For photos from the Meadowlands contact Lisaphoto@playmeadowlands.com

Friday, April 27, 2012

Who are the Idiots? Let's go to the Blackboard

Bill Finley raises a very good question in the lead article of today's HRU.  It can basically be summed up as "When talking about slots players and horse players, who are the idiots?"  Unfortunately, the answer is horseplayers and Finley is absolutely correct.

No doubt, slot players don't want to figure out how to play horses, but then why would they?  "You want me to figure out a hard game and pay 17-32% for the privilege of bumbling along at the beginning?  I can put my mind on a mini vacation and hopefully win money and only pay 9%", the slot player would say.

How can you argue with that logic?  The answer is you can't.  Let's go to the virtual blackboard:

Bad Luck Luc goes to Chester Philadelphia with $40.  He decides to play $20 on the horses and $20 on the slots.  He decides he is going to make only $2 superfecta wagers on the horses and pull of the slots.  In this fictional example, he loses on each $2 bet only the expense of playing the game (takeout) which is 32% for the horses and 9% for the slots.  How long would he last playing each game?


Horses
Slots
Starting
$20.00
$20.00
Bet 1
$19.36
$19.82
Bet 2
$18.72
$19.64
Bet 3 
$18.08
$19.46
Bet 4
$17.44
$19.28
Bet 5
$16.80
$19.10
Bet 6
$16.16
$18.92
Bet 7
$15.52
$18.74
Bet 8
$14.88
$18.56
Bet 9
$14.24
$18.38
Bet 10
$13.60
$18.20
and it continues on....

Bet 26
$3.36
$15.32
Bet 27
$2.72
$15.14
Bet 28
$2.08
$14.96
Bet 29
$1.44
$14.78

Since he has a self imposed $2 minimum wager, he's done with the horses after his 29th wager and is going home with $1.44 left in his pocket from the horses and  $14.78 left from the slots.  But he says to himself, let me see how much longer I can play the slots with the $14.78.  So it continues....

Bet 95
$0.00
$2.90
Bet 96
$0.00
$2.72
Bet 97
$0.00
$2.54
Bet 98
$0.00
$2.36
Bet 99
$0.00
$2.18
Bet 100
$0.00
$2.00
Bet 101
$0.00
$1.82

Since Luc sticks to his $2 wager on the slots, he is done after his 101st wager.  So after completing his experiment, he realizes his $20 allowed him to make 28 wagers while the same $20 allowed him to make 101 wagers on the slots; 72 more wagers.  Hmmm, what do you think he is going to play next time?

Of course it doesn't go this way in real life as there are a lot more variables.  What Luc's fictional experiment shows us is the cost of playing each game.  But the point is made, you are going to get less action for the money playing the horses.  So if you are a newcomer to gaming, and someone tells you how much more 'action' you can get playing the slots than the horses, which game are you going to play?  

1 comment:

edge1124 said...

Haha but it will take 3 hours maybe to make those 10 wagers at the track and maybe 12 minutes to pull 101 times at the slots......the slots are rigged to payout at certain times (most know that) whereas at the track you have a better chance of picking 4 winners in a row than winning on 4 pulls in a row. For a $2 pull I have no idea what I might get back....but if I know a 7-1 exactor is paying $98 then I know thats what my odds are and its a done deal. The Tracks are big pick pockets basically and the slots are much smaller pick pockets but they pick your pocket more often and much quicker.....slots is a zombie's game.