AMAZING GAMBLING SYSTEMS REVEALED

How To Spot Scam Systems

When I was a kid, my favorite magazine was Gambling Times. It had cool stories about Vegas, interviews with professional gamblers, advertisements for gaming systems like “Auss the Boss,” and the 7-to-1 blackjack program.

I also saw an ad for the world’s best roulette system with a 100% money-back guarantee. Excited, I mailed away ten bucks and waited anxiously for the roulette system to arrive. It did. Inside the mailer was a sealed envelope that said, “Congratulations, you have the most amazing, stunning roulette system ever devised in your hands. Our 100% money-back guarantee is still available; just return this envelope unopened. But because the system is so powerful, you may not request a refund if you open this envelope and reveal its secrets!”

Being young and gullible, I hesitated a moment before ripping that sucker open and learning a valuable lesson. Everything in life is a gamble. Inside, the system boiled down to waiting at a roulette table until three consecutive spins were the same color and then betting against that color on the next spin. If you didn’t win, keep doubling your bet until you did. It’s magic.

I tried it the following weekend by driving to Lake Tahoe, winning $200 the first night and going broke the next. Lesson learned.

The Martingale System Still Lives

One of the oldest (and most debilitating) gambling systems in the world is the Martingale, and like my $10 roulette lesson, you double a losing wager until you win. Or until you knock up against the table limit or lose all your money.

The only guarantee to any gaming system is that the seller is the only one making any money. Eventually, you’ll lose. The roulette lesson is rooted in The Gambler’s Fallacy, which implies that previous events influence future ones in fixed-odds games. Or, more importantly, if something happens, like a red number coming up three times on a roulette wheel, black is more likely to come up next. It isn’t. The odds of either color (or green) coming up next are the same. Previous events don’t apply.

Unfortunately, more websites and text-message scams are popping up with guaranteed gaming systems, especially for now- legal sports bets. When I was younger, there were plenty of star bet, t tell you that every second caller was told to bet on the other side. Half the buyers won. The other half got free picks the following week.

If you want to argue the semantics of the word system, you would be right to say a “system” that promotes making small enough bets in relation to your bankroll that won’t leave you broke after a few losers helps immensely. So does learning programs like blackjack basic strategy and card counting, following winning sports trends, and betting with your head, not your heart.

When the late great Doyle Brunson wrote Super System about poker, he emphasized people and odds, not luck and superstition. His “system” was based on knowing your poker game and applying math to understand good and bad bets and pot odds. The only guarantee in gambling is that knowledgeable decisions are rewarded more often than those made on hope and hunches. $

Writer Al Moe has worked in the casino industry for many years. He has lived and worked in Las Vegas, Reno, and Lake Tahoe. He also attended the University of Nevada, Reno. He is an avid writer and blogger. His book, “Vegas and the Mob," is available online at Amazon.com. He is also the proud father of four beautiful girls.