Compulsive gambling is more common in younger and middle-aged people. Gambling during childhood or the teenage years increases the risk of developing compulsive gambling. However, compulsive gambling in the older adult population can also be a problem. Compulsive gambling is more common in men than women. The Hi-Lo Count is the most widely written about, and in my judgment, the most commonly used card counting strategy. The High-Low was first introduced in 1963 by Harvey Dubner 1. It has since been discussed by just about all the major blackjack writers. In a survey of 5,500 gamblers, the prospect of the chance to “win big money” was the strongest factor. But it was followed closely by “because it’s fun” and “because it’s exciting”. Gambling becomes an addiction when it is something you or a loved one cannot control and when it begins to affect a person’s financial, familial, social, recreational, educational, or occupational functioning. 1,2 Gambling addiction, much like some forms of substance addiction, is associated with a release of dopamine in the brain as much as.

Many, many years ago I owned a summer home just 10 miles from Show Low, which made this article more fun for me.
– Robert
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Betting on HIGH, or LOW?

ByDr. Klaus L.E. Kaiser

Just in case you are wondering what this about, it’s about the small town of Show Low in Arizona with a population of around 10,000. If you want to read up on more details, see http://www.showlowaz.gov/517/City-Profile .

Some years ago, we were visiting the place and had a pleasant experience. What intrigued me though was the name of the town. Our waitress explained that it stemmed from a long-ago poker game, where the LOW card(s) were going to win, NOT the HIGH card(s).

As in any game of luck that has a 50/50 chance of being right or wrong, the former owner of that tract of land (some 65 square miles of it, I believe) lost out and the new owner renamed it in memory of his call and win.

Place Names

As we speak of place names, there certainly are some quite unusual ones, at least in the Americas. Just think of place names like “King of Prussia (Pennsylvania),” “Medicine Hat (Alberta),” “Scratch Ankle (Alabama),” ”Cut and Shoot (Texas),” “Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha! (Quebec),” or “Get out if you can! ([Salsipuedes], Chile)” for settlements. Unusual names for lakes, rivers, and other natural sites like “Whiskey Lake (Ontario)” or ”Extortion Lake (Minnesota),” and “Christmas Island (Indian Ocean)” are quite common as well. That’s just a small sampling of unusual place names.

Good “ol” Wiki has several lists of such names at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Unusual_place_names and Reader’s Digest has its own list “24 of the Funniest Town Names in America,” though none of them appear to mention “Show Low.” Perhaps it’s the name itself that causes its lack of recognition; who would want to bet on a “LOW” show when everyone is always expecting MORE (not LESS), or BETTER, or HIGHER of whatever?

And who does not want to gamble a bit, at least a little, on the side? After all, as the nearby graph will show, it’s a thriving business.

Past and projected future gambling activities; source: Agora Financial, September 25, 2017.

Gambling

Gambling has been a past time activity that’s known in many cultures since ancient times. Even the tribal communities on this continent are well known to have engaged in it. From the Inuit communities in the far north to those in the far south, all had some games of chance. The only difference being the “assets on the table.” The graph above is part of a recent article entitle “Absolutely Insane Growth” by Louis Basenese, Chief Investment Strategist, True Alpha. No doubt about that, gambling is a big industry and growing. If you don’t believe that, just travel across the country, in the middle of the night, and you will find gambling casinos that are open 24/7, even in places you didn’t know to exist.

I like to visit them – not for the gambling (except, perhaps for a dollar or two) – but for the food. In order to keep the players coming, they commonly provide some good food at reasonable prices. Of course, non-gambling customers like me are not particularly welcome but oddballs or no-good moochers and are just part of the cost of doing business and to run the system.

There you have it; we are just little cogs in the wheel of fortune that seems to drive the world to greater heights.

Heights of Excitement

Whenever one of the many lotteries is having a run of no-wins of the grand prize the excitement grows exponentially with the stake. Who would want to wager for a mere “$X”-million if one could win “$XX”-million instead? At such times, every corner-store is trying to sell even more tickets for the next draw than ever before.

Of course your chance of winning does not increase with the total number of tickets sold, only with the fraction of the total that you actually hold. So, people are willing to spend more, often much more, accordingly. Of course, nearly every habitual player does that and, in the end, the odds of you winning are still the same, sort of infinitesimally small.

Besides, really, what would I do with triple-digit millions? I have no idea other than trying to do some good for others.

But with miniscule chances of ever winning the jackpot, I use my own system of winning, every week:

Gambling Highs And Lows Low

Betting on “LOW” and not playing at all.

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Dr. Klaus L.E. Kaiser is a professional scientist with a Ph.D. in chemistry from the Technical University, Munich, Germany. He has worked as a research scientist and project chief at Environment Canada‘s Canada Centre for Inland Waters for over 30 years and is currently Director of Research at TerraBase Inc. He is author of nearly 300 publications in scientific journals, government and agency reports, books, computer programs, trade magazines, and newspaper articles.

Dr. Kaiser has been president of the International Association for Great Lakes Research, a peer reviewer of numerous scientific papers for several journals, Editor-in-Chief of the Water Quality Research Journal of Canada for nearly a decade, and an adjunct professor. He has contributed to a variety of scientific projects and reports and has made many presentations at national and international conferences.

Gambling Highs And Lows Pressure

Dr. Kaiser is author of CONVENIENT MYTHS, the green revolution – perceptions, politics, and facts
convenientmyths.com

Gambling Highs And Lows Today

Dr. Kaiser can be reached at: mail@convenientmyths.com