April 16, 2003

Gambling: Of course you can't win

I went gambling in Shreveport, LA, last weekend with some friends from work. I did some research beforehand, looking up casinos and getting opinions. Most people online said the Horseshoe was a real Vegas-class casino, but that the others in Shreveport are dumps. I have never been to Vegas, but I've been to Tunica, MS (just south of Memphis), and every casino I went to there was bigger and better than all the ones in Shreveport, including the Horseshoe. In fact, the casino I liked best in Shreveport was the Hollywood Casino, but that's possibly because they were the only one that kept $5 tables going after 9pm on Saturday.

So, anyway, I went gambling figuring I'd play Blackjack, which is what I always play at casinos. I've had some success in the past. After half an hour, my husband and I had gone through $80, and decided this wasn't working out. I've never seen such a lousy table in my life. The dealer refused to bust. My coworkers were off playing Craps, so we went to join them. I didn't know how to play, but we stood there for a while and finally started to figure it out. By that evening, I felt I was doing pretty good at it. You still lose, but you don't lose as fast as you do at Blackjack.

The important thing to remember about casinos is that the house always wins. Fairly late Saturday night at a Craps table, a guy came up with at least $2000 in chips. He was putting $50 here and $100 there, and losing terribly. He got into an argument with the dealers over the girl who was shooting the dice, when she hadn't done anything wrong. He knew how to play the game, and he obviously had a ton of money, he really should have known that he was there to lose, like everyone else.

Published: April 16, 2003
Editor: stacy