Comments on: Is Card Counting a Sin?

By: Just Another Poor College Student

Just Another Poor College Student — Thu, 19 May 2011 21:13:40 +0000

I think sol just got served.

Hope you don’t mind me citing the youtube videos for an opinion reference on a term paper. Writing a term paper on the ethics of card counting and this thread has been thought provoking.

Thanks for sharing

By: Benjamin Ady

Benjamin Ady — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 07:56:11 +0000

Sol,

I’m fascinated. Are you familiar with trends regarding relative prevalence of “soft” vs. “hard” drug use, relative cost of “soft” vs. “hard” drug use, global profit of the illegal drug industry, etc. etc. before, during, and after Reagan and company’s so called “war on drugs”? I think the comparison is apt, but rather strongly favours my argument. Try googling “Did the war on drugs work” and read some of the opinion out there–the majority of even those who instigated and carried out the war on drugs now pretty much admit that it exacerbated rather than improved the overall picture. Thoughts?

By: Sol

Sol — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 05:59:27 +0000

I think it’s a bad argument. Silly even. That’s like saying that illegal drugs are worse because of anti-drug campaigns.

The only sillier notion I can come up with is: “Card-counting is a sin.”
Anything can become an idol… sex, alcohol, going to church, building churches, tearing churches down, scrabble, blogging, whatever.
Idolatry is a sin.

By: Benjamin Ady

Benjamin Ady — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 04:21:01 +0000

It seems to me possible to argue the the entire “industry”, as it were, of card counting has actually ultimately helped the casinos’ bottom line. Yes, it’s true that the legitimate card counters are to some small degree hurting the casinos’ bottom line (although I would argue it’s negligible). On the other hand, everyone knows that the card counters are (to a negligible degree) beating the casinos at their own game, and the generally dispersed knowledge that this is possible actually encourages more non card-counters or non-professional card-counters (that is, the ones who really don’t have a clue, and thus will lose) to gamble. By providing a token resistance, card counters in a sense actually help make the problem of the casino industry’s existence bigger. I totally bet a lot more people play table games in general, and blackjack in particular, now than did in say the first half of the 20th century to some extent BECAUSE of the token resistance of card counters.

It’s kind of like the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq. The U.S. was trying to help, but their shitty brand of help actually enlarged and prolonged the problem, making life much worse for everyone. Same for card counters and the casino industry. Sure, card counters may be totally against the casino industry, and hate them, and be doing everything in their power to hurt them, but they’re really just enlarging/prolonging the problem.

I’m not saying I totally believe this whole argument. I’m just saying that this argument makes sense to me.

Maybe this story I’m telling is part of why I was so miserable as a card counter. I can see how if I had the story you (Ben) tell above, I’d have been much happier to be a card counter. It’s important to me to know that what I’m doing as a human being is having a net positive effect on the world.

By: saint count

saint count — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 22:51:23 +0000

from the viewpoint of it its addictive nature like alcohol and drugs, card counting can become an addiction and thus an idol!!

By: saint count

saint count — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 12:43:24 +0000

No different to skillfil day trading on the stock market or forex market

By: saint count

saint count — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 23:11:02 +0000

why is it a sin?

By: Mark

Mark — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 17:22:30 +0000

“Is card counting a sin?”

Answer: Yes.

Why?

Cause I don’t know how to do it yet.

By: saint count

saint count — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 05:53:28 +0000

The amount of money made by the counter would be negligible compared to the casino, so they have greater repsonsilitity than the counter. IMHO the govenment who legalises gambling ought to handle the issues related to problem gamblers, such as creating laws that will limit them from continue playing at the casino under certain conditions.

By: Ben

Ben — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 04:53:24 +0000

“Is there a biblical mandate to specifically give to problems we experience in our most immediate environments over any others (like a card counters giving to gambler’s anonymous)?
point.”

Not that I know of – bnc