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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;gboulton, post: 1015087, member: 27043&quot;]I dunno about the professional part...I certainly don&#039;t make a living at it.&nbsp; *lol*&nbsp; Probably safe to say that I enjoy more hobbies than I otherwise could because of it, however. <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie1" alt=":)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>And I think my whole point with the analogy to poker is this:</p><p><br /></p><p>Poker is the only exception in the casino : NOBODY takes the house&#039;s money, REGARDLESS of the outcome of any hand/game.</p><p><br /></p><p>Consider the vast majority of casino games.&nbsp; Roulette, slots, etc.&nbsp; They share 2 traits. </p><p><br /></p><p>First, they are random.&nbsp; NOTHING you can do, from yelling to praying to holding your mouth a certain way, can change the outcome of a round/hand/game/roll/pull.&nbsp; Say the magic words all you want...that slot is still going to come up Orange-Cherry-Bar.</p><p><br /></p><p>Second, by definition, the house is going to win over time.&nbsp; The simplest of this expression is roulette.&nbsp; A bet on Red or Black pays 2-1.&nbsp; The &#039;catch&quot; is those two green slots, 0 and 00.&nbsp; Spin the wheel 100 times, 1000 times, 1,000,000 times...and red won&#039;t QUITE come up 50% of the time...ever so slightly less.&nbsp; The reason they&#039;re set up this way is simple...when you DO win, it&#039;s the HOUSE&#039;S money you&#039;re taking....so they&#039;re going to make darn sure they win more than you do.</p><p><br /></p><p>Now...there are a FEW games that are exceptions to the first rule.&nbsp; Blackjack is the most well known...and most closely watched by the casinos.&nbsp; There are certain things you can do (google &quot;card counting&quot; and &quot;MIT blackjack team&quot; for interesting history/insight, if you&#039;re unfamiliar) to overcome the house advantage, and swing the odds in YOUR favor.</p><p><br /></p><p>The problem, of course, is that blackjack, while being a &quot;beatable&quot; game with the right knowledge, doesn&#039;t escape condition 2 above...you&#039;re STILL TAKING THE HOUSE&#039;S MONEY when you win.&nbsp; go figure, they don&#039;t like that a whole lot.&nbsp; being, as they are, private businesses, they&#039;re welcome to refuse service to any customer they wish.&nbsp; Since they know the strategies as well as the best counters, odds are extremely high you&#039;ll be caught, asked to leave, and likely exposed to other casinos nearby.</p><p><br /></p><p>The ONE game that escapes both rules above is poker.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>First, it is a game whose outcome not only CAN be changed by how you play it, but is frequently DETERMINED solely and only by how you play it.</p><p><br /></p><p>Second, the house couldn&#039;t care less if you win or lose.&nbsp; They take their rake or tournament fee, and have their money.&nbsp; NOTHING you can do will get it BACK, and nothing THEY can do will take more of it.&nbsp; They&#039;re going to make X, whether you win or I do.&nbsp; It&#039;s not their money in play...it&#039;s the players&#039;.&nbsp; When you win, you take everyone else&#039;s money...not the house&#039;s.</p><p><br /></p><p>Those two facts being the case, it makes the analogy to a Kitco pool account pretty accurate, really.</p><p><br /></p><p>Your success is, over time, determined by how well you play the game.&nbsp; How well you play is determined by making the right decisions.&nbsp; Making the right decisions requires knowledge, intelligence, wisdom, and information.&nbsp; Avoiding big losses requires patience, and knowing when you don&#039;t have enough information to take a risk.&nbsp; And hey...Kitco&#039;s gonna make their money either way. <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie1" alt=":)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>And yeah...just like poker, there&#039;s still an element of chance.&nbsp; You can do everything right, and still lose...so guess what...if you went to the casino with $200, don&#039;t sit down at a $200 buy-in table.&nbsp; Find a micro- or low-stakes table, sit down with $20-$50.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>Or...buy in at Kitco for a few ounces, not your entire PM portfolio.&nbsp; <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie2" alt=";)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" />[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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