Thumper Thinks Out Loud

Double Down Or Split What?

Does it look like me?

It's as close as I could get...

Oh, and don't be impressed by the amount my blackjack avatar has...I started with $5000 and that bonus $27.50 took a couple hours to get to.

Tuesday we had some Family Fun and went to a casino. Nothing says Togetherness and Family Values like plunking down cash that you might as well flush down the toilet. We each took a hundred bucks, and while we know better, I'm sure each of us had high hopes for a big score.

I like the slots. Horrible odds, but all the spinning and flashing lights and intermittent reinforcement appeals to my inner toddler. I don't even mind losing so much, as long as I get to play for a long time. Usually I drop $20 in and get enough back in tiny bits to make it enjoyable...and frustrating.

The slots were not kind to me, nor to the Spouse Thingy. We didn't even get much in the way of the thrill of intermittent reinforcement. The damn machines ate our oney like candy.

After losing more than half my cash in too short a time, I wandered over and watched the Boy play Blackjack. I know the basics of the game but not the strategy, but I still stood there thinking I wanted to play. It looked easy enough, and the odds are better than playing the slots, but still...I did not join in because I just wasn't sure about betting and the players at the table were splitting and doubling down and I didn't know what the heck any of that meant.

So on the way home, we stopped and I got myself a gambling program for the computer. One with tutorials. I'm going to learn to play even if it makes my brain explode.

So far... It makes me feel stupid. It's very polite in correcting me, but I'm pretty sure my laptop is thinking to itself, "You're a dumbass. A third grader wouldn't make that move. DON'T DO IT! Why the heck don't you just go in the kitchen and bake cookies and leave the gambling to the Real Fake Men on your screen?"

I have every intention of getting not sucky enough to go back and lose a few bucks at the table instead on in a machine. And when I do lose, I now know they sell donuts there.

Nothing comforts a monetary loss like a stale donut.