Before I Deal: The Biloxi Sun Herald was one of the first newspapers to
give this writer his fledgling break and carry Deal Me In. Any writer
who syndicates a column will tell you that they forever feel a special
kinship to the community where their column first appears. But even if
you have never been to the Mississippi Gulf Coast region, few can view
the staggering blow dealt the area and not feel a need to pitch in.
The least I can do is suspend monthly billing the Biloxi Sun Herald,
indefinitely, and ask instead that the Sun Herald disburse that money
to an appropriate relief fund to help those in need. Yet, I suspect my
column might not even be carried for some time as the dozen gaming
establishments were severely damaged by Katrina — costing the state
coffers a half-million dollars per day in lost, desperately needed tax
revenues, not to mention the effect on the 14,000 people who work in
the 12 casinos along the Mississippi coastline. Why would anyone want
to publish the insignificant until the crippled gambling industry gets
back on its feet, which could take months, potentially even years.
So how can you and I lend a helping hand? By raiding that jar of
quarters stashed in a cupboard above the refrigerator; quarters
designated for some anonymous one-armed bandit, now become quarters
needed to ease the misery. The American Red Cross is a good place to
start inserting that loose change. Their hotline number is (800)
435-7669, (www.redcross.org).
Donations will provide clean water,
food, and shelter for the surviving disaster victims. For your donation
to go specifically to Hurricane Katrina relief, write Katrina on the
check.
Other relief agencies that have set up dedicated websites and phone
lines for donations to help with rescue and rebuilding are the United
Methodist Committee on Relief: (800) 554-8583
(http://new.gbgm-umc.org/umcor/work/emergencies/ongoing/hurricane2005/),
The Salvation
Army: (800) 725-2769 (http://www.salvationarmyusa.org),
Catholic
Charities: (800) 919-9338 (http://www.catholiccharitiesusa.org),
Feed
the Children: (800) 525-7575 (http://www.feedthechildren.org)
and the
National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster, (703) 339.5596
(http://www.nvoad.org).
I hope the residents of Biloxi and Gulfport will accept my sincere
words of sympathy in connection with the natural disaster that has
struck their area. I am incredibly aware that Hurricane Katrina has
caused immeasurable grief and significant economic losses to hundreds
of thousands of citizens, but I will await with great anticipation for
that southern charmed "come on down" call, so I can personally open
my
wallet again and pump some much-needed dollars into their economy.
Hopefully you all will do likewise.
Dear Mark,
Could you please explain a "buy" bet in craps and what is the house
advantage? While you're at it, you might as well also describe a "lay"
wager also. Gary M.
A buy bet, Gary, is essentially the same as a place bet except that you
pay a commission of 5% on the amount of your wager. If you win, the
casino will pay you at the true odds, minus 5%. You get your best
cluck-for-the-buck when you wager at least $20, because the minimum
commission the casino will charge you for making a buy wager is a buck,
which happens to be 5% of $20. The casino edge on any buy bet for $20
works out to 4.76%, although the percentage becomes higher on lesser
wagers.
A lay bet is the polar opposite of a buy wager. With a lay bet, like
the don't come wager, you are betting with the house and hoping that a
7 appears before a point number (4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10). Like buy bets,
lay bets are paid off at true odds, again, minus that commission of 5%
of the amount won. Lay bets also have a minimum payoff of $20, because
5% of $20 is $1, and that's the casino's minimum charge.
For instance, on the numbers 5 and 9 you will have to lay $30 to win
$20, which gives the casino an edge of 3.23%. For the 6 and 8 you will
have to lay $24 to win $20. Here the casino advantage is 4.00%. The
best wager to lay is the 4 and 10. While you will have to lay $40 to
win $20, the house edge is reduced to 2.44%.
Gambling Wisdom of the week: "To have bad luck, one must still have
luck." --Jewish Proverb
