Casino Report of a Different Kind (more rhetorical content)

[davelin]

Hey all, this was something I was sharing with Grunch the other day and I thought I’d share it with you guys. This past weekend I went to the Trump Casino in Indiana for a bachelor’s party. Although I didn’t play a single hand of poker there, I think I had a “no duh” moment about poker while gambling there. While there for like 3 hours, I played a mixture of craps, blackjack and baccarat. And you know what, 98% of the bets I made there had a negative expectation and that was totally alright with me because I was there to gamble and have a good time. The place was filled with people, all of them making -EV plays all the time and none of them complained about that fact.

And more importantly, the casino didn’t complain that all of these patrons were making plays where the house held the edge. Craps shooter put a $5 bet on hard-eight, that was totally cool with the house, even after he hit it. Blackjack player didn’t double her eleven while dealer showed six, the house didn’t complain about that either. Baccarat player wants to pay 5% commission on his Banker bets, totally cool with that as well.

What’s my point? A couple of things. People like to gamble even when they know they’re not favored to win. Happens at the blackjack, pai gow, Carribbean Stud tables, happens at the poker tables too. I’m guessing everyone here has gambled at a game they knew they weren’t the favorite but they did it anyway. I think many poker players believe the same thing, it’s a game of gambling, not skill. Let them continue to think this way.

But I also realized that when you play good poker, you are in some ways the “house”. You’re playing with the edge while these other players aren’t. After many hands, this compounds and results in money in your pocket. So play good poker and don’t worry about the minor losses. Someone caught runner-runner flush against your Aces, good. Someone didn’t raise pre-flop with AJs, that’s good too. Play good poker, become the “house” and reap the benefits. This mindset helps me whenever I’m in a slight downswing.