Dear Mark,
I've always felt that being in the stock market is the same as playing blackjack.
They're both gambling. I might as well do something I love instead of giving
some investment company my money to flush down the toilet. You're in gambling,
do you agree? Ralph G. Internet
Your analysis of comparing the stock market to blackjack is way off the
mark. Entering the world of blackjack as a profession (investment) takes
enormous work and you're playing against, if not for a better term, a financial
institution that not only has a built-in house edge but is there exclusively
to beat you. Come on, Ralph. How many people do you know win at blackjack--consistently?
Compare that to what a market like NASDAQ has done over the past 10 years.
Gone up, up, up! Give me a dart board and the Wall Street Journal and I
would have averaged 12% over the past 30 years.
I'm sure your next argument will be that of becoming a sophisticated card
counter. Sorry, it's not worth spending hours in smoke-filled casinos, performing
tedious mental calculations and disguising your play so you won't be thrown
out--just for a one percent edge.
Finally, Dr. Edward Thorp, who wrote the classic "Beat the Dealer"
was, as a professional, in the investment business. Even he conceded it
is far easier to make money in the financial markets than at blackjack.
Unfortunately, gambling is a poor man's way of investing, and even for the
poorest of investors, a $500 wager in a mutual fund is a much better bet.
Dear Mark,
When the state lotto gets over $20 million here in California, my mother
wants me to buy $10 worth of lottery tickets and then mail them back to
her in Michigan. Is it legal for me to mail her the tickets? Roberta F.
San Jose, CA
Congratulate your mother for me, Roberta, for waiting till the lottery reaches
$20 million before she purchases her tickets. Because the true odds of hitting
the California lottery are 18,009,460 to 1, she's actually playing the game
smart.
As for the legality of sending tickets through the mail, sorry, Roberta,
using the United States Postal Service for this particular ruse is against
the law. Millions do it, unknowingly, but I have yet to hear of one individual
who has been charged, or convicted for sending lottery tickets by mail;
NOT ONE! But if you want to play it straight, it's perfectly legal to use
a service like Federal Express or Airborne Express.
Where individuals and businesses have gotten into trouble is soliciting
you to play a foreign lottery. Ever get one of those plain white envelopes
enticing you to play the Canadian Lottery, Roberta? Don't! It's against
the law, again for the same reason. U.S. Postal regulations state that using
the U.S. mail to solicit people to play the lottery, or even to distribute
any type of lottery material, is strictly illegal.
By the way, there's a reason why their envelope on the outside doesn't give
away what's on the inside. With a Canadian Lotto return address, it would
be confiscated by the USPS before it reached you.
Before I Shuffle: Though I've addressed this in the past, it is still
the most often asked question I get in blackjack. "Does the poor play
of another player on the table affect the outcome of your hand?" Again,
absolutely not. A bad player's actions will "help" you as often
as "hurt" you in this game. As long as Deal Me In readers stick
to basic strategy, the house edge will still remain--nil. Now to our friends
whose poor play deviates from the norm, Mark Twain once said, "There
are two times in a man's life when he should not speculate (gamble): When
he can't afford it and when he can."
Got a question about gambling? Write to: Deal Me In, 774 Mays Blvd.
Suite 10, Incline Village, NV 89451 or e-mail:winners@winner.com
· To order Mark Pilarski's "Hooked on Winning" audio cassettes-laminated
win cards package ($12.95 plus $2. S&H) call (800) WINNERS.
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