ANALYZE THIS!

On August 31, Frank Scoblete posted a dream he had and invited RGT Online readers to ANALYZE THIS!

Here are some of the best responses we have received so far.

From James Cox:

I agree with AP: This one IS easy. I think it would take a card counter to figure it out, however.

You are distinct from most gamblers in that your play is an "investment" because your expected value is positive. The EV for most gamblers is negative. All of us in a similar position constantly wonder why real gamblers so willingly throw away their hard-earned money.

You begin the dream seeing the casinos as they really are, rather than the "front" that they present for other gamblers. The bleak austere outside and the paucity of tables inside represent the ruin that they have caused people to go through ---- the old blackjack tables in this "forgotten" parking lot are really a graveyard of lost fortunes at the table. I would bet going by the pool that you felt that most people would not even see the "tables" in the water --- they are hidden behind a sleek veneer (a pretty pool, in this case). But because you understand how the casinos work, you aren't fooled.

The guy in the wheelchair taking your spot actually saved you, since he was over the hole with water. He represented all the times that people have taken the bad cards for you, saving you (ever wonged out? You're hurting them). His being in a wheelchair shows your guilt at seeing people who were in a worse condition than yourself lose their money --- particularly when they are taking the negative cards that you "could" have gotten.

Your "special rule" of being able to see your cards before your bet represented your advantage over other gamblers by understanding how to beat the game, but your inability to get the money on the table represented your recognition that you can still lose even with the advantage, and the pit bosses' admonition represents your recognition that their surveillance sometimes keeps you from making the optimal play.

Your vision of your friend, and your coaching of her as to how to play optimally in a game she could not have understood (why did you understand it? Because you are confident that you can figure out how to beat unfamiliar games quickly) shows that you have dealt with your guilt by trying to teach others how to win in the casino, as you did her.

From R.D. Ellison, RGT Online writer:

My first take on your dream was that you didn't supply enough data about a key point: were the potatoes and bacon real, or were they pictured on the cards? Now, since there were multiple-deck shoes, I would tend to assume the latter, but anything can happen in a dream. They might have had a flat shape as they were dealt, but inflated when they hit the felt, through a chemical reaction. At any rate, I'm going to proceed on the assumption that they were picture cards.

Your dream was a frightening worst-case glimpse of the future. In this dark world, your cause and your talents are meaningless, because the games have changed (into food motifs), and the casinos are nearly extinct (as evidenced by the restaurant being under water (in debt), and the scarcity of games). In that world, everything that used to be easy for you is hard, like the requirement to separate the currency, your difficulty in doing so, and the puzzling new configuration of the games. And the bubbling water hole was the gateway to Hell, which seemed to you to be only one step away.

But, and I don't use the word lightly, I think I have spotted two flaws:

1) You couldn't have known the bacon was "very crisp", because bacon is long and thin, and thus would look tiny on a picture card. And since they were the dealer's cards, they would have been that much harder to see in precise detail. And if the bacon was real, we get back to the multiple-deck shoe problem I mentioned earlier.

2) I don't believe that you really knew basic strategy for hitting 14 baked potatoes, because that's the one inconsistency to the format of the dream, which places you in a world where all your knowledge is useless. I submit that this part was fabricated, to inject humor into the story and make it more interesting!

From Marianne:

Sounds to me like you need to hurry and get over your phobia......AND GO SEE A SHRINK!!

From Larry Green:

I have to agree with the delightful A.P.--this is an easy one. You know that poem--"Gather ye rosebuds while ye may"? Well--the dream has similarities. The gambling town of your dreams was not so much fun, not too many choices either--(afterlife?). The BJ tables you could no longer play on, because you were "parked" somewhere. You couldn't find a table at the BJ table, because you are still alive, right now, and are fully capable of "getting your own chair", and belly up to the table, if you choose. Same with the wrong kind of currency--you still can be seperated from your money--if you don't play your cards right. The restaurant in the pool--easy--you're eating too much watered down food. The 14 baked potatoes would never beat the 8 pieces of bacon!! So in a nutshell--your dream is your brain's pleasure centers trying to get you to go gamble, have some fun with your friends--and for God's sake man--eat some meat !!!! Many regards, Larry Green (with editing by my adorable partner, spell checker and walking thesaurus--Madeliene)

If you would like to take a crack at interpreting Frank's dream, click here to display the page with his dream. That page will have instructions about how to submit your analysis.