positive, not in dollar terms, but in my enjoyment in whatever average loss I will have over a lifetime. So for me dollars and cents EV is a guide to what I do in a casino, not a mandate to avoid certain games. I occassionally play craps, and, yes, I'll put $5 on the 5 or 9. I'll drop a dollar yo. If I sit there playing pass line and odds only, I am not having fun. I can't play roulette. For me, the super high negative EV will not let me enjoy the game at all. So each of us has a limit to how much we are willing to pay for the enjoyment of awaiting the next card, the next roll, or the next pull. I need to know the EV of the games I play, but it is not the sole determining factor of whether I play or not. And, I love this forum.

Great comments. I have also settled into primarily playing Pai Gow Poker with occassional forays into 3 card poker. And I like to play the fortune in Pai Gow and the pairs plus in three card. This is fun for me and that is why I do it.

You said it better than I could. MERRY CHRISTMAS

Quote: SOOPOO

But I can guarantee you that the 'EV' for me at playing pai gow is positive, not in dollar terms, but in my enjoyment in whatever average loss I will have over a lifetime.

Awesome...that is the whole essence of gambling summed up in a sentence, its raison d'etre. It's not about shaving a millionth of a decimal point off of a fraction off of the house edge, thinking that is the way to play, it is to have fun at a game than is more than fair enough, and has something to offer.
Spot on! The quote of the week!

Its not the fun of shaving a millionth of a point, its the fun of winning.