701 replies to this topic

[VicHockeyFan]

Vancouver's newest luxury hotels and casino throw open their doors

Built for $640M and attached to B.C. Place, Parq Vancouver includes a 2-floor Edgewater Casino replacement

 

http://www.cbc.ca/ne...4313856?cmp=rss

[VicHockeyFan]

Rolling the dice: What Vancouver's newest casino means for the city and province

Researchers critical of the impact the 'world class' resort will have on problem gamblers

 

http://www.cbc.ca/ne...4314001?cmp=rss

[Cassidy]

Please don't misunderstand me, I'm not anti-gambling, or anti-casino.

But I still stand by everything I wrote, and your own personal experience gambling doesn't change anything I said.

 

Indeed, in my own case, and for reasons unrelated to setting foot in a casino or my own gambling, I understand a great deal about casino gambling - where it came from, where it's going, and why it's here.

In fact, I know enough about it to enjoy the atmosphere of any given casino without ever setting a dime on any of the tables, or in any electronic imitation of a gaming table.

 

I just encourage folks who are led to believe that gambling is a "fun pastime" to learn enough about what you're actually doing when you put $100.00 down on a table game, and to clearly understand that if you consider it "fun" without learning the consistent and undeniable odds against you ... then you've been effectively influenced by the casinos advertising efforts to the point where you're essentially throwing your money away.

 

Additionally, and as noted in my previous post, there is absolutely no such thing as "clean gambling", and to pretend that any sort of B.C. Government oversight is going to make us any different from money launderers in Las Vegas, Atlantic City, First Nations Gambling in the U.S., or any other big gambling centre around the world is to be terribly naive.

 

Know your true odds before you gamble, and don't fall for the "gambling is fun" advertising.

If you're losing $100.00 per trip to the casino, and you're claiming to have "fun" while you're doing it ... and if you can't explain to me clearly in words what the odds against you are at any given point in the table game or electronic bell ringer you're playing ... then you're exactly the person the casinos want sitting in that seat, not in an effort to provide you with "fun", but in an effort to empty your wallet to the advantage of the casinos corporate masters.

 

Let's be crystal clear ... that's the ONLY function of casinos, to get all your disposable cash, and then to get you out of the building as quickly as possible to make room for the next sucker.

Cheap food and cheap entertainment are designed to get you thinking about stepping into the building, and your empty wallet is designed to get you out of the building.

 

In a nutshell, enjoy your time in a casino, but don't ever make the mistake of thinking that their business model is to provide you with "fun"!

 

 

[VicHockeyFan]

Look, I know I can sit at home and enjoy an ounce of vodka for about $1.25, or I can go to the bar and get it for $6.00.  What that bar is trying to do is find the most efficient and enjoyable way of getting me to shell out that extra $4.75.  The casino is doing the same type of thing.

[Cassidy]

I understand ... and once again note that I'm not anti-gambling or anti-casino.

BUT ... it's important to draw a distinction between getting a product for a fixed price, regardless of the mark-up (your drink) - and casino gambling.

 

The two are not remotely the same thing, and blurring or otherwise obfuscating the odds against you at a table game or electronic machine is the fundamental business model of casinos everywhere.

 

If you equivocate losing money while gambling with the act of buying a drink ... then you've played right into the casinos advertising efforts ... in effect, you're their ideal customer!

 

Casino gambling is about ADVANTAGE, and fully and clearly understanding that advantage (for the casino) is critical if one is contemplating gambling in a casino.

In a Canadian casino, that "advantage" is never with you as the player. You are never in the drivers seat. You never have the "best of it".

 

The folks that just show up at a casino, don't understand the odds of any of the games they're playing, and proceed to lose $200.00 (even if they consider they had "fun" doing so), and then leave the casino are exactly what casinos are all about - indeed, those folks are why casinos exist and thrive all over the world.

 

What the casinos want you to think is that the $200.00 you just lost was in fact the equivalent of you purchasing "fun". 

Despite folks having a difficult time explaining exactly what "fun" the $200.00 actually purchased ... I have nothing against casino gambling - I just encourage folks to take a step back and think about the concept behind what they're doing when they essentially convince themselves that sitting at a table for an hour with a cheap drink is worth $200.00  (or $500.00 or or $1000.00 or more).

 

Indeed, for reasons unrelated to gambling (I don't gamble) - I'll be first in line to check out any new casino Victoria has to offer.

[VicHockeyFan]

Look, the very few times I go to the casino, I play Blackjack.  My odds of losing, if I make my decisions "by the book" is about 54%.  The house edge is about 4%.  I NEVER play slot machines.  And I can not remember the last time I bought a lottery ticket, likely more than a decade ago.  Now lottery is really bad odds, house edge there is about 50%.

[Rob Randall]

I see people socializing and having a great time at pubs, bars and restaurants.

 

I honestly have never seen anyone appearing to enjoy themselves at a casino. I've seen a happier atmosphere at the ICBC driver's license wait room.

[VicHockeyFan]

I see people socializing and having a great time at pubs, bars and restaurants.

 

I honestly have never seen anyone appearing to enjoy themselves at a casino. I've seen a happier atmosphere at the ICBC driver's license wait room.

