Playing roulette to earn a living...

[pahnphoenix]

no matter what your level of understanding of statistics, i don't understand how you could think this is a good idea once you discover that you only ever win your base bet (if you win), and the required bet goes up exponentially. OP, that should be a giant red flag...

i mean, it's one thing to throw down $1 for a 1 in 200 billion chance to win 10 million dollars. it's another thing to risk $1000 in the hopes of winning $1. you want to think about this more... the system is almost kind of beautiful in that it requires you to have such a high bankroll and such low stakes that the whole endeavor could never be worth it (it's like a groucho marx joke or something). and that's before you realize that the odds actually are against you to begin with.

p.s. by the way, risking $1000 to win $1 speaks a bit to what people were talking about above. people gamble for the thrill, or because they find some other fun in it. i would hope very few people are so stupid that do it because of math errors... i would imagine the ones that claim to do it because they've found the way to beat the house really just do it for the thrill. if you can imagine a realistic situation where someone would bet $1000 to win $1 (and there are many), it's usually something much more interesting psychologically than mathematically. (and i don't mean, "i'll give you 1000 to 1 that [X thing that has way more than 1000 to 1 odds of happening] will happen," but shit like, "i'll wager $1000 of my cash for $1 of yours that you won't make this putt, you fucking idiot.")

p.p.s. "no, i know this guy who really believes in luck / odds toward him, and he cashes his paycheck at the casino every week waiting for that big score!" he doesn't "believe" in luck or make a math error. he's desperate. it's like if i got beaten up by 10 guys every day, and they said "if you fight back, it gets worse," and one day i try fighting back. i probably didn't "believe" that i had a great chance of winning this fight.

edit: if my posts ever don't make sense and i've just posted them, just hit refresh. if it still doesn't make sense, either you're too stupid or i'm too drunk.

[BerenTebogo]

This thread, lol. How I mine for percentages?

[Mojo]

With an infinite bankroll and no betting limits and a casino with an infinite amount of chips then you could turn a profit (growth of an 'epic loss' does not matter because you never 'leave the table' after an 'epic loss'.) However, none of the prerequisites for this even exist, not to mention the already pointed out absurdity of trying to accrue something that you already have an infinite amount of. If you ever win any money using a method like this then you got lucky, just like any other game in a casino (aside from Blackjack and Poker.)

[hey]

stuff

Except you don't walk away after an arbitrary number of games (only after a win), and you never reset your bet until you win.

[Khamsin]

Except you don't walk away after an arbitrary number of games (only after a win), and you never reset your bet until you win.

His numbers were if you cut your losses after a certain number of failures (presumably because you don't really have an infinite bankroll or the casino has a limit).

But yes, if you actually can and do stay until you win, and have infinite money and the bank actually has no limit, then you can eventually get ahead. But if you have trillions of dollars, what do you need with another $100? And what sort of casino lets you bet more than the casino itself is even worth?

[Pikarya]

And what sort of casino lets you bet more than the casino itself is even worth?

Wall Street/Federal Reserve/etc.

[test123]

question: If you get kicked out of a casino, do you keep the money you won? if not aren't the casino stealing your money?

[Kaylia]

I'd do this starting with a dollar if it were allowed because you probably won't lose too much money for a long time.

If you want to last longer, all you need to do is consider the initial amount of money and split it into as many bid as you want. Considering the exponential nature of your bet (base amount*2^#try) with this methods, it's easy to determine the average number of attempts you have before running out of money. You can last a while with this, but you can last a while with any methods if your initial bids are much smaller than total amount.

This methods is still fun because of the way thing scales, and in the end, you never know when thing will get epic, but it won't let you last longer than any other controlled method. Basically, all you're doing with this is gambling to determine when you will make a small gain or lose everything.

Everyone who goes into a casino should know they will more likely than not lose money, lol.

Everyone should, but I've seen so many people believe in "luck" that I don't know if everyone grasp this concept.

