RWS Staycation

I went to RWS Casino for the first time in like 2+ years today! If my memory didn't fail me, this is my third time into our local casino.

The first in Jan 2012, second time in Aug 2013, and today in Mar 2016.

Why: Let's just say I was offered a night stay at an extremely luxurious hotel room at Sentosa, completed with steam bath facilities. On top of that, I just felt like getting away from work for a couple of days. And what can you possibly do there if you don't go into the casino, right?

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Obviously, I have done my "homework" prior to going there - reading up on game rules, consulting my "ex-croupier NS mate", finding out which games have the lowest house edge.

Let's be upfront here - there is no game in that place where you can have a positive ROI. To me, it's purely entertainment. Set a fixed amount of entertainment expenses (play the game with the lowest house edge, so that you can play for a long time), any win is purely bonus.

The best one stills goes to Blackjack - where you can lower the house advantage to below 1% if you play correctly. With 'a bit of luck', I was able tip the scales slightly to walk out a small winner (on top of earning back the levy).

My most shocking observation was how many people were playing HORRENDOUSLY, yet still think they are right. I can't even describe the atrocious mistakes they were making mathematically. They boost that they've been playing for years, and I cannot imagine how much money they have thrown to the casino by making such mistakes over and over. RWS need such people to survive I guess. I just pity those old aunties and uncles who are just wasting their 'blood sweat' money on these.

Examples include:

1. Betting on sidebets with terrible odds like "Perfect Pairs".

2. Surrendering when they have 12, 6, 7 and all sort of reasonable hands against a dealer 8, 9, T. Their logic is if I got a 6, I will bust very easily against a dealer 8.

2. Failing to 'hit' their 12-16 against a dealer showing 7 or greater. This is one of the most common beginner mistake.

3. Failing to take advantage of hands where they have the greatest odds of winning. A huge part of blackjack comes from getting as much value as possible from these hands - that includes doubling down and splitting when the dealer has a weak up-card (6, 5, 4, sometimes 3 and 2). I have seen so many cases of people giving up their 'double' chance in such situation. How I wish I could play their hands for them.


AND GUESS WHAT?!

There is no rule saying you can't refer to "basic blackjack strategy" while seated at the table!!!

All along I just refer to the chart for the more difficult cases (like whether to double up for Ax hands).

Seriously, if you want a 'chance' against the casino, at least do a bit of homework. Not rely blindly on gut-feel and luck.

Current System (2012 - 2016)

It's been almost 4 years since I did my last PC Overhaul. Back then, Ivy Bridge (LGA1155) was fresh from the oven. That has since been succeeded by Haswell (LGA1150), Broadwell (LGA1150) and SkyLake (LGA1151).

For some reason, my computer is starting to act up again recently. I don't know if it's due to Windows 10, weak PSU (which I suspect), or just the parts getting old.

Since then, I've made some minor upgrades and purchases. (most recently a mechanical keyboard!)

This is a post for my own reference. As of now, I have not decide on when to do the next major overhaul.

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Processor

Intel® Core™ i5-3570K (4 Cores, 3.8Ghz)

Mainboard

ASUS P8Z77-V Pro

Graphics Card

Powercolor Radeon R9 270X 2GB GDDR5 (Replacement in 2014)

Memory

G.Skill Ripjaws 1600Mhz DDR3 CL9 4GB x 2

Storage Drive

Internal

- Crucial m4 SSD 256GB (SATA III) 

- Seagate 250GB (SATA 2)

- Seagate 500GB (SATA 2)

- Western Digital Caviar Black 64MB 1TB (SATA III)

External 

- Western Digital My Passbook 2TB (Black Color)

- Western Digital My Passbook 2TB Ultra (Blue Color)

Display

Dell 2713HM, 27" (Brought Jan 2013, warranty replacement in Dec 2014)

Audio

Creative Sound Blaster ZX (Impulse buy in Jan 2014)

Optical Drive

HP dvd1270 24X SATA Writer

Power Supply Unit

FSP Aurum CM Modular 650W 80 Plus Gold

Casing

Coolermaster 690 II Advanced, Black & White Edition

Operating System

Windows 10 64-Bit Professional (Upgraded late 2015)

Speaker

Logitech X-230

Keyboard

Daskey Professional 4 (First mechanical keyboard, brought Mar 2016)

Mouse

Logitech Performance MX (Brought 2015. Previous mouse use in office)

Bitter First, Sweet Later

Sharing one amazing piece I come across from our very own government board: The $5-latte problem.

