Gamblers

[ms_ann_thrope]

I spent the weekend with them. The hotel I stayed at for the wedding of a lifetime was at a casino at an unnamed location. What a bunch of strange people. I can't tell if they are pathetic or innocuous or what. Took a stroll through the casino and watched the expressionless faces as pale hands dropped tokens in the slots.

As I was checking out there was a no-necked slicked back black haired wiseguy crammed in front of me in the elevator wearing a blue pinstripe suit and two tone vinyl shoes with his fake tittied wife and clueless daughter. Wonder how much he dropped.

Is gambling an addiction? A vice? A harmless pastime?

I don't get it.

 

[MNGuy]

I don't either, I went to a casino once, and was bored after fifteen minutes.


But I liked the football team.

http://www.oursportscentral.com/usfl/images/kelly2.jpg

 

[ms_ann_thrope]

There were guys standing in line to check in placing bets on their smart phones on college football.

 

[Que]

It is exactly like watching kids zoned out on video games.

I have a friend that likes to gamble. Against my better judgement I agreed to take her to a casino. The understanding was we would waste exactly $20, no more. I took $10 and gave her $10 and we hit the penny slots. The money isn't important to her, the jangly noises and bright lights are.

When to my surprise I got to break even I cashed out at $20.15.

I went and sat next to her, gleaming, little dark eyes, wan smile... She was at like $7. She thought I had busted. When I explained I cashed out, it did not compute for her. She continued to play, managed to milk that $7 for an hour before it was all gone.

I just don't get how losing money is fun.

 

[ms_ann_thrope]

It's for a good cause, right?

 

[ms_ann_thrope]

Wait...that's the lottery.

 

[ElleryQueen]

From the sounds of it, none of you looked in on the real action. Baccarat, Poker, Blackjack, and more. Those are for gamblers. Those use strategy and minimize the impact of luck. I'll thank you not to compare us to the folks who want free money at the whim of luck and addicts who can't stop themselves. True gamblers work very hard for their money.

 

[WhenInDoubtFuck]

I would agree that slots are pretty boring, unless you win the jackpot and then it becomes as if you just won the Superbowl. The only truly fun casinos that I've been in, were in Vegas. The atmosphere can vary a lot though, from one casino to the next, and also from one table to the next. While the majority of gamblers tend to be either addicts or people with nothing better to do, there are fun people and groups that can be found too.

For a period of about 18 months, I made my income from casino gambling when I was in my 20's. It was work, and that took some of the fun out of it, but I was good at it and 10 hour work weeks were much better than 40. But I can recall many a good visit and friendly people that I could converse with while sitting at the tables. Decided to give it up when I started having a "suit" show up within five minutes of my arrival to a table.

I always keep an eye out for a lively craps table when I'm in Vegas though. Poker rooms can be very sociable too, just don't be the lone guppy at a table full of sharks.

 

[ms_ann_thrope]

From the sounds of it, none of you looked in on the real action. Baccarat, Poker, Blackjack, and more. Those are for gamblers. Those use strategy and minimize the impact of luck. I'll thank you not to compare us to the folks who want free money at the whim of luck and addicts who can't stop themselves. True gamblers work very hard for their money.

Just like hookers....


That's very funny to me.

 

[smoothg103rd]

It's not the losing money part that is fun, its the gaining money part that is. I live in jersey so I been to Atlantic City a lot of times, but none snice I turned 21 and could really gamble. I'm not to much of a casino gambler anyway I'm more of a street gambler. I play games like celo, poker, pity pat and tunk.

 

[jacktar48]

I read an interesting paper on what motivates gamblers several years ago.

The researchers found that certain people actually like to lose. Everyone feels sorry for you, whereas they are jealous of winners, and of course winning is a lot more difficult anyway.

The casinos in Vegas realize this, and are very nice to chronic losers: free rooms, free meals, sometimes lonely girls who can't resist their sad puppy-dog eyes...

I had a cousin who was hotel manager at Caesar's Palace, and he said they have a secret list of people who can be expected to lose at least $1 million every time they go there. Most of them were Japanese at that time.

Guess what those guys get to make them feel better after losing.

 

[Not Normal]

I

Is gambling an addiction? A vice? A harmless pastime?

That really depends on the person.

I don't like to gamble, but I like to play poker. It's a skill game with (often too many) elements of luck.

 

[toubab]

I spent the weekend with them. The hotel I stayed at for the wedding of a lifetime was at a casino at an unnamed location. What a bunch of strange people. I can't tell if they are pathetic or innocuous or what. Took a stroll through the casino and watched the expressionless faces as pale hands dropped tokens in the slots.

As I was checking out there was a no-necked slicked back black haired wiseguy crammed in front of me in the elevator wearing a blue pinstripe suit and two tone vinyl shoes with his fake tittied wife and clueless daughter. Wonder how much he dropped.

Is gambling an addiction? A vice? A harmless pastime?

I don't get it.

I've been a gambler virtually my whole life. It started as a boy, playing marbles, I think. I liked playing "for keeps" and winning the marbles of those I played with. I almost always won, it seemed, and I had a very large collection of marbles at one time.

