The term "Casino" is of Italian origin, the root word being "Casa" (house) and originally meaning a small country villa, summerhouse or pavilion. The word changed to refer to a building built for pleasure, usually on the grounds of a larger Italian villa or palazzo. Such buildings were used to host civic town functions – including dancing, music listening and, of course, gambling.
By coincidence, this cache was hidden on December 5th 2013 - exactly 80 years to the day after the 21st amendment was passed ending the Prohibition years. The interesting bit here is that it was organized crime money made during the prohibition years that built Las Vegas and brought the word Casino out of Italy and into the desert. Happy Birthday Casino Gambling!
By far the most popular casino game is the ubiquitous Slot Machine. Flashing lights, spinning rollers, a mind scrambling cacophony of noises, plus the possibility that you could become wealthy with just the push of a button is just too much for many to resist. Statistically speaking, pulling the handle at least 10 times is required to see even a small win however. This cache is all about the pure mathematics and statistics that govern your odds of striking it rich with just one pull of the handle of one of those "One Armed Bandits".
In the simplest of slot machines you might have four images for each roller. Each roller may also stop between images giving you eight possibilities. The odds of getting the same image three times in a row is 1 in 8 times 1 in 8 times 1 in 8 or (1/8)*(1/8)*(1/8) = a 1 in 512 chance or .195%. You might notice that it comes out the same as 8³ or 8*8*8 = 512. The trouble with figuring out the odds in slot machines is that the reels are rarely set up identically. Sometimes they are set to give you false hope with more "jackpot" images on the first two rolls to give you the impression that you "just missed it" when you really were barely half way there. A typical three roller slot machine would have at least two dozen images per roll and calculating the odds is a bit more complicated. For example, lets assume a 32 image roller (big but typical) where mid level "win" is a triple [BAR] image. The first roller might have 4 of them while the second has 3 and the third just 1. That makes the odds 4 in 32 times 3 in 32 times 1 in 32. (4/32)*(3/32)*(1/32) = .3662% or roughly a 1 in 273 chance of winning. In a standard Atlantic City Casino this would pay out about 85-90% of the money you would expect to spend to win it. That would be about $60 on a quarter machine. In slots, as in all other games, the house always wins.
Of course there are no simple 3 slot/1 pay-line machines anymore. Most have at least 5 rollers and potentially dozens of pay lines. Calculating those odds becomes a chore. Nobody likes a geo-puzzle that's a chore to solve so you can rest assured that you will eventually "win" coordinates if you push your luck. Unlike commercial casinos, the odds here are not stacked against you!
The Hide: You will be searching for a 50 cal ammo box hidden in typical fashion. Like a slot machine, the cache is filled with dough just waiting for the first few lucky winners. Bring some loose change if you want to trade swag. There are thorns protecting the cache but you shouldn't have to wade through any to get there if you approach from the correct angle. Happy Hunting and enjoy your stay at the Riverside Casino!
This cache is certified Central Jersey!
