10 Gambles we don't know we are taking

Life.  So brief and fleeting and yet so long for some.  A series of memories and then you yourself become a memory.  But this isn't to talk about dying, this post is to talk about what we do while we are living.  There are many things said about life meant to be introspective and meaningful.  Maybe too many things.  The one thing I know about life is that it is not much more than a series of risks.  Often we do not consider these things to be gambles, but you are risking up front for the chance of some kind of return.  The key is to minimize these risks so life is more manageable.

10.  I'll just get that real quick - This is the thought in your head when you are trying to reach something that is up just barely out of reach.  The noodles on the top shelf.  That last box of Christmas ornaments.  The often unused garden implements.  Instead of getting a ladder or a step stool that would be very sturdy, you decide to stack up a couple of paint cans and give it a try.  The problem is, your balance is good enough that you will have a lot of close calls before you finally take a tumble.  Just take the time to get the step ladder.  It will pay off in the end when you aren't in traction.

9.  Driving.  -  Driving is so much worse for us than flying or any other form of public transportation.  It's really obnoxious.  Driving kills more people than guns do every year and yet we don't hear much about limiting who should drive.  It's not even a guaranteed right.  Yet we do it every day without giving it a second thought.  Well this year, make your driving a little better.  Cut out your distractions.  Dump the texting, don't answer that cell phone.  Just you and the ambient radio should be good enough.

8.  New prescriptions - This one is interesting because it's from a place we trust.  We have our own FDA that evaluates and determines if a drug is ready for public consumption.  Your doctor will then in turn prescribe it to you for your chronic high blood pressure, or your high cholesterol, or some other malady you suffer from.  Well by now you have seen those commercials for various drugs.  The exceptions and warnings are longer than the commercial!  MANY drugs will have adverse side effects in a very small amount of the population.  Guess what?  YOU are a small amount of the population.  Maybe this new drug is you breaking the odds.  Probably not.  Am I telling you not to take things your Doctor recommends?  Of course not, it's just a risk we all take,  just watch the commercials.

7.  Fresh - What's better for you than fresh food?!?  The folks at your local organic fresh grown range fed grocer would tell you nothing.  The problem is, even with as many checks and verifications there are of your fresh foods, they can still have some bit of bacteria in them that make them somewhat less than safe.  Sure this is no different than going to your regular store and buying fresh produce there?  Fresh food you make yourself in your own garden?  Yeah, that's full of bacteria as well.  Sure you cleaned it off as well as you could.  Most of the time you'll be fine with any of these things...most of the time.  Don't even get me started on sushi.white

6. Gifts - Why are gift cards so popular?  Because giving REAL gifts.  The kind from the heart are so difficult.  What if they don't like it?  What if they already have one?  What if What if What if???  On the other hand, the venerable white elephant gift appears to be the thoughtful gift that people don't have a problem with...why?  Because nobody knows who the recipient is so there is no blame and good or bad even the losers win.   So maybe all gifts should be white elephants... hmmmm.

5.  Vocation - When you are young, you have to decide what job or field you will eventually end up in as an adult.  Of course you don't have to decide in which case life decides for you, and usually the job life hands you sucks and has something to do with the food services industry.  So you decide to train in a vocation.  The problem is, you don't know if it's one you will like or be good at until it's probably a bit too late.  Sure you can change to a new career, but will it be the one you like?  I do have one bit of advice.  Do what you love for a job and you will learn to hate it.  Just do something you are good at and make your hobby the thing you love.

4.  Vacation - Just a little time off from your workaday world.  For me, the ability to sit at home and do what I want to do is a pretty good vacation.  But what about seeing something new?  What about having an adventure?  Well there is the risk.  You've never been to ______.  But you've seen pictures.  Well if you enjoy the good and bad of an adventure, then a vacation to a strange place is just the ticket.  Because the most memorable vacations are the ones where things go wrong at some point.

