Misc WizardOfVegas Forum is Dying

You may have, but I certainly didn't. I didn't really care that much about it, if you want to know the truth. It barely qualified as pertaining to gambling and I don't see how her presence there contributed to the goals of the Forum, as I see them.

I don't know if that is what got him ousted by the Venetian, but yes, I am aware that was his attitude towards things such as that.

 

This is precisely the kind of hypocritical bullshit that I'm talking about.

1.) First of all, I didn't see you leaving the Forum in protest when Mike worked for the Venetian or when the sites were sold. (I think you were still there, then, correct me if I'm wrong because I do want to be fair)

2.) When you were posting on the Forums, would you have described yourself as, "Worshiping him?" I don't think so. There are certain events that have been discussed ad nauseum that have changed your overall opinion of him, but that doesn't mean all of us whose opinions are more or less unchanged are, "Worshippers."

It's like if you supported someone else being ousted prior to you being ousted, but the person in question (the one banned) also had a reasonable position...would that make you a, "Worshiper?"

I didn't know enough about your initial ban at the time it happened (or shortly after) to agree or disagree with that very strongly either way. My entire position was that it sucks that you're not there anymore, now I no longer feel that way. I do think that all of this happened to begin with sucks, I think the whole situation sucks, but if I were calling the shots, I wouldn't have you back in 100 years given all this stuff after the fact.

3.) Does he represent himself as a professional AP? I'm not even sure that's a true statement. If you are unwilling to concede that he's a gaming expert, then I've given you way too much credit for your intelligence. The Hell is he if not a gaming expert?

 

Wizard worked as an actuary for the Social Security Administration and resigned voluntarily to move from Baltimore to Vegas and focus on the sites full time. I would say that he, "Made it," as an actuary to whatever extent the phrase, "Making it," means something.

You're talking about him right now.

He wasn't a local actuary, he was an actuary for the SSA.

The job at the Venetian was nowhere near entry level.

Pretty much everything in your post is garbage.

 

So far, so good.

A traitor to what? You do realize it's possible to beat the casinos without hating them, right? Hell, you can beat the casinos and even enjoy being there.

Here's a fact, KewlJ: You CAN'T WIN unless others lose, because there wouldn't be a game to play due to casinos being Universally unprofitable and closing. You can play, "Them and Us," all you want, but AP's and casinos ultimately make their money from the same people...negative expectation gamblers.

I would say a, "Professional AP," makes at least half of his income off of AP, which I don't, I'm at about 30%. Why would it have to be, "Entire income?" They can't sell stocks, write books or do anything like that? What's wrong with a safety blanket?

You make it sound like someone could earn 100K annually by way of AP, but if they make forty-two cents some other way, or have some money tucked away in savings or the market, then that person isn't a Professional. I don't know if my 50% position is correct, it's a matter of opinion so there really is no, 'Right,' but 100% seems a little extreme.

 

Well, when you have a thread on a different Forum with over 300 pages of material dedicated to trashing the first Forum, one tends to get that impression. This thread is 19.02% of the content of this entire Forum as of this moment, after all.

 

That forum is already trash. Tens of thousands of pages of trash. It wasn't even set up to organize the trash so that the same trash didn't have to pile up over and over. Even the "math" site is a pile of trash. Same old boring and losing non-strategies to the same old and vanishing stale casino games. Shacky thinks he's a genius. How far out is that? I'm thankful for having been banned very early on. Shacky needs to make another video of himself juggling. Pathetic and cowardly losers. Hey, fun to watch, from time to time, and talk about here.

 

I don't know who you were over there, same handle?

Again, the point that you seem to have missed is that so much time is spent talking about the Forum, which you are still doing, which I am doing. There are things that I consider trash, Chinese buffet in my town that I think is absolute garbage, gave them two chances. Food's cold, doesn't taste fresh at all. So...I don't go there. I don't devote cumulative hours of my life to discussing how it's a complete pile of garbage, either. I talk about it as little as possible and only offer an opinion if someone who wants to go there directly asks what I think about it.

See my point? You don't spend 300+ pages talking about something you don't care about at all.

You're drunk if you think the Odds site is trash. Also, Wizard doesn't, 'Think,' he's a genius. One thing that I'm quite positive of us that he is, literally, a genius by measurable standards. I'm technically a genius, low-end anyway, and he has about twice the capacity I do, so I'm quite confident that he is.