I suggest reading through it before continuing further.


...


Essentially the article presents 2 common school of thought to retirement:

1) Work and save reasonably for 30+ years.
2) Focus all energy to increase income, and spend freely to reward yourself.

Both are perfectly viable strategy.

And then, somewhere along the way, a small group of people "discovered" a third method.

"At age 25, instead of thinking of saving just S$500 a month like everyone else, you can go all out. You draw on all the resources of youth and time to accumulate as big a stash as you can while you're young, such that you hit a six-digit sum in your 30s and use the power of compounding to do the rest.

In the meantime, you live in a simple and self-sufficient manner, spending money as efficiently as possible. This way of living is not about extreme miserliness, but more about reorienting yourself with what is meaningful in life that happens to be free or costs little."

 

This sums up the essence of my saving strategy.

Let me strip it down further using the example in the article. Assuming same rate of return, which one gives you more money in the end?

1) Saving $500/mth for 30+ years.

2) Saving $2500/mth for the first 5 year of your working life, then never saving a single cent for the next 25 years.

...

Yep! Scenario 2 results in a higher retirement nest!!! Doesn't that sound unbelievable and counter-intuitive?

The absolute numbers are not what's important. The message here is to demonstrate the power of time and compound interest.

...

"The philosophy behind this idea is known in Internet circles as FIRE, or financial independence and retiring early."

I have shared many bloggers in previous posts who have achieved FIRE, and the article introduced even more local and overseas ones.

Need more inspiration/living proof? Here are 5 active bloggers drawing 5 digits passive income a year.

I am working hard to follow in their footsteps -  Not as extreme as some of them, but at a pace that I am comfortable with. (I still drink bubble tea, eat restaurants, buy expensive gadgets... occasionally)

That day can't arrive soon enough.

The Most Valuable Thing Money Can Buy

Came across another awesome article from My Money & Me about the importance of savings, and benefits of living a minimalist life.

“The most valuable thing money can buy is freedom from having to worry about money.”

I share many beliefs with the author, and I'm glad there is someone who can put across the point so well. If you hadn't notice - In Singapore, you must be a freaking "weirdo" if you have no desire to buy a car. You must be living a miserable life if you do not consume much. You must not have much ambition if you do not want to buy or upgrade to a Condo/big house.

Don't get me wrong. It is not that I do not have desire for such things - it's just that I do not see how they are worth their prices.

We work on a job we hate, so that we can buy a car to more easily get to work?

We spend years of our working life to upgrade to a bigger and better house, but leave the house vacant most of the time because we are at work?

How does that make sense?

If it doesn't, then maybe you are simply making luxurious purchases to prove something. To prove how "successful" you are, or maybe just to fit into society norms.

Do you know if you save just 5% more of your income each month, you can cut your working years by as much as 4-8 years? [See links below]

How much % of your income does a car installment cost you? 20%? You are willing to extend your retirement by 20 years just to own a car?

Remember that when you are purchasing a liability for, say $100K. You are not only losing that $100K. You are losing all the compounded money that could have grown out of that $100K for the REMAINING of your life (40+ years).

To me, their costs are far too high. I will consider them if one day I strike $10M toto and their costs become negligible compare to my networth. Until then, I find such things frivolous.

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"If you are spending 100% (or more) of your income, you will never be prepared to retire, unless someone else is doing the saving for you (wealthy parents, social security, pension fund, etc.). So your work career will be Infinite.

If you are spending 0% of your income (you live for free somehow), and can maintain this after retirement, you can retire right now. So your working career can be Zero.

In between, there are some very interesting considerations. As soon as you start saving and investing your money, it starts earning money all by itself. Then the earnings on those earnings start earning their own money. It can quickly become a runaway exponential snowball of income. As soon as this income is enough to pay for your living expenses, while leaving enough of the gains invested each year to keep up with inflation, you are ready to retire."

Mr Money Mustache 

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"But to some people, wealth is the most important thing in their life, and they are forever endeavouring to accumulate more wealth. Whenever they gain more, it is never enough, and they then plan or plot to gain even more. It is an endless pursuit in self-gratification with no meaningful purpose in life.

Happiness, in whatever form one sees it, becomes more elusive the harder one tries to pursue it.

That’s why my personal aim is much more realistic: All I ask for is calmness and contentment. These at least are partially within my control."

Pursuit of Happiness (Dr Lee Wei Ling)