This guy is good

[c1ue]

Re: This guy is good

Unless someone actually observes this fellow winning the money, I'd be awfully suspicious.

I've spent decades in the various casinos and have met professional gamblers.

A high profile is the last thing they want.

Secondly the professionals I have met don't win like clockwork. They have up and down periods - months where they lose money, and then months where they rake it in. It requires a lot of time and effort - and is work in a very real sense.

Lastly the amounts are also suspicious. It makes me wonder

a) If this is a particularly insidious PR gambit
b) If the gambler in question is reaping some other benefit (i.e. tax related)
c) If other income is being derived in some way as 'seed' capital (i.e. donations)

[roxtar]

Re: This guy is good

i think this is a scam. a "high stakes blackjack player" has no edge. in the long run he has to lose. the shoes hold, what, 7 decks now? and are shuffled before they're halfway used. can't card count then. so how does he generate his money? this smells bogus to me.

You're right, blackjack is a game with a negative EV, especially given that the current way they handle the cards makes it nearly impossible to cheat.
I'm guessing that one of the casinos is in on this too.
I've seen pit bosses kick people off of tables after winning $5k in an hour, I can't imagine that any casino in Las Vegas would allow someone to sit at a table and win $50k in one night.

[santafe2]

Re: This guy is good

A good number of people here will probably disagree with me, but I think there's something truly perverse about this.

It's a parody of what the USA is degenerating into...a nation of speculators and gamblers, lottery ticket buyers, reality show aspirants pulling balloon stunts in the vain hope that their "ticket" will be drawn.

It's sad but transitional. We have to be wrong 10 times before we can be right once with any conviction. Unfortunately, we're probably only at 6 or 7 now and the next two might be really bad. Have you guys got some ideas?

[cjppjc]

Re: This guy is good

If I'm wrong someone please correct me, but isn't there a professional gambler who is a member of this site? I would be interested in hearing that persons thoughts.

[ricket]

Re: This guy is good

Boycott Banks! :eek:

FTFY ;)




......10 character limit

[sunskyfan]

Re: This guy is good

What do you expect from a nation of believers and faith junkies?

[fallout]

Re: This guy is good

I am not suggesting that the proponent of this scheme is evil...certainly there's lot's worse ways he could spend his time, talent and money [but I can't bring myself to applaud him for this particular course of action].

I am trying to point out the underlying values and belief system in play here. It's the same values and belief system that caused "desperate" people to camp out overnight on sidewalks [Florida/D.C.] and deserts [Palm Springs] for the opportunity to enter a lottery, hoping their ticket would be drawn so they could bid on a lot or an off-plan condo - not to live in, but to flip for a quick profit.

It's a belief system that is becoming entrenched in the American psyche, and one that has contributed to creating the very situation that allows this latter day "Robin Hood" to propose what he has. Can you imagine anything of this sort, on either side of this proposal, happening in your grandfather's time?...

A bit late, but this is a basic and reoccuring premise in the writings of J.H. Kunstler, who often states that the religion of America is not Christianity, but rather the perverse belief in "Something For Nothing", i.e. unearned riches and magical thinking. Lottery tickets, Vegas, reality TV, facebook, myspace, and similar all play into this, as does sacrificing mom and pop stores and local jobs to save 7 cents on plastic pumpkins shipped halfway around the world (I got a bargain!) and buying houses on credit to flip, get rich quick schemes hawked on TV, and a general disinterest in actual knowledge/facts in lieu of "gut feelings" and "beliefs". The rugged individualist mythos combined with American Exceptionalism on steroids has devolved to the point that the average man/woman on the street believes in anything, rather than nothing, a sucker is born every 0.000000001 seconds, entitlement reigns supreme because we are each and every one "special" in some way, and the productive business of the nation has itself been replaced by financial shenanigans (FIRE), gambling, cons, scams, grifts, kickbacks, lobbying, propaganda disguised as advertising, and the like.
Worth a look, and a cynical laugh- http://www.kunstler.com/index.php
A lot will be old territory for those who've been following EJ for a while.

[aaron]

Re: This guy is good

A good number of people here will probably disagree with me, but I think there's something truly perverse about this.

It's a parody of what the USA is degenerating into...a nation of speculators and gamblers, lottery ticket buyers, reality show aspirants pulling balloon stunts in the vain hope that their "ticket" will be drawn. A nation of 300 million people seeking their Warholian "15 minutes of fame" celebrity moment so they too may experience the joy of instant riches.

A nation of people that are increasingly coming to believe that luck or fate is the only important determinant of their personal destiny.

As anyone who has read my posts here knows I am both an optimist about the future of the USA, and a long time admirer of the best that unique experiment in nationhood has contributed to the world in which I live, but Gawd I hope you people give your heads a shake and wake up soon to what's happening to your Republic.

I agree with your sentiment, but I might suggest that there are millions in the U.S. who only have luck and faith.

[thriftyandboringinohio]

Re: This guy is good

A good number of people here will probably disagree with me, but I think there's something truly perverse about this.

It's a parody of what the USA is degenerating into...a nation of speculators and gamblers, lottery ticket buyers, reality show aspirants pulling balloon stunts in the vain hope that their "ticket" will be drawn. A nation of 300 million people seeking their Warholian "15 minutes of fame" celebrity moment so they too may experience the joy of instant riches.

A nation of people that are increasingly coming to believe that luck or fate is the only important determinant of their personal destiny.

As anyone who has read my posts here knows I am both an optimist about the future of the USA, and a long time admirer of the best that unique experiment in nationhood has contributed to the world in which I live, but Gawd I hope you people give your heads a shake and wake up soon to what's happening to your Republic.

I agree completely to your point that way too many people are waiting for salvation rather than knuckling down to work hard.

There's another issue on display here as well. I find anonymous giving noble, and this is the opposite. I squirm with discomfort watching a rich guy beam with pride as he makes a gift to the peasants, basking in their gratitude. He could slip a check into the mailbox with an unsigned note and achieve the same good end.

[fallout]

Re: This guy is good

The later is apparently popular in Japan presently, with anonymous donors leaving wads of cash in mailboxes, bathrooms, and convenient stores with simple notes saying to "use this as you need to", or equivalent.
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=1dc_1185800510
Different culture, different approaches.

[bobola]

Re: This guy is good

I say this guy (if real) works for Vegas casinos to generate business. The real story is the casino marketing genius with this fake story. Here’s why;

"..Blackjack played with a perfect basic strategy typically offers a house edge of less than 0.5%, but a typical card counter who ranges his bets appropriately in a game with six decks will have an advantage of approximately 1% over the casino. The variance in blackjack is high, so generating a sizeable profit can take hundreds of hours of play. The deck will only have a positive enough count for the player to raise his bets 10%-35% of the time depending on rules, penetration and strategy.

At a table where a player makes a $100 average bet, a 1% advantage means a player will win an average $1 per hand. This translates into an average hourly winning of $50 if the player is dealt 50 hands per hour.."

Assuming this guy was your average card counter making the average gains, (how else could he beat blackjack and not get caught..??) he would have to play 700 hours at $50/hour to get the 35k. If he was placing big bets increase his profits over a given time, the casino would scrutinize his play and eventually toss him. They don’t allow card counting and I seriously doubt there’s any other way to beat the house at blackjack and walk out with wads of their cash.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Card_counting

[GRG55]

Re: This guy is good

I agree with your sentiment, but I might suggest that there are millions in the U.S. who only have luck and faith.

That's one of the issues...the socialists want us to believe in equality of outcome, the libertarians in equality of opportunity, but if people come to believe that they have neither then there's not many alternatives other than a belief in fate...divine or otherwise.