3.  The Movies - A little escape, that's what we want from the movies.  A good story told in an interesting manner.  The previews come on and you think 'Oh, that looks interesting, I think I'll see that when it comes out.'  Then you go see it and it's horrible.  Some people will actually get up and walk out, some will actually ask for their money back.  That's fine, but you still can't get the time back.  More of us just put up with the show.  You hope it's good, best make the best of it.

2.  Shoes - When you are young, you don't really care what shoes you wear.  You just put on whatever you got at the store and you didn't care much as long as they looked ok.  When you get older, shoes are more of an investment.  You would like very much for a pair of shoes to keep your feet from hurting.  Sometimes you get a pair of shoes that slowly makes your feet feel worse and worse over time.  Not all at once of course, but at one point you will realize it.

1. 401k Retirement - Sure this one is obvious, but it bears mentioning.  An investment is something you put your hard earned money into and expect a return that is greater than the amount you've put in.  There is not an investment brokerage around that does not indicate that any money you risk can possibly be lost.  Most of us have seen this first hand. If you do the math on this it looks something like this Investment = Gamble. As the market has gained it's recovery one can only wonder how long before the next round of losers.


Not my best this time around, but it's the first of the year.  I'm sure it will get better in 15 days.

Thanks!

Ten Gambles we all take

I've made no bones about the fact that I like to place a dollar on Dobbin's nose from time to time.  Actually, horse racing and sports are the only games I won't play; regular casino games are my fare.  Invariably the subject comes up, and someone will shake their head and explain that they couldn't possibly gamble.   The reasons are similar.  'I work too hard to just blow it like that', 'Why do something I know I'll never win', 'It's a sin'.  The last one of course hails from my more religious friends.  I don't have a problem with gambling being a sin.  What I have a problem with is the definition of Gambling.

Here are ten gambles we should probably take a hard look at.

10. 401 K - This great investment for retirement was thought to be a 'sure thing.'  Yet whenever you invest in anything the small print will say something to the effect of: "all investment involves an element of risk.  Only invest an amount in a way that you are comfortable with the overall risk"  This means: no matter what, you might lose it.  Gambling has a certain payback over time that you are guaranteed.  Of course that payback is a negative amount, but at least you are sure of it.

9.  The Movies - You pay between 8 and 15 dollars to see a show.  You have no idea if you are going to enjoy the movie or really hate it.  You will spend 2 hours in the hopes of being entertained.  If you are not, you've lost 2 hours and your money, but the popcorn was probably still good.  Gambling can make the same claim.  When you gamble, you are being entertained.  If you think of it in terms of an investment or a job, then yes, you are fooling yourself.  If you consider yourself entertained then you are already a winner.

8.  Trust - All trust is a gamble.  In fact the very use of the term involves unverified risk.  If I ask you to trust me, what I'm really saying is that I have no outward reason for you to enlist me as an agent on your behalf, but I would appreciate the opportunity to do so.  Ultimately if I ask you to trust me, I am asking you to bear all or most of the risk of what I am doing.  Gambling never asks for trust.  It tells you up front that over time you will lose unless you cheat and they trust you to not do that.

7.  Software Upgrades - Notice I didn't say software.  Software purchases are separate and not really thought of as a gamble because you pay for your software and then you use it to whatever extent you try to learn it.  This deals with upgrading your current software for the same software only better.  The 'better' part is claimed by the software vendors.  Sometimes it costs to upgrade, sometimes it doesn't but it's ALWAYS a gamble.  You are risking the software you know for what you hope is going to be software that works better.  This is kind of like the double or nothing bet you can get on a draw poker machine.  You win a hand and before it pays you it says 'double or nothing?' at which point you can say no and collect your winnings (bird in the hand) if you accept their challenge, you pick a card out of 5 presented to you and then the machine picks a card, high card wins.  you can do that until you quit and collect or pick wrong and lose.

