Question Re Vegas/Casinos

[albionmoonlight]

So the other night I was watching Las Vegas on NBC at my sister's house. One of the side plots involved Jon Lovitz playing a guy who started with $200 and, due to a lucky winning streak, ended up with several million dollars before they kicked him out of the Casino for winning too much.

Just to make sure--a real casino would never do that, right? They would do everything in their power to keep the guy there until the law of averages catches up to him, right? Do casinos ever kick people out for winning too much?

(this question works on the assumption that there is no expectation of cheating by the player. None was raised in the episode.)

[Coffee Warlord]

Rule #1 of Casinos: Keep them playing. In the end, the house wins.

[rkmsuf]

So the other night I was watching Las Vegas on NBC at my sister's house. One of the side plots involved Jon Lovitz playing a guy who started with $200 and, due to a lucky winning streak, ended up with several million dollars before they kicked him out of the Casino for winning too much.

Just to make sure--a real casino would never do that, right? They would do everything in their power to keep the guy there until the law of averages catches up to him, right? Do casinos ever kick people out for winning too much?

(this question works on the assumption that there is no expectation of cheating by the player. None was raised in the episode.)

The only way they would do that is if cheating was a consideration or they thought he was a card counter...

[Franklinnoble]

Wrong.

It happened to a bunch of MIT students who figured out how to beat the odds at Vegas casinos. They would fly out on weekends and win big money, but over time they eventually got banned from every casino in Vegas.

Basically, they can throw you out any time they want. In my opinion, it should be illegal for casinos to evict anyone who's not cheating or otherwise breaking the law. Instead, they basically have a system that lets them only allow the losers to hang around. It's a racket, and that's just one reason why I don't gamble.

[rkmsuf]

Wrong.

It happened to a bunch of MIT students who figured out how to beat the odds at Vegas casinos. They would fly out on weekends and win big money, but over time they eventually got banned from every casino in Vegas.

Basically, they can throw you out any time they want. In my opinion, it should be illegal for casinos to evict anyone who's not cheating or otherwise breaking the law. Instead, they basically have a system that lets them only allow the losers to hang around. It's a racket, and that's just one reason why I don't gamble.

The reason they got banned is because the casinos knew something was up. Maybe not cheating but card counting and the like. I've read that and even though the MIT students didn't break any laws the casinos are well in their right to refuse anyone.

If you gamble that's one thing you need to be aware of at the outset. The house has the edge...period. You can win but Vegas didn't become what it is by shelling out more than it takes in. I don't see anything wrong with this since I have this knowledge going in. Those MIT students knew what they were getting into...

[TLK]

A & E had a good show about the whole MIT/casino thing..... it reruns frequently

[Chubby]

Yeah I thought they were card counters and that's why they got booted.

If you as a gambler take little $ and win a shitload and you are still in a casino, then you are very VERY stupid...

[QuikSand]

They would do everything in their power to keep the guy there until the law of averages catches up to him, right? Do casinos ever kick people out for winning too much?

::winces::

Okay, we ought to start by agreeing that there is no "law of averages" as usually (mis)understood. The fact that a guy is on a lucky streak playing a game of pure chance has no bearing on what the outcomes of the next round(s) of the same game will be. Assuming, as you have, there is no cheating, these are independent events. (Back to the fair coin that has just come up heads 100 times in a row -- what's the chance that it's heads next time? 1/2.)


Second, there is a practical issue here - and that is table limits. Most casinos have not only minimum wagers at their games, but also maximum wagers. In the situation described on the show, I'm guessing that the player was doubling up time after time to get to his giant stack of money. In reality, the casino might have a maximum wager of something like $10,000 per hand at a high-rollers blackjack table. If he wants to bet $1,000,000 - he'll have to do it in 100 smaller instalments, which dramatically increases the likelihood that the house-rigged odds will catch up with him, and even more dramatically reduce the chances that he'll really clean the house out. They'll let any non-cheater/non-counter make as many $10,000 bets as he wants, for the obvious reasons.

Most casinos will arrange special privileges for big bettors or VIPs, but some schmuck can't generally come in off the street, bet his way to a million dollars, and just keep betting the whole thing.

[WSUCougar]

I'm an excellent driver.

About $100.

We're counting cards.

[rkmsuf]

Even Rain Man got the boot...

[bbor]

I usually only get booted when i run out of money :)

[Chubby]

(Back to the fair coin that has just come up heads 100 times in a row -- what's the chance that it's heads next time? 1/2.)

I thought it was 2/3.