Why do you gamble?

Gambling is unlike any other business in that sometimes the house pays the customer. This makes comparisons to other commercial transactions difficult. But we can try.

For me, gambling is about entertainment and a little bit about excitement. The latter because of the potential to win money sometimes. But overall I expect to pay money in exchange for enjoying myself for a few hours. The one thing close to this would be an arcade, where you pay money in exhcange for play time, but the time your money lasts depends on skill and luck.

I expect other people gamble for other reasons. Gambling addicts aside, I placed in the poll all the reasons I could think of.

Now, if it's just for enjoyment, would I gamble without money being at stake?

No. I've tried it and it just isn't the same. The thrill of a possible win, and of winning some hands, adds to the enjoyment. I play for no stakes only as practice. Also I'm lucky that any stakes satisfy me. Some years ago I played poker with friends nearly every week, and we never bet more than $4 per night. So I can have a grand time for a week in Vegas with just a few hundred dollars

I gamble because of the chance of beating the system. I can work for an hour and make $15-20 or I can play blackjack for 10 minutes and make that. Or I can play poker for a few hours and make a week of overtime pay. Or I can lose all of that. But it is the fact that I am not supposed to win but do that gives me the rush.

The steak I buy with my winnings is just a little tastier and the beer just a little colder.

Gambling is in the DNA of any true American. Those who didn't want to take a chance stayed behind. (No offense intended to our European members)

My answer is a hybrid, because I'm one of those nonexistent APs. I USED to gamble for a living, and a good living it was, but it had its downsides, and one of those downsides was that I had to be disciplined and AVOID many gambling situations that would have been fun.

Nowadays, I play with a goal of primarily having fun, but I still play positive EV. I don't make enough gambling to support myself, but I do supplement my income. And I am as entertained as I would be if I were a chronic loser. I get a kick out of "beating the system", and having them give me free rooms and food in exchange for playing, when they think I'm going to lose money but I don't. (And in the grand scheme of things, I no longer play often enough or large enough that they should care one way or another.)

So I'll toss a twenty in the Monopoly machine, or roll dem bones at the -EV crap table, in between all those long sessions of FPDW.

I gamble because I have the money to gamble while enjoying the many fine hotels and restaurants and shows in LV. You won't see me anonymously claim that I win or that I'm a twat or a twit along with a ramble of predictable monotony, while proudly claiming staying at dumps like the El Cortez as a visitor is in any way a respectable way to treat a lady. (Oh! I forgot once again! I MUST get me a pair of those lite loafers as a reminder!!). I generally lose and although I hate losing, we always have a great time on such trips.

That $9k or so that I won today? Going towards Christmas presents.

I clicked "enjoyment", but I could have chosen "excitement" as well; I enjoy the excitement. For me, it's that moment right before I see the cards, right before the dice drop, right before the wheels stop; those moments represent potential, and I love the feeling.

I don't play for the money, though. I know it's not going to win, in the long run. Rather, I decide how much the feeling is worth, what size bet it's going to take to trigger it, and how many times I want it. And then I play accordingly.

Quote: JerryLogan

I gamble because I have the money to gamble while enjoying the many fine hotels and restaurants and shows in LV. You won't see me anonymously claim that I win or that I'm a twat or a twit along with a ramble of predictable monotony, while proudly claiming staying at dumps like the El Cortez as a visitor is in any way a respectable way to treat a lady. (Oh! I forgot once again! I MUST get me a pair of those lite loafers as a reminder!!). I generally lose and although I hate losing, we always have a great time on such trips.

That $9k or so that I won today? Going towards Christmas presents.

Jerry, I doubt very much that you have ever bought a Christmas present in your life, unless it was something that exploded when opened.

In any case, we need PROOOOOOOOF of the multiple assertions that you just made. Show us the receipts for those purchased presents! If you don't do that, then you're a liar. And a girly man.

For that matter, let's see an image of the winning ticket. C'mon, Jerry! You're big on PROOOOOOOF. So provide it, so we know you weren't pulling a Singeresque scam on us all along! NOW, Jerry! PROVE your assertions! PROOF! PROOF! PROOF! PROOF! PROOF! WE DEMAND PROOF!

Quote: mkl654321

Jerry, I doubt very much that you have ever bought a Christmas present in your life, unless it was something that exploded when opened.

In any case, we need PROOOOOOOOF of the multiple assertions that you just made. Show us the receipts for those purchased presents! If you don't do that, then you're a liar. And a girly man.

For that matter, let's see an image of the winning ticket. C'mon, Jerry! You're big on PROOOOOOOF. So provide it, so we know you weren't pulling a Singeresque scam on us all along! NOW, Jerry! PROVE your assertions! PROOF! PROOF! PROOF! PROOF! PROOF! WE DEMAND PROOF!