6.  Driving - People that are afraid of airplanes, boats, and other much safer modes of transportation really crack me up.  They are genuinely afraid of getting on these conveyances because they are afraid of the possible outcome.  Here is the problem.  When you watch the news, plane crashes and boat problems are so rare that they are news.  Car accidents that aren't horrible, and are, are an EVERY DAY OCCURRENCE.  Yet people drive every day without giving it a second thought.  Avoiding more sure forms of transportation in favor of driving is like playing a bet in the casino where you don't know the game or what's happening with your bet but you just feel good about it.

5.  Employment - For the most part, the idea of the 'company man' only exists in companies that are privately owned.  More and more companies hire people with the idea that those people are eminently disposable.  Any assumption that your employer will continue your employment through substandard performance is a GAMBLE (possibly a sure thing though).  If you have a job, your best bet is to treat it like it's NOT A SURE THING.  Even then, you can get laid off through no fault of your own.  This is a lot like betting both black and red on Roulette.  Seems like a sure thing, but there is the green of 0 and 00 that wipe both bets out. And don't forget, the person placing the REAL bet is your employer ;).

4. Not Going to the Doctor - More for the menfolk than the women. If you don't go regularly to the doctor, you are really just asking for a checkup when they bring you to the emergency room.  I'm not sure what it is about people that they will ask friends and non-doctors what they think something is, but they will not ask their doctor.  IF they happen to go to the doctor then they don't follow the doctors instructions; instead they will go to some 'alternative' treatment.  When you read 'alternative' just replace that in your head with snake-oil.  Every day you feel like you might be better but you are getting worse, just go to the doctor. The fear of not knowing is much worse than bad news.  This is like playing slots over time.  Ups and downs that end with downs.

3.  Restaurant Dining - You go to a restaurant and sit down to a fancy meal.  When I say fancy I mean something more than your Lean Cuisine instant food that you don't do on a regular basis.  Something that feels like it's probably special.  For me, it's a churro at Disney.  When you pay that much for food, you expect at a minimum that the food is good.  When you look for excellence in food, you automatically put yourself at risk of eating bad food.  Not bad in a health sense (though that's a part of this gamble) but just not tasty or enjoyable.  It's not a GAMBLE Mark!  You pay money, you get food.  It's a transaction and you are talking about quality not loss.  To this I say, once you have been on the diet road for any period of time, you realize that every bite of food you put in your mouth will cost you.  If you are consuming calories from food you don't enjoy, that is a LOSS.  I tend to think of this like sports betting.  No matter how much you know, or how much one team/player is better than another, you can't predict the upset. You can, however, step away from the game in both scenarios.  Amazing how often people don't.  The desire to finish an unappetizing meal is directly proportional to the amount paid for it.

2.  Justice - Jury of my peers?!?  WOW.  Our current legal system is such a gamble I don't think anyone would deny it.  I have served on a jury and I was amazed at the different ways of thinking that were included in 12 citizens.  Justice has a lot more to do with people's feelings than their view of facts.  I like to think I'm a very objective thinker.  I realize that most people think of themselves that way.  This means that while objectivity is sought after by people as a valuable tool for thinking, the emotional nature of the human animal makes it very hard to remove yourself from your feelings about a particular subject.  In poker the equivalent would be going all in, but letting everyone else at the table choose the cards for each player's hand.  Talk about a gamble!

1.  Religion - No matter what you believe or don't believe, if you are basing your future on it and you can't prove it, it's a gamble.  You may know in your heart of hearts that something is true, right up until you don't.  Assuming that God gets really mad if you don't do everything exactly the way he told a man to tell you to do it, it would be really bad if you put a bet on a man that wasn't actually speaking on behalf of God or some kind of supreme being.  If you are going to bet the don't side and go with Atheism, you are saying that anything you do doesn't get scored in a big role playing game scoreboard in the sky somewhere and that you think there is not any kind of supreme being that is keeping that score.  While no evidence is not convincing, it is not evidence of nothing either.  This is a big bet for some people because they will put a lot of effort into their religion to bolster their end of life, judgement bar bankroll.  This is a lot like roulette: you can put all of your money on one number for a big payoff, or you can spread out your bet to cover a lot of numbers for a lesser payoff.

