The 4 Skills.

[elmo]

There are 4 skills required to turn yourself into the 0. 5% minority that are considered TRUE professional players.
I did not pluck that figure out from thin air either.  Having worked at the highest level in the industry for many years, I can tell you that if I had 5000 members, only 25 would give me much cause for concern.  The other 4,995 were always welcome with open arms.
SKILL 1.  Bet Selection (without a winning bet selection, you are an also ran)
SKILL 2.  Bankroll (Bankroll is King, if you don't have sufficient funding, you are in big trouble)
SKILL 3.  Money Management (you need to know excactly how much to bet and when to push and when to back off)
SKILL 4.  Patience and Discipline (if you don't have any, then forget it)
4 skills that only 25 people from 5000 have down to a fine art. 
Where do you fit in?
Maybe you just play for fun! I use to love players who just played for fun. 
Maybe you play systems! I love system players.  They lose more than players who play for fun.
Maybe you count cards! Brilliant, only 25 from 5000 could win.
So we should have a look at the 4 skills.
SKILL 1.  Bet Selection.  There is no winning bet selection on any forum that I can find.  All I see is the same old rubbish that never worked for the last 50 years and that is not going to change no matter how many times you put a fancy new dress on it.
Dealers signature and wheel bias.  This is one of the biggest myths going about.  Out of the hundreds that try and fail, a few get lucky and think they are on to something.  The dealers spend all day and night b***hing about the rude customers and moaning about lack of breaks.  They don't land the ball on the number with the least chips on it.  They don't really give a f**k if you win or lose.  So all the crap about dealers spinning against players is paranoid claptrap.
SKILL 2.  Bankroll.  Most players who step into the casino leave their brains out in the car park.  They must think the bankroll will make up for all the other shortcomings.
SKILL 3.  Money Management.  A fool and his money are soon parted.
SKILL 4.  Patience and Discipline.  If you have read this far, there might be some hope for you yet.
I am going to cover all 4 skills and show you what you need to know.  Unfortunately the bad news is that only 0. 5% of you will make any real use of it.  I am not the messiah.  You don't need to thank me because the odds are you are more likely to be one of the 99. 5% and stay there.
Over the course of the next week I will tell you what you need to know and then skdaddle.

[Spike]

Hey Elmo! I've been saying that bet selection is god for years and people just laugh at me. Without a winning bet selection, your other 3 skills are useless, stay home. And if you do have a winning bet selection, the other 3 skills are still far down the list. BS is everything, without it you will always be a loser. MM and patience and BR all come when you have the BS nailed.

And .05% is being generous. I'd say its closer to .02%. As an example, I saw a guy playing airball roulette the other day. He was playing furthest back dozens and columns. He'd see a dozen that slept for 6 spins and bet half the numbers in the dozen with a progression. He went right up to the house limit twice and won over $1500 both times. The bells went off because its a machine setup and they had to come and get his IRS info and pay him off. This got him a lot of attention and people were always trying to figure out his 'system'. He wasn't winning all that much, he was just getting his progression money back. He did OK, I'd say he made about $800. He was one agogant jerk. I guarantee he thought he was a pro and he's just a train wreck waiting to happen. He will get back to back sessions eventually that will wipe him out, but in the meantime he's Joe the Pro.

[TwoCatSam]

"Bet Selection (without a winning bet selection, you are an also ran)", said elmo.  OK, that seems very logical.


"Bet Selection.  There is no winning bet selection on any forum that I can find.", he said in the main body of the article.  So elmo, I must ask the obvious question:  Is there NO winning bet selection or just none on any forum you have found.  In other words, is there a winning system--other than Spike's--floating around out there we don't know about?  Your sentence leaves a lot of wiggle room.

I am anxious to read more.  I will readily admit I am in the vast majority trying to scratch my way into the minority.

Sam

[Spike]

Is there NO winning bet selection or just none on any forum you have found.>>

Ask yourself this. In all the treasure maps found on the net, how many lead to real treasure? In a book on roulette wtitten 100 years ago, the author says if you have a winning system, keep it to yourself. Nothing has changed.

[simon]

wow, how brilliant, if you have a good bet selection you can do good, who'd a thunk it?

[Ka2]

Skill No.5 To restrain yourself to spend to much time on roulette forums to look for a winning BS. Why? Because it will never be found there... I'm affraid you've to do all of the hard work yourself.....

[bombus]

Don't forget the all important...

Skill No.6

Training yourself to consume moderate to copious amounts of alcohol and actively attempt to pick up spunky chicks while slaying the roulette table with your amazingly invincible BS.

Doing all this while busting to go to the toilet makes you a true Master of Roulette. 
   

[Spike]

 I'm affraid you've to do all of the hard work yourself.....>>

Amen to that.. Its just like working a gold mine, if you don't do it alone, all your partners will steal you blind..

[simon]

hmmm, and if there is no advantaged bet in roulette (highly unlikely), then it's really the other skills that are more important.

... gee, I think everyone since the history of gambling has been saying for years an advantaged bet would be great... what a revelation....

