Ridiculous Gambling

PASPA is a silly law that stands in conflict with nearly every other gambling law in the United States in that the legality of different forms of gambling has always been decided by the states. But PASPA isn't the only ridiculous gambling law out there. There are plenty of others – enough, in fact, to make a top-10 list. The Ridiculous 6 is a 2015 American Western action comedy film directed by Frank Coraci and written by Tim Herlihy and Adam Sandler.Starring Sandler, Terry Crews, Jorge Garcia, Taylor Lautner, Rob Schneider and Luke Wilson, the plot follows six men who discover that they share the same bank-robbing father , and thereafter set out to reunite with him.

The Ridiculous 6 is a 2015 American Westernaction comedy film directed by Frank Coraci and written by Tim Herlihy and Adam Sandler. Starring Sandler, Terry Crews, Jorge Garcia, Taylor Lautner, Rob Schneider and Luke Wilson, the plot follows six men who discover that they share the same bank-robbing father (Nick Nolte), and thereafter set out to reunite with him.

Released worldwide on Netflix on December 11, 2015, the film was panned by critics and is one of the few films to receive an approval rating of 0% on Rotten Tomatoes.^[2]

Plot[edit]

In the Old West, Tommy (Adam Sandler), known as 'White Knife' by the American Indian tribe who raised him after his mother was murdered, is to marry a member of the tribe named Smoking Fox (Julia Jones) as arranged by his adoptive father Chief Screaming Eagle (Saginaw Grant). Following a run-in with Will Patch (Will Forte) and his Left-Eye Gang, who have all removed their right eye, as well as a one-eyed food proprietor named Clem (Steve Zahn), Tommy is visited by a bank robber named Frank Stockburn (Nick Nolte) who claims to be his biological father. Frank tells Tommy that he is dying of consumption and had amassed $50,000 buried in a meadow, which he offers to Tommy and his tribe.

The next day, a group of bandits led by the ruthless Cicero (Danny Trejo) come to the village and want Frank to give them his 'big score.” Frank has the bandits kidnap him so he can lead them to the money at the so-called 'Singing Windmill', in return for the bandits not attacking Tommy or the Natives. After searching the meadow Tommy is unable to find the stash of money and sets off on a quest to steal the amount needed and save his father.

During his journey, Tommy discovers that he has 5 half-brothers: Mexican burro rider Ramon (Rob Schneider) whose innkeeper mother had a fling with Frank; mentally challenged yet happy-go-lucky Lil' Pete (Taylor Lautner) whose strong neck makes him immune to hanging; feral mountain-man Herm (Jorge Garcia) who speaks incomprehensibly and helped his mother sell their moonshine; Drunkard, Danny (Luke Wilson), the former bodyguard of Abraham Lincoln (Dan Patrick) who is guilt-ridden from accidentally leading John Wilkes Booth (Chris Kattan) to murder the president; and African-American saloon pianist Chico (Terry Crews) who confesses to being half-White.

Meanwhile, having joined the Left-Eye Gang at the cost of his only functional eye, Clem helps the bandits abduct Smoking Fox. She escapes due to Clem's blindness and begins searching for Tommy and his brothers, now known as the Ridiculous 6.

After meeting Chico and Danny, the brothers have a run in with Chico's boss, sociopathic saloon owner, Smiley Harris (Harvey Keitel), who was part of Frank's gang until Frank stole his cut of their biggest score and left him to die at the windmill. When Smiley attempts to kill the brothers out of revenge against Frank, he ends up being unintentionally decapitated by Ramon. The group later encounters Abner Doubleday (John Turturro) who is developing baseball with some Chinese immigrants.

The Left-Eye Gang soon catch up to the Ridiculous 6 while the latter are relaxing in a pond. The gang overpowers the brothers and steals their loot. Through Herm's ramblings, translated by Tommy, the brothers then decide to rob a gambling game in Yuma hosted by Ezekiel Grant (Jon Lovitz) and attended by Mark Twain (Vanilla Ice) and General George Armstrong Custer (David Spade). The brother's succeed, though Wyatt Earp (Blake Shelton) nearly jeopardizes their plan, and set off to ransom their father.