Many times a discussion about gambling from those smart folk that don't think they partake ends in something like "Here's how I double my money" at which point they take their dollar out of their pocket and fold it in half and put it back.  The gamble there was whether or not that was actually ever funny.  Odds are 5 to 1 against ;).

10 indicators that you probably shouldn't gamble.

I've written blogs about gambling before.  I love it.  It's a lot of fun and the only form of entertainment where you have a chance of coming home with more money than you started with.  You probably won't, but at least there is a chance.

Over the past few trips to my favorite gaming establishments I've realized that there are times when I (or anyone else) should simply not gamble.

10.  You don't suffer fools well - Most gambling is a social event.  You go with friends to make some wagers and laugh at loosing and cheer at winning.  But if you gamble at all, you have had the experience of seeing that person wander to the table not knowing what they are doing and they are probably inebriated.  This person starts to gamble and starts getting louder and more obnoxious.  You start wishing for their financial demise, if not for the loss of their glittering conversation, then for the loss of the flowery bouquet of their aroma.  At that point, you will find that that person will win and win and win.   Probably making the dumbest mistakes in the game but then winning despite their ignorance.  You hope even more that this putz will burn out.  Nope, it doesn't happen.  When you truly wish for someone to loose, you will find that it's really not any fun.  You should pick up and move away.  Don't go somewhere else and start gambling!  Take a break, just stop.  You start up again and if you start losing, you will blame your drunken acquaintance and you won't shake the bad feeling and that is not what you are there for.  Give it a rest, come back fresh and start over.

9.  You think the universe might have it in for you - This isn't just gambling, this is life.  There are those that think the glass is half empty.  Others think the glass is half full.  As for myself, I think that the glass is the wrong size.  If you believe you are an unlucky person, you will focus on your losses and assume that you are not lucky.  If you believe you are lucky, you will focus on your wins and wonder why you don't have more money ;).  If you think that your Karma is such that you don't deserve to win, you are right, you don't.  Just stop right now.

8.  You are good at math. - If you are at all good at math, you can figure out what the actual odds are of winning any of the individual games v.s. what they are actually paying you.  You'll quickly find that there are no odds in the casino that are in your favor.  There is one bet that is NOT in the houses favor, but it requires a bet that is.  It's the Free Odds in Craps.  The more you play on free odds only, the more slowly you give the house your money.  So what keeps people coming?  The fact that those odds are calculated over the long term.  In the short term, you can win.  People come home with those stories all the time.  They don't tell you much about the rest of the times.

7.  You are already in debt - Ok, so you are in the hole.  If you are in Hollywood, you desperately bet what you have left on a horse whose name you saw in a hymnal at church the prior Sunday.  Since this is obviously a sign from heaven, you feel like you just have to take the opportunity.  If you're still in the movie, you're going to win.  If you are in real life, maybe you will win.  But you are in debt!  you don't have money to RISK on a bad return.  Don't go anywhere near a casino if you have bills to pay off.  Besides.  Gambling is no fun if you are worried about every dollar you have out.

6.  You HATE to loose. - Ok, nobody likes to loose.  But some people don't mind losing much.  I take a pretty broad look at gambling.  I've had times where I've been really mad about losing but came home with 50 dollars ahead.  I had won 300 early in the night and lost it during the rest of the night.  I really didn't like that.  I came home even once and it was one of the best times I'd had.  I lost 80 dollars and had one dollar in change left in my pocket.  I won 5 dollars on a pull on a slot machine.  and the rest of the night clawed my way back to even.  I was thrilled.  Also.  Anyone that says you are getting money without earning it really hasn't gambled much.  Any money you can get away with from a casino is pretty rare.  If you just can't stand the thought of losing games you are designed to loose, you probably shouldn't play.

