GAMING

AFTER YESTERDAY'S BLOG ENTRY I CAN SEE YOU ROLLING YOUR EYES AND THINKING, A $100 BET ON THE SUPER BOWL? HAS REX TURNED INTO ONE OF THOSE DERILICK BLACKJACK DEALERS? LIVING IN NEVADA WHERE SLOT MACHINES ARE EVERYWHERE, AND I DO MEAN EVERYWHERE, THEY ARE AT THE CONVIENCE STORES, GROCERY STORES, AND I'VE NEVER BEEN IN A BAR IN NEVADA WITHOUT SLOT MACHINES. IT'S AN EASY THING TO DO.
WHEN I LEFT ON THIS NEVADA ADVENTURE IN THE FALL OF 1999 I STARTED A COMPUTER RECORD OF ALL MY CASINO VISITS AND THE WIN/LOSS (DATA AVAILABLE AT THE END OF THE BLOG). NOW YOU CAN JUDGE, BY YOUR STANDARDS, IF I HAVE A GAMBLING PROBLEM? FROM THE EIGHT YEARS OF DATA, IT LOOKS LIKE I AVERAGE 45 CASINO VISITS A YEAR, AND HAVE LOST AN AVERAGE OF $382 PER YEAR.
HERE ARE SOME OF THE HIGHLIGHTS (EXCUSES). IN THE YEAR 2000 WE SPENT THE SUMMER IN WENDOVER, NEVADA, WHICH IS IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE. THERE IS NOTHING ELSE TO DO BUT GAMBLE, 46 OF THAT YEARS 65 VISITS WERE IN WENDOVER.
IN THE SPRING OF 2003 I HAD A 6 WEEK HOT STREAK WHILE ON VACATION. THAT WAS THE SUMMER WE LEFT LAUGHLIN AND DID 1000 MILES IN NEVADA BEFORE HEADING EAST TO GREEN BAY FOR SARA'S GRADUATION PARTY. I WON $5770 AND LOST $2543 FOR A NET GAIN OF $3058. THEIR LIES THE CRUX OF THE PROBLEM. PEOPLE REMEMBER THE WINS AND FORGET ABOUT THEIR LOSSES, IT'S HUMAN NATURE.
WHAT ABOUT THOSE CARD COUNTERS? I CHECKED OUT SEVERAL INTERNET SITES, AND BOOKS AT THE LIBRARY ON THE SUBJECT. THIS WILL WORK................. I BOUGHT AN ILLEGAL CARD COUNTING ELECTRONIC DEVISE, IT'S SMALL AND LOOKS EXACTLY LIKE A KEYLESS DEVICE YOU HAVE ON YOUR CAR KEYS. YOU PUNCH THE BUTTONS TO DO THE + OR - COUNTING AND THE UNIT VIBRATES TO GIVE YOU THE RESULTING COUNT SO YOU KNOW WHEN TO BET HEAVY. ALL IN ALL THE EXPERMENT FAILED, AND I LOST MONEY. IF I EVER GOT CAUGHT WITH SUCH A DEVICE I'D LOSE MY GAMING CARD AND WOULD NEVER BE ABLE TO DEAL AGAIN, ANYWHERE. PLUS SUCH A CONVICTION WOULD ALSO HAVE A VERY NEGATIVE IMPACT ON PAULIE SHOULD THE NEED ARISE SOMEDAY FOR HIM TO APPLY FOR A CLASS"A" CASINO LICENSE TO BE A GENERAL MANGER.
CHASEING YOUR MONEY, NOW THIS HURTS, WHEN YOU LOSE IN A CASINO IT'S A GREAT TEMPTATION TO INCREASE YOUR BETS HOPING TO RECOUP YOUR LOSSES. MY WORST PERSONAL DEMON IS GETTING OFF EARLY, AND WHILE WAITING FOR MARY TO GET OFF I'LL PLAY A SLOT MACHINE, OUCH!

THERE YOU HAVE IT. AN HONEST AND DOCUMENTED REPORT ON A GAMBELING BLACKJACK DEALER. ODDLY ENOUGH I COULD DIG OUT COMPUTER RECORDS ON THE NUMER OF CIGARETTES I'VE BOUGHT AND SMOKED OVER THE PAST FEW YEARS.............. NAW, LETS NOT GO THERE!!

YEAR.............. P/L$............... VISITS #
1999.............. - 695 ......................**
2000............. -1253 ..................... 65
2001.............. - 687 .......................17
2002 ..............- 120 ......................44
2003 .......... +2959 ......................60
2004 ........... -1867 .......................41
2005 ........... -1593 .......................58
2006 .............-802 .......................29
2007 .............+515 .........................7





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