The Thrillometer of Gambling More and More

In a different thread, mkl654321 makes a very interesting point. mk654321 states "that the vast majority of people overbet, because they need to ratchet up the thrillometer more and more and more, as it becomes no longer exciting to bet $10, then $25, then $100."

This is a sad, but very true statement. And it forces me to wonder if I could ever have fun in a casino again playing the house minimum. Could I really see myself playing a $10 passline bet and cheering the shooter when I win... $10. Or whooping and hollering when I make $7.50 on a blackjack at a $5 table?

I have always wondered what it would be like to take a trip to Las Vegas and instead of betting big and getting comps from a host, to bet the house minimum and pay cash for everything I want. After all, a host only comps about 30% to 35% of your theoretical loss. If in theory I am supposed to lose $20,000, and I only get $7,000 back in perks, wouldn't it be smarter to spend $20,000 paying for my own suites, shows, food, shopping, etc? I could still spend 6 to 8 hours a day playing $10 a hand at the tables, but will it still be as fun for me? Would it still be as fun for you?

Is it even possible to reverse the "thrillometer" that mkl654321 mentions, and go backwards from betting big to betting small? Or are we destined to keep betting more and more in search of that thrill?

Quote: gambler

Or whooping and hollering when I make $7.50 on a blackjack at a $5 table?

Not likely these days, more like $6.

I only ever play around the minimums, and have a set amount to lose before I walk away. As for winning, The way I play, I never really win big. I always put winnings to one side, and play through my original buy in. When I have my buy in back, plus a profit, I stop playing when I get bored and lose anything I have thats not set aside.

The biggest thrill I have ever had is when I realised I had around $150 out on a $10 craps table. It did scare me, as even though I was playing with a bankroll specifically set aside for it, it was more money than I usually play.

Im lucky, my thrillometer is set pretty low.

Well, changing the game definitely helps. I feel more excited about winning $100 in PLO than $300 in NLH, because the latter is only to be expected, while the former is a relatively new and rare experience. And that's for similar games, much less dissimilar ones. Other than that... maybe only a long hiatus.

I can split it into 2 different situations. The first is when I simply want to gamble. I'm putting money down on a craps table and my goal is to try and win some money.

The second can generally only happen at the smaller casinos. I go to a full $5 BJ table and just socialize a bit. This is usually easier at lower limit table as you get a lot more people on vacation that don't normally gamble. The type of people that hit on a hard 14 against a 6. :) I know this isn't for anyone, but it is odd entertainment to me.


I think I'm near my limit on how high I can go on my bankroll and at least the past 2 years I haven't seen any real lowering in my excitement when I win. If I triple my buyin I still get a nice high. :)

Quote: Croupier

I only ever play around the minimums, and have a set amount to lose before I walk away. As for winning, The way I play, I never really win big. I always put winnings to one side, and play through my original buy in. When I have my buy in back, plus a profit, I stop playing when I get bored and lose anything I have thats set aside.

What do you know? That's very much how I play. I'll play my buy-in til it's gone. If I'm winning I'll play until I get tired, or I think I've won enough. And almost always I play the table minimums. Except on $3 tables, like Rapid Craps at Bill's, where I play $5 (wow!) I was even a bit apprehensive about playing $10 PGP at Excalibur! I did largely only because I kept telling myself it' a slow game and there are plenty of pushes.

I do need to have stakes in, but they can be pretty small.

I think a person's bankroll and bet size is more closely tied to their income level than any "thrillometer".

That said, since most of us move up the professional ladder, it only makes sense that we move up the gambling ladder too.

Quote: Nareed

What do you know? That's very much how I play.

WooHoo! another lowroller at WoVCon!

Quote: DJTeddyBear

I think a person's bankroll and bet size is more closely tied to their income level than any "thrillometer".

Excluding gambling addicts, this is true up to a point. last year, for instance, I had more money than usual available for my trip. I chose a nicer hotel, Rio, rather than wagering more money.

I bet the amount that gets me the thrill without the chill. For me, that seems to be $25 per bet, and around $3-5 per slot play.

At the tables, $10 doesn't seem to be enough to make me care, to get the blood pumping. But $50 or $100 is an amount that makes me think, "Wait a second, WTF am I thinking, this might not work out well for the Mosca family...." $25 seems to be the number.

At slots, .25x3 doesn't work. .25x5 is doable. $1x3 is comfortable, $1x5 is pushing it ($ goes too fast). I'll play $5x2, but only for 10 spins, or with my free play.

