Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau for April 01, 2021

Duke is in his element and probably sober. Something Earl has rarely seen.

Earl will take those nuggets of wisdom with him to any casino!!

I’m with Duke: craps is the most interesting in terms of the variety of bets you can place, with roulette a close second. And I’m sure the percentages have been fact-checked.

Now, about those blackjack tables. Who’s up for a little card-counting?

But when Duke isn’t in his “element”, all bets are off!

If you paid someone to sit at a machine and pull a lever over and over and over they would soon quit of boredom. But sit them in front of a slot and the PAY to do the same thing.

He is indeed.

Stick to poker. Skill can overtake the odds.

I just know I’m not smart enough to win at gambling. So, I don’t lose anything gambling.

Back in the 80’s the first time I went to Atlantic city I decided to play craps.. I was a decent Black Jack player but knew there were better odds with craps if you knew the math when it came to odds and I had studied that .. Within 4 hours I made just over 1000 doing nothing but pass line bets with full odds and some place and come bets and called it a day. A few weeks later I was back trying some strategies from books written by so called “experts” and lost 300 in 15 minutes so went back to just conservative betting and by end of day I recovered my money and went home with a bit more.. Since then I stick with conservative pass line bets with full odds and place bets.. I don’t believe in hot streaks or the so called “Iron Cross” betting I still see written about. And I can honestly say over 30 years of craps playing I’m up on the house…

No wonder Duke cheats. Gambling is for people full of optimism and low on math skills. :)

To see the only sure-fire way of beating the house, check out the last 10 minutes of X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes, starring Ray Milland (1963). He would’ve been able to keep pulling it off, too, if he hadn’t gotten cocky.

Took me a while figuring it out working the european roulette wheel, but as soon as I net a 3.5% gain, I cash & walk. Never left with less.

I had a coworker who planned a trip to Vegas and, being an engineer, he researched all the games and concluded that blackjack, played intelligently, gave the smallest edge to the house. So he went on his trip, and we asked for a report when he returned. “Well”, he said, “I did nothing but play Keno and accept free drinks and because that was the slowest way to lose money.”

In a casino at Tahoe years ago my wife and I were playing roulette. Another couple came up (dressed quite nicely) and started playing large bets. They won every bet, just playing rows or black/red. After about five straight wins they walked away with a stack of chips that employees had to carry for them.

Wife and I looked at each other and realized if we followed their lead, we’d be rich.

Then we realized it must have been a mob payoff…

The main problem with gambling is people only think it gambling if they are losing.

I’m not sure what Duke is actually saying there. 0.6% is better than 5%? Is the vig the same as the house take? But whatever.