Colin Jones: Time 1 Episode 7 – Gambling With An Edge

Which is a rather dry title for this article, about as aptly dry
as Colin Jones’s “The 21^st-Century Card Counter.” But the motion picture
title’s superior than the book’s. “Holy Rollers”—not just a participate in on words, but
also an oxymoron that Hollywood loves. Bear in mind that instant when the Preacher
gunslinger swaps his clerical collar for a pistol in Pale Rider? And now
Netflix has introduced us Warrior Nun. It is really entertaining looking at the
ostensible pacifist utilizing violence to achieve a righteous close.

Christians, who are presumed to have an aversion to
gambling, just take on the Household, trying to adhere it to the Guy (that means the on line casino,
not the massive G). The result is higher drama, and subsequently a blackjack manufacturing facility
at blackjackapprenticeship.com [to which I have no affiliation].

But is there truly nearly anything anti-Christian about gambling? In
his autobiographical e-book, CJ mentions the pushback he obtained from his “Christian”
buddies. I would issue out that a individual entering the AP environment as a vocation will
get pushback from non-Christian relatives and good friends, way too. If you need my
credentials for empathy with CJ, I will point out that my dad was an ordained
minister, equally my mother and father had PhDs in theology, and I was as soon as caught enjoying
mah-jongg with close friends in the basement of the regional Methodist Church on
Xmas Eve. The minister barked at us and scowled, like a sweaty pit manager,
but compounded with some fireplace-and-brimstone apocalyptic warning about this
being neither the time nor the put to be carrying out what we have been accomplishing.

There isn’t truly any anti-gambling agenda in the Bible,
but church-goers seem to be to have a kneejerk assumption that if society at big
attaches some stigma to an activity, then the official Church coverage would have
to be politically to the ideal of that. Since society pretends to watch gambling
as a vice, then the Church would have to condemn gambling at minimum as strongly,
appropriate? Overlook the haters, CJ!

But what is gambling? What is its defining attribute? Randomness?
The bible mentions casting tons as a decision-earning method for a group, and
the statistician’s “fair coin” is fair because it helps make an egalitarian option
recognized to be absolutely free of any nefarious motive. Quantum theorists wrestle with the
concept that there might be randomness embedded in the structure of the universe,
even further than simply our incapability to measure factors. Einstein’s
misinterpreted quote about God actively playing dice was not meant to solid any moral judgment
on randomness itself. And maybe the nature of divine understanding is not dice
management or foresight of the outcome of dice, but expertise of the odds of the
universe’s dice.

APs are not the only types with random incomes. A food server
will get variable strategies just about every night. An investment decision banker will get a variable reward at
the finish of the year. A law organization simply cannot predict what purchasers will come as a result of
the doorway, or what the jury awards and billable several hours will turn out to be. An
Uber driver just can’t accurately predict the fares that will pop up on that minimal
display. Last I checked, the quantity of hard cash thrown into the selection plate at
Sunday church is unpredictable! (And don’t some churches have on line casino-evening
fundraisers and operate bingo video games???) The Bible doesn’t condemn random financial
benefits fairly, it condemns the love of cash.

Early in my very own vocation I imagined about the definition of “gamble”
in one more context. With my American BP, I would say the term “gamble” to
signal that I didn’t have any hole-card data. Two Chinese brothers who sometimes
joined our table would say “gamble” when building a participate in these as doubling A8
against a dealer’s recognized challenging 16. At initially, I imagined that their use of the
term “gamble” was really distinctive from mine, right up until I realized that both equally of our
groups have been applying the term “gamble” to imply “to do something dangerous or dangerous.”
To them, doubling A8 is risky. To me, participating in a hand of blackjack without having figuring out
the gap card is risky!

In culture at massive and the English language, there is a
negative connotation to the term “risk.” But for all the pessimists who see a
rack 50 percent total, I see a rack fifty percent empty. Evolution really benefits a species
whose members are keen to acquire personal challenges. Possibility-getting entails a
positive externality, that means that the group gains from a hazard taken by an
personal. The astronauts who went to the moon may possibly have died, but their
success added benefits us all. A particular person who tries a new foods or experimental health-related
cure innovations science, but normally takes a particular possibility.

I don’t see everything morally reprehensible about randomness
or danger. Then what is so undesirable about “gambling”? CJ nails it on page 24 when he
asks “Is card counting even gambling?” What we are performing in the casino is
completely different from what the degens are carrying out. It is a diverse exercise,
which is why Stanford Wong used to get in touch with it “short-expression investing”!

Seeking at degenerate gambling, do we see greed? Look at.
Sloth? Test. Envy? Look at. In truth, let us double-test that a person, due to the fact some of
the online games have an “Envy Bonus”!

Three sins out of 7 ain’t undesirable. In the course of my previous casino
check out, I saw protection guards eject a gambler who was cursing out the dealer. We
bought Wrath in the dwelling! And searching at the CWs and get together-pit sellers and go-go
dancers (have you been to the new Circa?) can make me believe that Lust is a no-brainer.
And did you see the line for the seafood buffet? Definite Gluttony.

And you do not have to go much into the pit or on the web to discover
a male who offers about betting 2x$15000, or building $50k today sitting in his
underwear, or making use of Wong Halves or RevereAPC. Pride’s an easy look at, FTW!

Even though the Seven Lethal Sins are not outlined in the Bible,
most church-goers invest in into the doctrine, and Vegas promoting itself as “Sin
City” does not assist CJ’s trigger. But inside the seven, Greed and Pleasure are
regarded as the large two. To earn some obscene quantity of cash that was unearned
goes from the Western/Christian/capitalist ethic that people today really should get what
they ought to have. A lazy particular person who buys a lottery ticket does not “deserve” to get
prosperous. (Previous I checked, men and women get blessed all the time in other corporations, but
we’ll stress about our individual residence.) Each degen who sets foot in a on line casino is
hoping to get rich, and some of them even expect to earn, inspite of enjoying a mathematically
adverse sport.

Prosperous APs are keen to place in the time working on
their game, and Greed is not a pre-requisite. The AP does not question to gain
with out energy, or earn much more than EV. Sure, the AP attempts to make cash from his
action, but are the men and women stocking cabinets at Walmart volunteers? All people “Christians”
giving CJ grief are in the authentic-estate small business setting up glass residences.

The smug Delight of the rookie counter who thinks he is familiar with
all the things about the game commonly goes out the window when the to start with 100-hour
shedding streak will come, at least for the kinds who go on to grow to be productive APs. God
loves all people, but much more-so difficult staff who continuously test to strengthen! God
hates squandered items. Pope Francis would back me up on that interpretation of
Church doctrine. (We identified as him “F Money” when he employed to BP for us, and he was
so easy, except I assumed his hat didn’t really mix in.) So I believe CJ can
relaxation uncomplicated on his occupation path in typical, other than …

What does God have to say about splitting Tens? Omg, that is
just simple Greedy!