“You can’t gamble by the clock…Time can place a limitation on pleasure.” Nick the Greek Dandalos
“The next best thing to playing and winning is playing and losing. The main thing is to play.” Nick the Greek
“What are hunches but mysterious messages coming out of the depths of our minds through some sort of mental telepathy?” Harold S. Smith—Owner of “Harold’s Club” casino in Reno, Nevada
“I don’t believe in hunches. Hunches are for dogs making love.” Amarillo Slim
“Nobody is always a winner and anybody who says he is, is either a liar or doesn’t play poker.” Amarillo Slim
“You can shear a sheep a lot of times, but you can only skin him once.” Amarillo Slim
“Sometimes the lambs slaughter the butcher.” Amarillo Slim
“Fear can make a sucker do some of the most drastic things you ever imagined….like taking a job.” Minnesota Fats (1966)
“The people who run the casino are tough and smart is so many ways, but they belong in the Dark Ages…They explain the phenomena of their world the way the ancient astrologers did. They really believe that dice get hot.” Edward O. Thorp—Quoted in “The Green Felt Jungle.”
“My money didn’t just jump in my pocket.” Benny Binion
“Mine did.” Max Rubin
Miscellaneous Gamlbing Quotes
“They gambled in the garden of Eden and they will again if there’s another one.” Richard Albert Canfield (1855-1914)
“Every conscious act requires risk. Every conscious act requires decision. Put these two facts together and you realize that the secret to life is not to avoid gambling but to gamble well.” Mike Caro (Mike Caro on Gambling..1984)
“ The most fundamental principle of all in gambling is simply equal conditions…To the extent to which you depart from that equality, if it is in your opponent’s favor, you are a fool, and if in your own, you are unjust.” Gerolamo Cardano (The Games of Chance 1520)
“The urge to gamble is so universal and its practice so pleasurable, that I assume it must be evil.” Haywood Brown—The Gambler’s Bible 1976
“When his palm gets hold of the dice, the rich man is (no better than) a pauper in his company.” Al-Imad Al-Isfahani (Gambling in Islam 1975)
“I must complain the cards were ill shuffled until I have a good hand.” Jonathan Swift—1728
“ The card and chips have hearts and souls and you can’t help but try to get in touch with them when you gamble.” Anonymous
“All gamblers are paranoid, though they call it superstition.” Mario Puzo
“At gambling, the deadly sin is to mistake bad play for bad luck.” Ian Fleming
“In playing there are two pleasures for your choosing—The one is winning, and the other losing.” Lord Byron (1826)
“Gamblers bet on possibilities. Pros bet on probabilities.” Bob Dancer
“No use gambling if you can’t lose your head once in a while.” Larry Merchant at National Football Lottery in 1973
“Big egos and big losses go hand in hand.” John Gollehon—A Gambler’s Little Instruction Book (1994)
“Mathematics…are a good servant to the poker player but a bad master.” Hubert Phillips (1960)
“Dice have their laws, which the courts of justice cannot undo.” St. Ambrose (d. 397)
“Betting stimulates the caring glands. That is where there is so much caring at the racetrack.” Larry Merchant
“There’s a sucker born every minute.” Phineas T. Barnum
“A sucker has to die every minute to make room for the one that is born.” Police Gazette (1907)
“And remember Dearie, never give a sucker an even break.” W.C. Fields
“Anything worth having is worth cheating for.” W.C. Fields
“Losing as much money as I can get hold of is an instant solution to my economic problems.” Lucian Freud
“In a bet there’s a fool and a thief.” Proverb
“Many players will not improve because they cannot bear self-knowledge.” David Mamet (1986)
“One should always play fair when one has the winning cards.” Oscar Wilde
“Beat him, eat him and get out.” Richard Price, Screenwriter—The Color of Money
“All losers exaggerate because they want you to know how bad they feel.” Mike Caro
“I shall never believe that God plays dice with the world.” Einstein
“God not only plays dice. He also sometimes throws the dice where they cannot be seen.” Steven Hawking
“It’s not enough to succeed. Others must fail.” Gore Vidal
“There’s no great genius without a touch of madness.” Seneca
Quotes about Luck
“Some folk want their luck buttered.” Thomas Hardy 1840-1928, British Novelist, Poet
“Luck never gives; it only lends.” Swedish Proverb
“Throw a lucky man in the sea, and he will come up with a fish in his mouth.” – Arab Proverb
“Do you feel lucky?” Clint Eastwood
“Fortune brings in some boats that are not steered.” Shakespeare
“A little government and a little luck are necessary in life; but only a fool trusts either of them.” – P.J. O’Rourke
“Everything in life is luck.” Donald Trump
“Fortune favors the bold.” Terence 190-159 BC
“Shallow men believe in luck. Strong men believe in cause and effect.” Ralph Waldo Emerson
“It’s hard to detect good luck – it looks so much like something you’ve earned.” Frank A. Clark
“Why are rabbit’s feet considered lucky? It didn’t work so hot for the rabbit.” Anonymous
“The only sure thing about luck is that it will change.” Bret Harte 1836-1902, American Writer
“I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have.” Thomas Jefferson
“In short, luck’s always to blame.” Jean De La Fontaine 1621-1695, French Poet
“Better an ounce of luck than a pound of gold” Yiddish Proverb
“Luck doesn’t help those who won’t cooperate.” Anonymous
