Roulette: The game of remarkable comebacks
In casino gambling, sometimes even the most knowledgable players
turn to blind luck to make it through their day. Of course, luck
can never be relied on; either things will go the right way for
you or they won't. The great thing about casino gambling is that
luck has to be with you for only a moment to make a difference
in what could've easily been a bad day.
Roulette is, in my opinion, the best game to play where you can
turn blind luck into a great casino story to tell your friends.
Recently, my family dragged me down to the casinos of Atlantic
City. I'm not going to lie to you - I wasn't feeling very lucky
and would've much preferred to stay home. Since I was 'forced'
to go, my goal was to go into hiding, play slow and steady, kill
time and grind it out until my folks were ready to come back
home. I thought I had everything covered.
Well, I spent a little time at the $10 craps tables, but mostly
I played $20 pai gow and then some $15 blackjack. I couldn't for
the life of me get anything going and instead of treading water,
I was bleeding money the whole afternoon. After about 4 hours I
was down $435, which could've been worse but it was obviously
far from the result I wanted.
I was close to broke and ready to go home as I met back up with
my family. Suddenly I had a crazy idea. "I have to do one more
thing before we go. I've gotta go to the roulette table." My
family gave me an indifferent shrug and followed, as they're
mostly slot players and all table games are Greek to them.
The plan was to throw down a few more bucks and try to get back
all the money I lost in one shot. I went over the math in my
head as I walked over to the roulette table. I was down $435, so
I knew a $40 bet at 11-1 could get me back to even. Hopefully.
I found a roulette table and gave $40 to the dealer, to which
she handed me 8 red nickels. I reached and put all the chips on
'28 Street'. (It's a three number bet - either 28, 29 or 30
would win for me.) The dealer spun, I stood near the roulette
wheel, and prayed!
The ball slowed down and bounced around the wheel for several
tense seconds as I rooted for one of my three numbers. It popped
into number 2 and stayed there for a moment - and then dropped
into the number two slots over.
Number 28, black, even.
I went absolutely crazy! I screamed and pumped my fists,
hollering and running up and down the aisle as the dealer paid
me $440 on my $40 bet - eleven to one - and the floor supervisor
tried in vain to get me to calm down. My family was in as much
disbelief as I was that I had such a dramatic comeback.
Just like that, I got my money back! I tipped the dealer $5
leaving me with exactly as much money as I came with. I'll take
a draw over a loss any day! On that note, we left and headed
home. Dinner that night was on me.
It'd be irresponsible of me to recommend you try something like
this on a regular basis. American roulette has a house edge of
5.26%, so over the long run this move will lose you more money
than you'll win - theoretically 5.26% of what you bet.
Roulette's not the best game to play if you plan on sticking
around the table for hours and hours because of this house
advantage. For a single spin, however, it's pretty much a given
that you're relying on luck, so house edge really doesn't matter
as much.
If you do choose to try this out the next time your back's
against the wall, here are some recommendations:
It's better to bet in a way so that you get just enough to be
even for the day as opposed to trying to hit a home run, so to
speak. If you're down $350, try betting $10 on a number straight
up for a possible 35-1, or $45 on a corner (4-number) bet which
would pay 8-1. Sure, you could win more if you bet, say, $25
straight up on one number and it hits, but the odds of it
happening are a bit on the long side, and you'd be down that
much more money if the play didn't hit.
Consider this type of play a last resort. If it doesn't work the
first time, don't try it again! If you do, you could easily be
caught in the trap of chasing your money, where your bets would
get bigger and bigger with the hopes of hitting just once.
Rarely does a bank-chasing situation have a happy ending.
A blind-luck roulette play could very well get you through your
next day at the casino, but here hoping it doesn't come down to
all that.
Until next time, take care and good luck in the casino!