[archibaldcrane]

To the "kicked in the dick" guy. I play craps in the safest way possible (dark side, laying full odds) and the house edge is nearly non-existent - basically the only losing roll (between pass and don't pass) is a 12 on the come-out, happens once every 36 come-out rolls, maybe once AN HOUR - probably less. In that time I'll get 3 or 4 Jameson and Cokes, chat up other players, see some people win (and lose) big, lots of cheering - shit's fun. Maybe I'll have an unlucky streak and the table will be winning (since they aren't playing dark side) and that's fun to see - maybe the table will get shit on and I'll go up big, which is awesome - but when it comes down to it, the tiny amount I'm (on average) going to lose over that hour is easily overcome by the free drinks, and the atmosphere is the game, and...the fun of gambling.

[Moss]

I have never played craps, how much do you have to be willing to lose going in? Playing by your conservative strategy of course.

[archibaldcrane]

I have never played craps, how much do you have to be willing to lose going in? Playing by your conservative strategy of course.

I always go to vegas with $200 in gambling money. I usually play at least 5 hours of craps while I'm there (usually in 45-ish minute segments or so), either playing til I'm bored/too busy or run out of money. I've done this...5 times? Ran out of money once, lost some twice, won some twice.

I play at $5 min bet tables (occasionally when it's busy they're all $10 at a given casino so I just don't play). Max bet you'll place is $30 ($5 bet+$25 laying odds). Playing don't pass is fun because when you lay odds the chance of winning is favorable (easier to hit a 7 than any other number) - it just doesn't pay out as well as taking odds on the pass line. So you "win" more than you lose, it's just that the "wins" are less profitable, if that makes any sense.

If you just want to try it out, grab a friend, each of you with $100, and have one person play pass line, the other don't pass. Lay or take full odds no matter what, and between the two of you the only time you will lose money is when the come-out roll is a 12 (in that case the pass line person loses his $5 and the don't pass line person is a push - no money lost or gained).

[test123]

question: If you get kicked out of a casino, do you keep the money you won? if not aren't the casino stealing your money ?

k

[archibaldcrane]

k

kicked out for what?

[Melena]

Anyone know what the house line odds are at 3card poker? It's a slow game but I always seem to make a hundred last a decent amount of time. Not as good as Craps it seems, but I seem to have better luck there then at blackjack.

[test123]

kicked out for what?

suspected of "cheating"/counting cards anything really. Can a casino legally confiskate your hearned money?

[archibaldcrane]

If you rig a slot machine to dump coins, yeah they can confiscate them.

For counting cards? Depends on the laws of the state but I doubt it. They'll just kick you out to stop you from gambling.

[Ghost_Wheel22]

Playing blackjack with a good 3rd baseman and trolling cold roulette tables for no passes (You WILL get some mean looks from people) has been my preferred method of safe(r) gambling. Might take 6 hours at a dozen different tables, but I often pull about $50-100 an hour. Which often processes back in the form of drinks, strippers, and lulz bets.

Worst I've seen at roulette were a couple of pretty old dudes rolling up to to the $10 table and proceeded to drop about 12 thousand in less than an hour then strolling away like they just took a piss. I spent a good while just watching them throw chips at everything. Hard 6? 200 bucks. Trumpet? 100 bucks. Betting that the roller gets a 5, 6, AND 8 before busting? Could've saved themselves the time by just taking a shit on the money and burning it.

[Ghost_Wheel22]

If you try to be sneaky with shit like marked cards or tainted dealers or magnets on slots they're likely to take you out back for a kneecapping. For being obvious about counting cards the pit boss is gonna politely tell you to get the fuck out with your money and you get logged. Enough times and you're blackballed from the place and for someplace like Vegas likely more than one casino.

Basically, don't try stupid movie stunts and learn to count cards in your head.

[Izzy]

Step 1) Ask question about making money for a living by playing roulette
Step 2) Assume you have infinite money to play roulette

wat?

[Kaylia]

How can they find out you're counting card? Simply looking at the way you bet?