Why Gambling Isn’t Just Luck: A Mathematician’s Perspective

Believe it or not (and you mostly do not believe it, we are sure), gambling is not entirely about luck – well, not all sorts of gambling, for example! By this, we do not mean to argue that you will win your next session, or that the calculation of RTP will guarantee better results. However, we are inclined to say that there have been instances where a deeper understanding of gambling has actually led to better payouts for players!

In other words, gambling is still based on the so-called Random Number Generator, the technological term for complete and utter randomness. However, under the right conditions, there are many ways to influence gambling and payouts to actually be a touch better and more, shall we say, aligned with your personal preferences. Let’s take a look at what this means.

Do You Believe Niko Tosa?

Let’s start with the example of one gambler – Niko Tosa, the man who is known for beating roulette. Now, if you ask Roulette77, the game is unbeatable, and the publication has a point, because it has tested hundreds of thousands of simulated game rounds using hundreds of mathematically sound strategies to prove it.

Yet, Niko Tosa has defied the odds. The enigmatic Croatian gambler once walked into a posh casino in the United Kingdom, and several others, it later turned out, and consistently won playing roulette. He would use call bets and put the bets down on a number in the last.

Nobody knew how he did it, and he was, of course, accused of cheating but police couldn’t find anything, so they released him and banned him. How did Tosa do it? Perhaps it’s a well-known secret among him and his partners, but for the rest of the world – the mathematical proof that roulette is unbeatable still stands.

One idea is that Tosa did something very simple: 

1. He observed the roulette wheel
2. He determined the speed of rotation (somehow)
3. He knew approximately where to drop his bet based on the speed of rotation value

This is actually a sound argument – you can really tell what sectors the ball is likely to drop into if you have a better understanding of the speed of rotation. This sounds great, right? 

Here is the rub.

Supposedly, nobody can do this without a special electronic device, and now for the good part. Did Tosa have one? No, none that was found on him or any of his accomplices! 

Blackjack – The Game That You Can Predict

Up next, serving as proof that you do not need to rely on luck to defeat a game is blackjack. Blackjack has been defeated so many times that it’s not even funny anymore! Here are a couple of notable wins.

Each of these gamblers won against the house. But blackjack is fairly easy if you know what you are doing – card counting has been the most potent tool in a gambler’s arsenal, but it’s also rather hard to pull off, requires rigorous training, and the casinos are onto you.

Phil Ivey’s case is a bit different, though. He used a strategy known as edge sorting, in which he could just tell, by looking at the cards’ imperfections, that they were not the cards that he actually needed next. It was a scandalous story, and he had to settle with several casinos privately, although it’s not clear whether he actually had to pay – or received payment.

After all, Ivey had no obligation to tell casinos that they were using bad products. He was just skilled enough to see through it, the argument went. 

Beating the Odds: Mission Impossible or Something Else

To wrap it all up, it’s good to understand how gambling works. Most titles are based on chance, and there is an inherent house edge, which means that the longer you play, the more likely it is for you to lose against the casino.

It’s just the way these games work, and there is no real way to influence them. However, Niko Tosa did, and so have many other card counters. This is not the norm, though, and you need to realize that not even the biggest security experts have a clue what Tosa did to pull off his incredible stunt – time and again.

While card counters can be caught and their art taught, the chances of everyone becoming an expert card counter without proper guidance are very, very slim. This is why gambling is indeed both – luck and skill, but the truth is that to get so skilled, you need to be let in on some secrets and study so much that you may be better off just getting a better-paid job in the end!