1. Why Gamblers Lose

There is only one way of finding out how to win at any type of gambling pastime. That is to learn why gamblers lose. That's easily answered: They lose when they let themselves get hooked on the short end of any proposition, provided they stay with it long enough, which they usually do.

Looking at it from the opposite viewpoint, the gambler who can latch onto the long end of a proposition and stay with it should wind up a winner. In fact many gamblers do though their procedure is usually different from those who continually find themselves on the losing end.

Consider this point: When two players start matching money along with wits against each other there is bound to be a winner as well as a loser. You can argue, of course, that ex­penses may be involved, including license fees, taxes and such where gambling casinos are involved. But that's to be expected in any business.

The talented night club performer who helps brighten the Las Vegas strip has to pay fees to` booking agents, managers and the public relations men who helped build him up to a high-priced attraction. Life itself is a gamble and you have to pay for the privilege of getting the most out of it. So that dis­poses of the philosophical side.

Now for the more practical phase. Somebody must make money from gambling or there wouldn't be so many people in the business and staying in it. Some purists might argue that they aren't gambling if they are in business. But if you ask any man about his business, he will tell you that it's a gamble. There's no business like show business; and there's no gam­bling like that found in the gambling business.

This brings us to what might be classed as the usual ap­proach. Many people get enjoyment out of gambling just as they do when they go to a restaurant or a theater. Certainly, it costs more to eat out than it does at home and theater tickets often run quite high.

But a good meal is worth it—and so is a good show—pro­vided neither costs more than the budget should allow. By the same token, a fling at the gambling table can be charged to pleasure, entertainment, experience, or what-have-you, as long as it is kept strictly within budgetary limits. Usually, such ex­penditure is part of a vacation fund, as gaming devices are permitted only in certain states, as Nevada, or certain coun­tries, such as Cuba and other Caribbean republics, as well as some European areas like the Principality of Monaco, where the famous Monte Carlo casino is located.

Legalized Gambling Establishments

It is to persons who might patronize such legalized estab­lishments that this book is offered. Remember, you will be dealing with people who are in the high bracket of the gam­bling business, a level at which the most scrupulous rules should be observed on the part of the proprietors.

They make a recognized profit in the form of a house per­centage taken from the gambling play, just as a restaurant makes a profit from the meals it serves or a theater from the shows that it books. At such places you will find Roulette wheels, slot machines, Crap and Black Jack tables, all giving you the opportunity of chopping into the profits of the house and maybe even coming out a winner.

That's supposed to be fun for those who like it. If they go at it on a strictly limited budget, the worst that can happen is that they will lose their money faster and therefore have less fun than they anticipated. Certain methods and systems de­scribed in this book will acquaint the reader with ways in which such fun can be prolonged.

At the same time, it is necessary to include:

Words to the Wise

While players have a right to fair treatment at every rec­ognized gambling casino, they should never expect to beat the business, particularly in the long run. Some system players have survived over many years, while others claim to have shown profits over lesser periods. But they have actually done so at the expense, not of the gambling houses, but other players whose systems have fluked. Those losers far outnumber the winners.

Another thing: Don't expect all casinos to offer the same odds. Roulette is the great game in Europe because it gives a better break than the American version. In America, the pre­dominating games are Craps and Black Jack for that very same reason. But rules and percentages vary. You can go shopping for the best price around gambling casinos, just as you would when buying food at a supermarket.

Just as some restaurants are known as "clip joints" and cer­tain theaters may overprice their shows, it is possible to find "gyp joints" among gambling houses, particularly in some of the Caribbean countries. Facts regarding such places are furnished in the following pages.

If the reader comes to the conclusion that it is smarter not to play such games at all and decides to limit his knowledge of them to the pages of this book, he can be sure that he will have gotten his money's worth.

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