On the way, the Ridiculous 6 come across the Left-Eye Gang who have been left to die in the desert by Cicero. Tommy and the brothers rescue Will and his gang and reclaim the $50,000 they had stolen from them. That evening, Tommy sees a photograph carried by Danny that proves Cicero is the one who murdered his mother and sets off alone to rescue his father and confront the bandit leader. After meeting with Cicero and paying the ransom, Tommy confronts Cicero just and gets his revenge on his mother's killer.

The half-brothers, who followed Tommy along with the Left-Eye Gang, have a reunion with their long-lost father. When Frank learns his sons exceeded his expectations by amassing $100,000, he reveals that he masterminded his abduction. But Tommy counters that his group had a Plan B: a hidden bomb inside the bag containing the ransom money. When the bomb explodes and commotion ensues, Frank runs off to a mine with Smoking Fox as his hostage. Tommy runs after them and successfully rescues his bride-to-be and captures his father.

Back in the Native Village, Tommy weds Smoking Fox with his brothers in attendance. Since the revelation that their biological father Frank Stockburn was no more than a two-bit crook, Screaming Eagle decides to adopt all the half-brothers as he did with Tommy. The Left-Eye Gang revealed that they lied about removing their right eyes, much to the anger of Clem.

In the post-credits, Abner Doubledeal and his Chinese baseball team do a chant to detail their appreciation for the Stockburns.

Cast[edit]

• Adam Sandler as Tommy 'White Knife' Dunson Stockburn, a man who was raised by American Indians.
  • Henry Steckman as young Tommy Stockburn
• Terry Crews as Chico Stockburn, a half-white saloon pianist and the half-brother of Tommy.
• Jorge Garcia as Herm Stockburn, a feral mountain man and the half-brother of Tommy who speaks incomprehensibly.
  • Robin Leach as the voice of Herm Stockburn.
• Taylor Lautner as Lil' Pete Stockburn, a strong-necked man and the half-brother of Tommy.
• Rob Schneider as Ramon Lopez Stockburn, a Mexican burro rider and the half-brother of Tommy.
• Luke Wilson as Danny Stockburn, the former bodyguard of Abraham Lincoln and the half-brother of Tommy.
• Nick Nolte as Frank Stockburn, a bank robber who is the biological father of Tommy, Chico, Herm, Lil' Pet, Ramon, and Danny.
• Will Forte as Will Patch, the leader of the Left-Eye Gang.
• Nick Swardson as Nelly Patch, a member of the Left-Eye Gang.
• Steve Zahn as Clem, a former general store owner with one eye who sides with the Left-Eye Gang.
• Julia Jones as Smoking Fox, a member of the Native American tribe that is assigned to marry Tommy.
• Lavell Crawford as Gus Patch, a member of the Left-Eye Gang.
• Jared Sandler as Babyface Patch, a member of the Left-Eye Gang.
• Paul Sado as Stumbles Patch, a member of the Left-Eye Gang.
• Danny Trejo as Cicero, the leader of a group of bandits who targets Frank.
  • Ruben Rivera Young as young Cicero.
• Harvey Keitel as Smiley Harris, the owner of 'The Golden Nugget' that Chico works for.
• Steve Buscemi as Doc Griffin, a doctor, dentist, and barber that works near 'The Golden Nugget.'
• David Spade as General George Armstrong Custer, he is seen attending a gambling game.
• Dana Goodman as Beaver Breath, a Native American whose name Will unintentionally guess the name of.
• Whitney Cummings as Susannah
• Jon Lovitz as Ezekiel Grant, the host of a gambling game.
• Saginaw Grant as Screaming Eagle, the tribal chief of the Native American tribe that adopted Tommy.
• Norm Macdonald as 'The Golden Nugget' Customer
• Chris Parnell as William, a bank nanager
• Blake Shelton as Wyatt Earp, a lawman that encounters the Ridiculous 6.
• John Turturro as Abner Doubleday, a Union Army soldier who was inventing baseball in this film.
• Vanilla Ice as Mark Twain, he is seen attending a gambling game.
• Dan Patrick as Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States who Danny used to work for.
• Tina Parker as Mary Todd Lincoln, the wife of Abraham Lincoln.
• Chris Kattan as John Wilkes Booth, a Confederate actor who killed Abraham Lincoln while Danny was in the restroom.
• Jackie Sandler as Never Wears Bra, a Native American who is friends with Smoking Fox.
• Blake Clark as the unnamed Sheriff of Rattler's Gulch.
• Katalina Parrish as the unnamed Sheriff's Wife.
• Tim Herlihy as the bartender of 'The Golden Nugget.'
• Sadie Sandler and Sunny Sandler as Dancing Kids
• Jonathan Loughran as Rifleman
• Kimo Keoke as Short Stop, a Chinese baseball player who serves as the inspiration to the shortstop.
• James Ning as Qi, a Chinese baseball player.

Production[edit]

The Ridiculous 6 had been in production by Columbia Pictures, Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros., but was dropped by all three.^[3][4] The latter dropped out soon after Adam Sandler and Happy Madison Productions signed a four-picture deal with Netflix, although an insider noted to The Hollywood Reporter that the deal had nothing to do with their decision.^[4]

By January 2015, Netflix picked up the film with others joining the cast including Taylor Lautner, Nick Nolte, Blake Shelton, Steve Buscemi, Rob Schneider, Will Forte, Vanilla Ice and Luke Wilson.^[3] On February 16, 2015, Jorge Garcia joined the cast.^[3]Principal photography began on February 20, 2015, and ended on May 2, 2015.^[5][6]

Controversy[edit]

On April 23, 2015, Indian Country Today Media Network reported that approximately 'a dozen Native actors and actresses, as well as the Native cultural advisor, left the set of Adam Sandler’s newest film production, The Ridiculous Six' in protest of its portrayal of the Apache culture.^[7] The New York Daily News later reported that there were only four who left, out of over 100 Native American actors on the set.^[8]Navajo Nation tribal members Loren Anthony and film student Allison Young said they left because they felt the film portrayed Native Americans in a negative light and took satire too far. They also complained that the portrayal of women was degrading.^[9][10] A representative of Netflix responded saying, 'The movie has ridiculous in the title for a reason: because it is ridiculous. It is a broad satire of Western movies and the stereotypes they popularized, featuring a diverse cast that is not only part of—but in on—the joke.'^[11]

On May 4, 2015, the New York Daily News reported that Ricky Lee, one of the Native American actors on the Ridiculous 6 set, said previous news reports were exaggerated and indeed there were only 'four actors who left, but there were 150 extras, including grandmas and grandpas and children, who kept working.' Apparently, before the film's wrap party, he and several other actors were approached by Sandler to speak about the controversy. Lee considered that those who left raised legitimate issues but it was 'the wrong battlefield.'^[8]

Release[edit]

The film premiered on Netflix on December 11, 2015.^[12] On January 6, 2016, Netflix announced that the film had been viewed more times in 30 days than any other film in Netflix history. It also made it to the #1 spot in every territory in which Netflix operates.^[13]

Critical response[edit]

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 0% based on 36 reviews, with an average rating of 2.40/10. The site's critical consensus reads, 'Every bit as lazily offensive as its cast and concept would suggest, The Ridiculous Six is standard couch fare for Adam Sandler fanatics and must-avoid viewing for film enthusiasts of every other persuasion.'^[2] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 18 out of 100 based on reviews from 12 critics, indicating 'overwhelming dislike'.^[14]

Justin Chang of Variety wrote: 'The scenery ain't bad but the laughs are tumbleweed-sparse in 'The Ridiculous 6,' a Western sendup so lazy and aimless, it barely qualifies as parody.'^[15]Mike McCahill of The Guardian gave it 2 out of 5 and wrote: 'Peer through this dopey haze long enough, and you can't fail to notice the cavalier racial attitudes, the endlessly pliable women; you'd have every right to be outraged, were it not now par for the Sandler course.'^[16]

Ridiculous Gambling Websites

References[edit]

