Gambling

How would you like to win at blackjack? Keep reading if you are interested in gaining some valuable advice from a retired dealer, if not turn to the home gardening page. Blackjack is one of the most popular games played at the casino because it is a game where the player can have an edge over the house. Basically, the object of the game is to beat the dealer. Having a hand with a value higher than the dealer or having a legal hand while the dealer busts does this. The player must know some basic strategies and procedures in order to have an edge over the house.

The process starts before entering the casino; however, the principal procedures are carried out while at the table. Some strategies and procedures include money management, picking the right table and counting cards. Money management is as important as playing strategies. This process starts at home and finishes when the night is over. Firstly, a player should determine how much money to bring to the casino. A good rule is to multiply the average bet by 25; this allows for at least 25 hands.

This is important because blackjack is a game that fluctuates with highs and lows, but in the long run, with good strategies, the edge is in the favor of the player. Also a loss limit can be set beforehand. The loss limit is the amount of money that a player will lose before quitting the game. Usually the loss limit is set to the initial amount, but should never be set at more than that. When at the table, money management is also important. There are two simple rules: leave if the money doubles and leave if the money is lost. Try to double the initial amount and if this is done, leave.

It has been a good night. However if the initial amount is lost or the loss limit is reached, leave. Never get more money to play with because this generally leads to more losing and more emotional distress. Management over emotions and money will lead to success at the table. Picking the right table may determine whether winning or losing occurs. When arriving at the casino, do not play right away. Study the tables, the players and the dealers. Study all the anchors; that are the players who receive the last hand. More skilled players usual play this position.

Having a good anchorman is invaluable because his/her moves determine the dealer”s hand. A good anchorman will save the table regardless of his/her own hand. Also study the other players at the table. Ignorant players can affect the shoe by making a bad move or decision. Lastly the dealer should be examined. Observe the speed at which the dealer deals the cards. Slower dealers will allow card counting, which will be explained in the next section, to be done more easily. Picking the right table can help increase the odds of winning at blackjack.

More advanced players count cards to win at blackjack. Card counting is basically keeping track of the cards that have been dealt. This procedure is executed while playing at the table that has been chosen. This is the strategy used by Dustin Hoffman”s character while playing blackjack in the movie The Rain Man. His character uses card counting to his advantage to help a friend win a considerable amount of money. Advanced card counting is difficult to explain and difficult to employ; however, less advanced card counting is more straightforward and still useful.

At the start of the shoe, count the number of face cards and aces, which have been dealt. There are 64 face cards and 16 aces in a shoe with four decks. By counting the card, the player has a better idea of what the next card will be. If a large proportion of face cards and aces are dealt at the beginning, the rest of the shoe is unfavorable. As a result lower the bet. If there are more face cards and aces towards the end of the shoe, then the upcoming hands are more favorable and this in turn increases the bet.

Card counting is simple to learn with practice yet it is extremely powerful. Money management, picking the right table and counting cards are strategies that can help the player win at blackjack. Independent, each procedure can help improve the chance of winning but collectively, these strategies can give the player the winning edge. Following these easy to learn tips I present, you are on the road to winning at the game of blackjack, but remember this advice I give to you sincerely, do not forget to tip the dealers!

Over the past few years, government operated gambling has grown into a massive business, there has been much controversy around the topic of weather or not Gambling should be regulated. In this essay I will explain my point of view on this topic and give examples that support my ideas. So, what should the state’s policy towards gambling? I believe that the state should not regulate gambling because of three main reasons. My first reason is people’s rights and freedoms.

Second, Gambling has grown into a major industry over the pas few years; the centre for addiction and mental health stated in their Gambling Policy framework in 2011 “Government-operated gambling has steadily expanded in Ontario in the past two decades, revenues reaching $4. 7 billion in 2009. ” (2). This shows that Gambling has grown to become a major industry in today’s economy and by doing so it has helped society in several different aspects, the growth of the gambling industry has lead to an increase in revenue for the government, thus resulting in more social benefits towards the public.

