What Are the Odds?

If you learned that the city of Las Vegas had asked a scientific association never to return to its premises for a convention, you might suppose a couple of things might have happened.

Perhaps the labcoat set went whole-hog for hedonism, awash in entertainment and opportunities supposedly not available to them ordinarily. That's probably the way the movies would have it, anyway, offering plenty of opportunities for shy guys with taped glasses to find beautiful dancers who saw past the unexciting exteriors to the sensitive, devoted and caring guy beneath them. Scenes of unbridled licentiousness and a happy ending with a knockout you could take home to meet mom?  Throw in a wacky madcap sequence where some of the more lovable of the misfits get lost, wind up in Reno where prostitution is legal and completely misunderstand what kind of hotel they've stopped at for the night? Box office, baby!

Another possibility is that the geniuses -- geniusi? -- brought their formidable gray matter to bear on things like probabilities and odds and such and cleaned out the casino coffers down to the last cheap plastic chip. Scorning mechanical aids, they rapidly computed in their own brilliant heads the chances of winning and the best bets to make and all of those winners almost bankrupted the hotel. That might be the scenario for a more modern and woke movie, especially the convention was made up of people under-represented in the STEM fields. It would be even better if the casino/hotel was a Trump property or at the very least owned by a wealthy white bigot who secretly referred to all of the scientists by racist and sexist slurs.

Alas, neither of those stories is the actual reason why Las Vegas bid a final adieu to the American Physical Society after the group's convention back in 1986. The APS had settled on Vegas after its initial site in San Diego fell through because of a hotel scheduling mixup. Staying at the MGM Grand, they did indeed cause a record-low take for the hotel, but not by playing the games and beating the house. They did something even smarter.

They didn't even play.

Casino hotels offer lower room rates and lots more freebies like food, drink and other comp items because they expect to make it back and more at the table. Plus, the lower rates help visitors think they're getting a deal even though they blew the difference in rates shooting craps. A big group of people who just stay at the hotel and take the freebies cost them big money.

Physics Central's "Buzz" blog offers a couple of reasons why the APS attendees didn't play, such as the weird idea that the convention-goers actually went to their convention. The lack of ready cash common to most graduate students played a role. But, the writer notes, there's also the significant likelihood that scientists did recognize the odds of the different games, remembered that casinos aren't in business to lose and decided they had better causes to which they could give their money away.

Whatever the cause, the MGM Grand and apparently some association representing the entertainment and hospitality took revenge on the nerds by asking the APS not to come back. It's easy to understand why, of course. It's not just the financial loss. What if all of the other guests took a look at the smartest people in the room and noticed them not playing casino games and gambling?

You don't want that kind of bad example getting around.