Page 22 - July 2010 • Southern California Gaming Guide

Bill Burton: About Gambling
was at a picnic a few weeks back, and one of my friends suggested that we should have our next get-together at the casino. is prompted a lot of discussion about favorite games, gambling in general, and a few bad beat stories.
YI
to have some short term wins. is is the reason that people go back to the casinos. If the outcome of each visit were based strictly on math, you would never win because there would be no deviation from the long- term results. If this happened, no one would play. If you knew you would lose ve cents on the dollar every time you played a hand of blackjack or pulled the handle on the slot machine it would be pretty silly to just hand over your money. However, since you can win in the short term, you can have the advantage if you know when to stop playing.
e reason why players lose is because they do not have the discipline to quit when they are ahead. Once they start winning, they start to get greedy. If they started with two hundred dollars and they are ahead by fty dollars they think they will continue winning and turn it into $1,000. is rarely happens. Eventually the math of the game will catch up with them and the casino will have their money back along with some of the player’s money.
Take advantage of your edge over the casino by being happy with small wins and the enjoyment you get playing casino games.
Until next time, remember: “Luck comes and goes.. Knowledge Stays Forever.”
Bill Burton is the author of 1000 Best Casino Gambling Secrets and Get the Edge at Low Limit Texas Hold’em available online at www.billburton.com. Burton is also an instructor for Golden Touch Craps: www.thecrapsclub.com.
ou Have the Advantage
One of my friends said, “I like to play blackjack, but I never win. I was on a cruise last month and I was playing in the casino. I bought in for $50 dollars and was up $200, but lost.”
I said,“Wait a minute. You said you never win, but you just told me you were up $200 after buying in for $50.
at’s a win!”
He replied,“But I was only playing for twenty minutes
and we were out to sea and there was nothing else to do, so I wanted to play some more.”
I told him he could have played some more and still left a winner; that all he had to do was to lock up a pro t. He bought in for $50 and was ahead $200 after twenty minutes. He could have put $150 in his pocket and still had $100 to play with, which was double the amount of his original buy-in.
I can’t count the number of times someone has come up to me and said they never win at the casino. I always ask if they were ahead at any point during their visit. Many times they will admit that they were ahead, but they have a number of reasons why they kept playing until they gave it all back:
♦ eir friends didn’t want to leave yet.
♦ ey thought they could win more.
It’s easy to walk when all your money is gone. It’s harder to quit while you are ahead. If you are ahead, lock up your buy-in and a small pro t. Play with the excess and when that is gone, get up and take a break. Learn to savor a win. It’s not that most people never win; it’s just that they never leave with their winnings.
Having an Edge
I told him that many people believe that they will always lose because the casino has a mathematical edge on all of the games. While this might be true in the long run, a player actually has the edge over the casino because you can quit anytime you want.
In the short term, luck will be a big factor in determining whether you win or lose. is is true of games that have positive expectations as well as games with a high house edge. If you are playing games with a high house edge, such as slots or certain table games, luck will be the only way to win. In the long run you will lose at these games.
e casino will see the long term because they are open 24/7 and the math will equal out for them. But if you are only an occasional visitor to the casino, it is possible
♦ ♦
ey had just gotten to the casino. ey felt lucky.
Page 22
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GAMING GUIDE
July 2010
About Gambling with Bill Burton