How a medical professor made a fortune at the roulette wheel

Could be. I really do not know how that works.

To what degree does that matter? IIRC, the Las Vegas casinos are allowed to set the odds of slot machines as they please, and can even change the odds remotely from the managers office. What is the audit actually for? It doesn’t seem like consumer protection if slot odds are variable rather than fixed odds like a well balanced roulette wheel.

I presume to ensure that they do not have a covert mechanism for changing the odds outside the legally allowed ranges. In other words: Compliance.

But, as I’ve said, I was only peripherally involved in this. I don’t have all the answers. I would recommend starting at Wikipedia if you really want to know and branch out from there:

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Unless you’re Trump.

Wait, you granted an exception for “only a complete moron.” So, yeah, you are completely correct.

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I grew up with a gambling addicted father. As an adult people say join us for a fun game of poker and I get physically ill. I have been in a few casino’s over the years (never to gamble) and it feels like the universe is kicking my soul in the balls. I’m happy for those that enjoy gambling in non-addictive patterns but not-for-me.

As a person that writes code for a living I can tell you it’s just as easy to write fair code as unfair code. Gambling based on physical systems can be be altered to be unfair but it more difficult and possible to spot by a participant. But no one can see the code on a digital gambling system.

The equivalent in a physical system of the digital system would require, you roll your dice in a black box. The dealer takes the box into another room while you sit at the table. A moment later the dealer comes back and tells you what you rolled and if you won or lost. Most people would not trust a casino in that scenario but that is actually what they do with a digital system.

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It’s casino protection. They only want the odds to be altered on the fly in the house’s favor

I think what is being left out though is that the person putting 25 cents into the machine and pressing the button really doesn’t care. They are having fun. It is entertainment. They put $20 in the machine, cashed out at $15. What’s the harm? Was that truly an indicator or cause to label them as stupid?

I’d say no. Doing so is a judgmental dick move. IMO

Honestly, my general opinion is that I don’t care what others do as long as they don’t harm others. So sure. Have a fun.

My point wasn’t to call anyone names.It was to call out there is a difference in risk between physical and digital gambling systems. What someone wants to do with that information is up to them.

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Sometimes they implement the algorithm incorrectly, or there is some other glitch in the system. About 25 years ago a guy named Daniel Corriveau figured out that the random number generator in the Keno game at Casino de Montreal wasn’t configured correctly, and was repeating numbers. He watched and figured out the pattern, and ultimately won hundreds of thousands of dollars. Not that the casino was willing to easily part with its money; they called the police, required Corriveau to submit to a polygraph, but ultimately paid him his winnings.

https://www.americancasinoguide.com/gambling-stories/costly-casino-mistakes-the-keno-mix-up.html

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Is it though? The few times I’ve been in casinos (usually passing through as they make you do when you have conferences in Vegas), it doesn’t look like people are enjoying themselves. They are just there feeding the machine. The only games that remotely look like fun (as opposed to quiet desperation) are the craps tables - but I have zero idea what they are doing.

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A brief summary of why generating random numbers in software is not so easy.

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**Not applicable if you’re Donald Trump

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So you are the standard bearer on what “fun” looks like for all people? Good to know.

i c w y d t :slight_smile:

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Did I say that? I simply passed on my personal observation and asked a question

What is your problem?

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My son just went to a casino in Windsor for the first time. Afterwards he said “nobody in the place actually seemed to be enjoying themselves”.

I used to enjoy playing Hold 'Em in local tournaments. I was in Vegas once and decided to play in a casino. Playing “limit” (one type of betting) at a continuous table was awful - me and 7 absolutely grim people. I played for about a half hour and felt dirty afterwards.

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Same as in Vancouver, there are real spinning Roulette tables with dealers spinning the ball, as well as digital.

I did see a hybrid, though. A croupier up on a small stage running a standard roulette wheel. A live video camera showed the wheel from above. Bets were placed via kiosks. And you had to take it on faith that the video on the monitors actually was from the wheel there - you couldn’t see above the rim of the wheel because it was set up high.

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I can confirm in at least the ones I saw the video feed was live. My wife plays at the table, and I noticed her sleeve on the video screen in real time. I hadn’t realized those video screen games were tied to the live table.

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You forgot category 3. People who have no idea that most gambling is digitally controlled these days. The games that aren’t (such as Blackjack) tend to use such enormous ‘shoes’ as to be ridiculous and horribly skew the odds without people recognizing or realizing it.

Las Vegas takes in BILLIONS a year from gambling and, in casinos? They give you comped drinks so that you don’t really think about that.