Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Know the odds before you bet

The excitement of gambling is irresistible to many. It’s alright to be a social gambler when you play in small stakes to pass time. But a compulsive gambler is a cripple for life.

He finds it hard to stop while down and harder still when he’s ahead. He becomes addicted to the pleasurable-painful tension of winning and losing. He has to feel the glory of success and the agony of failure. Unconsciously, winning or losing doesn’t matter much to him so long as he can keep on gambling. Eventually he loses everything, and ruins his life and home.

Gambling is a zero-sum game. One party must lose before the other party wins. There are two sides to a bet. They are the wining side and the losing side. If you can’t be on the winning side, don’t bet. Rarely put on a 50 to 50 chance bet.

In casino games, the banker is always on the winning side. When you play roulette, whether you bet on red or black, you chance of winning is 18 against 19. That little odd of 1 in favor of the banker is enough to enable the banker to win over time.

No matter what other games you play in the casino, the odds are always in favor of the banker. That’s why the house always wins.

You must know the odds before you bet. In the 4-digit numbers game, the odds are heavily against you. That’s why the illegal operator makes so much money at the expense of the naïve punters. Don’t be taken advantage of; don’t contribute to others’ holiday funds.

Gambling is often associated with crime. In the underground world of gambling, we have the professional gamblers, the cardsharpers, the confidence men, the cheats, the shills and the hustlers all ever ready to strip you of your hard-earned cash.

Think twice, and think again before you put in your next bet. If the odds are greatly against you, you have no chance to win.

Be on the winning side to win.