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 he Good Gambler |
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| Traditional Roulette |
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| Touch
Bet Roulette |
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The
Psychology of Losing - why machines are bad for you
One after
another casino organisations have been announcing bigger profits on bigger
turnover. All this in a period of supposed slowdown. The reason has been the
recent introduction of copious numbers of Roulette Machines.
Gaming
board relaxation has meant the introduction of a new way of playing roulette in
the casinos of the UK. There are several forms that these things can take, some
are automatic touch betting screens that relay the roulette action from a real
wheel that is in play with other casino patrons. Others are a purely mechanical
system where the machine physically spins a ball in its own wheel, producing a
steady stream of action for players to bet on.
Punters have taken to
these machines in their hundreds and thousands. Why? Because its a more
controllable and personal experince. There is no pressure and no one to hurry
you or push you or cheat you.
These are sound reasons for people to
elect a machine as their chosen method of punting. These are also all the
reasons why players will lose more and far more than they otherwise would if
they were to stick to playing "real roulette".
To understand why there
are specific 'win' percentages on the different casino games, or for that
matter any gambling game, we have to look at the nature of the game. Most
current casino games give the house a 16-20% win on the money dropped into the
'drop boxes' at the tables. This means that for every £1000 that the
players buy-in at the Blackjack table, the casino will give back about
£820 at the cash desk and pocket the rest as profit. This is practically
the same for BJ and Roulette and slightly higher for Casino Stud
Poker.
At first glance we can see that the house should win because the
games are in their favour, 2.7% for roulette, 1-4% for BJ and 2.5-10% for
Casino Stud Poker, depending on how people play. But looking at American
Roulette (double Zero) which has a house edge of 5.4% we would expect the
'house win' to be double that of English Roulette. In fact its around 26-28%.
The fact is that the 'win' is related to the way the game is played as well as
the house edge.
Knowing this we can begin to see why the casino 'win'
percentage for machine roulette has moved from the 18% of normal roulette to a
massive 27%. Not only that but the 'drop' for each casino and the average
punter has increased as well. Casinos are pocketing more from each customer in
terms of 'win' percentage and in terms of turnover. People are betting more and
losing a bigger chunk of it. Some people are playing roulette that never played
before.
The reasons are there for all to see. In the physical world of
traditional roulette (or any gambling game), there are plenty of obstacles
between a punter and the punter losing all their money. There are many stages
in the course of play that allow a human to stop playing altogether. For
examples : They have chips in their hands and can stop at a certain amount. The
table can get busy or slow and put them off, giving an excuse to leave. Dealers
can change or other customers can turn up that the punter doesn't want to be
near. In fact a whole host of 'exit triggers' will come to a punter and
eventually they will take one of them.
With machine roulette all of
these have been taken away. Seemingly its for the good of the customer but
quite concretely it is bad for them. The unsavoury ruthlessness of the casino
staff to take your money in a poor enviroment will eventually deter all but the
most hardened of sick gamblers. The machines on the other hand are nice and you
should beware. Treat all of them as your enemy. You've been warned!
In
stark and bizare contrast to all this, the Greek government is about to ban all
electronic amusement and gambling machines, an estimated 100,000 pieces of
equipment. It will destroy the arcade business in Greece. Oh dear.
Until next time when I'll be explaining what lovely new games there are
just waiting to be ratified by the forward thinking Gaming Board so that they
can be introduced into British Casinos.
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............ seen nearer, the Thing was
incredibly strange, with a ringing metallic pace, and long, flexible,
glittering tentacles swinging and rattling about its strange
body.…..............
taken from War of The Worlds by H.G.
Wells |
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