Ex-Church of Christ Support Board

Playing the stock market is gambling. You have better odds than a casino. Twenty one used to have better odds than today. Today they use seven decks to confuse card counters. The way it is done with a single deck is to sit at the right if the dealer and count total cards and 10's and face cards. There are 20 out of 52. If you are holding thirteen a face card will bust you. If the count is 19/32 the odds are that a hit will succeed. Anything 8 of lower will succeed. Odds in your favor are 15/20. Holding means that you are betting on the dealer busting in which case a 13 wins. The House odds are usually 3% above or more against you. In Craps you can play behind the come line. The odds are 50/50 there. The bets in the middle of the table are sucker bets. The odds of hitting any double are 1 out 32. They pay out at 30 to 1. Which is less than the odds.. In spite of all the claims people make the odds are against you. I have had fun spending a set amount of money for entertainment expense. Don't bet the farm. Same with raffles. Yes there is a lot of math. Raffles are often donations. In that sense they are fine provided you are not shorting your family to do it. The CoC desires to see sin where there is none. That is why you feel so sinful. Dancing is another one. Attendance is one. I spent yesterday at home. I watch stuff of youtube. I have a Roku 2 with a high speed internet in the back and a HDMI port for my TV. You can get many services on it. There may be better ones today. The software is more up to date than my TV. It has a youtube interface. I can watch youtube in HD. The picture is great at 60 inches. There is a line of even clearer tvs at Costco. They a called OLED. You will part with more money for these.

We didn't have raffles.

We were not supposed to gamble. When we played poker, we just used chips, or someone’s collection of change that went back to the owner after the game, not to the winner. My dad was always the best at poker. I figured that was because he grew up betting real money in hidden games down by the river. His mama would have had a fit knowing he was gambling!