Originally Posted by
Bob21
Yeah, I figured my last comment would upset people and possibly strike up a debate, but the reality is casinos are a business and the ONLY reason our states let them into their communities is to raise revenue for their state and local governments. Casinos are like state run lotteries...they are basically a voluntary tax on its citizens. It’s okay to try to turn the table on a casino and win money from them, but this isn’t anything noble and it isn’t benefiting anybody but ourselves. This is just the reality of it. There should be nothing wrong with facing reality.
Bob, I can't understand why you continue to harp on advantage blackjack players being bad for casinos. Before the book "Beat the Dealer" came out, blackjack was not the number one casino game. I believe it was craps, anyway after the book came out the popularity of blackjack exploded and the casinos made more money than ever before. If everyone believed the game could not be beaten, a lot less folks would be playing it. So we draw in more customers to the casino than ever before and they are making more money than ever before.
Now here is a little story for you. Our local casinos are pretty dead this time of year. I'm often the first one to open a table, and almost all the time my presence will draw in other players. They could go to the next table that is empty, but no, they sit at my table because they don't like to play alone and promptly lose their money. If the table was empty there is a good chance they would not even play. Also I always have a lot of chips in front of me. At least $300 in chips so it looks like I'm winning even if I'm not (This is probably a bad thing as it draws in other players which I don't want to do, but I need working capital). I've had players comment at the table "don't you ever lose". If I can do it they want to try also.
Now Bob, you mentioned lotteries. We have a lottery in our state where half the money goes to the k-12 education and administration of the lottery. The other half is paid out in lottery winnings. However, money is spent advertising the lottery. It is a parasite taking money away from the other areas. Why do they do it? They do it because it attracts more players and they end up with an even larger pile of money. It is kind of like a few advantage players winning to attract even more revenue for the casinos.
Now there are a lot of things we have that don't add any value to society. Take bowling for example. It doesn't put another loaf of bread on the table. It is just another game some folks enjoy. Same could be said for golf. What a waste of all that valuable land. Just another game some folks spend a lot of money on. Same thing can be said for casinos, We have them because folks enjoy them. That is there primary purpose. Revenue for government is just a side item.