5.  You HATE to see others win more than you - One of the strange factors of luck is if you are with someone that seems to always win.  You don't understand it, but they just do.  It's like they fall bass-ackwards into the pot of gold and you couldn't find lucky with a leash and a dog whistle.  If you gamble with this person.  You will loose and that person will win.  If you are with a friend you really think could use an extra buck etc.  That person will loose and you may win.  You think this makes no sense or isn't true?  You haven't been gambling.  It is this bit of superstition that rears it's ugly head when you hear the tale of the father that takes his son to the door of the casino and says 'son I'll give you this dollar, or I'll put it in that slot machine over there and you could win more.'  After thinking it over the boy decides to take the risk and the father then proceeds to put the dollar in the slot and win thus foiling his life lesson.  It makes superstitious fools of us all.

4.  You prefer goods and services to entertainment. - The ONLY way I look at gambling anymore is that I'm being entertained.  I feel like it's the only form of entertainment where I might actually come home with more money in my pocked than I left.  Let's see you do THAT with a night at Turn off the Dark.  If you really need to feel that you've gotten something in exchange for your money, then don't gamble.  It will never feel worth it.

3.  You have a healthy sense of self loathing. -  I've seen some people keep on risking more and more even though they EXPECT to loose.  They aren't winning and they don't have any expectations to do so yet they keep going.  They are just punishing themselves.  That's it.  If you want to feel punished.  get on a good losing streak with a healthy dose of sleep deprivation.

2.  You really can't stand buffet food. - Gambling and all you can eat buffet go together like Family Reunions and Salmonella.  Buffets can be found at most casinos and are often given as a comp or a come on for frequent players.  Lots of people like buffets.  If you aren't one of those people, you will probably not enjoy some of the trappings of gambling.

1.  You just don't feel lucky. - There is nothing like feeling unlucky.  It's like you are a Svengali in reverse.  You can tell that whatever you do, you will be on the losing end of things.  Now, just a note, Dice and cards don't know who you are or how much you do or don't deserve to win money.  They don't know when you are going to break even or if you are on a 'streak'.  You on the other hand will link events together and assign some kind of interpretation to them and assume that they in turn link to some other event that determines if you deserve to win or not.  I can't change this.  It's what we do best as humans and it's what's responsible for some of our greatest achievements.  Just remember.  If you feel unlucky, you are.  So stop until you feel lucky or at least neutral.  You'll save yourself a couple of dollars.

There we are.  It's summer time.  Time for you to go out and get a vacation.  I suspect that where Gas prices are now it could be a Vacation fairly close to home.  See ya in 15 or so. (tell your friends, subscribe, thanks!)

Top 10 Bets in the Casino

Well tax season is over. Not to mention we will all get a fat rebate of our prior taxes. Now the merits of this rebate may be debatable, but on a personal level, I'm glad to be getting some of my money back since the government seems to be throwing it away anyway. So what to do with that fat cash? Save it? Naaaaah, that won't help the economy. I'm gonna spend it. But why spend it when I can parlay that chicken feed into some real scratch. That's why I like going to Wendover. Wendover for those of you who read my blog but are not from Utah, is a town in eastern Nevada that is the closest to Salt Lake City that allows Gambling. It's Salt Lake's Vegas. There are 5 casino's owned by 3 companies. They have jets that fly retiree's from Texas in during the week and the Salt Lakers go there on the weekends.

No! of course I don't think I'm going to win, I am pleasantly surprised when I do, but I'm not surprised often. The reasons I go are many, but a couple are the people you see, and the numbers and math associated with the gambling. Here is the first most basic rule of every casino. I've said it before, I'll say it again. The Casino wins when you win. This idea is of course counter to what people think, but it's the truth. Lets take a look at one of the simplest bets in the casino. Red/Black on the Roulette Wheel. Plunk down your money on red or black, watch the little ball roll around and if it lands on a number colored the same way your bet is, you are the winner! 1/2 of the numbers are red, the other half are black. Well MOST of the numbers are red and black, there is at least one (most of the time two) zero that is green. so 36 numbers plus 1 '0'. Well that zero is what makes the house win. because the actual odds of you getting red or black are not 50/100, they are really 18/37 or 48.6 percent. Just a hair less than 50/100. So when you bet say 48.6 dollars, and you win, you will get 48.6 dollars but you SHOULD be getting 50 dollars because that is what the real odds of winning that bet are. Sim Sala bim, there you have it. The whole formula for the casino. Pretty simple eh? So why do people go? Because it's fun, and sometimes you win.