[hideseek]

Hi Elmo,
          Welcome to this great forum.
I love this

Maybe you play systems! I love system players.  They lose more than players who play for fun

.
Most of my losses are due to my systems.
One quick question; Roulette is a "game of chance" Do you think player skills does matter? In my opinion all these skills will help you to lose slowly and steadily over a period of time! you can check simon's thread on GIVE UP
I gave up this game happily.
Thanks
HS

[elmo]

 In the late 70's I was just starting out in the casino industry.      It was all very exciting for me and it seemed like a different world.      It did not take me long to figure out why.      This is what kept the gamblers coming back every night to escape reality.      The excitement of it all soon wore thin as I saw countless people lose night after night and it was shocking to see people go down the slippery slope of self destruction.      We had the occasional times when a gambler hit a lucky streak but that just encouraged them even more before the winnings came back to the house.      I used to enjoy dealing the cards more than the roulette.      It was a more sombre affair and the players seemed to be a lot more in control of themself.      After a few years I worked my way up to an inspector.      I had to watch over the table to make sure things were running smoothly.      Three middle aged gentlemen who appeared to be in their 50's started coming in a few times a week and I remember thinking early on that something was different about them.      They never really chatted to anybody and just sat at the roulette table for about an hour or so.      Then regardless if they were winning or not would just cash in and leave.      They sat at different ends of the table and each marked a card which we supplied.      One would play the red/black.      The other odd/even and the third played the high/low.      When I was inspecting, I paid close attention to these guys.      At first I thought that they were up to no good.      They always bought chips from the bank to play at the table and I noticed often that they would start hiding the chips away and very rarely cashed in chips at the table.      In fact my manager would sometimes come over and tell them to remember to cash in all their chips.      Over the next 6 months, they came in regular and just seemed to keep winning.      I had never seen anyone have so much luck in the few years that I had been working there.      A few of the old timers who worked there said that in time they would just give it all back and to let them have their fun.      After a year we reckoned they had took us for over 100k+.      For a few months the general manager had been threatening to terminate the memberships of all three gentlemen because he could not tolerate them winning anymore.      The luck they enjoyed was far and away above anything that was considered within reason.      So after the christmas of 1982 he barred them.      I remember joking with him that if I knew the system they were playing, I would pack in the job and travel the world playing roulette.      That did not go down very well with him at the time.      In the mid 80's I emigrated to Australia with my late wife.      She was an Australian citizen and wanted to be near her parents as they were getting older.      I wanted a change in career and ended up selling Encyclopedia Brittanica for a few years.      It was a challenge and I actually enjoyed it.      The commission was very good and it paid the bills.      My wife died suddenly in 1988 and it was not a good time for me over the next year or so.      I did not go to work and I had no real friends over there because I had spent most of my time in Australia working.      I started going to the casino and I guess it was more for comfort and been in familiar surroundings more than anything else.      Anyhow I got into gambling and I can honestly say my luck was terrible.      In the summer of 1990 while I was up in Brisbane looking for work I went to the casino a few times.      On my second last visit there I recognised one of the gentlemen from the casino I used to work in.      I thought what a small world and we got chatting and had a few beers.      It turned out that his mother lived in Brisbane and he had been living in Brisbane for the last year or so.      After the few beers I thought it was a good time to ask him about the roulette winnings with his partners.      He told me that he was a professional casino gambler and that he had made a small fortune through playing roulette over the last 10 years.      Needless to say I was very keen on finding out what his system was.      He told me that he really could not tell me because of the agreement he had with various parties.      I told him that I was in a very bad situation and really needed to make some money fast.      I gave him my address down in Sydney and told him to look me up if he was ever down that way.      About 3 months later he got in contact with me and said he may have a solution to my problem.      He asked me to consider becoming a partner with him and that way he could let me in on the system.      I sold my car and most of my belongings and flew up to Brisbane hoping this would really help me out.      Over the next year we played the system as often as possible and we really made some decent money.      I eventually came back home in 93 and was soon back working in the industry and playing in my spare time.      It took me a good while to find a few people who I could trust to play the system with me.      I retired 5 years ago and have been playing roulette since with my partners.      There are ups and downs with the system but it has always shown profits for the last 20 years for those who have played it.      I suppose I could have played the system full time but working always seemed to keep my feet on the ground and that brief time in Sydney when I mostly just gambled was an unhappy time for me.      This is why I mention the 4 skills.      If anybody thinks that they can become a full time professional gambler, I can honestly tell you most of you will never make it and it could ruin your life.      Better to keep a job, learn the 4 skills and play part time to give yourself a comfortable lifestyle.      Well that is almost my life story and I will be sharing the 4 skills with you over the next week because I know that I can't take them with me when my time is up.   

[The Spiders Kiss]

Hi Elmo
Very interesting post thank you....looking forward to the rest.
TSK

[simon]

you people are so naive-- can't you see this is a big come on?  do you think he is typing this up for the first time here and now?  can't you see what's coming next?  it's so obvious...

[Spike]

He told me that he was a professional casino gambler and that he had made a small fortune through playing roulette>>>

Was he old and Chinese? In this type of story the guy is almost always Chinese. I'm trying to be positive about you, Elmo, but I've seen your story in various versions about 2 dozen time. I'm still giving you the benefit of the doubt, however, and am interested in hearing more. What I mean is, these are stories that are usually circulated by system sellers. Say it ain't so, Elmo..

[TwoCatSam]

I don't care if it's fiction; it's darned good writing!  If he wrote a book, I'd buy it!

Carry on, elmo.

Sam

[TwoCatSam]

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