Hacker News new | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit | heyitsnick's comments login

"1% may not sound like a lot, but it's more than the typical casino edge in a game of blackjack or slots."

The house edge for slots games is anywhere from 2% to 15%+ and is one of the worst bets you can make in the casino.

Blackjack, video poker and some bets on craps are the only times in a casino where the house edge shrinks to below 1%.


  Blackjack, video poker and some bets on craps are the only
  times in a casino where the house edge shrinks to below 1%.
Care to cite your source for this or are you a gaming industry insider?


There's no need for a source. It's common knowledge. Many books, websites, and research papers have extensively studied those games.

Edward Thorp is a mathematician who did a lot of analysis about blackjack over 50 years ago.[1] He's a seminal figure in this field.

Here's one site I recall mostly because it has a memorable name: http://wizardofodds.com/

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beat_the_Dealer#History


> There's no need for a source. It's common knowledge. Many books, websites, and research papers have extensively studied those games.

It's obviously not common knowledge to the person that's asking the question. :~) Thanks for the source though.


That one person doesn't know it doesn't mean it's not common knowledge.

That said, the edge is not always below 1%. It varies based on the rules. Some games don't allow a surrender, for instance, which changes the edge pretty drastically.


> Care to cite your source for this or are you a gaming industry insider?

Strange dichotomy to those of us who have been to a casino. They tell you right at the games — you don't need to be an industry insider.


You are assuming a lot there. Slow your roll.

No casino in the states of NV, CA or LA has ever informed me nor have I seen other patrons be duly made aware of the 2%-15% for the slots nor the 1% for Blackjack, Video poker or Craps.

In Nevada, I don't see any stipulation they're even required to, by the Nevada Gaming Commission. [1]

[1] LICENSING AND CONTROL OF GAMING - GENERAL PROVISIONS

https://leg.state.nv.us/NRS/NRS-463.html


Neither I nor anyone has said that they are required to make you aware, let alone "duly" so.

For instance, it makes good business sense for a casino to advertise their 94.64% slot return since they still have an edge. You don't have to be an industry insider or close to it to learn this information, as you implied.


It says it right on the card on the table that explains the min/max bets (in Aus at least). Also, it's basic stats which can be applied depending the house rules.


"I met a man on the street, he said he had two children. I asked him, is at least one of them a boy? He said yes. What's the probability both of them are boys?"

This removes the whole ambiguity of why he would assert "at least one of them is a boy," but still makes the question a bit tricky/counter-intuitive, which is useful for teaching the quirks of probability.


I guess you're being purposefully obtuse?

Hipster: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=hipster

Ism: highly active and well-understood suffix that means, among other things: "manner of action or behavior characteristic of a (specified) person or thing" http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/-ism


Having following this story since July, it was almost certainly an inside job and the perpetrator had access to the rooms (cleaner or other staff).


That was my first thought when I read the story too.

I bet non casino hotels pay way less attention to security I suspect that the vegas hotels would have caught the perp on camera - and in these more enlightend times they might even have survived :-)


not necessarily. since he had to rekey the card... someone just showed up with any for of ID, or not even that, on the front desk and claimed that another random card they acquired by any other means (i collect those when i stay) wasn't opening the door. easy as that.


I came into a Las Vegas hotel one morning around 7am... literally drunk as a skunk and looking really rough... I told the concierge I didn't have any ID or a key to my room... She asked me what was in the room, I said a backpack. She then proceeded to give me a new key and open my door for me.

I could have been any random drunk who stumbled into that hotel that morning.


Security was sent up every time I have been locked out of a hotel room. They're always happy to open the door for me, but won't leave until I satisfactorily identify myself (with ID that is usually locked in the room).


Wow, that never happened to me. I always get the card re-keyed without any kind of security. And that is from low 3 stars to 4 stars hilton and Cliff in SF to name a few.


Maybe I look sufficiently sketchy for enhanced screening!


Agree, but you're only criticising the submitter, not EFF. There's no mention of "2x matching" on the page; it only says "you receive a 2x powerup," which is accurate. There's no ambiguity and the page clearly says "donate x, with matching EFF will receive 2x" on the form.


Perhaps more accurately put, the "English language has no master."

Many--perhaps most--European languages, do have prescriptivist masters. Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Russian, and dozens more.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_language_regulators


Even then, those "masters" only have limited control of the language.


Poker


It's funny, i so rarely browse reddit, but i somehow happened upon this story this week - i guess it came up in some kind of mega "what are you most ashamed of" thread or somesuch. Ultimately it was as GP described; a redditor researched one of 'gone wild' big 'stars', poured through her history ,ultimately found another reddit account of a selfie shot that had the same background as the 'gone wild' shot so concluded they were the same or friends, researched back that history and ultimately found her real identity.


If anything, the woosh would be for you. I'm sure conductor understood the irony of the statement.


You mean sarcasm , not irony, right?

Irony would be that there is a news tomorrow to the effect " Half a dozen new web sites sprung up after Silk road bust and FBI is struggling this time to catch the perpetrators. They wised up from Silk Road's mistakes described in detail by FBI"


Nope, I meant irony. The word has multiple definitions. In its most popular - "the expression of one's meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect" - sarcasm is given as a synonym.


> You mean sarcasm , not irony, right?

Not this shit again.


"Based on my training and experience" seems like boilerplate for whenever a supposition is introduced.


Does your training and experience inform you thusly?


Join us for AI Startup School this June 16-17 in San Francisco!

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: