Gambling

[Felix-The-Ghost]

For those of you old enough to legally do so, do you find yourself doing it often?

I have a job that pays minimum wage and with a small amount of hours worked. I am often enticed by the possibility to quickly earn money.

One time I was on slots and did a simple ninety cent spin and got the five hundred dollar jackpot. Today, I lost over one hundred dollars in probably three hours.

What are your views on gambling? Have you won a bunch or lost it all?

[Waffles]

the odds are very slim that you'll win big or at all. Then again, I've won $100 the first and only time i gambled at my buddy's bachelor party. It can be fun, but also a waste. I find setting a limit on the amount you're willing to spend ($50 for me) and just stopping after that is a good way to go. A lot of people get addicted to the rush, so make sure you have strong will-power if you decide to do it often. It can bring ruin financially obviously. A better gamble would be the stock market.

[blueberry]

People say the worst thing that can happen to a first time gambler is a win. It can make them believe they can do it again. Simply put, if you're enticed by the possibility of making money by gambling and believe you can, then you don't understand statistics. Odds are always in favor of the casino.

[Misty]

i lost my wife and house to gambling. dont do it its hard to find wifi under the bridge i live in

[Nightmare]

I do minor gambling, so I don't lose much.

[Woolly]

I used to bet a lot on hockey, and other such cash only non regulated "illegal" type gambling. I was fortunate enough to be up money over all, but I did get out of it a while ago. Other than that I buy a single lotto ticket once a month (tradition with a family member), and I've been to the casino with some friends to kill some time twice since I've been of age.

My overall winnings in hockey stuff have been about 1200 bucks.. and I invested about 100 of my own money initially and then just put my winnings back in on top of it. I ended up spending the money on travel costs and took a few big road trips.

I don't have an addictive personality so that seems to help, I have many friends though that are in incredible debt over online poker, and betting on sports. I like money too much to waste it frivolously.

In all honesty if you don't have extra money as it is... don't gamble it away. Gambling is fine when you have some extra pocket money to play around with... I still do this sort of thing by buying and restoring antiques or just buying and selling oddities...even that in a way is a gamble but if I didn't have the money for the initial investment I wouldn't waste it on chance.

[Mael]

I have many friends though that are in incredible debt over online poker

That's good to hear. I'm researching Texas Hold'em, planning on playing online. Someone has to lose so that I can win.

[Nightmare]

* Nightmare watches Mael win the World Series of Poker in a few years.

[Oracle]

i lost my wife and house to gambling. dont do it its hard to find wifi under the bridge i live in

lol

Classic mental game of statistics vs. temptation.
Statistically, there is a relatively high chance of winning on some of the lower bets, but temptation always makes the larger sum seem so appealing...

[MorganKell]

I gamble on how long my liver will last as we all know where my money goes. HAHAHA!!! Seriously I like to earn my money. I'll only bet it if the chances are straight shit legit good that I will come out on top. Only if I have an edge. I don't trust luck enough to buy her dinner, but if she winks at me once or twice I won't complain.

[MykeGregory]

i used to play ALOT of texas hold 'em in high school but it was never for 'real money' so i did not considder it gambling.
now i play it with no money online with PokerTH

[YourSister]

gambling ruins your life. you waste your money and your family will be poor

[Marti]

just won €500 last night because Ajax won over Manchester City ( ChampionsLeague Football)

[tempest]

Of course not, I don't have so much money that I'd enjoy losing it. If you do, and if you just gamble for fun, feel free to do so. On the other hand, gambling to make money is just stupid - do the maths yourself. You will most likely lose more than you win. Don't fool yourself into thinking that you're the one lucky person in a million or so.

Also...

People say the worst thing that can happen to a first time gambler is a win. It can make them believe they can do it again. Simply put, if you're enticed by the possibility of making money by gambling and believe you can, then you don't understand statistics. Odds are always in favor of the casino.

Exactly. Don't fool yourself into thinking there's some kind of system behind it ("luck", "winning streak", "it's time for black now after three successive reds", whatever.
The only way to actually make money with gambling is running a casino :P

A better gamble would be the stock market.

