Analogies of greed and pomposity
Dear Mark,
On my last six trips to Gulfport, MS, I've come home a winner
playing slots. I believe it's beyond luck now. I just have
this certain feeling when to play a particular machine. I've
been so successful lately that I feel I should go to dollar
machines, or higher, versus the quarter ones and win even
more money. Am I on to something here? Jon S.
Jon, may I share two stories with you? One deals with arrogance
and the other with the incessant craving for more.
An old Polish folk tale tells of a fisherman who lives in
a hovel by the sea and catches a magical fish that grants
his humble desire for a cabin and enough to eat. After a week,
he is no longer satisfied and demands larger quarters, and
once again the fish grants him his wish. The sequence of catch
and release repeats itself for six weeks until the fisherman
lives in a castle, then demands the finest palace.
For his insolence, the fish casts him back to the hovel by
the sea.
For the second story, let's stick with the water theme. "God
himself cannot sink this ship." Those were the quotes
throughout the newspapers prior to the Titanic making her
first passage across the big pond. She was appropriately named,
as Titans always dared to challenge the gods, and for their
arrogance they were cast down into hell.
At best, Jon, by challenging the gaming gods absorbed in your
spirit of rapacity, you're on the Atlantic ocean in a one-man
lifeboat with a slow leak. And the sound I hear? Pssssssss.
Dear Mark,
I very much enjoy the historical questions you answer. Where
do you find the answers to the most obscure questions? Also,
how about trying mine? Tell me about the history of keno in
this country. Sylvia R.
Around 200 B.C. in China, Cheung Leung introduced the lottery,
the forerunner to modern day keno, to fund his army. Because
of its overwhelming success, it continued, and additional
proceeds from future lotteries were used to fund major projects
such as the Great Wall.
In the 1860s when the building of the railroads in the United
States offered promise to Chinese immigrants, they brought
a game, the Chinese lottery, to America. As the game's popularity
grew, it evolved from a 120-grid ticket used in the railroad
camps to an 80-number ticket called Keno.
You wanted to know my sources, Sylvia. This sweetmeat of enlightenment
came from the placemats at the coffee shop at Karl's Silver
Nugget in Sparks, Nevada. Found above the placemats were cheap,
terrific breakfast specials-and for some readers, that's more
valuable information than the Keno answer.
Dear Mark,
Don't you think that when you write about long-shot slot machines
like Megabucks, you induce play rather than helping a player
refrain from playing? Stanley F.
The goal of this column is not to shill for the casinos but
to inform players on the exact cost of an evening's entertainment.
I am of the opinion, Stanley, that players should know exactly
what their chances are of hitting the big jackpots. Some casinos
do post the paybacks on their machines, but not the true odds
of hitting a jackpot. If they posted the odds, no one in his
right mind would play those machines. You will note, that
I continually write that your chances are slim to none for
a life of opulence when playing Megabucks.
Unfortunately, no amount of education from me, nor the casino
disclosing the enormous odds right on a machine, will curb
a player's appetite for hitting it rich. Every slot participant
believes he or she will be the exception to the rule; she
will beat the celestial gods; it is he who will come home
a victorious contestant against ABC casino.
And every so often, Stanley, to induce a Pavlov saliva reaction,
you will read in the paper that Mabel, from Ames, Iowa, hit
it big, real big.
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