“We make our fortunes and call them fate.” Disraeli
“Luck never made a wise man.” Seneca (first century)
“Fate’s easy to predict, once it’s happened.” Anonymous
“Of course there’s luck. It comes in two flavors. Good and Bad.” Anonymous
“Great luck is much more common than great ability.” Anonymous
“Sure there’s luck. How else could I possibly understand the success of my enemies?” Unknown
Vegas Quotes
“Some folk want their luck buttered.” Thomas Hardy 1840-1928, British Novelist, Poet
“Luck never gives; it only lends.” Swedish Proverb
“Throw a lucky man in the sea, and he will come up with a fish in his mouth.” – Arab Proverb
“Do you feel lucky?” Clint Eastwood
“Fortune brings in some boats that are not steered.” Shakespeare
“A little government and a little luck are necessary in life; but only a fool trusts either of them.” – P.J. O’Rourke
“Everything in life is luck.” Donald Trump
“Fortune favors the bold.” Terence 190-159 BC
“Shallow men believe in luck. Strong men believe in cause and effect.” Ralph Waldo Emerson
“It’s hard to detect good luck – it looks so much like something you’ve earned.” Frank A. Clark
“Why are rabbit’s feet considered lucky? It didn’t work so hot for the rabbit.” Anonymous
“The only sure thing about luck is that it will change.” Bret Harte 1836-1902, American Writer
“I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have.” Thomas Jefferson
“In short, luck’s always to blame.” Jean De La Fontaine 1621-1695, French Poet
“Better an ounce of luck than a pound of gold” Yiddish Proverb
“Luck doesn’t help those who won’t cooperate.” Anonymous
“We make our fortunes and call them fate.” Disraeli
“Luck never made a wise man.” Seneca (first century)
“Fate’s easy to predict, once it’s happened.” Anonymous
“Of course there’s luck. It comes in two flavors. Good and Bad.” Anonymous
“Great luck is much more common than great ability.” Anonymous
“Sure there’s luck. How else could I possibly understand the success of my enemies?” Unknown
Quotes From Max -Possibly Original (He’ll Take Credit Until Told Otherwise)
Most of the Tweezer Butts who run casinos these days live by the math and completely forget that there are people involved.
Gambling’s like sex. It exposes everyone for who they really are and most of the time it ain’t pretty.
The games we play define who we are.
Everyone’s a high roller in his own mind. We all bet to the level that makes us tingle.
Playing blackjack is the only thing I’ve ever done that made math fun.
We always blame the dealer unless we’re winning.
Gamblers go from being atheists to believers in a single session.
Secretly, we all hate the guy who won the lottery when we didn’t. Especially when he doesn’t quit his job.
The guy you’ve gotta watch is the guy who doesn’t trust anyone.
It takes a lot of skill to hide your talent.
Your bankroll grows or shrinks in direct relations to the size of the your balls.
You don’t see a lot of psychics listing their gambling wins when they file their taxes.
No matter how your luck’s running, it can always get worse.
If you’re lucky enough to be playing blackjack in America, you’re lucky enough.
I talk to God and make deals with him every time I gamble. Otherwise, I leave him alone.
When you’re playing, everything around you takes on a new meaning. If they’re playing rap music and I’m winning, I want to hear more rap. And I hate rap.
He’s so cheap he looks forward to getting on an airplane for the free food. (Talking about a legendary MIT blackjack team cheapskate.)
It’s easy to play smart. Just think about what you’d normally do and then do the opposite. (Max’s advice to a pit boss playing in the World Series of Blackjack).
I didn’t have the benefit of a higher education. I went to UNLV.
If you can’t win with class, you’re a loser no matter how many chips you have.
If you’re not excited when you win, why bother?
When you win, you almost expect to see your face on the billboards when you leave the casino. When you lose, you hope nobody knows who you are.
Sometime the cards unfold just like you’ve planned. And boy, are you smart.
Being a professional blackjack player is a lonely job. The casinos hate you, you’re on the road a lot, you don’t get to share you tales with a lot of folks because you’re afraid they’ll rat you out. Winning takes some getting used to.
Casino bosses aren’t the experts. They’re the umpires.
The house edge is kinda like a seat rental, you just don’t know what it’s going to cost when you sit down.
If I pray for an ace and get an ace, I sometimes think that my wishes had something to do with it.
The problem with compulsive gamblers isn’t that they gamble too much. It’s that they lose. Instead of taking a 12 step program, they should invest $12 bucks in some good used gambling books and learn how to play.
Casinos like to call it gaming. But you ain’t gaming. You’re gambling.
Smart guys play fair. Dumb guys cheat.
You want to know what it’s like to be schizophrenic? Start gambling. You’ll hear plenty of voices and the loudest will be the sneaky little hunches telling you to bet more.
If you don’t stay away from casinos, all you’ll ever do is have fun.
If you’re not obsessive, there’s no point in being a professional gambler.
I’ve never heard about anybody committing suicide with a pocket full of chips.
For more great quotes, pick up a copy of “The Quotable Gambler” at www.amazon.com
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