It's a complicated subject, actually. It's not the money, really. The money doesn't even seem real when you're playing. It's like Monopoly money. It's beating the odds that counts. Or winning the money of the people you're playing with. Or the House's money.

 

[duranman]

I spent the weekend with them. The hotel I stayed at for the wedding of a lifetime was at a casino at an unnamed location. What a bunch of strange people. I can't tell if they are pathetic or innocuous or what. Took a stroll through the casino and watched the expressionless faces as pale hands dropped tokens in the slots.

As I was checking out there was a no-necked slicked back black haired wiseguy crammed in front of me in the elevator wearing a blue pinstripe suit and two tone vinyl shoes with his fake tittied wife and clueless daughter. Wonder how much he dropped.

Is gambling an addiction? A vice? A harmless pastime?

I don't get it.

Oh they're a breed of their own. I the UK it's a HUGE problem and online gambling has made things much worse. ABSOLUTELY it's an addiction. But unlike a drug addict, alcoholic, etc, these people can indulge infinitely, so they can gamble the world. They will steal, lie and worse to feed their addiction and they have no physical symptoms. Most gamblers do so to disguise their unhappiness. Very sad..

 

[girlsmiley]

Aussies love a punt.

Stolen from wiki (because I'm too lazy to find actual figures):

Over 80% of Australian adults engage in gambling of some kind which is the highest rate of gambling in the world.

In 2007-08 the states collected about $3 billion from poker machines, and $4.9 billion from all forms of gambling, accounting for 9.1% of their total revenue. The NSW government receives about $1 billion from poker machines, and $1.6 billion from all forms of gambling

The most I've ever gambled was a few grand, and I lost it all on red or black on a poker machine. Oh well. You live and you learn. Well, some of us do. It was very easy for me to just walk away from gambling, but it's not so easy for others.

I steer clear of poker machines or "pokies" as they're more commonly known as here in Aus.

Pokies are available in almost every pub and every club here in New South Wales.

Fairfield.

Fairfield had the highest poker machine revenue in the state for 2013, generating $298 million in clubs and $93 million in pubs, from the start of the year to August. This figure is $123 million dollars greater than the combined total of profits generated from poker machines in the City of Sydney.

And the Fairfield area has like 6 pubs and 2 RSL clubs. No casino.


Gambling can be addictive. People with gambling addictions should get help.

I still punt on the horses every Melbourne Cup, and that will never change. It's almost like having a beer on Australia Day. It's just what we do.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Its all about how people organize their lives. People get OCD about everything. The cops are forever dragging missing middle-class matrons outta the local hobo jungle. I've known people who sleep all the time. I knew a mechanic who repaired trucks all day at his job and repaired cars at home all night. He made a ton of money he gave to his wife. His idea of a great weekend was fixing racecars at the local track.

Generally speaking things get outta control when the OCD gets in the way of earning a living, caring for the dog, cleaning the house, paying bills, and other obligations.

 

[girlsmiley]

Its all about how people organize their lives.

We're all learning.

 

[4est_4est_Gump]

I never go into it thanks to Dr. C_____ and 400-level statistics.


My wife, however, simply cannot stop once she gets started, so we do not visit casinos any more.

 

[yossi]

There are so many other productive things I could do with my money - I never really understood gambling, but I have a friend who had a gambling addiction. She would take out cash advances on her credit card and ended up about $20,000 in debt. Slot machines. I'll never forget walking into a casino once and strolling past the smoking section. The entire area was filled with older, elderly, people with canes, oxygen tubes, and/or walkers. They had filled the area with penny slots. It felt like a waiting room for a graveyard.

 

[girlsmiley]

There are so many other productive things I could do with my money - I never really understood gambling, but I ha a friend who had a gambling addiction. She would take out cash advances on her credit card and ended up about $20,000 in debt. Slot machines. I'll never forget walking into a casino once and strolling past the smoking section. The entire area was filled with older, elderly, people with canes, oxygen tubes, and/or walkers. They had filled the area with penny slots. It felt like a waiting room for a graveyard.

I have friends who bet that amount of a Saturday morning.

 

[yossi]

I have friends who bet that amount of a Saturday morning.

I couldn't even imagine. I lose five bucks and I'm ready to walk out of the casino. I'd rather hit up an arcade and play skeeball.

 

[toubab]

I couldn't even imagine. I lose five bucks and I'm ready to walk out of the casino. I'd rather hit up an arcade and play skeeball.

What would you think of someone who can lose thousands of dollars on a single bet without blinking an eye? And win thousands the same way?

 

[4est_4est_Gump]

What would you think of someone who can lose thousands of dollars on a single bet without blinking an eye? And win thousands the same way?

Congressman or sociopath...



Might be the same thing.

 

[girlsmiley]

What would you think of someone who can lose thousands of dollars on a single bet without blinking an eye? And win thousands the same way?

Congressman or sociopath...



Might be the same thing.

Organize your lives.

 

[toubab]

Organize your lives.

But I like risk-taking. In a lot of ways.