01-27-2006, 12:15 PM
Games rely on some combination of skill and luck. Popular gambling games (cards, dice, mahjongg...) tend to rely more on the former than the latter, but no amount of skill at a game can overcome a streak of bad luck or someone else's streak of extreme good luck. That said, it is in the best interest of all players to learn a game and master their skill at it to earn better odds of "winning", but NOT to cheat. Cheating is for dishonest people, and anyone who claims to be your friend who cheats is the worst kind of enemy there is regardless of how "entertained" or "good" s/he made you feel at the time.
What draws most people to gamble? The chance to win is the popular answer. Most gamblers enjoy a payoff as a reward for their superior skill and luck at playing a game. Addicts rely on the thrill. Some gamblers enjoy the social factor putting only a small emphasis on monetary gains and a large emphasis on sharing pleasant experiences with friends. Most gamblers enjoy the games they play. No gambler admires, respects or likes a cheater.
Luck is a tricky subject. By "luck" I refer to the quality of beating the odds more often than not, over a given period of time. For example, a lucky person might find 2 OZ's in 1 year of playing Diablo, where an average person might find 1 OZ in 3 years of playing and an unlucky one doesn't find any in 5 years. That same lucky person then moves on to D2 and is given 3 SOJ's by the Lord of Darkness after 10 runs, while the other two might get one after 100 runs. Moving on yet again, our lucky lady finds herself in the World of Warcraft and frequently rolls higher than anyone else in her party for purple drops. That same "lucky" person then goes to Vegas and plays poker for 2 hours (with honest players), and due to her complete noobishness in the game loses to skillful players but due to her "good luck", she doesn't lose much. Licking her wounds, she decides to have lunch but, wait, she thinks, "Look at that marvellous spinning wheel!"
There are betting strategies for roulette, but for the most part, luck rules that game. (If you are feeling lucky in Vegas, then roulette is the game to play.) So our lucky lady postpones lunch, slaps down fifty bucks for a pile of pastel pink chips, plays for half an hour, and walks away with over $500 in black, green and red chips. Without any knowledge of roulette strategies, she took advantage of a lucky streak and bet on patterns of numbers. She finally makes it to the cafeteria where she misses the Grand Lunch Buffet by 10 minutes and has to pay $10 more for dinner prices, but she doesn't mind. After all, she has become absorbed in the flashing lights on the keno board while waiting in line.
Some professional gamblers tend to be luckier than other people. Most, if not all, successful gamblers learn to recognize "lucky streaks" when it happens to them and when it happens to other people so that they can adjust their play style accordingly. Professional gamblers respect the games they play and do not cheat. People who make a living by cheating at gambling are con-artists and "professional" cheaters; they are not professional gamblers.
As jahcs said, "playing smart is not cheating." Being skillful at a game takes a lot of practice, effort and experience, and using all of your resources (studying the lay of the cards/numbers for patterns, keeping track of played cards, aka "counting cards", reading the expressions of other players, knowing the odds of a situation, etc.) to win within the guidelines of the game rules (since "house rules" differ from establishment to establishment, I am refering to the rules that all players have agreed upon) is not cheating.
Do people cheat at gambling in Las Vegas? Indeed they do, and most of the cheaters are the ones dealing you your cards. Some of the employees working at casinos cheat for better tips rather than to win for the house. Despite having the "house edge" over people at nearly every game in their casino, some of them employ "mechanics", dealers who can stack a deck and deal "seconds" among other things to give the house more of an edge. Most casinos that use "mechanics" prey on casual gamers who couldn't spot a cheater even if they were paid. Casinos that use mechanics often earn a bad reputation and go out of business (Vegas World anyone?).
Despite what Doc stated, people who bet real life money in a game of chance do not want to lose it to a cheater, regardless of how entertaining the cheater might be. They want an honest chance to win or lose. If they merely wanted to buy entertainment, they would get tickets to a magic show where slight of hand and deception are welcomed. (Professional magicians are hard working people who excel at the skills they perform on the stage; although they are paid for performing deceptions and tricks they are no more dishonest swindlers than are authors of fiction compulsive liars. They should not be associated with con-artists or cheaters. Using slight of hand and tricks, such as marking cards, to change the outcome of a game is different.)
Is "card counting" considered "cheating" by casino personnel? Yes (at least it was 5 years ago), but many casinos allow you to bring a "players guide" to the black jack tables (they even sell the "basic strat" guides, about the size of a laminated index card, in their giftshops). :wacko:
Is card counting cheating? No. A good card player keeps track of cards, counts trumps, watches what other people play to estimate what cards of a particular suit they might have left, if any, etc. In most games, however, card counting must be done individually; it can't be shared. (i.e. in pinochle, Player A can't share her trump count with her partner, Player B, while her partner keeps track of aces and other suits.)
Are casinos allowed to "identify" cheaters without offering the accused an explanation? Yes. Innocent people have been accused of cheating and have been forcibly removed from casinos in Vegas.