1. ^Fritz, Ben (October 18, 2015). 'Netflix Is Making Movies Shunned by Studios'. WSJ.(subscription required)
2. ^ ^ab'The Ridiculous Six (2015)'. Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
3. ^ ^abcSneider, Jeff (2015-01-26). 'Adam Sandler's First Netflix Movie 'Ridiculous 6' Casts Taylor Lautner, Blake Shelton, More (Exclusive)'. Thewrap.com. Retrieved 2015-03-11.
4. ^ ^abMcClintock, Pamela (2014-10-07). 'Warner Bros. No Longer in Talks to Make Adam Sandler's 'The Ridiculous Six' (Exclusive)'. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2015-03-11.
5. ^Sneider, Jeff (2015-02-16). ''Lost' Alum Jorge Garcia Joins Adam Sandler, Taylor Lautner in Netflix's 'Ridiculous 6''. TheWrap.com. Retrieved 2015-03-11.
6. ^''Ridiculous Six', starring Adam Sandler and Taylor Lautner, filming in Santa Fe'. On Location Vacations. Retrieved 2015-03-11.
7. ^Schilling, Vincent (2015-04-23). 'Native Actors Walk off Set of Adam Sandler Movie After Insults to Women, Elders'. Indian Country Today Media Network. Retrieved 2015-05-10.
8. ^ ^abSacks, Ethan (2015-05-04). 'EXCLUSIVE: Native American actor defends Adam Sandler amid 'The Ridiculous 6' controversy'. New York Daily News. Retrieved 2015-05-10.
9. ^Carroll, Rory (2015-04-23). 'Adam Sandler film The Ridiculous Six in racism row as Native Americans quit set'. The Guardian. Retrieved 2015-04-24.
10. ^Calamur, Krishnadev (2015-04-23). 'Native American actors walk off set of Adam Sandler movie'. mprnews.org. Minnesota Public Radio. NPR. Retrieved 2015-04-24.
11. ^Bradley, Laura. 'Adam Sandler is awful, and it's all our fault'. Slate. Retrieved 26 April 2015.
12. ^Fleming, Mike (2015-04-14). 'Netflix Dates First Feature Film Slate: Elba, Fukunaga, Sandler, Pee-wee & More'. Deadline. Retrieved 2015-07-07.
13. ^Lenker, Margaret (2016-01-06). 'Adam Sandler's 'Ridiculous Six' Is Making History for Netflix'. Variety. Retrieved 2016-02-10.
14. ^'The Ridiculous Six (2015)'. Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved May 1, 2020.
15. ^Chang, Justin (12 December 2015). 'Film Review: 'The Ridiculous 6''. Variety.
16. ^Mike McCahill (15 December 2015). 'The Ridiculous 6 review – Adam Sandler's latest dopey inanity'. The Guardian.

External links[edit]

• The Ridiculous 6 on Netflix
• The Ridiculous 6 on IMDb

I’ve always been interested in gambling. My mom taught me to play blackjack and poker before I was 10 years old. I loved coming up with various schemes and strategies for winning at these games.

Like most schemes from 10-year-olds, though, mine weren’t exactly grounded in math and science. They were just random approaches to playing games where I barely understood the math.

But most adults use equally absurd approaches to gambling—especially casino gambling—all the time.

And since gambling games are random, some of these absurd schemes work in the short term. In fact, if casino gamblers didn’t win occasionally in the short term, no one would play. The difference between the long-term expectation for these games and the short-term variance is the business model on which casinos rely to profit.

As I got older, I learned that some gambling schemes had a firm basis in mathematics and reality. These include counting cards in blackjack or playing expert poker.

Many more of these strategies are absurd and based on nothing more than fantasy and wishful thinking. This post covers those absurd, losing gambling schemes. My hope is that by helping you become better informed, I can help you avoid disappointment and financial ruin.

1- The Martingale System

One of the most popular betting systems in the casino is the Martingale system. It’s usually used on the even-money bets at the roulette wheel. And initially, at least, it seems foolproof.

You place a bet, and if you win, you pocket your winnings. If you lose, you place another bet, but you double the size of that bet. If you win the 2nd bet, you’ve won back your previous loss and have a one unit profit.

If you lose twice in a row, you double the size of your bet again. This time if you win, you’re still up one unit.

You bet $10 on black and lose. You then bet $20 on black and lose again. You place another bet, this time for $40, on black, and you win.