There you go, fun to watch and talk about. Redeeming value. Either way, you care. If you didn't, you wouldn't be discussing it.

I don't know who is a pathetic and cowardly loser. I'd like to think that you're not referring to me. I was certainly a loser at one time, maybe I still am by some standards, but I'm certainly neither pathetic nor cowardly.

 

I'm having a hard time with the premise that advantage players make their money from non-advantage players. If everybody who walks into a casino is an advantage player, they are making money from the owners of the casino.

Old joke: The last one in a room to admit they're a genius is probably the genius.

If you gotta bring IQ tests into the argument, the argument's already been lost. At least a third, maybe closer to half, of the people with doctorates probably have 140 IQs, anyway, so it's not like technically being a genius counts for anything.

 

From the owners of the casino, yes, but you wouldn't have so many casinos (or owners) were casinos not demonstrably profitable. Thus, if the first casino (or if all current casinos) were beaten into a lack of profitability by advantage players, then they would largely be closed. Besides, "Gambling Win," numbers are reported in most jurisdictions, so there is no question that all casinos experience, 'Gambling win,' as opposed to, 'Gambling Loss,' which is my point. If they were losing money on the machines and tables, they could not operate. AP's make some of the money that would otherwise be won by the casinos...but that money must first be won.

I'm not bringing anything into the argument as I wasn't the first to mention being a genius or not being a genius. I agree that technically being a genius is not meaningful and that I am only, technically, a genius. My point was that Oops seemed to be implying that Wizard is not a genius, and my counter to that position is that I know I am, so he almost definitely has to be.

But, no, I agree being a genius isn't necessarily indicative of much. It really just shows capacity more than anything. It's how the capacity is used that's meaningful, and I'll be the first to admit I've not done the best job there. I'm a career underachiever, you heard it here, first. Why these guys here think they can try to bust on me and it's going to bring me down I have no idea. I'm well aware of my own shortcomings.

 

Please show me where he has claimed to be an AP. IIRC he publicly stated he doesn't consider himself much of an AP.

People don't consider various things selling out. Where is the line and who decides? Someone may consider the fact you want/wanted to write a book as wanting to sell out. No matter how much one justifies or spins it. I.E. "I'm just trying to help new young players learn how to count better and share my experiences blah blah blah." Any information given to the public hurts AP in the long run.

Personally, I wish no one ever wrote anything about AP ever. Not one site, book, blog, video has helped me with AP(other than meeting people and making friends).

People have been saying Mikes site contributes to gambling addictions or whatever.
I think it's been said that you have inspired people to start a card counting career. As well know most fail ( it's probably one of the most difficult aspects of AP to pull off and most knowledgeable people highly advise against it.). Some lose everything and become addicted.
Considering the amounts you have mention and a number of years you have been doing it here in Vegas, I would have to say that you are a complete anomaly.

Would you be partly responsible for anything negative "just sharing your story and knowledge?

Perhaps you even inspired Zenking, I think he mentioned wanting to do it like you do or something like that. Does he understand that you are an anomaly? If he does happen to make it to vegas and fails miserably due in part because of the things you have said, should you be partly blamed?

 

Hmmm...

Is a guy who blows another man in order to keep the relationship intact and some money in his pocket so he need not work a "professional?"

If he sucks cocks because he enjoys it: is he an "amateur?"

What if both apply: "pro-am?"

What if it's a woman sucking cocks: same analysis?

Does a wedding ring ipso facto change a cocksucker's status from "professional" to "amateur?"

Lordy, there's fifty shades of gray in this area.

 

I NEVER said that so don't put that on me. Put that on whatever "people" said that. What I say gets me in more than enough trouble, I'm not going to answer for what other "people" say.

I have been accused a number of times on a number of sites of encouraging players to follow in my footsteps. That is pure baloney. I go out of my way to share the good and the bad of my journey. $31,000 profit my first 3 years. That is total for the 3 years not average. My bankroll would have grown faster if I worked the French fry machine at McDonalds, or took on a newspaper route. One of my year's here in Vegas, my BJ total was $27,000. That works out to $500 a week, or $12.50/hr. Again, that's fast food or maybe retail store earnings. I am not proud to share these parts of my journey, but I share the good with the bad.