I try to put aside $500 per session, defined as an afternoon or evening. I realize that $25 is a large bet size for that bankroll; so be it. If I have a bad streak of luck, it taps. Oh well, losing isn't fun and it's time to stop then anyhow. I never gamble without the Mrs present, so there's no breaking that. In all my years I only hit the ATM once, and it felt dirty, worse than losing.

Other people are different. I wonder about chasing that upgrade card. I got upgraded one year, 2007 (based on '06 play); in '06 I was off work a lot for medical, and we spent a lot of time at Caesar's (about twice a month at the level above) and that only got me to Platinum. I was unwilling to risk proportionately more money, and invest more time, to enter the "club"; that wouldn't be fun, and the benefits are only usable if you keep risking money and investing time.

Playing blackjack at a $10 -$120 spread gives me all the variety and excitement that I need.

The thrill for me is beating the house at their own game.

I definitely play the minimums, but craps has been my game, so adding the free odds the wagering is plenty for me always. Maybe I'm different, but I actually have it in my head about how much I am wagering in total. Even at a $5 craps table with 5x4x3x max odds, I have to figure my average bet is around $20, and I'll probably place about 50 bets an hour. If I get to gamble for a couple of days, and thus get in maybe 4 sessions of 2 to 3 hours, I'll have wagered around $10,000. That's enough.

Quote: benbakdoff

Playing blackjack at a $10 -$120 spread gives me all the variety and excitement that I need.

The thrill for me is beating the house at their own game.

You can't beat them at their game, but you can change the game by counting. If they are stupid enough to let you, that, in itself,
might be thrilling.

I like to gamble for a lot of different reasons. First is I like random things. Wouldn't it be great to be part of the longest roll in craps even if it was at a $3 minimum table or win 10 hands in a row in blackjack even if it was for a measley $5 a hand? My wife and I are still waiting for our first royal flush in video poker, but we only play for $0.25 so it would be $1000 which is not trivial for us, but by the same token not life changing either.

Second is I like people watching and chatting with the dealers and other gamblers. Playing with nice company is a pleasure -- win or lose.

Do I like winning money? Sure winning is fun too and can sometimes balance off poor company at the tables, but overall I follow the Wizard's advice -- expect to lose in the long run.

Typically my bankroll is $300-500 and one day I hope to convince my wife to allow me up to $1000 in bankroll, but all that is going to do is allow me to play longer or give me choices about when I play as the minimums fluctuate. Usually we have 2 or 3 one hour sessions of gambling per day on a 4 day trip.

I've bet from $5 to $30 per hand of blackjack, but it doesn't give me proportionally more pleasure to win at the higher amounts. Quite the opposite actually given my bankroll -- I get a little more stressed because losing at the $30 level means I'll be gambling a shorter amount of time.

I used to freak out whenever I bet on something no matter what the amount was but nowadays I tend to only feel very excited at higher stakes. During my last trip to Macau I cashed in for the equivalent of about US$1,700 although I originally planned to stop if I lost $700. I quickly burned through half of my bankroll by betting $100-$400 a hand. Once I had half of my bankroll left I bet it all on a hand and for a few seconds I could hear and feel my hearth beating very strongly as I was bending the cards. After I won back the half that I had lost I felt more relieved than happy and I continued betting $100-$200 a hand. I ended up winning about USD1,250 but realized how stupid I was for bringing money I couldn't afford to lose into a Casino and bet all of it on a negative EV game. I will try to gamble more responsibly in the future.

I think that as humans we are biased to needing to crank it up for the thrillometer of adrenalin. What makes the difference with those who have adiction problems and those that don't is whether we can use our rational side to overcome the desire for more more more. Probably anybody that gambles on a regular basis must occasionally fight, and sometime lose, to the 'more more more' pressure. Those that lose that fight the majority of the time likely have a serious gambling problem.

As to my personal answer to you question of reversal, I have been able to gamble at a wide variety of limits depending on personal financial circumstances at the time.
I can still sit beside my wife and enjoy the no brain stress relief of penny slots. Even though I have had $1000's in play at the craps table.

As a side note when I first started coming to Vegas there was an actual penny slot (3 coin max) that I would sometimes throw my loose pennyies in. The thrillometer was definately not there and I remember once playing for a while and just getting so bored I walked away and left 30 or 40 pennies in the tray.

Quote: kenarman

The thrillometer was definately not there and I remember once playing for a while and just getting so bored I walked away and left 30 or 40 pennies in the tray.

Low stakes poker games can do that to me.

Quote: helpmespock

I like to gamble for a lot of different reasons.

