Wheel and deal

[Wilson Gray]

Different strokes for different folks, Fred, since *all* gambling odds
favor the house.

-Wilson

On 2/17/07, Fred Shapiro <fred.shapiro at yale.edu> wrote:
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Fred Shapiro <fred.shapiro at YALE.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: Wheel and deal
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> On Sat, 17 Feb 2007, Wilson Gray wrote:
>
> > I'm with you, Doug. According to urban legend, the roulette wheel is
> > the gambling device whose odds most favor the house. If this legend
> > lies within eyesight of fact, it's unlikely that wheeler-dealer could
> > have acquired its current meaning from reference to professional
> > gamblers in the Old West.
>
> Just a minor nonlinguistic point: I believe slot machines are the gambling
> device whose odds most favor the house.
>
> Fred
>
>
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