About Anticipation

22 December 2024

By Frank Scoblete

QUESTION from Clem:

You used to write and say that anticipation was the best part of casino gambling and I agree. But it does seem to wear thin after a few hours. That is what I have found.

It also has no effect on the results of your play. It is just an internal something or other. No real impact or anything to do with winning or losing.

You become kind of numb and just go through the betting routine after awhile.

I look around the table, mostly blackjack and some craps, and I see that many other players who have been there for a while, maybe a couple of hours or so, seem a little glassy-eyed and not relishing the moment when the cards are dealt or the dice are thrown.

What do you think? Is anticipation just something that comes and goes and has no real effect on the game?

-----Clem

From FRANK:

Clem, you may be right in this matter. I haven’t really studied the after-a-couple-of-hours players. I never even checked in with myself. Anticipation is a great feeling and it does rev you up to play. Hope springs eternal as the saying goes.

Yet, I do think it is possible that anticipation is not a long-lasting emotion.

It is kind of like working a job that you aren’t interested in but must keep doing it and you do it correctly but you are – I don’t know, maybe bored? The time is just moving towards the future and your insides are not all steamed up as they were when you started playing earlier or when you were home thinking about playing.

That might be a good time to call it a session too, even if you happen to be ahead. Give yourself time to get those anticipatory juices flowing again.

Playing against the house edge is always a negative, no matter whether you are ahead or behind at the particular moment, so why not do something else until your anticipatory state gets revved up again and you go back into the game?

You might find this a great way to gauge your play.

I do believe, however, that anticipation consumes lottery players, casino players, sports bettors, and the like. It is the “hope” that was the last thing to come out of Pandora’s box (remember all the evils of the world came out of that box but hope flew out in the end).

And casino players are certainly “hopers” because why else go to the house of Lady Luck?

I guess, no matter what, hope will win in the end.

All the best in and out of the casinos!

Frank Scoblete’s books are available from Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, Kindle, e-books, libraries, and bookstores.