Finally, The gambling industry has lead to many job opportunities in north America, offering a beacon of hope to those in need of jobs during a recession. In modern society, freedom is not only supported but also cherished, people should be given the freedom to live their lives as they please, weather they choose to live their lives in a healthy way or not that is up to them. However, they must be given the right to live as they please. In the United States, groups such as the KKK are protected under the first amendment, which protects their freedom of speech, no matter how ludicrous it may be, they have the right to say as they please.

The same should be applied to life. People should have the choice to live their lives as they please without being watched over by the government. Since gambling does require participants to be of legal age, we know that the people gambling are adults. These grown ups should be able to have control over their own lives, its their responsibility to understand the chances they are taking when gambling. Some may argue that certain people can’t control their gambling problems and have gotten too addicted to gambling and that casinos take advantage of these people.

These claims are supported by some statistics given in the centre for addiction and mental health, which states, “it is estimated that between 30% and 40% of Ontario’s gambling revenues come from the 3% of the population with gambling problems” (2). This statistic shows that the gambling industry does heavily depend of the people addicted to the game. I would respond by expressing two points. First, the people with gambling problems of which they cannot control are a minority, in Jonathan Wolff’s “Ethics and public policy A Philosophical inquiry”, the author states that “between 0. and 0. 8 of the UK adult population could be classified as problem gambles” (59). Furthermore, in the centre for addiction and mental health’s Gambling Policy framework in 2011 that “just over 3% of the province’s population experiences moderate to severe gambling problems. ”(57). These numbers do not justify having to discipline an entire industry that would affect hundreds of thousands of people that work in it and making their living off jobs in that industry.

Second, increasing government regulations on casinos and lotteries will not stop these problem gamblers from gambling. Jonathan Wolff states “in the late 1950s there were towns about 25 percent of the adult population gambled illegally on a regular basis. ”(55). Taking this point into perspective, it could be inferred that if the government increases the regulations on legal casinos and lotteries that would make it harder for people with an addiction to gamble, these people will find other ways to feed their addiction.

This is a severe problem because when these people begin to gamble illegally they will put their money into other illegal activities, which could include drugs, weapons or violence. In fact, many large gangs could use this opportunity to fund their illegal activities, which would lead to more trouble in society; another point to be made towards this issue would be that of money, not only would these gamblers be putting their lives at risk when gambling illegally and dealing with gangs, but they could also be keeping this money out of the government’s hand which could go government programs to help the less fortunate.

This brings me to my next point and that is that gambling has become a major source of revenue for the government. Government regulated gambling has grown into a massive industry which generates a significant amount of revenue each year of which most ends up in the government as funding for many different organizations. in the paper named “Gambling: Its Pleasure and costs” by Lorne Tepperman it states that “The industry group’s report … says 57 per cent of gambling revenue – $8. 7 billion- supported government services and charities. (9). Tepperman also states that gambling is the “most financially significant” (9) segment in entertainment and that it contributes “$15. 3 billion a year to the economy, according to the Canadian Gaming Association. ” (9). Ronald Pavalko also states in his paper titled “gambling and public policy” “State revenues from casino taxes totaled nearly $3. 5 billion. ” (336). The reality is that today, we are in a recession we can’t afford to decrease that revenue by implementing harsh restrictions on gambling.

It is argued that even though gambling is a major source of revenue for the government, it is also a source of misery for people with gambling addictions. The centre for Addiction and Mental health states that “For these individuals, a range of harms may occur, resulting in heavy social, economic, and health costs such as crime, dysfunctional relationships, and bankruptcy. ” (2). However, the solution to this problem is not adding restrictions to gambling but is actually using the money made from gambling towards a better cause.

As I have previously stated, people addicted to gambling will not be cured from their addiction by regulating legal gambling because they will find other means to feed their addiction. I believe that the best solution to these people’s gambling problem would be using the revenue that they generate for the government in taxes could be used to create social programs for people with serious addictions to gambling that would help them quit.

