Hacker News Reader

It's impossible for a casino to be "fair" over the long term, because it has deeper pockets than individual gamblers. Even a gambler with a positive expectation (which is not something that is easy, fun or usually even possible to do in a casino game), over time will have increasingly wider swings of fate (i.e. the most they've ever lost or won will always increase), and one will bankrupt them.

View on HN

Fair in this context does not mean the customer can get a positive outcome over time unless they are very lucky and never return. Fair just means you get what is advertised. If a willing adult knows the casino is a losing proposition most of the time but feels "they are lucky", by all means.

This is what intuition tells me as well, but it is not true. If a gambler has positive expectation of wining, even if you have gamblers playing until either broke or dead, the expectation is for the casino to lose money.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com