Translation: waaa...waaa....waaa...

I love it!

Quote: JerryLogan

Translation: waaa...waaa....waaa...

I love it!

Proof, Jerry. There never WAS any football bet, was there?

To quote the late comedian Mitch Hedberg: "I love blackjack. But I'm not addicted to gambling. I'm addicted to sitting in a semi-circle." My wife and I like to say we have a Vegas addiction.

We like gambling, but like Vegas more. It's a fun place to go on vacation. Playing at Indian casinos can be fun, but what else can you do when you get tired of sitting in a semi-circle that day?

And from where we live, it's train-airport-taxi-casino in 3.5 hours. I can get off work at 6 and be playing by 10:30. There's nowhere fun that we can drive or fly in that amount of time.

I like the math. It's fun and interesting to go over optimal strategy of the games, and the variations on things like blackjack and video poker. You can play a table game, which feels more "real" than video games at home. Or you can play VP, which is as fun as most other video games, but comes with free booze! I feel like a sucker playing slots, but some like Lord of the Rings are really entertaining.

My wife and I really enjoy having time to ourselves where we can just talk for hours on end. The Vegas atmosphere gives us endless things to talk about.

And really, it's cheap entertainment. It can be expensive, but if you look at EV, playing $10 blackjack just costs a few bucks an hour. If we're up, that's more shows and better food!

Quote: mkl654321

Jerry, I doubt very much that you have ever bought a Christmas present in your life, unless it was something that exploded when opened.

Unfounded statement.

Quote:

In any case, we need PROOOOOOOOF of the multiple assertions that you just made. Show us the receipts for those purchased presents! If you don't do that, then you're a liar. And a girly man.

Why do you care so much?

Just know he'll have to pay taxes on the winnings.

Quote:

For that matter, let's see an image of the winning ticket. C'mon, Jerry! You're big on PROOOOOOOF. So provide it, so we know you weren't pulling a Singeresque scam on us all along! NOW, Jerry! PROVE your assertions! PROOF! PROOF! PROOF! PROOF! PROOF! WE DEMAND PROOF!

Unfounded statement that Singer is running any scam.

Seriously, your beginning to look like a circus geek on the end of Logan's chain, and it's tiring.

Quote: thecesspit

Why do you care so much?

Just know he'll have to pay taxes on the winnings.

Unfounded statement that Singer is running any scam.

Seriously, your beginning to look like a circus geek on the end of Logan's chain, and it's tiring.

You might have observed that Jerry demands proof of everything that he disagrees with, but is extremely reluctant to provide similar proof for the things he asserts, such as that all atheists are miserably unhappy. So if he was going to use this forum to brag about his football bet, I thought that he should be tasked with providing some PROOF that he actually made such a bet. I seriously doubt that he ever did--perhaps he bet $100 rather than $10,000, and I have two clues to that:

1. He didn't even know how much the bet paid when it won. Hint: it wasn't $9,000.
2. He would have had to fill out a currency transaction report for betting $10,000. If he had any sense, he would have bet $9,900.

In any case, his braggadocio is misplaced--he won a coin flip. His "inside information" was laughable--as if the condition of those two players was some kind of secret, and the books were unaware of it. Even HE would know that (you would THINK), so that makes it that much less likely that he risked such a large amount.

FPDW is a hard way to have fun - I enjoy it myself for awhile but before long I'm pushing "more games" and selecting for the Triple Bonus venue.

Quote: mkl654321

You might have observed that Jerry demands proof of everything that he disagrees with, but is extremely reluctant to provide similar proof for the things he asserts, such as that all atheists are miserably unhappy. So if he was going to use this forum to brag about his football bet, I thought that he should be tasked with providing some PROOF that he actually made such a bet. I seriously doubt that he ever did--perhaps he bet $100 rather than $10,000, and I have two clues to that:

1. He didn't even know how much the bet paid when it won. Hint: it wasn't $9,000.
2. He would have had to fill out a currency transaction report for betting $10,000. If he had any sense, he would have bet $9,900.

In any case, his braggadocio is misplaced--he won a coin flip. His "inside information" was laughable--as if the condition of those two players was some kind of secret, and the books were unaware of it. Even HE would know that (you would THINK), so that makes it that much less likely that he risked such a large amount.

You miss my point. We all may know what Jerry Logan is like. He's still yanking your chain for his pleasure. It doesn't matter what you say, you'll never "prove" him wrong about anything... he doesn't care what you, or I, or many other people think.

We gamble so we can win some money to come back and gamble again.

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"A dollar won is twice as sweet as a dollar earned" - Paul Newman, The Color of Money