I believe this solution would be ideal because the minority of people with gambling addictions will be treated in a proper healthy way in order to get over their addiction, the left over revenue could still be used in other social programs and finally, the money and profit that the casinos and lotteries generate will still flow which would result in more jobs, another source of income to the economy and would prevent people from getting fired from their jobs if harsh restrictions were to be applied to gambling agencies.

My final argument for this essay is that of employment. As previously stated, gambling generates a huge amount of revenue for the government, Gambling is a growing industry and with its growth it creates several opportunities for jobs for people in need. Gambling generates many jobs that help the economy grow in this time of need. Gambling generates jobs of all sorts, from the engineers and architects that build and design the casinos, to the people who sell lottery tickets, to those who actually work in casinos.

All of these people generate their income because of the gambling industry. Tepperman states that in Canada gambling accounts for “267,000 full time jobs. ” (6). Pavalko also states in his paper that in only eleven states a total of 370,207 people are employed in casinos, In a country with a current unemployment rate of 8%, the Gambling industry should be seen as a source for solutions to a much more serious problem than an addiction to gambling. Expanding the gambling industry will in return create more job opportunities and help decrease the unemployment rate dramatically.

However, if the government begins to set harsher policies towards gambling and casinos are required to cut costs, the unemployment rate might increase which would create even more social issue, which could result in protests and riots from the workers who have lost their jobs due to the harsh policy towards gambling. Some might argue that Gambling still creates harm towards many people and even though it can create jobs it can also result in many people losing their jobs. I would respond by quoting Lorne Tepperman “A majority of adults gamble responsible; only a small minority of the population experiences gambling related harm. (1). I believe that gambling will create more jobs that it will end and that that is just a minor side effect that could be easily cured by the revenue that gambling will generate for the government, this money could be put back into society and produce new projects that create new job opportunities and these jobs could be offered to those who had lost their previous jobs. In conclusion I would say that I do not believe that the government should regulate gambling because of the reasons that I have stated earlier in this essay.

First, Gambling is a choice and freedom. It a civil right and the government should not be able to decide weather or not you are allowed to gamble or how much you are allowed to gamble. Second, Gambling has grown into a major industry and has become a major source of revenue to the government. Gambling has helped fund many government programs used to help the less fortunate, even though gambling does create certain people who are addicted to it, they are nowhere near as many as the people whom gambling helps.

In this situation the pros drastically outweigh the cons and as previously stated, the revenue generated from gambling could go towards social programs made to help people with gambling addictions, that way these people will eventually cure themselves of their addiction and the hundreds of thousands of people whom depend on gambling a source of income would not be affected, which is what I believe is a win-win situation. This brings me to my final argument, employment.

The gambling industry has created hundreds of thousands of job opportunities to many of those who need it, especially in a recession where millions struggle to find an income support for them and their families. I would say that the government should encourage gambling businesses to grow. However, as Christiane Pouline states in his paper titled “Gambling” that “Decisions on policy pertaining to gambling need to be based on a full accounting of the health, economic and social benefits and costs of gambling. (1208). Which is why the policy towards gambling should be set to help both the gambler and the Casinos. That policy should state that a majority of the profit that is generated from Casinos should go towards social programs that will benefit society; these social programs should include programs made to help gambling addicts with their problems. James Doughney perfectly sums up this policy in his book titled “The poker machine state”.

Doughney says, “Try to do good; but even when you cannot at least do not knowingly cause harm. ” (1). Over the past several years, gambling has grown into the largest sector of the entertainment industry, creating the most amount of revenue to the government. Our society should be scared of this phenomenon and try to regulate it, we should actually take advantage of it and use it to help make the most the most of this opportunity by using the money made from gambling to improve our lives and the lives of those around us.

Work Cited

http://www.collegegrad.com/careers/servi24.shtml

http://www.usaplayers.com/gambling/questions/why-online-gambling-should-be-legal-in-usa.html

Assignments

1. A sum of `8550 is to be paid in 15 installments where each installment is `10 more than the previous installment. Find the first installment and the last installment. Let x = the first payment.