My feelings are quite similar, helpmespock. I like Vegas, and I like playing. I like the atmosphere and the distractions. Playing in other towns is OK, but not nearly as fun.

It's pretty rare when I don't play the minimum bet, whether that's $3, $5, or $10. I like the ups and downs, and I like the thrill of winning. But getting a blackjack at a on a $3 hand or a $10 hand feel about the same. The $10 tables are usually more fun because of friendlier dealers, better air quality, and better booze.

Although, once as a student I got a 4-of-a-kind playing a penny VP machine and won ... a quarter. I decided to move up to 5 pennies. So there is such a thing as stakes that are too low.

But when it comes right down to it, I'm there to have fun. If I wanted extra money, I would volunteer for overtime at work.

I always play the table minimum at craps, which is $5 (doesn't change, only on a RAAAARE occassion, it'll be $10)
I always play the pass line with 3/4/5x odds; and if the point is 6/8, I'll bet the complimentary number for $30, and not press it.
On vP, I stick to betting no more than $2.50 a pop (be it single line, multi-line, spin, etc)
The RAAARE occassion, I'll play single line $ vP, but I usually only play 8/5 BP, and only for a SHORT time (as long as $100 will last, literally)
I always have a set bankroll, and the weekend goal is double or nothing. ($500 weekend bankroll, either goes to $0 or to $1000)
90% of the time I run out of time on sunday evening, and I'm usually either stuck $200 or only up $200.
I've been gambling for six years, and my "thrillometer" has never needed to rise according to income.

Quote: gambler

Could I really see myself playing a $10 passline bet and cheering the shooter when I win... $10. Or whooping and hollering when I make $7.50 on a blackjack at a $5 table?

I would have to say that the thrill for me is gone playing $5 per hand. First of all I play $25 per hand just so I can be rated. But even doing that hand after hand gets really boring after a while and I'll raise my bet in $25 increments here and there.

I have to tell you that I was pretty ballsy this last trip ("Damn, Anne, you've got balls!" is what a couple of my friends said to me!). I was playing $25 a hand at the MGM and kept winning at this one table. I bought in for $300 and the next thing I knew I had over a thousand dollars in chips in front of me. The dealer cashed in a whole bunch of my chips and gave me a pink chip ($1000 chip). So I'm sitting there playing and I look down at the chip and I think, "Hmmm... should I?" So I placed the $1000 chip on the bet spot and was so scared I had to cover my eyes. I think I had a 14 against a 4 or something so at first I was like, "Fuck!". As my knuckles are turning white and I look up I see the dealer bust and I don't think I've ever screamed so loud in a casino! Everyone at the table next to me looks over at me and I picked up both chips to show them and I was laughing and beaming. Seriously, my heart did not go back to beating normally for at least 10 more minutes.

I went back to playing $25 a hand, and looking down I saw a $500 chip and thought, "Well, I just won $1000 off of one hand, if I bet $500 I'll still be up." So, of course, I put the $500 chip down... and won again! I couldn't believe it. I was really lucky, and SUPER happy!

Early in the trip I had won $4500 off the casinos, but by the end of the trip I came home with just over $1000 in winnings (after subtracting for the dealer tips).

I didn't think I would make any more crazy bets after that, but of course, at the Bellagio and drunk (damn them, that's why they give you the free alcohol!!) Ifound it all too easy to do it again. I don't remember how many big bets I made (I was pretty drunk) but I think I remember doubling down on a $1000 bet and losing! :-O

So, long story short (too late already, I know) sticking to lower-end bets does get boring and I do find that I have to keep raising my bets in order to feel the thrill of winning.

Winning is it's own reward :)

Seriously, I count myself lucky that I can enjoy gambling with low stakes. I figure I'm not at all likely to develop a gambling problem, for one thing, and I can enjoy a full week on very little money.

I'll admit I feel a bigger thrill when I bet more, for instance when I have a pass line bet with odds plus two come bets with odds, but I also worry more. Likewise when I play the pair+ on 3CP or other sucker bets. Nothing like betting the pair+ and drawing a 7-high hand to deflate me a little. I don't want to contemplate betting $25 and the soccer bet, too; or worse yet betting $25 on the sucker bet!

I'm sure I'd feel different if I had more money available. If I could blow $6,000 as easily as $600, I'd probably do it and play $25 and $50 per bet, or really put 20X odds on $5 pass line bets. And yet who knows. I used to play poker for $2 lots per night with friends, and I had a great time. Back then I could easily have afforded a lot more each week.

Yep, that was my $5000 chip!