Is Gambling About Money?

I got to thinking witht he scratch off lotto ticket thread some days ago. My first reaction was "But gambling isn't about money!"

Now, given that casino gambling, at least, is drenched in money, that was a curious reaction. So I gave the matter thought. Here's what I came up with (naturally this applies only to me):

Gambling is about enjoyment, a pastime, diversion or amusement. Yet I've noticed when gambling with money it's different than when gambling for fun or practice. For one thing I won't risk so much of my own money, but that's a side issue. I take it more seriously when there are stakes, usually money, involved in some way.

I also prefer to win money than to lose it. Therefore I do stick to games where I think I can get a good payoff. But not exclusively. I like to play slots a little, I think it's fun. So I'll spend some money on slots on every visit to Vgeas (not much), and gamble more money on craps, BJ and VP.

Even so I usually wind up losing, or spending, money rather than winning it. But I'm well satisfied with that. I end up every trip mostly satisfied and content, which is the whole point of a vacation. Money serves more as a way to keep score than as an objective. If I win, that's great. If not, that's fine.

I do feel a bit disappointed that I don't wind up ahead. But if winning money were the norm, there wouldn't be any casinos in existence, right? So the basic and essential fact remains the House has the advantage always. When you play you put your money at risk, with a high probability of losing it. So I gamble exactly that which I can afford to lose.

Only I see it more like this: I gamble what I think is a fair price to pay for services received. I give the casino some money, it gives me an enjoyable time.

Lately I've been hitting online play sites hard (not playing any money). I've discovered I enjoy the multi-strike variant of VP, but the cost to actually play them at the casino is too high; essentially you pay for hands you may or may not play. I also discovered I can enjoy Let It Ride (Let It Die?) for a while if the stakes are low enough, it's somewhat like slow tens or better VP (don't tell me about the pay table).

Is the likelyhood of a good payoff better in scratch-off tickets? Maybe. But that's not the point.

Although this quote comes from the poker world, it can be applied to gambling in general, particularly as I expand upon the concept.

The quote is: "We just use the chips to keep score."


And that's what gambling is. A game. We play the games where we think we have the best chance of beating the opponent.

The house is like the Yankees. You know that every year they are going to win their division, but you never know what will happen on any of those 180 days during the season. If you're one of the opposing teams, you hope that when it's your turn at bat, you're one of the teams that gives the Yankees a loss - even though you know that, in the end, the Yankees will be the overall winner.


It's the same in the casino. You know that, overall, the house will win. But you hope they win the other guy's money.

And if you can walk away from a loss saying "It's how you played the game" then you still got value from your entertainment/gambling dollar, and will return another day to try again.


So, is it about the money? No.

While winning is better than losing, playing is more fun than not playing.

Quote: Nareed

I got to thinking witht he scratch off lotto ticket thread some days ago. My first reaction was "But gambling isn't about money!"

Now, given that casino gambling, at least, is drenched in money, that was a curious reaction. So I gave the matter thought. Here's what I came up with (naturally this applies only to me):

Gambling is about enjoyment, a pastime, diversion or amusement. Yet I've noticed when gambling with money it's different than when gambling for fun or practice. For one thing I won't risk so much of my own money, but that's a side issue. I take it more seriously when there are stakes, usually money, involved in some way.

It is about money but it is also about the satisfaction of "beating the system." Ever get bumped to First Class on a flight by a little effort but a little luck? Same feeling in gambling. On the "Breaking Vegas" special on the MIT Blackjack Team one of the players said the profile of a gambler is similar to that of a thief, except the gambler doesn't want to do anything illegal or hurt anyone. But they both want to somehow "beat the system" to earn money.

As for myself, if I win on a gambling trip the beer I buy with that money seems just a little colder and smoother; the steak dinner a little more flavorful; etc.

Gambling of course is all about money. Without money, you can't gamble unless the wager is for something other than money (like chores, sex, something in the fridge, etc). Casinos will offer you comps based purely on the money you've been shown to part with.

For most people, gambling is entertainment, a way to use your money to make you happy. Some people choose to gamble haphazardly spending their money doing whatever pleases them without understanding the house's advantage, but they have fun and may even be lucky from time to time. They are in bliss and sometimes (a lot, actually), I get envious looking at the dude on the slot machine who's won $2,000 just by pulling a lever. In a table game, that takes a lot of work. But I think you are equally entertained. Ignorance, after all, is bliss.

