Gambling is one of the favorite pastimes of many people around the globe. Whether you
play online or live (or both), you’ve probably had a chance to hear many different stories about casino games, big jackpots, huge wins, and some unbelievable scenarios.
In many ways, casinos are mystic places, where even the smallest amount of money can turn into a huge win. In such an environment, it is no surprise players came up with hundreds of different myths and stories about what is really going on behind the scenes.
These casino myths range from plausible to straight-up wild and crazy. In this blog, we’ll look into some of the most famous casino myths that have developed over the years and try to see what’s what. What is the real truth behind some of the best-known myths about casinos?
You’re More Likely to Win Playing a Slot Where Someone Has Lost a Lot of Money
Players in a casino try to come up with all sorts of plans and schemes to beat the house against all odds. To this purpose, they are often keen on trying to explain certain things in a way that would benefit their cause.
So, you’ll often hear people say that you should play a particular slot machine because they saw someone losing a lot of money on it before. If there were some truth to this, it would actually be great news, because you could always keep an eye out for “full” machines and only play those. Unfortunately, this isn’t how slots work.
Slot machines operate based on a random number generator, which ensures every spin is completely random and fully independent from any past or future spins. So, even if someone had lost a huge pile of money playing a particular machine, you’re not likelier to win if you sit down to play right after them.
Casinos Keep Track of Your Winnings and Make Sure You Don’t Win Too Much
Although this casino myth isn’t as widespread as some others, there are still quite a few players who believe that casinos somehow keep track of everything that goes down and follow every individual player. Once you win enough (in their view), they’ll tighten up the machines to make sure you lose the money back.
First of all, this would be illegal, so no reputable casino would ever get involved in such behavior. Secondly, for live casinos, this is simply impossible to do.
Online casinos do have the information about all of their players, but they have no need to use underhanded tactics because they already have a small edge on all of their games, which guarantees they’ll win in the long run.
What really happens is that your streak must eventually come to an end. It is actually hard to understand why this happens, but I’m guessing someone could come up with an equation that explains the phenomenon. Once the lucky streak ends, you’ll start losing, and it has nothing to do with casinos rigging the games to rob you of your winnings.
Your Actions Influence Other Players at a Blackjack Table
This myth is one of the more annoying ones table game players have to deal with. Have you ever sat down to play a few hands of blackjack, only to have your decisions to hit or stand questioned and even criticized by other players at the table? This happens due to a very widespread misconception that your decisions can somehow influence the result of the hand.
One often-seen scenario is where the dealer is showing a 5 or a 6, and everyone decides to stand. You have an ace and go for the double. You hit your ten and win, but then the dealer turns over a 7 and draws an 8 to beat the field. If only you weren’t so greedy and decided to stand, everyone would have won.
However, unless you have a roentgen vision and know exactly what card will come off the deck next, the chances of you “helping” the dealer are the same as you helping everyone else. Just reverse the two cards above, and now, thanks to you drawing out the 8, the dealer has to take a 10 to bust.
But thanks to selective memory, people will always remember those hands where they lost because of this, while they’ll quickly forget about all the times they won. There isn’t really much point in trying to explain your point, either. Those who believe this to be true seem very steadfast in their beliefs.
Roulette Dealers Are Trained to Miss Your Numbers When You’re Betting Big
When you’re playing roulette in a live casino, it is you against the wheel and the little ball. The dealer is simply the tool who makes sure spins happen. However, many players seem to believe almost all casino dealers have special skills allowing them to know exactly when and how hard to drop the ball to miss your numbers.
First of all, a roulette wheel is far too unpredictable for anyone to be able to pull off such feats. With little diamonds on the sides and the ball jumping in and out of pockets quite randomly, it would take some sort of superpower to know exactly what will happen once you release the ball.
Secondly, once again, casinos have no reason to do this. They already have the inherent edge of 2.7% on roulette, and you can’t beat that, no matter how hard you try. So they really have no reason to do anything beyond releasing the ball and letting it fall where it may.
Finally, if you’re really afraid dealers are somehow aiming for the opposite side of the wheel, there is a simple solution to the problem. Just cover a few numbers from four or five different sectors across the wheel, and they won’t be able to do their “magic.”
Counting Cards in Blackjack Is Just a Myth – No One Can Memorize So Many Cards
It isn’t at all uncommon to hear a comment like this from some casino players, even some who frequent blackjack tables. Despite the fact that card counting has been proven as an effective method of significantly increasing your chances in the game, they just don’t buy it. How could you possibly memorize so many cards?
People who say and believe this are the ones who don’t understand what card counting really entails. They have this image where the player sits down and keeps track of every single card that goes out and stores them somewhere in the memory.
The fact is, card counting is quite simple once you learn how to do it. Most systems revolve around simply keeping the count of high, middling, and low cards. When the count is high, it is time to increase the bets.
The reason why card counting doesn’t work in most casinos these days is because casinos have caught up and introduced measures to prevent card counters from gaining an advantage. This usually means cutting the shoe fairly early so that the count you have never becomes relevant. But without these measures, card counting is very possible and quite effective.
You Can Win in Baccarat by Counting Cards
While some people discard card counting strategies as impossible and useless, others give them way too much power and try to apply them to games other than blackjack. One such game is baccarat, a game where there is basically zero skill of any sort involved.
In theory, you could count cards in baccarat to improve your edge by knowing when there are more favorable cards left in the shoe. However, the edge gained by doing this is so minuscule that it isn’t worth the effort in the slightest. For the edge to become anything close to worth it, the casino would have to deal the shoe down to last ten or so cards, which never happens in real life.
Roulette Systems Can Help You Beat the Game
There is hardly anyone who’s been gambling for a while who hasn’t had a chance to hear or read about a successful system to beat roulette. In fact, people have come up with dozens of these over the years, every time promising this is the one to beat the house.
The fact is, all of these systems have been proven ineffective, both through math and in practice. It is impossible to beat roulette because the game has been designed in such a fashion that the house will always maintain an edge. No matter how you spread your bets or how careful you are, the house will eventually realize this edge.
On the flip side, “winning” roulette systems aren’t inherently bad, either. You won’t be losing anything more if you stick to a particular system. So, you can feel free to try any of them out if you’re playing roulette, as it is without any consequences. Just don’t expect to win in the long run.
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