You lost a total of $30 on the 1st two bets, but when you won $40 on the 3rd bet, you recouped your losses and had a $10 profit to show for it.

The problem with the Martingale system is that it underestimates the likelihood of a long losing streak. If you keep doubling your bet sizes, you’ll eventually run into a bet that’s too big for your bankroll. Or you might need to place a bet that’s larger than the table limits.

Let’s assume you have a $500 bankroll. How many bets in a row would you need to lose to run out of money?

It’s not as many as you think:

1. $10
2. $20
3. $40
4. $80
5. $160
6. $320
7. $640

After 6 losses, you don’t have enough money left to cover the $640 bet that’s called for.

Even if you have a large enough bankroll to handle that, many roulette tables have a maximum bet of $500 or $1000.

That breaking point is the reason the Martingale system is a long term losing scheme.

You can win small amounts of money in the short term, but if you play with the system long enough, you’ll eventually run into a big enough losing streak to wipe out all your small winnings.

2- Money Management

As my dad used to say, there’s money management, and then there’s money management.

If you’re trying to manage your gambling bankroll sensibly, you’re just being sane and rational. That’s not a scheme.

This kind of money management refers to having a gambling bankroll that’s separate from all your other funds. It means not borrowing money to place bets. It means having enough funds to pay your bills even if you lose your entire gambling bankroll.

It also means you have enough money to get enough action at the tables or on the machines that you feel like you got your money’s worth in entertainment.

Money management becomes a gambling scheme when you start setting win goals and loss limits. The idea behind these arbitrary quitting points is that they can help you win money in the long run.

A win goal is an amount of money that, when won, signals the end of a gambling session.

A loss limit is the same thing, but it’s an amount of money that signifies the end of a gambling session when you’ve lost it.

Ridiculous Gambling Games

There’s nothing wrong with setting win goals and loss limits, by the way. They can be a fun way of making sure you occasionally have a winning session.

This scheme becomes absurd when you rely on it to increase your chances of winning. The math behind probability doesn’t recognize multiple sessions. As far as the probability is concerned, your entire life is one long gambling session. Subdividing that one long gambling session into multiple shorter sessions does nothing to change the long-term expectation of the games.

And when we’re talking about casino games like blackjack, craps, roulette, slots, or video poker, we’re talking about games with a negative expected value. The casino has an absolute mathematical advantage.

You can’t overcome it in the long run by using short-term hit and run strategies. You can, however, book occasional winning sessions using these bankroll management techniques.

For most casino gamblers, an occasional winning session is the best you can hope for.

3- Predicting Winning and Losing Streaks

The nature of random events like spins of slot machine reels or outcomes on a pair of dice is that in the short run, you’ll see winning and losing streaks. In mathematical terms, this is called “variance.”

The problem with trying to rely on winning and losing streaks to inform your gambling sessions is that winning and losing streaks are only visible in retrospect. These streaks have no predictive value.

You’re playing roulette, and you’re betting on black. You’ve lost this bet 3 times in a row. (The ball landed on red 3 times.)

Red is on a winning streak. Black is on a losing streak. What is the probability that the ball will land on black on this 4th spin?

The calculation for this probability doesn’t change based on previous results. The roulette wheel still has 38 slots in it. 18 of them are still black, 18 of them are red, and 2 of them are green.

The probability of getting a black result on the next spin is 18/38, or 47.37%.

That probability doesn’t change based on what happened on the previous results.

People who use winning and losing streaks vary in terms of their approach to this situation. Some of them think you’re more likely to see red on the next spin because red’s hot. Some of them think you’re more likely to see black on the next spin because it’s unlikely to see a color win 4 times in a row.

Both these types of gamblers are wrong, though.

A spin of the roulette wheel is an “independent event.”

Thinking that previous results affect the probability of subsequent events even has a name in mathematical circles—it’s called “the Gambler’s Fallacy.”

Not all gambling games consist of independent events, though. In blackjack, once a card has been dealt, it’s gone until the next shuffle. This changes the probability on subsequent hands. This is one reason you can get an edge at blackjack—the changing nature of the deck means that the odds will be in your favor at least some of the time.

But blackjack is the exception, not the rule. And thinking of it in terms of winning and losing streaks is an oversimplification.

