Press Your Bets... Impress Lady Luck.

I keep hearing that staying with Basic Strategy is the thing to do.

Stay with the 1.414 Line Bet. Take Odds so as to lower 1.414 to some smidgen while hoping that Lady Variance smiles favorably upon you.

The casinos want the bigger bets (all those matchplay offers, you know) and all that Stick patter about center bets.

Maybe its just a matter of make a few large bets and accept the consequences. End the grind of 1.414. Either go for it or get out of the casino. End the five dollar table. Make a real bet or leave. Ain't nobody gonna get rich at a ten dollar craps game unless they take 100x odds. Even then, ten dollar line bets are not all that great either.

If a beautiful woman walks by, men bet at a higher level. Go to a poker game in a hotel room and there will always be some of those pheromones wafting around the place. Booze, Broads and Bets. Go for it. The house can grind us far easier and longer than we can try to grind some profit out of the house.

The only way to make money at this gambling thing is to walk up and lay half your bankroll on the line. These ten dollar line bets don't get you anywhere, the outside bets at roulette don't get you anywhere. Lady Variance will grind you down in the long run, so don't give her a long run. Either take your lumps in the short run or take your winnings in the short run, but after that short run: get out.

Great advice, except....

After you've busted out, or after you won enough to stop, then what?


If you're in Vegas, there are things to do. But how many casinos have options other than gambling? If you have hours, or days, to kill, how do you kill them?

Even "Vegas Of The East" - Atlantic City - doesn't have a heck of a lot to do other than gambling.

It is for that reason that most of us prefer the slow grind.

And it is why I prefer Poker. It can be a slow grind, but it is also interspersed with occasional big pots. You just have to figure out how to be the recipient of those pots.

Quote: DJTeddyBear

And it is why I prefer Poker. It can be a slow grind, but it is also interspersed with occasional big pots. You just have to figure out how to be the recipient of those pots.

Well, craps has its "monster rolls", roulette has its Straight Up hits, Blackjack has its Splt, split again, and win them all moments. Poker's grindish moments are rewarding only because its a win from a person not the casino. That is what poker players want. The small parts are fun, the big pots are profitable.

I've just come to realize that Go For Broke is better than Basic Strategy. With either style you can wind up broke, but with Basic Strategy you will always wind up broke.

Even girls in high school know you don't get Basic Strategy implants, you get Proposition Bet implants. Snag the rich dude, hire yourself a good divorce lawyer, get a good settlement and then get the implants removed. Its the men who play Basic Strategy while waiting for Hot Dice and Hot Broads who get neither. Basic Strategy is base.

1.414 percent is for wimps who want the shallow end of the pool. Wimps who want the shallow end of the pool shouldn't go swimming at all.

The proper strategy is Go For Broke. I wish I had realized this before I was broke!

Quote: FleaStiff

Well, craps has its "monster rolls", roulette has its Straight Up hits, Blackjack has its Splt, split again, and win them all moments. Poker's grindish moments are rewarding only because its a win from a person not the casino. That is what poker players want. The small parts are fun, the big pots are profitable.

I've just come to realize that Go For Broke is better than Basic Strategy. With either style you can wind up broke, but with Basic Strategy you will always wind up broke.

So, how many times do you "Go For Broke"? Just once in your life? Or once per trip? Or once per session? You said in your original post that "Lady Variance" will grind you down. It's not "Lady Variance" that does the grinding. "Lady Variance" is what gives you a chance to win. In fact, that's really what's behind your argument. The more of your bankroll you bet at once, the higher the variance. Why bet only half your bankroll? Your best chance to win is to bet all of it at once. Win or lose, walk away and never play again. And, of course, with Basic Strategy you don't ALWAYS wind up broke.

Quote: FleaStiff

1.414 percent is for wimps who want the shallow end of the pool. Wimps who want the shallow end of the pool shouldn't go swimming at all.

The proper strategy is Go For Broke. I wish I had realized this before I was broke!

Thanks for deciding what's "best" for all the rest of us! >:-)
Cheers,
Alan Shank
Woodland, CA

1.414 percent is for grinders and entertainment, not for "losers". If there are 20 pass line bets per hour, and you are betting $10, your expected loss over a four hour session is 80 x 10 x .01414 = $11.40. Big whoop. In the meantime, you drink cheap beers, check out the scenery, and are nice and warm soakin' up the crapsmosphere. Part of the entertainment is watching the folks come in with a purple chip on the field only to have it lose, or better yet, have someone throw a "2" and they walk away with $1,500. Some people live for the big thrill and other people live for the grind.