There is a very easy way to return from a casino with a small fortune: go there with a large one.
About This Quote
Interpretation
The line is a wry, cautionary epigram about the negative expected value of casino gambling. By framing the “easy way” to end up with a small fortune as starting with a large one, it compresses a probabilistic truth into a memorable joke: in games designed with a house edge, sustained play tends to transfer wealth from gamblers to the casino. The quip also gestures at the psychology of gambling—optimism, selective memory, and the allure of quick gains—by implying that the most reliable outcome is loss. As a piece of folk wisdom, it functions less as a literal rule than as a moral about risk, temptation, and financial self-control.
Variations
There is an easy way to return from Las Vegas with a small fortune: go there with a large one.
The easiest way to leave a casino with a small fortune is to enter with a large fortune.
The surest way to come home with a small fortune from gambling is to start with a large fortune.
