Dear Mark,
If the casino advantage on a game like blackjack is under 1% for
those of us who use perfect basic strategy, how come I have read the
house "drop" is reported at around 15% at blackjack? Gary O.
The casino "advantage" in all games is correctly called the house
percentage. The house percentage applies to each gaming decision in a
casino, be it each roll of the dice, each spin at the roulette wheel,
each pull of a slot handle, or each hand at blackjack.
The aptly named "drop" percentage is always much higher than the house
percentage and refers to what the player will drop into the casino's
appreciative hands. Most players play too long at their game of choice,
allowing the house edge to gnaw away at their stakes. An obliging
gambler who loses on average nearly one percent per hand will, if he
sticks at it for an extended period of time, wind up dropping (there's
that word) about 15% of all the money wagered.
Casinos dearly love players who Crazy-Glue themselves to the tables, and
will happily offer lifetime supplies of the stuff for free. They know
that you simply cannot play any casino game over an extended time period
and come away a winner; they set the rules that way, you see. Their
percentages <house advantage> will always methodically devour your
bankroll. Why? You are always bucking a minus computation. Even the most
favorable game, blackjack played with perfect basic strategy, is just
the least favorable for the casino, eating you in nibbles rather than
gorilla gulps.
Dear Mark,
Curious as to thoughts on playing blackjack on graveyard shift? I do
okay with less quality players on the game (those that play poorly have
already gone home); though, those free late night cocktails do more
damage to my bankroll than even the hottest dealer does. Daniel F.
Love the question! Gives me a chance at etymology. With England being
both old and small, there has been a persistent problem as to where to
bury their dear departed. In days of yore, one solution was to dig up
coffins, take the bones to a "bone-house," brush out the coffins and
then reuse them. But oh-oh, on reopening the coffins, they found that 1
out of 25 had scratch marks on the inside.
Oops! To avoid burying people alive, they would tie a string to the
wrist of the supposed deceased, lead it up through the ground to a bell,
and then ... Someone sat in the graveyard all night long ("the graveyard
shift") to listen for the bell. Thus, someone could be "saved by the
bell" or be certified as a "dead ringer." Percentages of each never
published. On the casinos' graveyard shift, they just bury drunken
gamblers, lifeline unattached. Those literally saved by the bell avoid
the intoxicant effect of free spirits. Plenty of dead ringers litter the
shift by mixing alcohol and late night gambling. Any chance you're one
of them?
Gambling quote of the week: "Slot machines are the cotton
candy and the McDonald's of the casino. Everyone knows that they're bad
for you, but few can resist their junk-food appeal." Andrew
Brisman.