So I wanna go gamble, but I don't want to lose a bunch of money, what are the best bets/things to do? Well, I'm glad you came. Here are the top 10 best bets/things about going gambling in the Casino. I might go into a little bit of math, but I'll try to stay away from it. Suffice to say, I'm trying to give you the best bets in the casino.

10. Free Drinks - Hey! That's not a bet! No, but it is what casino's offer and it's widely known that they will give players drinks for nothing. Of course they hope that it's alcoholic because then you will not feel as bad about betting your hard earned cash. You don't have to get an alcoholic beverage, you can ask for virgin drinks and diet coke or bottled water. It's not much, but it is free.









9. Baccarat - Bet on the Bank. James Bond's Game of choice, and favored game of many a wealthy big fish. You can bet on the Player or you can bet on Tie too. Don't. Always bet on the bank. The bet is even money (50/50). but you have to pay the bank 5% of your winnings. Why is this a good bet? Because any bet that you have to pay to win with means there isn't much of an advantage for the house, so they have to charge you for winning. You don't have to pay to win on the player side, that's because there is enough edge for the house. We won't even talk about tie. Sucker bet on par with any bet in Roulette.




8. Players club cards. - That's not a bet! Oh yes it is, but it's one you have to make carefully. Here's the deal. Nearly every industry in the late 80's decided that the 'frequent flyer' idea was an incredible one. For giving you a little bit back, they can keep you buying from them even if they aren't the best deal in town...Genius. Well casinos didn't take long to buy into this. You get a players club card and you stick it in every slot (yuck) machine you pull. But also, you give it to the dealer when you cash in your money. They record how much you cash in and then they give you 'cash back' in the form of vouchers for rooms, buffets, restaurants etc. This is a calculated amount of money based on how much money you cash in. Here's the tip: Take in a boatload of money and cash it in and just play with the money you wanted to play with. 500 bucks still goes in the computer. so you get more faster.

7. Pai-Gow Poker - This game is a lot of fun. BUT you have to learn poker hands. you play against the house and it's another one of those games that makes you pay money every time you win. If you win and must pay, that means there isn't much of an edge. The coolest thing about this game is you can show the dealer your hand and ask them how they would set it up. Easy and fun. It's a slow moving game as well, so you won't go broke too quick. They started making a few other bets available in this game and they should pretty much be ignored. The bonus bet is nothing but a bonus for the House. Basically if you get a good hand, and you have the bonus bet, you will get you bet times whatever based on the hand you have. The problem is, the best pay out is 8000 to 1. so for a 5 dollar bet you could win 40000. Sounds like a good deal? Well the hand you have to get is a 7 card straight flush with no jokers. This is insanely difficult. So difficult that the odds are more like 5 million to one against you getting it. That's an approximation. So when the house pays you, they are keeping about 4.96 million for themselves. Talk about a sucker bet. Oh yeah, this game CAN be played with dominoes, never played it that way, and never learned so I can't say.

