Commentary | Gambling Rage

Rage mode does not need a long definition for us here at GGC. This term is also easily understood by our younger players who are combat games fans but our average gambler prefer to use the term “eat fire”. We are totally familiar with this as it is often describe by “flame covering the eyes”. When the fire or anger comes it is so great that is had completely covered our sight. It is also common for us to hear people put the blame on witchcraft using spiritual beings to cover their eyes with flames. I must say this is the one time I must follow +Abby Zhang  and +xingcai zhang  to say I want to give the picture a fb-like. The flames covering the eyes in the picture is completely in accordance to Chinese description of this behavior.

Commentary | Gambling Pitfalls

Avoid these six bad habits.

• Rage’s Rampage
• Chasing Losses
• Post Loss Discontentment
• Gambling on Borrowed Money
• Gambling Beyond Your Means.
• Gambling for the Thrills of Gambling

To some extend these are unwritten rules in GGC. Even though we do not include the negative elements of gambling in the Way of the Guerrilla, we know what they are and try to avoid them. What is more ironic is knowing they are bad we sometimes get carried away and do it.

Commentary | Gambling Luck

This tip on relying solely on luck is a bit tricky. We know of the times when luck is not good, every which way we go we will lose. This is a “buy what lose what” case as we say in GGC. How then can we count on luck when it was not present in the first place?

After giving it some thought, I realized that we did not rely totally on luck when we started out. The element of skill is always present in our decision making. It is a skill and luck combination that we started off with. The skill part is usually in the form of trend reading for the baccarat players. The roulette players would likely use some form of ballistic projection in their prediction.

The main key as SavySeph pointed out is to go to the game you had zero knowledge. You would of course need to know at least house edge to avoid going for sucker’s bet. This zero knowledge would throw skill out of the picture so that anything which remains is purely luck.

Schadenfreude Refreshes Parts

I first came by the word schadenfreude recently in SavySeph’s Tip 17. It means to rejoice in the misfortune of others as stated in the website. Now I am puzzled as I was read that “schadenfreude refreshes the parts other beers cannot reach”. I checked the online dictionaries and Wikipedia and these sources confirm that SavySeph used the word correctly. If anyone knows how schadenfreude refreshes the parts other beers cannot reach, please leave a comment. Thanks.

Commentary | Exploit Bias Moments

Our fight with randomness is never ending in the casino. Without must success the frustration get the better of us. Sometimes we will be bless because in all the randomness, there will come a brief moment of biasness. Most of the time we are caught up with our frustration and missed this moment. These are the time we come back pissed then log in a BR with the phrase "buy what, lose what" or whatever we bet on we end up losing.

Commentary | Abstain Gambling

In Malaysian's slang water refers to money depending on the context. This tips reminds me of a superstition we discussed on our forum a few years back. It requires drinking a lot of water frequently especially the moment you get in the casino. Since water is a comp provided by the casino without fuss, there is no problem getting it. It is good symbolically to take water (money in this context) from the casino the moment you enter. That way water/money will flow in from the start. The constant intake of water will ensure that money keeps flowing in.

Enthusiasts who tried it reported an expected biological side effect. They keep visiting the toilet. I actually buy this superstition for scientific reason. People usually don’t drink enough water and the trips to the toilet act as force breaks. The exercise will also do you good.

Commentary | Post Gambling Analysis

SavySeph have some useful tips on things to include in the Post Game Analysis. When someone post a Battle Report or BR (a summarized account of our gambling session - for detail account of GGC BR format please see our terminology page), others would response with a congratulatory message. We should be looking at the strength and weaknesses and some of the pointers SavySeph mentioned in a fellow comrade's BR. If other could spot something that needed correcting, we should also shoot it out. This way we could help a fellow comrade. The the typical congratulatory message is still good to give encouragement.

Commentary | Bet Size

The issue of bet size had been a topic that is frequently discussed in our GGC forum at lowyat. SavySeph used an individual's income to determine bet size. I believe this way of determining bet size would resolve our issue of bet size at GGC. A bet size that is too small will give 'no kick' when winning. Conversely a bet that is too big may cause problems when losing that may lead to irresponsible gambling.

Commentary | Keeping Gambling Record

SavySeph urges people who are serious about gambling to keep records. To some extend GGC also encourages the keeping of records by posting BR or Battle Reports (a summarized account of our gambling session - for detail account of GGC BR format see our terminology page.) One of the problems with our BR is the tendency for members to only report winning BR and withhold the losing ones. It is okay to withhold your loosing BR from the thread. Some losses do make you feel stupid and you do not want to share it. As long as you have discipline to keep good records that you can easily retrieve you will learn from your mistakes.

Commentary | Gamblers Armaments

These are SavySeph's armament list.

• Keeping Records is Compulsory.
• Sizing is the Name of the Game.
• Conduct Post Game Study.
• Abstain to Take a Break.
• Find Brief Moments of Biasness.
• Rely on Luck to Salvage Losses.

I am not disappointed that they are mostly defensive weapons. Look at Tip 7 (House Edge), Tip 8 (Randomness), and Tip 11 (Distraction Tactics) it should not come as a surprise that the gambler is on the defensive. If you choose not to use these weapons because they lack finesse, then you will be at the loosing end.

