Worst Bet, Huge Goof, and Biggest Regrets?

We're not all perfect, we've made mistakes, we've played beyond our budget, we've gotten sloshed, and we were all beginners once. What is the worst decision, poorest moment of judgment, worst bet, or biggest regret you've had in your gambling career?

Martingale

Quote: dwheatley

Martingale

HA! Every new gambler's golden invention!!

The first couple times I played BJ I would double on 12 or 13 against a dealer 5 or 6 because I figured I was less than 50% to bust and the dealer was likely to, so why not get more money out. After the dealer kept having to call over the pit boss to anounce my play, I figured I was either a genius or a complete rube. Luckily, it didn't take me too long to figure out which.

Also, I once played Let It Ride. That was probably a worse blunder now that I think of it.

We had a group of us at a BJ table. One of our friends was pretty drunk and gullible. We kept egging him on to double on 12 and split 10's. He did it everytime but the joke was on us because he won most of those hands! He turned $50 into $450. I still have to laugh.

20 years in the casino industry this I've witnessed with my very own eyes...

Player had two Aces, I had a 7. I got to her hand and was ready to split the cards even before she put her money down. She gave me the "stand" motion. I thought she meant to split and didn't understand. So I asked "Split? You have to equal your bet". She said "No I want to stay". I told her that she has the the option to split, and even if she didn't feel like splitting she can hit a card with no loss (by the way not that it matters but she wasn't even anchor). She insisted she didn't want to hit. So I let her stay on her soft 12. I ended up making my hand and the rest of the table was too confused to be ticked off.

My most recent mistake (of many) is trying in vain to get something out of one of those "S&H Green Stamps" slot machines (the ones where you save up "books" of stamps that eventually translate to free spins). Tried to find ones with lots of stamps already built up, but to no avail and wound up losing more than I'd care to.

Before that, I attempted card counting...which of course isn't a mistake in and of itself, but as I quickly learned, attempting to do it for real without TONS and tons of practice time is, and a very costly mistake at that.

Quote: RiverRock

....the rest of the table was too confused to be ticked off.

Now THAT'S funny!


It wasn't me, but, I was at a $5 Roulette table and a guy had a bunch of chips on a number, as well as a bunch on each of the borders and corners.

His number hit.

A pit boss and another guy came over - with a calculator - to figure it out. It was well over $20,000.

I told him he should request four $5,000 chips. They'd get them if he requested them. He should then pocket them, etc.

He didn't ask, so he got paid in $100 and $500 chips (Mostly $100).

I left a few spins later. About an hour after that, I returned to see the table was empty. Same dealer. I say, "Man, that was a hell of a hit that guy had."

He says, "Yep. And that was good advice about the $5k chips. He should have done it"

I say, "Uh-oh. Lemme guess. He gave it back, didn't he?"

"Every last chip, and then some."

I don't believe in retroactive regret, but still.... On my first trip to Vegas, on the last day while waiting for the airport shuttle to arrive, I decided to feed a deuces wild machine $20 to pass the time. This was at the Sahara casino and I had a 45 minute wait. I played the very minnimum denomination, five cents per hand, to make the money last longer.

When I was down to about $1.25 I hit four deuces, which I think is the second highest payoff in that game. I won a fair-sized pittance.

In my defense, assuming the exact same play and chances, had I been betting the maximum (I think 5 bucks per hand at that machine), I'd have lost all my money before that lucky hand. Besides the strategy was good: I got two deuces in the deal, held them and dumped everything else. I figured a fair chance of drawing a pair, and I did: I drew the other two deuces.

Remember: you can't change your bet after you've won.

At a casino in New Mexico, I had had a fairly decent run at the BJ tables, even though they were full for most of the time and at $10 minimum (usually like to stick with five). I was up around $150 for the afternoon and decided to make one big (for me) bet at an empty table before I left. Figured I'd either double my winnings or at least leave a few bucks ahead. I remembered reading, though, that the variance was lower on two 1/2 bets than one larger bet, so I took the $100 I planned to bet and split it to two betting squares at $50 each. When the dealer dealt the hand, I was excited - I had two 20s - all face cards, and the dealer was showing a 4. I stood, naturally, and the dealer turned over a 10 for a total of 14. The dealer took his hit and, there it was, a 7 face up, looking at the both of us. Even though it was only $100 total, it took me a couple of hours to shake that one off! Even BJ players experience bad beats!

Quote: MrPapagiorgio

... or biggest regret you've had in your gambling career?

While not necessarily gambling (although many argue otherwise), my father owned $25,000 worth of Apple stock in the mid-80's. I was sure it was just a fad, and convinced him to sell with a small profit. That position would be worth well over $2mm now. He makes a point of reminding me about it all the time.

Quote: lucky13

While not necessarily gambling (although many argue otherwise), my father owned $25,000 worth of Apple stock in the mid-80's. I was sure it was just a fad, and convinced him to sell with a small profit. That position would be worth well over $2mm now. He makes a point of reminding me about it all the time.

If you mean he had Apple stock only, this is on the order of betting you will hit a flush, when you have 4 cards to a flush drawing one. You probably made the right play, and it does not prove you made the wrong play when you draw a card that does not make the flush.

If my assumption was correct, your Dad was in the position of those people at Enron who had all their retirement money in Enron stock. The professional advice is always to not put your eggs in one basket. Always!

If, however, he was actually well diversified, yeah, your call was a stinker.