Roulette: Can this game be profitable? My fathers gambling addiction.

[TStoneMBD]

My father has a bit of a gambling problem. He believes that he can beat the game of roulette and was trying to convince me of it. He has 2 strategies that he believes combined allows for him to beat the game. Of course, life time he has lost tons and has built credit card debt through gambling. I have tried extremely hard to try and explain to him on a mathematical level that he cannot in fact beat the game of roulette. I have also tried to explain to him winning tactics for texas holdem as he plays that game as well, but he does not understand terms such as pot odds. He has difficulties restraining himself from playing hands like Q7o UTG, and apparently is on tilt at all times. It's difficult to sum up his psychological makeup as far as gambling is concerned, because I have been studying him all my life. Regardless, his strategies for beating roulette are as follows; He believes in the Martingale system even though he doesnt have an appropriate bankroll to use it properly. He is inclined to bet $1, then $2, then $4 but not 8. He also believes that he can predict which side of the wheel the ball will drop on by timing the balls rotations. He bets 18 numbers on each roll, all 18 being on one side of the wheel. He swears that sometimes a dealer will throw the ball and it will land 4 numbers ahead every spin, and therefore he rotates his 18bets 4 at a time in order of the side of the wheel he is on. I obviously cannot mathetmatically disprove his belief that he can predict the side of the wheel, as its like trying to disprove the belief in God or evolution. Is there anything I can do to help his addiction? I hate seeing him throw money out the window like this. He doesnt play craps or blackjack as he is aware that those are losing games, but he believes stubbornly that roulette is profitable. I have shown him articles on the internet discreditting the Martingale system, showing that does not turn roulette into a profitable game, yet he still doesnt believe it is a losing situation due to his belief that he can predict the side of the wheel.

Any help?

[Billy Baroo]

You may want to show him this thread. Particularly the post(s) by Terry about wheel clocking.

http://archiveserver.twoplustwo.com/...ev=#Post431758

[billyjex]

Tough situation. Obviously it sounds like you've done your best to help him understand the flaws in his theory that roulette is profitable.

While no expert on the subject, I think you need to get your dad into gamblers anonymous or other kind of help line. It sounds like he doesn't think he needs help, but maybe if you can persuade him by telling him you're really concerned he will at least check it out.

Good luck on your situation.

[BlueBear]

I can't believe I am saying this is a gambling forum, but your dad is 'in denial'. Not sure that he would listen to you though as both of you are poker players and both games are commonly regarded as 'gambling games'.

[MicroBob]

I believe that 'clocking' certain wheels and certain dealers is indeed VERY possible.
But it can't just be done on EVERY wheel....and not all dealers spin the ball at the same speed.

IF you are sharp enough to spot a dealer who spins the ball the same EVERY time or find some other sort of wheel-bias THEN roulette can be profitable.
But I am guessing that the vast majority of roulette games do not fall in this category.
I bet that advantageous roulette situations only come up EXTREMELY rarely...to the extent that if you don't know hat to look for then you shouldn't even mess with it.

I certainly don't think I'm sharp enough to do it...and I REALLY REALLY doubt that your Dad can distinguish the advantageous roulette situations from the normal "I'm going to lose 5.26% on each spin" situations.

That is one of the distinctions that your Dad doesn't seem to understand...along with the generally more obvious aspect that the martingale system is idiotic.


your Dad IS in denial.
I doubt there is much you can do unless you wanted to somehow get his money from him, get him banned from casinos, or get him into G.A. somehow.

He'll continue to lose his money.

Sorry for your situation as I know it must be frustrating.
I'm not really sure what to tell you.
If he can't see based on his pattern of losing and his bank-account statements that he is NOT beating the game then I don't know what other way there could be that can wake him up.

The money-losses alone should be enough to bring forth some degree of realization and they obviously are not.

[soah]

I'm not sure if this is really the answer you're looking for.

http://www.advantageplayer.com/roulette/index.html

[EliteNinja]

G.A., man!

The earlier the better!

Some people have all the skills to evaluate a game mathematically/statistically, but don't use them because they're in the "gambling" frame of mind where their emotions and brain chemicals take over.

So sad, yet so profitable for casinos.

[mosquito]

The problem with clocking is that the casino only
has to withhold spinning the ball until all the bets
are placed......

Just like they stop BJ counting with 'continuous
shuffling' machines, creating an infinite deck.

Duh...