5. BlackJack - Well we are not all from MIT and we don't all have a photographic memory and yet Blackjack is a game you can play that is a near 50/50 bet IF YOU PLAY PERFECTLY. Of course most people don't play perfect blackjack and so those odds are elevated in the houses favor. The coolest thing about blackjack is that every time you get a black jack, you get 1 1/2 times your bet back. I know this isn't news, but it's really cool that they do that AND you don't have to pay extra for it. Other bet? Yeah, a lot of casinos have this goofy bet that's called Royal Match. If you get 2 of the same suit, you win 3-1 on your money. Oh wait, there are 4 different suits so what's the house edge? about 10% (yes there's more to it, but it's not worth describing. It's another sucker bet, but fun to make once in a while if you are winning)

6. Craps - The field - Craps is by far the funnest game in the casino. It's the only game where you get to handle the instruments of your financial destruction...the dice. someone once told me that on any given roll there are 50 ways to win money and 75 ways to lose money. I don't know if that's true, BUT there is one bet that is easy to make and easy to make money from. THE FIELD. Here is the bet. d-2 3 4 9 10 11 t-12. What the heck are those numbers? those are the numbers that pay you from the field. the d in front of the 2 stands for double and the t in front of the 12 is triple. DO NOT BET THIS BET UNLESS THERE IS A TRIPLE ON IT. The triple makes the odds very managable. You don't have to do any of the other bets in craps, you can just let them go by and stay confused. Of course there are a few other bets there that are even better ;). Just remember to watch your bet and make sure they pay it (they will pay next to last) sometimes they forget.


5. Craps - Pass Line - This bet is what you have to make in order to roll the bones. You must make a pass line bet. This bet is an even money bet (50/50) that says you will 'pass' if you roll a 7 or 11 on the first roll of the dice (come out). if you roll a 2,3 or 12, you loser your bet. Every other number rolled creates what's known as a point. This point must then be rolled before you roll a seven on subsequent rolls. for example; Roll - 5. 5 is now the point. next roll 3 Nothing happens. you neither win nor lose. next roll 11 nothing still, next roll 8, nothing. next roll 5. You win your money! yay! OR next roll 7 you loose your money...booo...

3. Craps - Don't Pass Line - Wait, didn't I just tell you to bet the pass line? Yes I did, but this bet is just as much fun and even more fun if you like to piss off your gambling buddies. Ok, remember what I told you about the pass line? well reverse it and that's the don't Pass. Now you win on a 3 or 12 (why not 2? because this would make it free bet that the house doesn't make money on, and they house doesn't really like those kind of bets) or if the roller rolls a 7 before they roll the point. So you win when everyone else looses. In gambling parlance, this is known as the dark side. If you want to know how it feels to be be an undertaker, bet the don't side ;). Oh yeah, the Don't pass line has a little bit better chance of winning as well.

2. Don't go - I guess I really should put this down for number one. Here's the deal. There is an old casino saying (casino's are the biggest hotbed of superstition there is) that goes...Scared money never wins. So if you are afraid to make the wager, you'd best not be betting. Other people like the thrill of the possible loss and they don't mind the outcome when it's bad. I have a horrible track record gambling. I win about 1 out of 5 times more or less. Sometimes I wish i hadn't gone, not because of the money, but because of the losing. I hate losing consistently at anything, not so much that I stop going though, I never risk that much to begin with, and I don't mind the losses as long as I win sometimes. Every once in a while you'll find Mr. smart guy that says 'you know how I double my money?' and he pulls out his fat wad of ones and folds it in half and puts it in his pocket. If you meet that person, blow a raspberry directly in their face for me.

1. Craps - Odds - Odds? what kind of bet is this? The formal term for the bet is called free odds. It is an additional bet you place behind your pass line bet (see good bet number 5 or 6) It is the only known place in the casino where you are paid exactly what you should be paid based on the chances of the outcome. It's outlandish really. Whatever happened to not giving a sucker an even break? Anyway, you can usually bet as much as 10 times your pass line bet on the free odds bet. So if you are playing this way, always bet the smallest amount possible on the pass line, and the largest amount possible (up to 3 times, beyond that it's diminishing returns). If you ask the Stick men, they'll try to explain it to you.

Sorry that last one was a bit technical, but it really is the best bet in the casino. If you don't understand it, just invite me to go gambling with you. I'll explain it all till you want to hit me in the teeth (please don't).

Thanks for reading!