Moral Question?

Just about every single major business or corporation in the world must check its ethics at the door to succeed. Casinos do take advantage of human weakness, but so does everyone else. McDonalds targets those who enjoy greasy food, does that mean that if the drive-thru guy gives you too much change back that you should just drive off?

At least casinos are not directly responsible for deaths as is the case for Firestone, they're not responsible for life changing injuries such as pharmaceutical companies selling a knowingly harmfull product. Casinos routinely cut people off from alcohol if they have gone too far. Does a department store cut you off if you have spent too much and are in financial trouble, of course not, they send you another credit card. Casinos have GA pamphlets at the cage, change booths, and electronic messages on the ATM screens. Does 7-11 ever try to stop selling you cigarettes?

Senior Citizens have worked hard their entire life, and for many of them gambling is their only form of social life they have. They do not gamble because they are addicted, but because they know their life is in its final stage and they want to enjoy the money they have while they can. They are not able to play tennis or basketball, and many of them are lonely and the friendly dealer or PC is their only friend in life.

Adults are responsible, if not then they must learn by their mistakes or face a hard life. Gambling is a choice because America is land of the free. Gambling provides a few hundred thousand jobs in America, and millions more in taxes. Gambling is not an evil that some like to make it out to be, but it is a recreational hobby, a memorable vacation, a much needed job, and most importantly an American symbol of freedom and independance.

"rightly" belongs to me?

I'm not trying to criticize, and I'm certainly not trying to clarify the issue. :-) But defining what is "rightly ours" is obscure at best. For example, I have been to many, many landfill permit hearings where some craggy citizen straight out of a Norman Rockwell painting gets up to testify that he is appalled that that heinous landfill company would dare to propose a landfill here on god's green earth, on this property in "his" back yard, on land that he has farmed all his life, and his daddy before that, and his granddaddy before that... blah, blah. And they never get around to mentioning that his great grandaddy stole it from the Indians, nine tenths of whom subsequently starved to death in the 1880s. And that tribe had stolen it from another in the 1700s, and massacred and enslaved that tribe.

The land was certainly legally his.

The water is muddy. Fine, that's normal.

We're in the casino to play and try to take the casinos' money. They are in business to try to take our money, and a substantial part of their system appears geared toward inducing player errors.

Trying to cheat illegally seems to me to be in a different realm than letting them pay out incorrectly. To them, that's part of the cost of doing business.

I greatly admire your knowledge and expertise at this game. Just couldn't resist blowing a little smoke. BTW The $50 or so I've knowingly retained from dealer errors over the years didn't mean much during my last 2D negative swing. It's a funny game.

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Hard 8, You don't have to worry about the "ouch". "Hit 'em hard" is just my farewell salutation. Of course for obstinate ploppies who may object in a very aggressive manner to some of my play variations it may be different. I refer those kinds of players to my two business advisors, Mr. Right and Mr. Left with whom they may discuss the matter further outside of the casino. To these two fellows it means something else altogether. :) Hit 'em hard, The Side

Why are the only mistakes dealers make with me is NOT paying me what they are supposed to pay me?? And they do it ALL THE TIME?? I never found a dealer who was paying out 2-1 on 3-2 blackjacks or paying 150% on surrender. Where do you find these golden nugget opportunities?

You need to work on pragmatics as they relate to speech and language. I hope you're actual speech productions are not like this.