I have never encouraged anyone to follow my footsteps. Never. I have told people they should follow their own dreams. The last time I saw my grandfather before he passed, he told me to follow my dreams. He said the worse thing you can do is get to the end of your life with regrets that you hadn't done this or that. I was fairly early into my blackjack career and wasn't sharing much of it with him, so he wasn't really specifically talking about blackjack or AP. It was a general....follow your dreams, take your shot, have no regrets. And that seemed like good advice and I have said things along those lines because I believe it. Whether one's dream is to be a professional blackjack player, an actor, a ballerina, or a professional ball washer, one should go for it. Follow your dreams and seek what makes you happy. And you might fail. You may eventually 'settle' for something else. But at the end, you won't have those regrets and be wondering "what if".

Now being that I am a blackjack player and AP and participate on blackjack and AP related websites, yeah it may seems like I have encouraged a couple young guys in that direction. But I didn't pick their dream. I didn't go find them hanging out at the Mall, or skateboard park and tell them they can get rich playing blackjack. The found their way to the sites that I was on and demonstrated a desire or passion for blackjack. They expressed that to be their dream. I shared my grandfather's wisdom. If you want to fault me for that....so be it.

Yep, I'd say there is a good chance Zenking has been inspired by me. IF I was a betting man.....I'd bet on it. But again, I don't think that is on me. I didn't go out and find Zenking and pull him to Norm's site. He found his way to that site. And once he did, I never pulled him a side and communicated one on one, nor do I believe I communicated that much on the public forum with him. I don't think we were on the forum together that long before Norm banned me. And I was gone before he came to WoV. So any inspiration he got from me, he got from reading the archives. That thirst for knowledge is a sign of his passion. So how is that on me?

On this you could not be more incorrect. I am not an anomaly. I would argue just the opposite. I have no extraordinary talent as guys like you and mickey crimm do. I have no great mathematical ability. And I most certainly am doing nothing ground-breaking....as a matter of fact just the opposite....I do the most elementary of AP....card counting. But the fact that an ordinary 'joe' like me can have some success is proof that anyone with half a brain and a little discipline and dedication can. The only thing slightly unique about me, is that my passion is this most elementary, almost outdated....dinosauric (<-not really a word I guess).... method of AP.

 

It's infinitely more fun and productive to talk about gamblers than to become one. Lord knows, the guys and gals who did countless scientifically advanced studies of them, their lives and brains, never get around to anything Shacky has to say or do about gambling. I have to say that I feel a bit sorry for Jacobson, a more known and established academic who had a chance to do something exceptional with his life. Gambling just has a way of slowly wringing the life out of people, and reducing them to one hasty romanto-intellectual computer simulation after another.

The ancient Greek mathematicians avoided even any record of the (simplistic) gambling math, though gambling was common place there and then, as well. Shacky and the other gambling system scammers are the only advocates or proponents of it in modern times that I know of off hand. They try to link it to probability theory and statistics. You would have to venture to the colleges and universities in Nevada to hear a mention of gambling in any of those courses. Such principles just aren't inherently of or limited to casino-style gambling games.

About being a genius, well, that doesn't mean that one will ever contribute anything great, but let us know when some of those guys come out with something more than a list of baby names (for the government), or a "strategy" book for the big wheel. Expensive toilet paper. In the real world, there is something called exertion, by which we soon find out who is doing the excelling. Shacky's little world is all about staying in motion or perpetuating an appearance of finally achieving something real.

 

I meant that you are an anomaly considering the fact you have been stationed in LV for as manny years as you have, averaging x amount per year on let's say 90% counting only(?). Without being banned from most if not all places. I get that you have honed your skills regarding not getting detected, but I don't care how good one is at that, eventually shit happens and you lose store after store. And since you still seem to have a variety of places that still allow you to get away with what you are doing, YOU ARE AN ANOMALY. If I had to guess, ZK will be banned from all playable locations in LV within 18 months.

 

(===

 

Actually we heard it from me first. I labelled you the poster child for under-achieving losers months ago. Thanks for confirming that I was right on the money!

 

For fucks sake MrV......perfect opportunity and you blew it.

 

For fucks sakes, don't be gay, you are honing in on my gig.

 

+1 Usually when he refers to his favorite city in the entire universe (Detroit) 3000 or so of his 10000 posts on WOV.

 

In mid-17th century France noted mathematician, Blaise Pascal, was contacted by a dice gambler who asked him questions about dice throws. Pascal started a correspondence with another noted mathematician, Pierre de Fermat, and together they worked out the probabilities of dice throws for the dice gambler. It was through this process that the branch of mathematics known as Probability Theory was founded with Pascal and Fermat being the two founders of the science.