4- Playing the Lottery

I have a friend who has played the lottery in Texas every week since the game began here in 1992. He insists that he’s a “break-even” player. This might be true, but if you knew this guy, you’d know how unlikely it is that he’s kept any kind of dependable records.

The truth of the matter is that we know what the payback percentage for the lottery is—it’s between 50% and 70%. This means that the lottery pays out an average of 50 cents to 70 cents for every dollar you spend over the long run.

In the short term, of course you might see break-even results. You might even get lucky and show a short term profit

But the nature of probability is that in the long run, the actual results start to resemble the predicted results. The longer the sample size runs, the more likely it is that you’ll see results similar to the expected results.

Let’s assume my friend spends $10 a week on lottery tickets of various kinds. Let’s also assume that he takes 2 weeks a year off for vacation or whatever. That’s $500/year spent on lottery tickets.

Assuming he wins back 70% of that, he has a win of $350 for the year, so he’s got a net loss of $150.

Since he’s been playing since 1992, he’s lost $150 X 26, or $3900.

If you assume a 50% payback percentage, then he’s lost $250 per year for 26 years, or $6500.

That’s not a lot of money over a 26 year period, granted. And gambling is best looked at as an entertainment expense.

I can think of all kinds of entertaining things I can see or do for $6500. In fact, most gambling games I can think of cost less than this and are more entertaining at the same time.

But if you’re looking for a gambling scheme that’s going to change your life, the lottery is probably your worst option, mathematically.

5- Playing Slot Machines

The slots generate at least 75% of most casinos’ revenue these days. Table games like blackjack, craps, and roulette are little more than a side note at modern casinos. You can point to multiple reasons the slots generate so much money for the casino. All those reasons are bad for the average gambler.

The first reason is that most people play the slot machines fast. A rough average number of bets per hour for a slots player is 600 spins per hour, but it can vary from as few as 200 spins per hour or as many as 900 spins per hour.

With any negative expectation bet, the more bets you make, the faster you can expect to lose your money. Think of the house’s mathematical advantage as a tax that’s applied to every bet you make, and you won’t be doing too bad in terms of estimating how much money a player’s going to lose.

Take into account the next reason slot machines are so profitable for the casino—their relatively high house edge. Most slot machines have a house edge in the 8% range, but that can vary. Some slot machines might have a house edge as high as 25%. That’s not as bad as the lottery, but it’s a far cry from the 1% or so you’ll find at some of the better table games.

If you’re putting $3000 per hour into action and losing 8% of that, you’re looking at a predicted loss of $240 per hour. That’s a lot of money to spend on entertainment.

Another reason slot machines are so profitable for the casino relates to the addictive nature of the machines. Scientific studies have demonstrated repeatedly that intermittent rewards are a more effective psychological motivator than consistent rewards.

Can you think of a better description for a slot machine than “an intermittent reward machine?”

Playing the slot machines is a sure way of losing your money in the long run. All you need is time and dedication.

6- Overestimating Your Skill Level

Some gambling games have a skill element. These games include blackjack and poker. Other gambling activities, like betting on horse races and sporting events, also involve skill.

Most gamblers underestimate how much skill it takes to be consistently profitable at these advantage gambling techniques.

Take blackjack, for example. Most casinos don’t worry much about card counters, especially card counters who are playing for lower stakes. The reason they don’t worry much about them is because most card counters aren’t good enough at counting cards or even basic strategy to get an actual mathematical edge over the casino.

Detailed record-keeping can help you get an idea if your actual results support the proposition that you’re a skilled blackjack player.

Most poker players think they’re a lot better at poker than they are. This is another example of a gambling game where it’s easy to underestimate how much skill you need to profit. If you’re playing poker in any kind of professional setting, like a cardroom in a casino, you have to not only be good enough to beat the other players, but also good enough to overcome the rake.

When a casino offers a poker game, they take a percentage of each pot to pay for hosting the game. This is usually 5% with a dollar max per pot.

But with the rake in place, if you were just as skilled as the other players, you’d lose money in the long run to the rake.

If you’re only 2% or 3% better than the other players at the table, you’re still going to be a net loser over time because of the rake.

