The Screwdriver Center

Not fixed as in you have been cheated. No not at all. Fixed in that all the payoffs you receive in a Casino are structured so the Casino cannot lose. Allow me to explain. In his book “Winning Blackjack” the late Ken Uston uses the following example. Suppose I have a jar full of 100 marbles. 52 of the marbles are Black and 48 are white. Now we’ll start drawing marbles one at a time. Every time you draw a black marble you pay me $1.00. Every time you draw a white marble I’ll pay you $1.00. Now I think you’ll agree that under those circumstances you could actually get lucky for a while. You might pull 3 or 4 white marbles in a row and be winning money. But let me ask you this. If I can keep you playing until we have pulled all the marbles, can you beat me? Of course not! There are more black marbles than white. It would be impossible for you to come out ahead. If you can understand that then you can understand what the Casinos do. You see they never pay full odds on any bet you win. Let’s take a look at Roulette as an example. On a Roulette wheel there are 36 consecutive numbered spaces and a 0 and 00 space. This is a total of 38 spaces where the ball can fall. That makes the odds 37-1 against any single number coming up on any spin. Now let’s suppose you are betting $1.00 a spin and all the numbers come up in sequence. You would lose on 37 spins and win on one. At true odds you would lose $37.00 and win $37.00 when your number finally appeared. That is a fair game. But in a Casino they only pay you 35-1 on the bet I just described. That means you will lose $37 on those losing spins and only win $35 when you number finally comes up. You lose $2 for winning! The same odds changes are in effect on any game you play. Now you might say “what about Blackjack?” “I bet $10 and if I win I am paid $10″. Well I would say you have a point except for one thing. What happens if you bust a hand and the dealer later busts his hand also? Is it a tie? Absolutely not! When you bust the dealer takes your wager immediately. If he later busts it’s tough luck Charlie. No ties here. Read more about Roulette and online gambling at Playsportal.net Online Gambling Forums