Is gambling in Vegas worthwhile? Yes, the entertainment value in Vegas is well worth the visit, if you enjoy gaming, shows, shopping and eating. As a rule of thumb, the best casinos to visit for honest games are the new ones. After all, casinos that have just spent millions to build cannot afford bad publicity that dishonest dealers/players or "unrealistically" rigged machines will give them. ;)
What draws most people to gamble? The chance to win is the popular answer. Most gamblers enjoy a payoff as a reward for their superior skill and luck at playing a game. Addicts rely on the thrill. Some gamblers enjoy the social factor putting only a small emphasis on monetary gains and a large emphasis on sharing pleasant experiences with friends. Most gamblers enjoy the games they play. No gambler admires, respects or likes a cheater.
Luck is a tricky subject. By "luck" I refer to the quality of beating the odds more often than not, over a given period of time. For example, a lucky person might find 2 OZ's in 1 year of playing Diablo, where an average person might find 1 OZ in 3 years of playing and an unlucky one doesn't find any in 5 years. That same lucky person then moves on to D2 and is given 3 SOJ's by the Lord of Darkness after 10 runs, while the other two might get one after 100 runs. Moving on yet again, our lucky lady finds herself in the World of Warcraft and frequently rolls higher than anyone else in her party for purple drops. That same "lucky" person then goes to Vegas and plays poker for 2 hours (with honest players), and due to her complete noobishness in the game loses to skillful players but due to her "good luck", she doesn't lose much. Licking her wounds, she decides to have lunch but, wait, she thinks, "Look at that marvellous spinning wheel!"
There are betting strategies for roulette, but for the most part, luck rules that game. (If you are feeling lucky in Vegas, then roulette is the game to play.) So our lucky lady postpones lunch, slaps down fifty bucks for a pile of pastel pink chips, plays for half an hour, and walks away with over $500 in black, green and red chips. Without any knowledge of roulette strategies, she took advantage of a lucky streak and bet on patterns of numbers. She finally makes it to the cafeteria where she misses the Grand Lunch Buffet by 10 minutes and has to pay $10 more for dinner prices, but she doesn't mind. After all, she has become absorbed in the flashing lights on the keno board while waiting in line.
Some professional gamblers tend to be luckier than other people. Most, if not all, successful gamblers learn to recognize "lucky streaks" when it happens to them and when it happens to other people so that they can adjust their play style accordingly. Professional gamblers respect the games they play and do not cheat. People who make a living by cheating at gambling are con-artists and "professional" cheaters; they are not professional gamblers.
As jahcs said, "playing smart is not cheating." Being skillful at a game takes a lot of practice, effort and experience, and using all of your resources (studying the lay of the cards/numbers for patterns, keeping track of played cards, aka "counting cards", reading the expressions of other players, knowing the odds of a situation, etc.) to win within the guidelines of the game rules (since "house rules" differ from establishment to establishment, I am refering to the rules that all players have agreed upon) is not cheating.
Do people cheat at gambling in Las Vegas? Indeed they do, and most of the cheaters are the ones dealing you your cards. Some of the employees working at casinos cheat for better tips rather than to win for the house. Despite having the "house edge" over people at nearly every game in their casino, some of them employ "mechanics", dealers who can stack a deck and deal "seconds" among other things to give the house more of an edge. Most casinos that use "mechanics" prey on casual gamers who couldn't spot a cheater even if they were paid. Casinos that use mechanics often earn a bad reputation and go out of business (Vegas World anyone?).
Despite what Doc stated, people who bet real life money in a game of chance do not want to lose it to a cheater, regardless of how entertaining the cheater might be. They want an honest chance to win or lose. If they merely wanted to buy entertainment, they would get tickets to a magic show where slight of hand and deception are welcomed. (Professional magicians are hard working people who excel at the skills they perform on the stage; although they are paid for performing deceptions and tricks they are no more dishonest swindlers than are authors of fiction compulsive liars. They should not be associated with con-artists or cheaters. Using slight of hand and tricks, such as marking cards, to change the outcome of a game is different.)
Is "card counting" considered "cheating" by casino personnel? Yes (at least it was 5 years ago), but many casinos allow you to bring a "players guide" to the black jack tables (they even sell the "basic strat" guides, about the size of a laminated index card, in their giftshops). :wacko:
Is card counting cheating? No. A good card player keeps track of cards, counts trumps, watches what other people play to estimate what cards of a particular suit they might have left, if any, etc. In most games, however, card counting must be done individually; it can't be shared. (i.e. in pinochle, Player A can't share her trump count with her partner, Player B, while her partner keeps track of aces and other suits.)
Are casinos allowed to "identify" cheaters without offering the accused an explanation? Yes. Innocent people have been accused of cheating and have been forcibly removed from casinos in Vegas.
Is gambling in Vegas worthwhile? Yes, the entertainment value in Vegas is well worth the visit, if you enjoy gaming, shows, shopping and eating. As a rule of thumb, the best casinos to visit for honest games are the new ones. After all, casinos that have just spent millions to build cannot afford bad publicity that dishonest dealers/players or "unrealistically" rigged machines will give them. ;)