Ridiculous Gambling Places

Most gamblers don’t have the discipline or foresight to keep detailed records of their results when gambling.

7- Relying on Hunches

The biggest sin a gambler can commit is to rely on hunches instead of on math. Hunches don’t hurt when you’re playing a game like roulette, where you can’t possibly get an edge. But if you’re silly enough to think that your instincts or psychic abilities warrant a deviation from blackjack strategy, you’re in trouble.

Hunches can seem profitable for the same reason casino games might seem easy to beat in the short term. Standard deviation guarantees that some of the time you’ll win even when you’ve made the wrong decision. It’s easy to remember those wins and use them as evidence that your hunches are worthwhile.

I have a friend who’s a psychic. He told me has an 87.5% success rate at contacting the dead. I’ve often wondered why he doesn’t use his psychic abilities to get rich gambling.

Just kidding.

Ridiculous Gambling Rules

I’ve never really wondered that, because I know that hunches and guesswork don’t help gamblers win money in the long run.

8- Cheating in a Casino

I can’t get into all the different ways you could cheat in a casino, but I’ll write a little bit about the most common means of cheating—past posting.

This means you adjust the size of your bet after the results of that bet become clear.

If you have a bet placed at a roulette game on black, and you’re fast, you might be able to increase the size of your bet on black when the dealer isn’t looking.

Here’s the problem with that:

The croupier is watching. And even when he’s not watching, the eye in the sky is watching.

In Nevada, cheating at a casino is a felony. This means you face serious jail-time possibly, and even if you don’t, you’ll get plenty of time on probation.

You’re not going to win enough money cheating at casino games to warrant the risk. It’s just not going to happen.

I’d rather see you play the lottery.

9- Ignoring Basic Strategy in Blackjack

I talked about this briefly in the section about relying on hunches. There’s one and only one correct mathematical play in every blackjack situation. That’s determined by basic strategy.

Deviating from basic strategy might seem like a good idea because you’ll occasionally get a hunch right. That doesn’t mean it was the right decision in the long run. In fact, the more often you deviate from basic strategy, the more money you’ll lose in the long run.

Smart gambling strategy is based on taking advantage of small edges over long periods of time. Any time you choose between decisions, you should focus on choosing the decision that makes the most sense mathematically in the long run.

Basic strategy is nothing more than a list that takes into account every possible situation in blackjack and advises you about what the mathematically best move to make in each of those situations.

Ridiculous Gambling Websites

In some blackjack situations, all the possible plays are negative expectation plays. You choose the one with the lowest negative expectation.

Casinos love players who deviate from basic strategy, by the way. The average blackjack player loses 4% to 5% over time based on her deviations from basic strategy.

Be the smart player who uses basic strategy for every decision. Over time, you’ll save lots of money on that additional 3% to 4% you save.

10- Taking Advantage of Online Casino Bonuses

It’s easy to see why you’d think getting a 100% or 200% matching bonus at an online casino is a sure way to make money. After all, it’s just free money in your account.

The problem is that most players don’t take into account the wagering requirements. You must gamble all your deposit plus your bonus a specific number of times before cashing out. And they require you to gamble it on the games with the highest house edge—the slot machines.

The expected value of all these bonuses is 0, so you don’t really lose anything, unless…

Unless you deposit more money and gamble more than you would have if the bonus weren’t available.

And unfortunately, that’s what most gamblers do when they get excited about a casino bonus. They gamble more than they meant to.

It’s fine to take advantage of casino bonuses, but read the terms and conditions first, and think of the implications of those terms and conditions

Ridiculous Gaming Pc

You’ll be less likely to deposit more than you should if you do.

Conclusion

Ridiculous Gambling Memes

Yes, you can find and implement gambling strategies which can help you become a net winner over time.

But most gambling schemes have the opposite of the desired effect. Not only will you lose money with these schemes, you’ll often lose more money than you would have if you’d just played for pure entertainment value.

Most people aren’t cut out for the life of an advantage gambler. There’s no shame in that.

But accept where you fall on the spectrum and act accordingly. It’s okay to be a recreational gambler. The trick is to accept the cost of that identity and manage your risk accordingly.