I concur. Of course you can lose a lot of money there as well, but at least it isn't totally random.

[MykeGregory]

[RandumKiwi]

My views on gambling are this. If you do it, it should be done under the following circumstances only:

* For fun, not for profit. If you go to a casino seeking profit over fun, when you lose, you won't be able to shrug it off.
* Since it's for fun, do it somewhere with a little prestige, i.e. a casino.
* Only do it on a rare occasion and set a nice, sensible budget that's affordable on the income you receive (example: $50 only). Keep in mind, this is essentially an entertainment expense. If you can't afford to gamble, then don't.
* Once you blow your budget, do NOT do any further gambling. If you find it too tempting to blow your budget, you shouldn't gamble.
* Only play games that are worth your while. You can play pokies for free online, don't waste your time on this shit. Play a real game, like blackjack or poker, etc.
* DON'T EVER PLAY ROULETTE (or similar games). I went to one casino where they had a hole in the table they pushed the losing chips into, it actually SOUNDED like throwing money away!

[NaNuy]

Luck was never my friend

[pweaks]

When you gamble for fun, you always lose on a long run. Yeah, if you play once a year you might get lucky and win. But if you for example play poker "for fun", you will eventually lose more than win. I don't like coin machines, or what ever you call them. Thumbs up for poker though, it's a really cool game. I've studied it for sometime, I don't have the time to play though, maybe one day. Blackjack is fifty-fifty, you need luck alot more than in poker but it's still better than putting your coins to a machine or a roulette.

[Woolly]

I have many friends though that are in incredible debt over online poker

That's good to hear. I'm researching Texas Hold'em, planning on playing online. Someone has to lose so that I can win.

Yep people definitely lose. I'm not sure why people become so addicted to it, I've seen friends drop out of university to play "professional poker" only to have them disappear for like a year and suddenly meet up with them and find out they are living with their parents, and in 50k worth of debt.

But I suppose this could happen with anything, I have another friend who nearly went this path trying to play Magic the Gathering professionally. After buying many cards to stay current, travelling all over the country to tournaments and qualifiers and spending 10k more then he had to spend... he quit cold turkey as it was destroying his life.

[ElCrema]

I only have the means to go to the Poor man's casinos (mostly Atlantic City and Foxwoods in MA) and I find them rather depressing, so I don't go often. Blackjack is the only game I tolerate and it's the only one that if you happen to be in a table with good players you might win some money or at least lose little.

I do play 4 bucks in the lottery a week and have a 50 bucks poker game with close friends once a month that I always end it up loosing due to excessive alcohol consumption. That is pretty much all the gambling I do consistently.

[Mael]

now i play it with no money online with PokerTH

I can not believe this name wasn't taken. It was going to be Uguu~♥ but the '♥' was changed to '?'.

Spoiler

[Ronald_Reagan]

RK hit the nail on the head.

The lottery is actually a pretty good way to throw your money away. Some of the money actually goes somewhere besides the casino coffers (at least the lotteries around here). The excess money afaik goes to something that helps everyone out (ie road repair, feeding hungry people and such).

[macm]

The slot machines are a waste of time IMO, once in a while i gamble in the roulette on a casino for fun, i set a limit i can spend, and i usually win or recover the money i bet.

[RandumKiwi]

The lottery is actually a pretty good way to throw your money away.

I have a different opinion on lotto. My opinion, is that if you're prepared to throw money away on lotto, then you could be prepared INSTEAD to put that money in to bonus bonds: http://bonusbonds.co.nz

What is bonus bonds? Essentially, every $1 you put in, is one chance in the prize draw. The prize draw has several offers:
1 prize of $1 MILLION
1 prize of $100,000
1 prize of $50,000
Multiple prizes of $5,000, $500, $100, $50 and $20.

Effectively, it's savings, but with no interest. You're gambling the interest you could've earned on that money, rather than gambling that actual money.

[Orynge]

My views on gambling are this. If you do it, it should be done under the following circumstances only:

* Never.