Re: [MLUG - DISCUSSION] so who took the Eagles for the points?

[Vern Green <EMAIL:PROTECTED>]

Yes, I know this. There is just something about that level of control
over your chance of winning that bothers me.

For instance. In Blackjack, it is much more random at least in the
house's ability to manipulate the outcome. In blackjack you are
somewhat at the mercy of the other players at the table but for the
most part the house has little to do with the outcome of the game,
(unless they stack the deck of course)

Roulette is the same situation. The house can effect the odds only by
adding or removing numbers from the table. I am sure they could put
magnets on the wheel and make whatever number they wanted come up of
course, but without that it is truly the luck of the draw.

Craps is another game that the house has little control over. They can
put some options on the table and allow you to bet on these options
with higher payouts but those are easily identified and avoided.

Most slots and video poker machines are not as random as you would
think. Any time you can control the odds like you described, there is
little randomization there. Yes it is true that if the casino says
their slot has a 99% payback, then I am sure they payout 99% if they
do not they will get fined. My point was I just have a hard time
paying my money on something that is so controlled.

Slots are very big business though, if it were not, there would not be
as many of them on the floor, they are relatively inexpensive to
operate and the ability to control the odds sure is a plus for the
casino I am sure. I personally just feel they are a huge sucker bet
and most people that are serious gamblers will tell you the same
thing.

I guess video poker is somewhat of an exception, as I understand it,
there are ways to work the odds on a video poker machine and maximize
the payout. I have not delved that deeply into it though to know what
they are.


On Mon, 7 Feb 2005 13:50:28 -0600 (CST), Mike Miller
<EMAIL:PROTECTED> wrote:
> On Mon, 7 Feb 2005, Vern Green wrote:
> 
> > I cannot bring myself to play slots. I understand they have laws that
> > require them to work randomly, but the fact they are all computerized
> > now just worries me about the ability for the house to cheat. I know
> > they can change the odds of payout on them. Slots are sucker bets, even
> > if they are "honest" they are the lowest payout game on the floor.
> 
> Define "random."  They won't cheat you because it is not in their best
> interest to do so.  In other words, you will have exactly the chance of
> winning that they promise.  What they do with their computers is make it
> so that certain "close" combinations come up at a higher than expected
> rate.  Suppose you need 7-7-7 to win a big prize.  The machine will
> produce 7-7-blah much more often than you would expect, but it will
> produce 7-7-7 exactly as often as it is supposed to.  Seeing 7-7-blah
> makes people think they "almost got it" - but they are wrong because the
> trials are virtually independent and getting two sevens the first time
> doesn't tell you anything about what will happen next time.
> 
> The results are random (really "pseudorandom") in the statistician's/
> probabilist's sense of the word, but they do not follow the distribution
> you would expect.
> 
> Mike
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-- 
Thanks
F Vernon Green
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