 

In Vegas, or here?

[Rob Randall]

I've only been to BC casinos. I went to a huge one in Vancouver. Bigger than River Rock. I tried to count the slot machines, but I gave up. It was in the hundreds. I concede the Vegas experience is probably much more enjoyable. But this thread is not about Vegas.

[Hotel Mike]

The other way to deal with the casino advantage is being willing to give them some money up front and for them to leave you alone. I'm referring to poker tables. The House takes its rake from every hand, so there is a big advantage to them. But except in rare cases, the House doesn't care who wins money on poker or loses, as long as they have their rake. I'm willing to put my poker skills up against other players. And ya, with the social and competitive spirit at a poker table, it can be fun. Otherwise Cassidy's warning are very true. The more people upon which the casinos can prey, the better. And guess who those people are...the poor, the elderly, the naive, and the problem gamblers. We sure don't need another casino in Victoria!

[Cassidy]

As Mike points out, poker may be played in casinos, but it's not considered a typical casino "table game" in that you're not competing against the casinos advantage, you're competing with other players, and paying for the privilege of having a dealer, table, lighting, drinks, etc provided for you (the rake).

If your poker chops are superior to other players at the poker table, then you enjoy a sizeable advantage over them.

 

My previous comments about casino gambling don't apply to poker, whether it's played in a casino or privately.

[Rob Randall]

The table games are fine. But almost all the space in a big casino is taken up by those horrible video slot machines. I know a former lower-mainland casino manager and he has lots of tales of people soiling their pants or going to the bathroom in a hallway because they were too afraid of abandoning their "lucky" machine.

[VicHockeyFan]

The table games are fine. But almost all the space in a big casino is taken up by those horrible video slot machines. 

 

I blame the casinos for not having enough "learn to play" nights.  It can be intimidating to step up to a blackjack table and sit next to experienced players (don't sit to their right!).  But once you get the hang of it, it's much more fun that a slot machine.

[todd]

In Vegas, or here?

 

 

Never been to a casino outside of nevada but vegas got the psychology of feeling good with the bells, whistles, lights, entertainers, drinks, artificial smells down to a science you're not having a bad time until you realize you lost your house.

 

(Disclaimer: If you heard or think vegas sucks: you went with the wrong person, you drink/etc too much bad things happened/lost all your money, or you just didn't do vegas right/didn't know how to.)

 

I've only been to BC casinos. I went to a huge one in Vancouver. Bigger than River Rock. I tried to count the slot machines, but I gave up. It was in the hundreds. I concede the Vegas experience is probably much more enjoyable. But this thread is not about Vegas.

 

1640 Electra Blvd.

 

 

 

 

 

I came back with an extra $10.41 bill in my pocket the penny slots were good to me.

Edited by todd, 30 September 2017 - 01:32 PM.

[Hotel Mike]

I'm glad you mentioned blackjack. You can download a "cheat sheet" something like this: https://www.oddsbust...ck-cheat-sheet/  I'm not endorsing this particular outfit but these type of sheets are readily available. You are totally allowed to have it by your side at the table, and if you stick to the odds, you increase your chances of winning or at least losing little enough to have "fun".

[VicHockeyFan]

If you can memorize and recall this, which does not look too hard, you are good.

 

Surrender

• Surrender hard 16 (but not a pair of 8s) vs. dealer 9, 10, or A, and hard 15 vs. dealer 10.

Split

• Always split aces and 8s.
• Never split 5s and 10s.
• Split 2s and 3s against a dealer 4-7, and against a 2 or 3 if DAS is allowed.
• Split 4s only if DAS is allowed and the dealer shows a 5 or 6.
• Split 6s against a dealer 3-6, and against a 2 if DAS is allowed.
• Split 7s against a dealer 2-7.
• Split 9s against a dealer 2-6 or 8-9.

Double

• Double hard 9 vs. dealer 3-6.
• Double hard 10 except against a dealer 10 or A.
• Double hard 11 except against a dealer A.
• Double soft 13 or 14 vs. dealer 5-6.
• Double soft 15 or 16 vs. dealer 4-6.
• Double soft 17 or 18 vs. dealer 3-6.

Hit or Stand

• Always hit hard 11 or less.
• Stand on hard 12 against a dealer 4-6, otherwise hit.
• Stand on hard 13-16 against a dealer 2-6, otherwise hit.
• Always stand on hard 17 or more.
• Always hit soft 17 or less.
• Stand on soft 18 except hit against a dealer 9, 10, or A.
• Always stand on soft 19 or more.
•  

[Hotel Mike]

Ya. That's the kind of thing. But you don't have to memorize it. It's perfectly okay for you to have that at the table for reference.

[VicHockeyFan]

Ya. That's the kind of thing. But you don't have to memorize it. It's perfectly okay for you to have that at the table for reference.

 

Your table-mates will look at you with the stink eye though.

Edited by VicHockeyFan, 01 October 2017 - 02:48 PM.

[todd]

Ya. That's the kind of thing. But you don't have to memorize it. It's perfectly okay for you to have that at the table for reference.

 

[Mike K.]

Your table-mates will look at you with the stink eye though.

If you can see it through their sunglasses.