Perfect Gambler

Summary:

Gambler that can't lose

Perfect Gambler

Tamaya 03 May 2019 14:38

I recently had an idea pop into my head for an SCP; a gambler that never loses. With all I have so far, I've decided that they only have perfect odds when actually gambling with something. Money, rights, food, their life, etc. When not gambling, they have the same odds as everyone else. 50/50 quarter flips, 1/6 dice rolls, that kind of thing. I would love to expand on this, since I thought of it earlier today, but I don't want to jump the gun. Is it interesting enough to catch readers?

Also I would like to mention that while I acknowledge that is is similar to SCP-181, it doesn't have the same "probability" effect, if that makes sense. It's specifically a gambling anomaly, and not an anomaly that effects all probability.

Re: Perfect Gambler

wishun 03 May 2019 14:59

My first though is of the character from The Almighty Johnsons who was the avatar of the Norse god of games and couldn't lose any competition. So he would win every poker hand, but show the normal chances when playing solitaire.

I don't know how well known that show is, but as a general rule of thumb anything that even slightly whiffs of being adapted from another source attracts downvotes.

Re: Perfect Gambler

Tamaya 03 May 2019 16:17

Ah, what an unfortunate coincidence. Thanks for letting me know, I'll consider that when going forward.

Re: Perfect Gambler

Alljoy 03 May 2019 17:03

To be fair, I might avoid tropes like that, of a gambler who never loses a bet, because it could get accused of being 'OP' and attract similar criticism Series I tends to get.

+ Little tangent

Also, I'm not sure if you've planned for scenarios where the gambler could create a situation where they bet their sanity, on the outcome of his life, where if he dies, he loses the former and if he lives on indefinitely he gets to keep it, which would probably mean.. if perfect odds were to keep him alive, he could live on indefinitely thus prolonging the 'gambling' state while maintaining a lucid state of mind since one of the supposed pitfalls of immortality in a biologically constrained body would be eventual deterioration of the human psyche.

Assuming you could game the conditionals that way that is, but I'm sure you could figure out a way to keep said gambler from breaking reality in that way.

It might be interesting if you could try a subversion of your initial idea, a particular instance where a gambler only wins if the value of his initial bet is lower than the expected payout.

.. thought that might not make for an interesting enough SCP, I suppose it'd depend on the narrative.

Re: Perfect Gambler

Tamaya 03 May 2019 18:03

First, I would like to thank you for the ideas/feedback!

I agree that a character with the power to win everything would seem quite overpowered, however I wanted to make the scip much more docile and down to Earth with their morals, if that makes enough sense. (Less abusing their powers, more using them to understand them/for fun.)

I really like the idea of your spoiler paragraph, I for sure want to incorporate that in some way, and I think I've got an idea in my head already.

+ Basically

I wanted to have the scip play games/bets to see how the prize/outcome/morals impact the results of the game. Your idea definitely works with that format, and I'm extremely grateful for it!

Lastly, on the idea of the lower bet/higher payout, I really wouldn't know how to work that into my plan for the story. You can base a bet on anything, and I don't really know how to work morals and ideas into numbers and things like that.

Again, thank you very much for your feedback!