Archive for June, 2009
If you think that card counting is an easy road to riches, you're deluding yourself. The pro gamblers I know work harder for their money than most people who hold regular jobs. They don't even begin to think they're getting "something for nothing." They know that every penny they make comes from long hours of work, study, sweat, and guts.
And don't think that just because the state requires a casino to post the 800-number for Gamblers Anonymous that the state has any concern whatsoever for gambling addicts. They care as much about gambling addicts as they do about drunks. Every state makes bundles of money from casinos, and politicians in states where gambling is legal get their palms greased regularly by the industry powers that be. The state will be just as happy to take money from you as any casino, poker player, or racetrack.
I live in Nevada now, but up until a few years ago, I lived in California, and the Golden State provided me with an invaluable education in the perfidious tactics of pushers who supply gambling addicts with an excuse for indulging in their drug of choice. Shortly after California instituted its usurious state lottery some years back (50% house edge, like most state lotteries), a front-page article in the San Francisco Chronicle revealed that nearly half of the lottery tickets sold in the state were being purchased by the same small percentage of buyers, who happened to reside in the depressed big city ghettos, with little education, and poverty-level incomes. An official spokesperson for the lottery commission stated that these high volume ticket buyers fell into two classifications—"compulsive gamblers" and "professional gamblers."
I like that. Professional lottery players. A spokesperson for the state declares on the front page of the daily papers that certain individuals whom demographics would lead us to categorize as poor and uneducated, are in fact a new breed of urban professional. Perhaps, it won't be long before California's universities begin offering classes like Big Spin 101, so that some of the more educated citizens of the state, who don't currently buy lottery tickets, can obtain a Bachelor of Lotto degree.
If you are a compulsive gambler, my advice is: Don't gamble. And don't try to convince yourself that counting cards is an "investment." Throw this book away—and stay away from the casinos.
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Tags: blackjack, card counting, online casino, professional gamblers
A pro has one goal: to maximize the return on his investment. He's in it for the money. A compulsive gambler has a different goal: to keep his money in action. He's in it for the action. It's a different motivation, that's all.
This is what it boils down to: A pro sees gambling as a means to money; a compulsive sees money as a means to gambling. That's the difference between the two.
Compulsive gamblers pose big problems to the professionals, like, "should we eat them for breakfast, lunch, or dinner?" This is true in all forms of gambling, including the stock market, real estate, commodities, and just about any activity that could fall under the general headings of "business" or "investing." If any risk of capital is involved, it's gambling, and the pros will beat the amateurs and the compulsives.
So, although I believe it's possible that a compulsive gambler could become a professional blackjack or poker player; the problem is that he'll operate in the red a lot. If he is an otherwise intelligent person who has access to money from some other source, he will provide bread and butter for the noncompulsive professionals, who much prefer to operate in the black.
This could be the best way to tell the compulsives from the noncompulsives. Operate in red: compulsive; operate in black: non-compulsive. Unfortunately, it's not easy to gather data on this, because both compulsive gamblers and professional gamblers tend to lie about their finances.
So the real answer to the question is: No.
In the same way that the liquor industry thrives on alcoholics, the gambling industry thrives on gambling addicts. Despite the Gamblers Anonymous brochures most casinos display near their cashiers' cages, usually in compliance with state gaming regulations, the industry knows that addicts are their best customers, just like your local bartender knows that the neighborhood drunks pay a good portion of his rent every month.
One of the main dangers of gambling addiction, compared to other self-destructive addictions, is that—unlike drinking or eating or taking drugs—gambling really is a profession for some people. So any gambler can convince himself that he is "investing" his money in his chosen occupation, since every gambler does sometimes see a return on his investment. Casinos understand the compulsive gambler's perspective, and they target their marketing specifically at players who possess the one psychological trait found in virtually every gambling addict—an inordinate desire to get something for nothing. Casinos offer more freebies to their customers than any other business, and these misnamed "complimentaries," or "comps," are NEVER really complimentary. They are always based on a player's volume of action at the casino's games, and that action has a real cost in dollars and cents.
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Tags: blackjack, compulsive gamblers, online casino, professional blackjack