An Odds way of looking at
things
8 December 2003
By Mark Pilarski
Dear Mark, Please pardon this simple question,
but could you explain what you meant when you
stated in a column being paid "less than true
odds." Stan B.
True odds, Stan, is the ratio of the number of
times a favorable event will occur as compared
to the number of times an unfavorable event will
happen. As for "less than true odds," here-tiz
in common talk with an example: Suppose you and
I flip a coin, a dollar a pop. If you lose, you
pay me a buck. If you win, I pay you only 95¢.
Sound fair to you, Stan? Even though the odds of
winning are a 50-50 proposition, the game
becomes inequitable when instead of you getting
paid $1 when you win, you're only getting 95¢.
Though getting shortchanged a measly nickel
doesn't seem like much, it adds up as the number
of coin flips increases.
Casinos use this same concept, being paid less
then true odds, when you win a bet at most
casino games. Note any casino paytable
(roulette, many craps bets, video poker, slots,
etc.) and you'll see that their every payout is
for a a reduced payoff, or "less than true
odds."
This difference between true odds and less than
true odds is called the house edge, a percentage
of each bet you make that the house takes in.
The reason you are not paid true odds when you
gamble is that you need to make a payment, an
entertainment tax if you will, for the casino
letting you play in their joint.
Dear Mark, I had a friend who told me he made a
few thousand dollars a year just by walking
around in casinos and looking for slot machines
that had money left in the tray or in credits.
Sounds like a way to make some extra cash. Is
this legal? Who owns that money anyway? Laurie
J.
Whose money is it? T'aint your friend's, 'tiz
the casino owners. I've done this question
before, and normally I wouldn't repeat it, but
just this last week I personally observed two
elderly gents trying to get buffet funds by
circling the casino floor looking for credits
and loose change, so it has earned a repetition.
"Sea gulling" as it's called in gamblese, is
illegal. It means purposively circumnavigating
the casino floor looking for orphan coins or
credits on a slot machine, or even change on the
floor.
If your friend continues to make a full-time
occupation of cruising the casino on the lookout
for easy pickings, he will eventually be caught
and asked never to come back, or " permanently
86ed" in casino-ese. Luckily, if your pal
Sticky-finger is caught, there is no soundproof
room with a glove-vice waiting.
But that doesn't mean there are not those like
your friend who seek to make a living scavenging
the millions lost each year by gamblers who
forget their stored credits (winnings). Of
course, I know, Laurie, that you are not a
casino conniver looking for an easy score. But a
tip to you and other slot-playing patrons:
before you walk away from any slot machine,
don't forget to press the cash-out button.
Gambling quote of the week: "Some people lose
their heads cold sober. Cards, dice pool; it
makes no difference. You want to make a living
that way, you want to be a winner, you got to
keep your head. And you got to remember that
there's a loser somewhere in you, whining at
you, and you got to learn to cut his water off."
-- Bert, The Hustler (1959)
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