Xref: utzoo comp.object:468 comp.lang.c++:5616
Path: utzoo!censor!dybbuk!yunexus!ists!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!pilchuck!dataio!bright
From: bright@Data-IO.COM (Walter Bright)
Newsgroups: comp.object,comp.lang.c++
Subject: Re: Guthery slams OOP in latest DDJ
Message-ID: <2220@dataio.Data-IO.COM>
Date: 22 Nov 89 19:20:14 GMT
References: <2664@bingvaxu.cc.binghamton.edu> <4602@ncsuvx.ncsu.edu>
Reply-To: bright@dataio.Data-IO.COM (Walter Bright)
Organization: Data I/O Corporation; Redmond, WA
Lines: 24

In article <4602@ncsuvx.ncsu.edu> jnh@ecemwl.UUCP (Joseph N. Hall) writes:
<one of the contributors stated flatly that there was no viable system for
<winning at blackjack and that we shouldn't bother him with letters saying
<there was ...
<I can tell
<you that their expected take per hand IF you play correctly is about .5%,

Granted. But lets look at some figures:
	pay_per_hour = rate_of_win * size_of_bet * bets_per_hour
Assuming:
	rate_of_win = .005    (.5%)
	size_of_bet = $500    (house limit)
	bets_per_hr = 20      (3 minutes per hand)
gives a pay_per_hour of $50/hr. Hardly raking it in for such exhausting work.
There are also serious problems because this is an *average*, which means
there are possibilities of going $10 grand in the hole pretty easilly.
You're gonna need a large bankroll and a lot of guts to stick it out till
the odds have a chance to work for you.

I'll stick to software, which pays better, and the work is easy :-).
Of course, I don't have a pretty girl plying me with drinks while I program :-)

All in all, I'd have to agree that blackjack is not viable. Gambling in
Vegas is strictly for 1) suckers and 2) entertainment.