For anyone with a gambling addiction that might take this seriously: there's no such thing as a talented gambler, if it's skill-based then it's inherently not gambling (this is why things like carnival games aren't normally regulated as gambling). This is also why card counters are kicked out of casinos, because it's not meant to be something that you can beat.
When ppl want me to play slots or go to the casino I always tell them I can save them the drive and we can just play it here:
We flip a coin, when I win you give me 10$, when I lose I give you 8$. We can play as long as you want.
Somehow when you put it like that they don't want to play anymore.
You goof, you forgot to offer them a light show and celebratory sound effect when they win. Next time, remember to display an array of laser pointers and laugh manically when they pick right.
The only time I was ever in a casino I lost $20 in five minutes and wondered when the fun would start.
Plus they're totally overstimulating.
But the Ripley's Museum was fun.
Better yet:
Give me $1, and I'll roll two six-sided dice. If you roll two sixes, I give you $20.
Counting cards doesn't eliminate the fact that it's still entirely chance. Counting cards just takes that 1% advantage the house has and gives it to you. It's called the edge for a reason.
Ish.
There's precisely zero skill involved in e.g. roulette.
Poker, fantasy football, and horse betting though, are influenced by skill. But they're all clearly still gambling.
The important thing in those 3 is that you're not betting against the house. You're betting against other players, and that you're the smart enough to come out on top even after the house takes their cut. Unless you're Nate Silver, though, chances are you're not the smartest person in the room.
The distinction is usually pro gambling vs just gambling. Any endeavour where it's possible to beat the odds over the long term falls into that category.
A wise man once said: if you go double or nothing long enough, you will eventually win back everything.
This is true when you have infinite funds and your opponent has finite funds. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gambler's_ruin
This is why the house has better long-term odds, even if the odds of any individual event are even.
Double nothing, is nothing. That wise man doesn't understand the concept of nothing, nor mathematics.
I know a guy who does gambling for a living. He needs new people to sign up for the online casinos every time though. Just uses up all the starting bonuses and then cashes out.
Not something I'd recommend to anyone who merely THINKS they're a talented gambler though.
You can just invest in gambling stocks instead and, over time, come out a winner no matter how the games go.
You can also come out a winner no matter how the games go, by not giving any money to the shitty companies that run this stuff.
My dad, while he was in the army, managed to triple his salary from "luck" based games
You can win money in poker. Casinos take their cut from the pot, so you are betting against the other players, not against the house.
Haters gonna hate.
Fact.
