Pumping Oxygen Into a Casino is NOT a Trick of the Trade
Dear Mark,
My friend believes that many of the Vegas casinos pump oxygen through the
air conditioning system to enrich the air. The purpose is to keep you from
sleeping as long and therefore gambling more. I didn't notice any difference
in my sleeping habits, but still, my friend insists he's right. Is he? Colin,
Internet
Colin, your friend is full of, of, of, OK, I'll be nice, baloney. What comes
to mind every time I hear this rumor are the three Apollo astronauts who
died when a small spark combined with oxygen ignited their space capsule
creating one of NASA's worst disasters.
According to my neighbor Dick (Captain, San Francisco Fire Department),
"pumping oxygen into a casino would be a tremendous fire hazard that
would greatly increase the flammability of all other objects. Any small
fire, anywhere in the hotel, would be fanned and magnify itself by pumped
oxygen." As for the risk/reward opportunity, no casino would ever entertain
the thought.
Of course that doesn't mean the casino doesn't have its share of tricks
to part bettors from their cash. Casinos spend tens of thousands of dollars
each year studying whether scents, interior design (yes, even that gaudy
carpeting) or trying to keep light off the foreheads of customers-which
is draining on them from an energy standpoint-will make players stay and
play more. If somehow a casino could figure out how to keep each and every
patron playing just five more minutes a night, it would add millions to
a casino's gross each year.
Now back to this ridiculous rumor of pumping oxygen, Colin. It does have
a starting point. I believe ground zero comes from Mario Puzo's book, Fools
Die, where the practice of pumping oxygen was written by Puzo regarding
the mythical Las Vegas casino Xanadu. I guess your friend translated this
fictional work into reality, but hey, Colin, maybe casinos one day will
try decreasing the oxygen to disorient the players even more than they already
are.
Dear Mark,
I have just found your columns on the internet (http://winner.com/archived.html)
and have very much enjoyed reading your responses to other's questions.
I have one that I hope you will answer. I don't understand some of the symbols
you use in your answers, like "5¢" that was used in your
"Play Where There's Competition" answer. For the sake of us who
are new, what do these symbols mean? Ray, Salinas, CA
When I send this column out electronically to different editors across the
country, I preface the column with a description of all the symbols I use.
Why? Because they, like you Ray, might be using older e-mail programs or
Web Browsers. Those symbols should be cents, dollar signs or m-dashes, but
your WWW software interprets them instead as garble. Try upgrading to a
newer version of either Netscape or Microsoft Explorer. Both will read the
column fine.
Before I Shuffle: Three individuals who wrote in recently wanted
the specific house edge when taking odds on a crap game. Here are the percentages
in favor of the house for pass line and come bettors when you take full
advantage of various odds bets.
Pass line (Come) no odds 1.41%
Single odds 0.85%
Double odds 0.61%
Triple odds 0.47%
Five times odds 0.32%
10 times odds 0.18%
Minus being a sophisticated card counter, taking odds on a pass line bet
is the absolute "best bet" in the house. The odds themselves have
a casino advantage of zero. A highly recommended wager.
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
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