Back to the Scene of the Crime

By Carl Van Eton

Courtesy of  Public Domain Pictires

Having played blackjack for a living for more than 20 years, it never ceases to amaze me when I meet a player who upon learning that I both use and teach card counting asks me, "Isn't card counting illegal?"  My response is usually one of, "I have yet to see a casino post a sign that reads, "Please Check Your Brain at the Door."

Since when is learning how to master a game a crime?  While professional poker players are treated like rock stars nowadays, card counters are given all the respect of cockroaches.  Granted, the casinos don't like it when the public tries to do to them what they do to everyone else, which is exploit a mathematical advantage.  But to treat any player like dirt just because they exhibit skill...in my opinion, that should be considered a criminal act.

There's a Sucker Born Every Minute

By Carl Van Eton

Image courtesy of en.wikipedia.org

"There's a sucker born every minute," is a phrase allegedly coined by world-class showman P.T. Barnum.  While Barnum's business revolved around the circus, old P.T. would have fit right into the avaricious world of casino gaming.  Like it or not, the casinos are all about getting players to let their guard down.  Everything from the color of the carpets to the use of chips, not to mention free drinks, is designed to seperate players from their money.  No amount of glitz and glamour can do more than gloss over the fact that when you get right down to it, every casino is nothing more than a giant Hoover vacuum cleaner that tries its best to plug its snout into your wallet.

Of course, it doesn't help that most players make the casino's job easy by playing games that they know little or nothing about.  Whether it's a greenhorn player that wanders over to the roulette wheel, or a craps player who insists on betting the prop bets, most players are sheep that are sure to get sheered.

What Happens in Vegas

By Carl Van Eton

Image courtesy of en.wikipedia,org

With casinos being available in every state in the lower 48 with the exception of Utah, you would think that Las Vegas would have lost some of its luster.  But that’s not the case.  Of course, when you think about it, there are more casinos in Las Vegas than in the rest of the country combined.  If you count all the bars, stores and other places that offer slots, there are currently more than 1,700 licensed gambling establishments in the greater Las Vegas area.  You will find it hard to sit down at a bar that doesn’t have a video poker machine built into it there.  Some tourists have been known to drop their bankroll before ever getting out of McCarran Airport, since it too offers slot machines.

He Who Has the Gold

By Carl Van Eton

Image courtesy of en.wikipedia.org

All the card counting technology in the world will not do you one bit of good if you don’t know how to tell an honest casino from a clip joint.  Just as there are a million and one ways for a casino to separate you from your hard-earned money, don’t be fooled into believing that only bush league casinos are interested in turning a fast buck. After all, why do you think it’s feasible for investors to pony up a billion dollars or more to construct many of today’s themepark casinos?

As long as there is money to be had, the State, and I mean any state, where casino gaming is the lay of the land is going to turn a blind eye to even the most blatant of institutionalized methods of augmenting the bottom line…as long as the State gets its cut.  When it comes to rules, the casino industry follows but one rule, the Golden Rule.

"He who has the gold makes the rules!"