As guerrillas, GGC is no overly concern about state of the art weapons or tools. We have always pride ourselves for "sawing down a big tree with a small knife" (Chinese proverb).

Commentray | Gambling & Intuition

From the chapter introduction, I had said this tip would be my favorite. I rely on intuition for bet selection all the time. From SavySeph's Tip 4 the intellect or educated selection is nothing but another wild guess because randomness discussed in Tip 8 will end up bashing the most educated prediction. I call this betting base on feel which I had shared in various post on GGC at lowyat threads. Once you begin to make money with it then you will begin to appreciate Einstein's quote in the picture.

Commentary| Gambling Covet

Sharing is the purpose of our Battle Report or BR (a summarized account of our gambling session - for detail account of GGC BR format see our terminology page.) Many times I have seen a fantastic BR followed by several devastating BR. Instead of being encouraged by the success of a fellow comrade, we have the tendency to outdo each other. This covetous attitude of human is a great pitfall in gambling that SavySeph tried to point out in her 17th Tip.

Commentary | Gambling Indecision

As baccarat (an even money game) is the main game for most GGC members, coming to a split decision is common. For one moment we are damn sure it is banker. Then a sudden fear strike us. We have doubt and then we switch our selection to player. As we lay down the wager fear hold as back again. The selection then ding-dong between banker and player. When the outcome is revealed (banker or player), we will think we are right because we were too engrossed with the ding-dong decision that we had selected both choice. If this is a familiar feeling check out the dangers of such phenomena in SavySeph's Tip 16.

This reminds me of the Chinese metaphor known as the "two headed snake". When it serves your advantage you will take a bite at the good guys. If you have more to gain the other way, you take a bite at the bad guys. Should both parties eventually see your agenda, you will be an enemy to both. So, it is like "player cannot, banker may not work also". In the end "no bet, no win".

Commentary | Over Confidence

SavySeph describe overconfidence with the metaphor being endowed with the heart of a lion. Our version of fearless is eaten tiger's guts. It is the opposite of kiasu (fear of losing). We just need to find a balance of the two. There is the right time to eat the tiger's guts or take a kiasu stand. Our discernment is on when to be bold and when to fear is the key. This would either come from experience of gut feel or a combination of both.

Commentary | Gambling Fear

For most of us fear had no place in gambling. We would often say, "if you have no balls don't gamble". Yet so many times we find our self stricken by many losses until we are scared to make the next wager. Clinging on to "no balls don't gamble" ideology is only going to bring swift destruction to our bankroll. This is the time that fear can save you ass. Look at Savyseph's 14th Tip for an account of the fear cycle in gambling. As a reminder the casino is "kiasu" as seen in SavySeph's Tip 8. I don't see why gamblers should not adopt a kiasu (fear of losing) mentality at the appropriate moment.

Commentary | Gambling Impatience

In our emphasis on guerrilla tactics we had overlooked the importance of the gambling emotions. Reading SavySeph'sGambling Impatience I realized that it had surface in many of our unsuccessful Battle Reports or BR (a summarized account of our gambling session - for detail account of GGC BR format see our terminology page.) Fellow GGC, please take heed of this tip and wish you guys good hunting in your next gambling session.

Commentary | Gambling Emotions

Emotions at the gambling table is unavoidable. SavySeph list out the 6 emotions that should not be present at the gambling table.

• Impatience Increase Urge
• Fear Restrain Desire to Gamble
• Over Confidence Backfires
• Indecision Causes Regrets
• Coveteousness Increases Greed
• Don't Ignore Intuition

I do rely heavily on my intuition which I call feel. I am eager to see what is SavySeph's take on it.

Commentary | Casino Uses Black Magic

SavySeph's last tip on the chapter Casino Perspective claims that the casino is so desperate to win your money that it will resort to witchcraft. While this may be hard to accept for Westerners, it is common believe for Asian gamblers.

We had covered this in our previous blog. While this story will blow the mind of most Westerners, Asian had heard tales that are much more bizarre than this. The account on the blog mild. Wilder stories are only heard and seldom found in written form due to the burden of prove on the writer. Hearsay or factual you decide. If you see it like SavySeph's Pascal Theology of Luck. I don't see much harm in it.

Comentary | Casino Distract Gamblers

The casino takes the role of an evil clown. The moment you are distracted your goodies are relief off your possession. Distraction is a very common tactic use against an opponent.

Guerrillas are specialized in causing diversion to distract the enemy to a coordinate their main assault. The set back is GGC could not use distraction tactics in the casinos unless it is to steals chips of the gambling table.

Comentary | Casino Max Bet

The casino deadliest weapon serves to guard the casino from going bust. It helps the casino reduce their risk exposure. This policy shows the kaisu (fear of losing) mentality of the casino. Isn't it ironic that that a company whose nature of business is gambling embraces the kiasu concept while punters do not store such word in their dictionary?

Commentary | Casino Loves Winners

Link to Savy Seph’s Eighth Tip

Winner are free publicity to gambling operations. Lottery companies love to advertise their payout for the same reason. It motivates punters to try their luck and increase sales.

A few big winners can never cause the casino to go bust but it will help bring more people to the casino. Magic shows, megastar performances could never beat the publicity generated by big wins of gamblers.