The sequence of 15 payments is

(1) x, x+10, x+20, x+30, … , x+140

The sum of these 15 payments is

(2) 15x + 10*(14*15/2) or

(3) 15x + 1050

Now set (3) equal to the total sum to be made and get

(4) 15x + 1050 = 8550 or

(5) 15x = 7500 or

(6) x = 500

The last payment in (1) is x + 140 or (7) 15th = 640

Answer: The first payment is $500 and the last payment is $640. I’ll leave it to you to add up the sequence of (1) to “prove” that our answer is right. LOL

2. A salesman is known to sell a product in 3 out of 5 attempts. While another salesman in 2 out of 5 attempts. Find the probability that

a. No sales will happen

b. Either of them will succeed in selling the product

Let A be the event that the first salesman will sell the product and B be the event that the second salesman will sell the product. Given

(1) Probability that no sales will happen = P(A’) × P(B’)

(2) Probability that either of the salesmen will succeed in selling the product = P(A’) × P(B) + P(A) × P(B’)

3. A hundred squash balls are tested by dropping from a height of 100 inches and measuring the height of the bounce. A ball is “fast” if it rises above 32 inches. The average height of bounce was 30 inches and the standard deviation was ¾ inches. What is the chance of getting a “fast” standard ball? Total no. of observations N = 100 Mean,μ 30inches Standard deviation, σ =3/4 inches=0. 75 inches Suppose ‘x’ is the normal variable=32 inches

4. Explain the chi-square testing- (i) as a test for independence of attributes, and (ii) as a test for goodness of fit.

About the Chi-Square Test

Generally speaking, the chi-square test is a statistical test used to examine differences with categorical variables. There are a number of features of the social world we characterize through categorical variables – religion, political preference, etc. To examine hypotheses using such variables, use the chi-square test. The chi-square test is used in two similar but distinct circumstances: a. or estimating how closely an observed distribution matches an expected distribution – we’ll refer to this as the goodness-of-fit test b. for estimating whether two random variables are independent.

The Goodness-of-Fit Test

One of the more interesting goodness-of-fit applications of the chi-square test is to examine issues of fairness and cheating in games of chance, such as cards, dice, and roulette. Since such games usually involve wagering, there is a significant incentive for people to try to rig the games, and allegations of missing cards, “loaded” dice, and “sticky” roulette wheels are all too common.

So how can the goodness-of-fit test be used to examine cheating in gambling? It is easier to describe the process through an example. Take the example of dice. Most dice used in wagering have six sides, with each side having a value of one, two, three, four, five, or six. If the die being used is fair, then the chance of any particular number coming up is the same: 1 in 6. However, if the die is loaded, then certain numbers will have a greater likelihood of appearing, while others will have a lower likelihood. One night at the Tunisian Nights Casino, renowned gambler Jeremy Turner (a. k. a. The Missouri Master) is having a fantastic night at the craps table. In two hours of playing, he’s racked up $30,000 in winnings and is showing no sign of stopping. Crowds are gathering around him to watch his streak – and The Missouri Master is telling anyone within earshot that his good luck is due to the fact that he’s using the casino’s lucky pair of “bruiser dice,” so named because one is black and the other blue. Unbeknownst to Turner, however, a casino statistician has been quietly watching his rolls and marking down the values of each roll, noting the values of the black and blue dice separately.

After 60 rolls, the statistician has become convinced that the blue die is loaded.

At first glance, this table would appear to be strong evidence that the blue die was, indeed, loaded. There are more 1’s and 6’s than expected and fewer than the other numbers. However, it’s possible that such differences occurred by chance. The chi-square statistic can be used to estimate the likelihood that the values observed on the blue die occurred by chance. The key idea of the chi-square test is a comparison of observed and expected values.

