With the influx of online casinos, the statistics of people who are now betting is staggering. We all hear of the guy that hit it big. “If he can do it, so can I,” you may say to yourself. But what are the odds of your betting and hitting the big one, or at least staying alive in your game of choice?
There are two types of betting. One is based on a hunch (An intuitive feeling or a premonition), and the other is based on a set of mathematical probabilities (A number expressing the likelihood that a specific event will occur, expressed as the ratio of the number of actual occurrences to the number of possible occurrences).
In casino betting, your chances of staying alive at the tables will determine your strategy that you chose to follow. Of course, every game in a casino or anywhere else for all that matters is really just based on math. Take Black Jack for example. Depending on the number of decks used in the game, the possibility of winning adheres to principles of math. Consider this when betting: in a game of Black Jack, tens, Jacks, Queens, and Kings are worth ten points each. Now if you are playing a six deck shoe as opposed to a double deck, the House’s chance of winning increases. Six decks equal ninety-six tens, while a double deck features eight. Get the picture?
Wow, you might say, wouldn’t that mean that the dealer would bust more often in a six deck shoe? Not necessarily. Here’s how casinos seem like they always win...it’s very simple actually. No matter how much money you have and how carefully you play, the casino will always have more than you. It doesn’t matter if you walk in with a million dollars in your pocket. Casinos make Fort Knox look like a dollar store. The fact is, eventually the odds will be against you. The casino can last over time longer than you can.
Here’s how that theory works: Say you went to the casino and you won. You might go home a happy winner. You will remember your great time you had at the casino, the excitement, the fun. So there is a great probability that you will return back to the casino at a future date since your luck was so good the first time. If, on the other hand, you lose everything, there is also a great probability that you will return to try to win your money back. Either way, you wind up in the casino, where they still have enough money to wait you out. If they don’t get you now, they will get you later.
Betting at a casino, whether it is an actual place or a virtual one, can be entertaining if you stay within your financial limits. Decide what you are going to spend before going in (the same as you would if you decided to take in dinner and a movie). Do not stray from that figure. Leave your bank and credit cards at home so you will not be tempted to chase your money. Too many people find out the hard way about that statistical rule.
Betting can be fun, but use your fun wisely. Look at gambling as entertainment and not as a way to earn money and you’ll go home happier.
By R. S. Wagner