Seems like I listen to dealers whoring these sucker bets several times each trip, and watch many ploppies who would not think of failing to place the sidebet on every hand.
Are we in the golden age of sidebets? Do most of these die off as the ploppies figure out that their wallets are considerably more slender, or am I too optimistic that such will be the case?
Last edited by Anton Chigurh; 01-02-2013 at 09:16 PM.
In my experience, many dealers are ignorant of blackjack theory. I see them sincerely perpetuating voodoo often. I play at nickel tables and it's common for someone to play a single on the side bet every hand. It brings fun to the table when they get payed 25:1. That's not to say some of them aren't trained to dupe patrons.
Everywhere I go the ploppies seem compelled to play the sidebets. And they monitor all the spots and constantly point out to me that I would have won if I had bet my sidebet.
Aslan 11/1/90 - 6/15/10 Stormy 1/22/95 - 8/23/10... “Life’s most urgent question is: what are you doing for others?” — Martin Luther King, Jr.
What I think is funny is how ploppies believe that luck is attached to particular people or spots. When a number of sidebet wins occured at my spot (which I didn't play), the player to my right asked if he could play my spot. The dealer said no, so the fellow would give me his chips and I would place the bet for him. He never won on my hand for a while and then quit. But how on God's green earth could he actually have thought that maybe that was the lucky spot? Is luck some intelligent invisible creature that runs around picking spots and people to shed his/her good fortune on? It blows my mind.
Aslan 11/1/90 - 6/15/10 Stormy 1/22/95 - 8/23/10... “Life’s most urgent question is: what are you doing for others?” — Martin Luther King, Jr.
I've seen people in the low-limit pit at certain stores that shall remain nameless run by certain famously-poorly run companies who will play, for hours, one green on the main box and two on Perfect Pairs. Quite entertaining when one of them has nearly depleted his wallet and catches two threes of clubs.
"Wait a minute. How do you beat someone to death with their own skull? That doesn't seem physically possible." "That's what Jimmy kept screaming: 'This doesn't seem physically possible!'"
Same way coincidences equal divine miracle for some. Ignorance doesn't necessarily make someone an idiot even though they are wrong. Paraphrasing a Numb3rs quote because I can't remember it, "People make decisions with what is available to them. It may may them wrong, but not necessarily evil."Originally Posted by Aslan
Among the numbers players I know, there is a commonly held belief that when a number comes up throughout the day it is a sign to play it. For example, your lunch check is $8.95, then you follow a car and its license plate is RTG-895, and finally you fill up your tank with gas and the amount is $48.95. Naturally it is time to box 895 on the daily numbers, and to listen to them, naturally it comes up. I wonder how many times they don't tell me about? Of course there is a convoluted logic to this perception-- maybe God or some spiritual force is trying to communicate to you what the day's number is. But I don't think the lucky spot players have that alibi. I think they just think that luck follows patterns for no explainable reason and that if they can discern the pattern, they can win a fortune.
Aslan 11/1/90 - 6/15/10 Stormy 1/22/95 - 8/23/10... “Life’s most urgent question is: what are you doing for others?” — Martin Luther King, Jr.
Lady next to me is betting one green in her box,and one green on perfect pairs forever, without a PP win. I say "Aren't you getting sick of losing your PP all the time? She replies: "Why don't you ever bet on PPs"? I say: "Because the correct odds they should be paying is about 60/1. Paying only 30/1 makes it a pure sucker bet." She replies: "Yes, I know that... But it's so nice when you win and you get 30 times your bet." LOL
Therein is the mind of the gambling plop. To hell with logic, reason and math.
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