How many of something was expected and how many were observed in some process? In this case, we would expect 10 of each number to have appeared and we observed those values in the left column. With these sets of figures, we calculate the chi-square statistic as follows: Using this formula with the values in the table above gives us a value of 13. 6. Lastly, to determine the significance level we need to know the “degrees of freedom. ” In the case of the chi-square goodness-of-fit test, the number of degrees of freedom is equal to the number of terms used in calculating chi-square minus one.

There were six terms in the chi-square for this problem – therefore, the number of degrees of freedom is five. We then compare the value calculated in the formula above to a standard set of tables. The value returned from the table is 1. 8%. We interpret this as meaning that if the die was fair (or not loaded), then the chance of getting a χ2 statistic as large or larger than the one calculated above is only 1. 8%. In other words, there’s only a very slim chance that these rolls came from a fair die. The Missouri Master is in serious trouble. Testing Independence

The other primary use of the chi-square test is to examine whether two variables are independent or not. What does it mean to be independent, in this sense? It means that the two factors are not related. Typically in social science research, we’re interested in finding factors that are related – education and income, occupation and prestige, age, and voting behavior. In this case, the chi-square can be used to assess whether two variables are independent or not. More generally, we say that variable Y is “not correlated with” or “independent of” the variable X if more of one is not associated with more of another.

If two categorical variables are correlated their values tend to move together, either in the same direction or in the opposite. Example Return to the example discussed in the introduction to chi-square, in which we want to know whether boys or girls get into trouble more often in school. Below is the table documenting the percentage of boys and girls who got into trouble in school:

To examine statistically whether boys got in trouble in school more often, we need to frame the question in terms of hypotheses.

“Workin’ 9 to 5, what a way to make a living; barely gettin’ by, it’s all talkin’ and no givin’ (Parton, p.1)”… Dolly Parton had the right idea when she wrote this song. We have to work to be able to pay for necessities such as housing, clothing, and food. In addition to necessity, having enough money left over at the end of the month to go watch a show or eat at a nice restaurant is an added bonus. Most of us put our nose to the grind stone only to live by the old “pay check to pay check” creed. Payday arrives and it’s smiles all around. Money makes us happy, but more money makes us ecstatic.

There are the lucky few who win the Publisher’s Clearinghouse sweepstakes or the lottery, but the rest of us have to stretch our dollars as far as they will go.  If you aren’t rich, stretching the dollar is a way of life. However, not everyone wants to live that way. For them, there are several alternatives. They can hit up their wealthy relatives, further their education, chose to work a not-so-glamorous job, or they can turn to crime.

Unfortunately, not everyone has wealthy relatives, not everyone has their mind set to get their Masters degree, and not everyone has the body to swing on a pole for hundreds of dollars a night. What’s left? That’s right…crime. Somewhere out there people have figured out that you don’t have to work that hard to maximize your bucks. True-be-it that not all of us will turn to crime to make more money, from big corporations to mom and pop shops, maximizing utility is what it’s all about.

In the movie “Friday”, the character “Big Worm” sells the drugs he produces to make money (Gray, 1995). His operation is based on delegating sales to others, such as “Smokey”, a drug addict himself. In addition to owning a classic vehicle, which is decked out in style, Big Worm also owns a snack vending truck, which he uses to check out the progress of his sales people…incognito.

Big Worm’s character is dressed in name brand clothing, wears gold necklaces, rings and diamond earrings, and appears to have his hair professionally styled. His character seems to be so powerful that when Smokey fails to give him his due profits from sales, Big Worm has access to “guys” that are willing to put a scare in Smokey by driving through the neighborhood shooting guns. Sure…this is just a movie, but what Big Worm’s character does is no different than what big corporations do…he is utilizing his resources to maximize his utility. The only difference is that Big Worm is an undiscovered criminal, and big corporations are operating legally.

Without the assistance of a writing staff, some real-life criminals don’t have the same results with their efforts. Hollywood gave Big Worm nice clothes, a nice car and nice hair, so it appeared that as a criminal, he had his business in a position good enough to create a profit. Unfortunately for real-life criminals, however, the way they handle their profit-maximizing decisions can prove that not all criminals are utility maximizers.

