please empty your brain below

More about why the casino isn't in Greenwich.

Despite all the sights, sounds and faux glamour associated with casinos, you paint quite a picture of sugar-coated desperation in this piece DG. Another fine post. Thank you.

In 2006 I once spent three days in Las Vegas and did not once place any sort of wager. Nobody forces you to enter and gamble.

I suppose the casino can't make West Ham any worse.

I went to Las Vegas a few years ago. To get to the massive buffets and food courts you have to walk the length of the casino. Very interesting if not a tad depressing.
At breakfast time there are already a few desperate people playing the slots. Lonely and transfixed they seemed to be in a World of their own.
Quite sad really.

@Michael. I bet you did.

If you want to gain a small advantage when playing the no skill game of roulette.

1 start with chips on left, any winnings go to the right
2 play the following black, even, 1-18, 1-12, middle row, 7-8-10-11 and 8

what u want is for 8 to come up, that'll win you the most chips as well as all the side bets, but by placing all the side bets, you'll mostly almost always get your 7 chips back, theres very few numbers on the board not covered and the reason for black is that in the 7-8-10-11 theres 3 blacks.

btw, theres no way i'm ever going into a casino

I had my first ever visit to a casino, earlier this year. The place was on three levels. I was surprised to find there were different kinds of roulette wheels at each level.
On the ground floor you got people dressing at the lower end of smart casual, playing on automated wheels, not far different to the ones you see in seaside amusement arcades.
Next up, there were people who had clearly dressed for the occasion, placing bets on tables where the wheels were spun manually: the punters were paying close attention to everything happening.
It was the top floor that was the oddest. Here the tables were operated by teams of croupiers. Here, people (who just looked smart without really trying) would simply pass handfuls of chips to the head croupier, to place as he thought fit. The part that seemed almost bizarre, was that they'd then wander off elsewhere without even staying to see where the ball had stopped.
All three levels seemed to have one thing in common: I've gotta say, I really didn't see many people winning anything.
Come to think of it, I'm not even sure if I saw a single person with a smile :(

@RogerW: Ah! I see your confusion. That was actually the UK Treasury building you were in.

I used to be a croupier!

Now, there is, sometimes, just very occasionally, a reason why those statistics for the roulette table come in handy. It is possible that the croupier gets into a "spinning zone" with their ball action etc, that means that the ball starts dropping into the same sector of the wheel each time - the wheel is divided into three sections of varying sizes for a sort of spread betting that is more popular on the continent - if you saw any roulette tables with what looked like a little race track on them, that is what that is about. So, the croupier starts dropping the ball, inadvertently, into the same section. For seasoned players, who know the wheel, they will pick up on this, and suddenly, your table will be absolutely rammed and you'll be paying out chips hand over fist! :( it happened to me once, and the seasoned players figured it out much quicker than either myself or the Inspector (person usually sat on a high chair between two roulette tables) did. It is very hard to get out of once it happens, and you either have to make a very conscious effort to spin the ball slightly differently, with slightly less or more force, which is very difficult, because you are trained to do it the same every time, and muscle memory kicks in, or you get taken off the table!

The game where you can most shift the odds into your favour is Blackjack, the one where you are most likely to win in any significant way, is poker, where you are playing against the dealer, not everyone else. Roulette does not pay out true odds, and thus there is always a very slight edge in the casino's favour. Good luck!

I think Bernie makes the point. On the few occasions I have been in a casino I don't ever remember anyone looking happy. Same with bookies.

I find it hard to believe how much Stratford has changed. I grew up in the area and worked in the shopping centre in the early 80s, and then it was a real shithole!

Oh well,gambling got us into the shit maybe gambling will get us out.
It`s all about moving money around.
A most sad depressing vice.

Excellent post, thank you DG. As always, your breadth of knowledge, research and experience is awe-inspiring.

@Michael

Nobody forces you to drink alcohol or take drugs either, but we still have plenty of alcoholics and drug addicts.

Expect to see crime rise when people steal to feed their gambling habit and home repossestions rise when people can't afford to pay back their mortgage.

People aren't forced to gamble, but that's no comfort to those who suffer from the gambling addictions of others, or the desperate gamblers themselves.

There are so many casions and betting shops in poor areas - what we need is a group protesting outside stores and handing out leaflets explaining how unlikely people are to win and how damaging they are to soceity.

When there seems to be no other way, we resort to luck. :(

Great post DG, but I'll give the place a miss thanks.

When I saw the photo I thought it said "Aspergers Casino"

To follow up on what some others have said - I have worked in the "alcohol" industry (bar maid), "sub-prime money" industry (call centre worker, effectively, for large multi-national banking concern) and gambling industry (croupier), I have been predicting for some time that addiction to gambling will be the next thing to afflict us.

I called the collapse of the "money" industry many years ago (although only to friends), and could see when I was a croupier the desperation in some people's eyes. And that was when the economy was "good". I also worry that the National Lottery seems to have made gambling much more socially acceptable than it used to be. There also appears to have been a restriction in the relevant licensing laws which means it now seems much easier to get a casino license than it was when I was working in the industry a decade ago, when such things were extremely tightly controlled.











TridentScan | Privacy Policy