When Gambling Is a Challenge And Not Addiction

Surely, you have heard or known of someone who loves to gamble in casinos and cannot resist sound of coins pouring down to the slot machine tray, placing bets on the roulette table, sitting down at a Blackjack table, watching a favored horse win the race or just feeling super excited about an idea to suddenly win a lump sum of money. There is nothing wrong with thrill until gambling becomes serious addiction.

Hiro loved thrill of outsmarting the gambling machine or system just like some software engineers love hacking the computer systems to prevent crimes. Hiro's "gambling" addiction goes back to his young years in Japan where Pachinko parlors ruled. Gambling for cash is illegal in Japan, but pachinko machine, a form of arcade game with features similar to a Western slot machine, is allowed. In fact, Japan pachinko market generates more gambling revenue than Las Vegas, Macau and Singapore combined. Since it generates a huge profit. Yakuza has also got involved and uses pachinko parlors as a vehicle for money laundering or racketeering.

A pachinko machine uses small steel balls, which are rented to the player by the pachinko parlor featuring many individual games in rows similar to pinball but smaller. The pachinko balls are not only the active object but also the bet and the prize. The player loads one or more balls into the machine, then presses and releases a spring-loaded handle, which is attached to a padded hammer inside the machine, thus launching the ball into a metal track. The track guides the ball around the edge of the playing field, then when the ball loses momentum, it falls into the playing field from near the top. Some pachinko machines have a bumper to bounce the ball as it reaches the top, while other machines allow the ball to travel all the way around the field, to fall on the second time that it reaches the top. The player hopes that the ball will fall into a catcher distributed over the playing field. When the ball drops into the catcher, it will trigger payout in form of number of balls dropping into a big tray at the front of the machine. The balls can be exchanged or traded for prizes.

Hiro used to tell me fun stories about his pachinko nights where his classmates went home to sleep and he had a night shift at a pachinko parlor studying pachinko machines. Through observation and lots of trials he was able to tell which machines are likely to have his steel balls drop into the catcher and win. On our trips to Japan he would always bring me to pachinko place to see for myself. He earned quite a bit of money that he would never earn on usual student jobs at that time regardless of how many hours he would work, so he figured he may as well work smart rather than just work hard getting nowhere. Unfortunately, the tricks he used back in his student days would not work today since the pachinko machines have evolved and are semi-digital where the machine controls the strength of the lever propelling the ball, so even an experienced and a smart player could not take advantage of small failures of some pachinko machines. I recommend you visiting pachinko parlor when in Japan just for the atmosphere and gamblers spending hours waiting for their balls drop into a catcher and hear tens of balls falling into the main tray as a prize. It can be quite contagious!

Since there are no pachinko machines in the U.S., Hiro wanted to find a substitute thrilling gambling game that he could outsmart. He studied several strategies and Math behind winning in Blackjack or roulette and whenever he felt ready to put his knowledge into practice, he would call on his buddy to hit the casino floor and see if he can play smart and win something. Funny thing is that often times even understanding Math very well doesn't pan out. One needs luck in life, too, so Hiro had nights when he won nothing. However, that did not deter him from trying as long as he concluded that he had a decent chance of winning and fun.

Hiro's favorite gambler story is a Japanese manga series called "Akagi." Akagi is the name of the main character whose passion for gambling drives him to get a seat at Mahjong table with Japanese yakuza. The bosses want to play against players willing to bet everything on the game. Akagi risks his life if he looses. The story is very exhilarating exploring not only the game but psychology of the players and attitude of professionals determined to put themselves completely into the game. The manga series was first published in 1991 and new copies of the story are still coming out until today - Akagi (manga) - Wikipedia. Anime was also made following the manga series success. If you are interested, you can watch them online: Akagi (Drama) Episode 1, Untitled, - Watch on Crunchyroll.