Striving to achieve happiness can lead to extreme measures. Being financially set, though sometimes an unattainable objective, can relieve numerous stresses in one’s life, which can lead to happiness. For some, this goal is so important that they are willing to do not-so-legal things to get there. Occupational crimes, or crimes committed by altering records, overcharging customers or cheating a client (Wikipedia, p.1) is an example of an attempt to maximize utility. But the key word here is attempt. An attempt can be unsuccessful, which translates to the aforementioned criminal type not being a utility maximizer after all.

Take a bank teller, for example. While the money people deposit daily into their bank accounts in no way belongs to the bank teller, the teller has access to an available source. Over time, the teller discovers that by accompanying his or her deposit slip with the daily customer deposits, they are able to obtain hundreds, or maybe thousands of extra dollars in their own bank account.

After much research, the bank discovers that the teller is responsible for the discrepancies in so many people’s bank accounts. Upon the teller’s arrest, it is demanded that all monies embezzled be returned. To the bank’s horror, the teller is unable to make restitution because the money was poorly spent on material items such as clothing and electronics. In this instance, the crime was committed without the intention of creating financial security.  This particular criminal was not interested in being a utility maximizer.

Back to the flip side of criminal utility maximization, insurance fraud is a good example to work with. In July of 2004, the owner of a grocery store in Everett, Washington lost everything to a fire that was being investigated as a case of arson, more specifically, a hate crime (SPI Staff Writer, p.1). It was later discovered that the owner of the store was the culprit, spray painting hate messages throughout the building’s exterior, then dousing it with gasoline before setting it on fire. This was far from a hate crime, the investigative team determined. The reason for setting his store ablaze was to obtain the insurance he had on the store in order to alleviate some financial stresses he was experiencing. The investigation team determined that this was a case of arson for profit.

On the legal side of multiplying your dollars, businesses, such as Enterprise Rent-A-Car, operate quite similarly to the style of our undiscovered criminal mentioned earlier within the text. Dubbed by “Business Week Magazine” as one of the best places to work (ERAC, p.1),

Enterprise Rent-A-Car is a prime example of how utilizing your resources will maximize your profits. The structure consists of the sales team, the managers, the regional managers and the executives. In combination with pushing upgrades with their rentals, the sales team also pushes damage waiver insurance. Good performance will earn bonus checks.

The managers then direct the sales team in order to receive higher commissions. The regional managers push the managers for increased pay scales, and the chain continues. The key to this process is using what you have to make more of what you want. Incentives help this system. As noted, the ERAC team is compensated for increasing the company’s profits. When you compare both criminal and legal operations side by side, the basics are the same.

Though we have only compared corporations and criminals, we are all utility maximizers in one way or another. We have gambling, which comes in forms of scratch-offs, lotteries, bingo games, bets and casinos. Seeking to multiply their wealth, one might use their entire pay check to maximize his dollar. On the safer side of multiplying what you’ve got, we have people who invest.

Conservative maximizers will place their money in low-interest savings accounts, while the more daring types will play the stock market. Making the most of what you have is, for most of us, human nature. On our own accord, we may choose to leave things as they are, or we may chose to make an attempt at becoming self-made millionaires. Maximizing legally or illegally, how we get there matters. After all, you can’t enjoy your maximized utilities from a jail cell.

Works Cited

1. Dolly Parton. “9 to 5”. Greatest Hits. RCA Country, 1980. www.dollyon-line.com/archives/lyrics/9to5.shtml.
2. Friday. Dir. F. Gary Gray. Ice Cube, Chris Tucker. 1995. DVD. New Line Cinema. 1997.
3. Enterprise Rent-A-Car. 2000/Rev. 2006. ERAC.com. January 2007. www.erac.com.
4. Wikipedia. 2001/Rev. 2004. Wikipedia.org. January 2007. www.wikipedia.org.