As someone who has spent a fair amount of time inside casinos, I know a little bit about the house odds and which games give me the best shot of coming out on top. Play the pass line on craps. Don’t play the bonus bet on Pai Gow and stay the hell away from the slot machines. Then consider these numbers from Nathan Koppel’s Wall Street Journal article about the city of San Francisco suing one of those arbitration companies that settles disputes between consumers and credit card companies: “From 2003 through March 31, 2007, 18,075 consumers’ arbitrations in California were resolved through hearings conducted by the NAF, according to the suit, citing data reported by the NAF. Thirty of the matters, or fewer than 0.2%, were won by consumers.” Talk about the odds being stacked in the house’s favor.
Archive for April 7th, 2008
The Chicago Tribune scored a Pulitzer prize today for its investigation into the failings of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and its inability to protect our children from toys that can kill them. Read the series, “Hidden Hazards: Our Kids at Risk,” and you can’t help but get angry. There are stories like the preschool teacher who warned the CPSC about a magnetic toy that almost killed one of her students. Do something before a child dies, Sharon Grigsby pleaded. She got a form letter back telling her the CPSC would look into her complaints. Six months later, her fears came true when a Seattle toddler swallowed magnets from the same toy the teacher had warned the CPSC about. That child died before his parents could reach the emergency room.
