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"Slowly I turn, step by step..."29 August 2023
Our emotions are that way too. Without us realizing it, our emotional responses to almost anything go from point “A” to point “B” and on through the emotional alphabet. This can be a slow churning, as the “Slowly I turn, step by step…” of the vaudeville routine which is this article’s title. It can also be like lightning. I have an acquaintance whose wife always scolds him about going from zero to 60 in a second. Yet, in that “second” you can see the buildup of his emotions sweep across his face and these emotions go at the speed of light. Then he explodes – often over nothing. Boom! Casino players have emotional journeys too. These journeys can go from neutral to good to great or from neutral to bad to awful to “help me, I am on tilt; I can’t stop losing.” I’ve been there twice in my casino career – in the first two years of a career in its fourth decade now. These are not usually zero to 60 but tilting happens all the time in every casino probably every day and night to many players. It is unwanted and in retrospect it is totally embarrassing. But tilt certainly does happen and has happened to most of us from time to time. What is Tilt? Tilt is an old term for a player losing it all; meaning his or her money, and his or her emotions and, perhaps, meaning his or her mind. (“Slowly I turn, step, by step…”) Much of tilt comes when the goddesses of luck turn against the players and the losses mount up. Then the player goes into some kind of agitated funk, betting more than he or she should and playing recklessly. Such recklessness seemingly causes more bad luck to happen. It is as of the entire universe has turned against the player. It’s as if the universe thinks, “I’m gonna nail that person, he! he! he!” The player can’t seem to help him or herself and just keeps going ever more quickly downhill, until running out of money is the ultimate landing zone (falling flat, splat). Let’s take a look at how it happened to me. I play a very conservative game. You know that if you read my articles and books. I use basic strategy at blackjack. I make only the lowest house edge bets at craps. I keep my money in check at other games. Yes, I am very, very conservative. I do enjoy playing (immensely enjoy it) but I have as an upper thought preserving my bankroll by playing the best strategies and not throwing my money around. I don’t hunt for comps either. If they come, they come. But my first tilt, the worst one, happened in the first year of my play. Nothing went right. I lost every penny I brought to the casino as my playing stake. Every penny! I also made the mistake of sampling many a drink – too many a drink! I played blackjack and craps and roulette and baccarat (big bac in the high roller room) and I even sampled the slot machines – some of the progressive ones too as I needed a giant win to bring me back from the garbage dump in which I was thrashing. It didn’t happen. When the next day came – and the nest day usually does come – I realized that I should have quit when I had lost “X” amount of money instead of plowing ahead. Actually, I had plowed my own head. The trip didn’t have to go from “A” to “Z.” It could have gone from “A” to “H” and that “H” saw me quit. The second time was not as bad but it was not good. Can you stop going on tilt? Yes, as the time passes and your losses grow, just say, “Screw it! I’ll pick up on my next trip.” True, that is hard to do but it can be done. Tilt is a terrible thing. A terrible experience. Avoid it. All the best in and out of the casinos! Frank Scoblete’s web site is www.frankscoblete.com. His books are available from Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, Kindle, e-books, libraries and bookstores. This article is provided by the Frank Scoblete Network. Melissa A. Kaplan is the network's managing editor. If you would like to use this article on your website, please contact Casino City Press, the exclusive web syndication outlet for the Frank Scoblete Network. To contact Frank, please e-mail him at fscobe@optonline.net. Recent Articles
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