Other people gamble carefully spending their money playing the games with the least amount of advantage hoping I think to give them the best chance of winning or making their money last the longest. For these folks, it is about making a smart choice about spending their entertainment choice. I compare these gamblers with the same folks who read the movie reviews before seeing the movie, who check the quality of the golf course and the price of the green fees to determine the entertainment value they will get. In other words, researchers.

Other people think that they come to the casino with an advantage or an uninvented betting system. For them it is about the money purely.

There is the category of people who DO make a living at the casino, either by running web sites (like this one), playing advantage games, using dice control, and taking advantage of trends in sporting wagers. For these people it is purely about money too, but hopefully, they like what they do, similar to a day job.

And finally, there is the gambling addict, the person who doesn't care about the entertainment nor the money but just wants to feed the emotional addiction of gambling.

For me, gambling is about both money and entertainment. I research what I play. I look for the best games, looking to be entertained for the longest time. But from time to time, you might see me pulling a nickel slot machine because it's mindless fun as well.

Hmm, hmm, hmm. I have a unique look on this, being a poker player who believes he has a decent advantage (...supported by results).

Where do we even put poker? Does it even count as "gambling" in the same sense? I think it does, and I think the answer is "sometimes." When I play at the casino, it's different than when I play online. When I play online, it's all waiting for hands, trying to play as many hands as I can and apply my advantage. That's about money, though enjoyment is a big part of it. Heh, I used to tell myself "if I'm going to play poker to get money and not enjoy myself, I'll just get a second job. Because that's what a job it- making money and not enjoying yourself... and with ajob there's no risk!"

If I run a huge cooler, I'll quit for several months. Is that because I lost alot of money? Well, yes and no. I've gone on huge coolers on meaninglessly small stakes and STILL quit, so I'd say it's not just money. It's because losing all the time isn't fun. That's why casinos let us win a lot, and have games that pay incrimental amounts for smaller wins- we need that reinforcement. Losing money is bad, but not as bad as the feeling that you are wasting your time and that you'll never win again. You just have to stop and come back when sitting down at the table makes you happy again.

But when I go to the casino to play poker and other games, it is about fun more, though still about applying my advantage as much as possible. I realized the other day that I should always play online from a financial standpoint- there's no travel price, no accomodation cost, rake and entry fees are smaller, there are more available games whenever I want, and I can come and go as I choose. Then, I realized that it's just not as fun. I'll give up my potential profit at the small stakes tables in exchange for gas and the entertainment.

I'd love to say the bottom line is it's about fun, but winning when you risk something is fun, and sometimes the thrill of pulling in a huge pot can almost make your head spin with excitement! If you don't get that positive reinforcement of victory and a payoff very often, you start to not have nearly as much fun, rather you're losing $20 or $2,000. When you're losing (or just card dead and not winning) and having a bad time, your mind has nowhere else to go but to think about the money.

For me Gambling is about the money, but not just about it. I play Black Jack and don't count cards. I find blackjack interesting, and a fun mental exercise, but not fun enough to spend 4 hours at a time doing it if there wasn’t any money on the line. For example if someone asked "would you rather play blackjack (without betting) for 4 hour or Super Mario Brothers?" I would play S.M.B. But add the betting element, and I would say Blackjack. If the option was Roulette (with betting) or SMB, I would say SMB, because even betting doesn’t make roulette interesting to me.

Some guys would bet on coin flips, not me. Betting has to enhance an already interesting game.

Of course it's about money. The risk is what separates it from sitting around the family table playing hearts, or playing free craps online at WOO or Bodog.

The heart thumping when there's $100 laying on the table, and the cards/dice haven't been thrown yet... there's no feeling like it in the world.

I would say it's not about money per se, but about getting something as a prize. That something can be money or it can be matchsticks or it can be grains of sand, but the fact that I'm able to hold that something in my hands and sometimes have more of it than when I started is what makes me come back for more.

I've played slot machines where it cost me $150 to win a $100 jackpot, but the fact that I won the jackpot is enough. Stupid financially but extremely satisfying emotionally.

Quote: Nareed

Only I see it more like this: I gamble what I think is a fair price to pay for services received. I give the casino some money, it gives me an enjoyable time.

These are my feelings also. I've told my wife and others I don't mind paying for good service. I believe that even
the higher house edge on some games gives myself and other people enjoyment and we pay the price.

Chuck