Is Gambling at the Blackjack Table Similar to Being an Alcoholic, Drug Addict, or Sugar Addict? Why Gamble?
Question by Ssadf Zasdadad: Is gambling at the blackjack table similar to being an alcoholic, drug addict, or sugar addict? Why gamble?
Why do people keep going back and back and back to the casino when they’re always losing their money? What is the “high” of losing money?
Everyone at the table knew the house rules and had their “odds card”, and they all got mad if I didnt hit on 16, or if didn’t “double down” on 11, etc etc
i submit to you that even if you had a robot at the black jack table playing my the “odds card”, the robot would still lose all its money within a few hours.
Whenever i played by the “rules” people at the table would be like “see we told you to hit on 16” if i was succsssful. And when i didn’t hit on 16 and still won anyway, they would claim i messed up the cards for everyone else. How rediculous.
i submit to you blackjack is all a bunch of luck. Sure they have “odds cards” to make you feel like you might have a bit of control, but blackjack is 90% luck and 10% playing by th odds card. It’s a “fools” game, and everyone who walks int oa casino is a fool. Arent they?
By the way, i play at Caesars Windsor in Ontario Canada where they use 8 decks.
And a wise psychologist once said: “in my decades of experience i’ve learned one thing…people will say and do anything to rationalzie their behavior.”
Best answer:
Answer by Bill M
I think you know the answer. Why do people keep gambling? Because it’s an addiction. For some people it’s just a game, and they can walk away before they lose too much, but most people would probably be better off if they didn’t play.
Answer by pdq
“i submit to you that even if you had a robot at the black jack table playing my the “odds card”, the robot would still lose all its money within a few hours.”
You are telling us anything we don’t already know. Blackjack is a casino game; therefore you cannot beat it in the long run. Of course this is true. (I’m not talking about expert card counting. This question has nothing to do with card counting.)
HOWEVER, there still are “right” ways to play a hand and “wrong” ways to play a hand.
Let’s say you’ve got a 16 against the dealer’s 9. You have a bad hand, and no matter what you do, you are more likely to lose this hand than win it. I don’t know the actual percentages, but I think my guesses will be close enough to demonstrate a point.
If you STAND on the 16, you’ll probably win this hand only around 23% of the time. (This percent is correct, I know.)
If you HIT the 16, you’ll probably win this hand around 33% of the time. (This percent I am guessing at, but I can’t be off significantly.)
So I ask you – I it a matter of opinion that you should HIT the 16? Is it worth it to go with your “gut” when you’re getting a 10% better chance when you HIT?
There really is a right way and a wrong way to play each hand.
***
With that said, you still make many valid points. The way you play does NOT affect the long-term win rate of the other players. This doesn’t matter to them, however. They see that the dealer would have busted if you played your hand “right”, and they get mad. They quickly forget the times that your bad play was the reason they won!
OK – finally on to your main questions: Is gambling an addiction, and why do people keep going back when they’re always losing?
First of all, yes – gambling is an addiction, but it is more psychological than physical.
You asked, “Why do people keep going back and back and back to the casino when they’re always losing their money? What is the “high” of losing money?”
The truth is they DO WIN! Anyone that is addicted to gambling at some point in their life won what was a LARGE amount of money for them at the time. The first time I went to a casino, I was a college student with no job. I turned $ 20 into $ 200, and that was HUGE!!! There was no greater “high” in my life than that!
So people go back over and over trying to get that “high” again. For an addict, it makes no difference if they are getting themselves further and further into debt. It’s all about “THIS TIME”.
THIS TIME maybe I’ll win. THIS TIME maybe I’ll do just the right thing at the blackjack table. THIS TIME I’ll quit when I’m ahead. THIS TIME maybe I won’t take out my credit cards and rack up another $ 1,000 in debt. THIS TIME maybe I’ll be the hero instead of the goat.
THIS TIME comes every once in a while, but the addict’s quest for THIS TIME ultimately breaks them.
OK, your final question: “everyone who walks int oa casino is a fool. Arent they?”
Sure blackjack and most other casino games are mostly luck. Just don’t forget that there really is a “right” way and a “wrong” way to play each hand. It really boils down to just how bad a game you really want to play? Do you want the casino to have a 2% advantage over you? Learn to play Basic Strategy. Do you want the casino to have a 10% advantage over you? Just go with what your “gut” tells you to do.
So is everyone a fool? No. There are many people who have a very healthy attitude towards gambling. They truly understand that they WILL LOSE more money than they win in their lifetime, but they enjoy the atmosphere and the chance to win money. To these people, spending $ 200 on a night out at the casino is money well spent. They thoroughly enjoy themselves just as much as someone else who might go to a football game, or to a dinner and a movie, or tp a dance club.
People who play casino games that actually expect to MAKE money are the ones who are the fools. These are the people who end up chasing after something that just isn’t real. Again – I’m not talking about the RARE people who are expert card counters or professional gamblers.
As for your final quote about “people will say and do anything to rationalzie their behavior”, just remember that you ARE affecting the short term wins and losses of other people’s hands. If the dealer has a 6 and you hit your 13 and get a 7, and THEN the dealer turns over a 10 and hits a “4”, YOU will win the hand, but everyone else at the table is going to be VERY mad at you for hitting that 13! THEY LOSE! If you didn’t hit, everyone at the table would have won.
Again – of course in the long run you will have helped them equally as much as you would have hurt them. It doesn’t matter. People see what is happening in the moment. I’m not saying that you should do things just to please the people at the table. You have the right, and you SHOULD play just the way you want to. Just try to be understanding when someone gets mad when they lose. Losing is never fun.
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