The type of people who 100 years ago said "If man were meant to fly, he would have been given wings." are the same type of people who today say "Random events CANNOT be predicted!--that's why they are called random"
The Taming of Chaos (or) Beating the Odds
When I talk about chaos, I am talking about the chaos which is present in random events. Specifically, the randomized events staged in REAL ACTION casino table games.
But WHY/HOW does it work exactly?
This seems to be the "ultimate" and to me, most perplexing of questions.
In addressing this question, here is an excerpt from my training materials you might be interested in reading on the contrasting of Experience Based and Two- dimensional thinking, as well as the double standard which we use to evaluate new ideas.
Straight Observatioin, and Cause and Effect (2 dimensional) thinking.
Straight Observation-
When you see one thing happen and then you observe that another thing happens. Into this category fall a number of things, which mankind for thousands of years has understood as "Givens" without really understanding the "WHY" of them. Further, these givens have made up a bulk of the pool of knowledge known as "Common Sense" and "Common Wisdom". Here's a very short list of examples:
When it gets dark at night-- the darkness is only temporary, and when Winter comes, it doesn't last forever--warm weather will return. Even cavemen, who knew nothing about the elliptical orbit of planets or that the Sun was the center of our solar system, or for that matter, that they were even on a planet, even they, understood these phenomenons from "experience", even though they had no concept of the "Why" (they would however make up stories to justify these phenomenons). Had they not understood these things and incorporated these experienced based understandings into their way of seeing and dealing with the world, civilization as we know and enjoy it today would never have occured or progressed. Other examples of primitive man's observational wisdoms, include:
noticing that wood floats--mix in a little creative thinking and boats became possible or,
that flint causes sparks when struck against a stone--hence fire).
Now lets look at a second type of understanding. That understanding is labled "cause and effect". In using this line of analysis in problem solving, one assumes that rather than relying upon our instincts and ability for simple observation, we instead look at events and say, "I do not know WHY exactly the seasons come and go or why flint striking metal can bring fire or why wood floats, so I am not going to utilize and incorporate understanding based on this information into my way of doing things. (Sounds pretty stupid!)
Here's a related story:
Celestial Navigation
Please note that when boat pilots, in centuries past, used celestial navigation, they almost always did so without understanding WHY it worked (in guiding their path to where they wanted to go).
Now our captain while navigating a path he has chosen on the open seas, encounters another boat; a fine looking, very seaworthy vessel with a confused looking captain at its helm. This second boat is adrift because the second captain has lost his bearings, actually he never has been exposed to the principles of celestial navigation and in spite of setting out to sea with a destination in mind, he has come to realize that he has no idea of how to get there. The first captain has several options, (1) he could wave and sail on, (2) He could take the other boat in-tow for a time, while he attempts to explain what signs the other pilot should follow in order to steer a true course to his destination, or he could sail on while laughing about the other's predicament. Being a kind-hearted sort, the first captain offers to help the second if the second will furnish him with some provisions, as compensation for delaying his journey. The second captain, having a large store of provisions gladly agrees. However, just before taking the other boat in tow, the second captain says "You may be adrift just like me, why don't you explain the cause and effect basis of what you are doing by steering your boat using the stars. By that, I mean tell me WHY following the stars to guide your course instead of just using the sun, works to help you steer a proper course. If you cannot do this then I certainly am not going to share my provisions with you. I may be lost, but I certainly am not going to follow you." This response may have been prompted by a distrust of the "experience based" observations of others, or by a sense of material based superiority, because the boat being captained by the other captain was so much smaller than his own. Whatever the reason, the new captain had put his standard for accepting advice from the experienced captain, MUCH Higher (by requesting "cause and effect" proof) than he had done by willingly climbing aboard his own boat (without truly understanding "why wood floats"). At this point, and not being able to explain exactly WHY celestial navigation works, the first captain sails off shaking his head.
The moral is--
When someone asks me, "why do you look at the the factors you look at in the game of baccarat?", I reply that my experience tells me it is wise to do so, I also invite them to see for themselves because the phenomenons I employ and track are readily repeatable. To this,they say "why should any of the trackable dimensions of this or any game be anything but random events independant of the game of baccarat being played?" What is the Cause and effect relationship of the xxxxxxxxx xxxx xxxxxxx and the game ongoing? To this I say "I really don't know." Next they say, "If you can't explain WHY what you're doing works, then there is no way I am going to follow YOU!"
To this I say, so be it, and play on amidst a landscape littered with the bleached bones of untold numbers of players who have not understood what gaming and chaos is all about, yet have played "poorly" with such great seriousness.
Please also remember the following: Simply "teaching someone a play approach" then
sending them into the Modern Casino, is like teaching someone to shoot a basketball, then sending them in to play against the "L.A. Lakers". Sophomoric preparedness usually leads to sophomoric results!
