Why do you gamble?

Maybe you don't gamble. I am interested in the reasons that people do.

The first three fun / win money / advantage aren't mutually exclusive are they?

I probably throw pith balls better than dice at this point.

Quote: MDawg

The first three fun / win money / advantage aren't mutually exclusive are they?

Not at all. I designed the poll to only allow you to vote for one to avoid confusion, though.

I agree that it would be fun to try to win money with advantage play.

I said to have fun.

Sure, I hope/want to win, but “To try to win money” seemed like an obvious choice. I mean, isn’t that everybody’s objective?

Although this forum is designed for, and attracts a lot of advantage players, I’m not one of them. I like knowing about AP stuff, but it seems too much like work, which would not be fun. Not fun for me anyway. Oh, sure, if you can do the AP thing consistently and profitably, I guess it can be fun. But that’s not why I gamble. Besides, even in the before times, I was nothing more than a low rolling recreational gambler.

Quote: DJTeddyBear

I said to have fun.

Sure, I hope/want to win, but “To try to win money” seemed like an obvious choice. I mean, isn’t that everybody’s objective?

Although this forum is designed for, and attracts a lot of advantage players, I’m not one of them. I like knowing about AP stuff, but it seems too much like work, which would not be fun. Not fun for me anyway. Oh, sure, if you can do the AP thing consistently and profitably, I guess it can be fun. But that’s not why I gamble. Besides, even in the before times, I was nothing more than a low rolling recreational gambler.

When Atlantic City legalized gambling (1978), I attended a class on gambling. The instructor was going to explain the different games and how to play them.

Before he started the class he asked the students "Why do you want to gamble?" when one of the students replied "To have fun." The instructor replied "Gambling is not fun. If you want to have fun, go out on the boardwalk and ride the roller coaster!"

Quote: FatGeezus

When Atlantic City legalized gambling (1978), I attended a class on gambling. The instructor was going to explain the different games and how to play them.

Before he started the class he asked the students "Why do you want to gamble?" when one of the students replied "To have fun." The instructor replied "Gambling is not fun. If you want to have fun, go out on the boardwalk and ride the roller coaster!"

Wow. Sounds like an already disgruntled floor man. 🙄

Quote: absolute

Maybe you don't gamble. I am interested in the reasons that people do.

I do gamble, this video explains the reason pretty clearly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ

Quote: absolute

I agree that it would be fun to try to win money with advantage play.

Its a good feeling and more fun knowing you have an advantage and you are not just feeding the casino's your money while trying to get lucky. Guilt free gambling.

Some people think they have an advantage or system that works, but they don't. They live in fantasy land fooling themselves and trying to fool others into thinking they have been long term winners based one a few lucky sessions.

I like the combination of a pastime in which I could win money, complimentary alcoholic drinks, the sight of attractive women, employees treating me like I’m a big shot, appealing graphics and artwork, interesting decor, comfortable chairs, the feeling that I have the freedom to choose which vices are right for me, and mathematically intriguing games.

I'm in it for the pain

Quote: smoothgrh

I like the combination of a pastime in which I could win money, complimentary alcoholic drinks, the sight of attractive women, employees treating me like I’m a big shot, appealing graphics and artwork, interesting decor, comfortable chairs, the feeling that I have the freedom to choose which vices are right for me, and mathematically intriguing games.

I like this answer. Can I copy off your paper, SmoothGRH?

The answers just go to show where people are at.

Many honest answers and then you've got one who makes a post that he thinks he "should" make.

I'm not pro player and actually do not try to win money, I play for fun, but if I win a lot of money I would be totally happy of course.

I voted "fun," but I wouldn't do it if I didn't have a significant chance to win money - for example, I won't play 6-5 blackjack, or 7/5 Jacks or Better VP, or pretty much any roulette. Then again, losing money is never fun, now is it?

I gamble because I feel sorry for Sheldon Adelson and Steve Wynn. Help thy neighbor.

I gamble both for fun and to try to make money. Why do I have to choose between those two answers?

And, by the way, it is not fun to get your brains beat in at the table because a game has a large house edge.

Everyone has their own reasons to gamble. it's obviouslythe new American passtime. There's nothing wrong with people doing it responsibility. I don't see much of a difference between gambling for entertainment vs going to the movies or something else that cost money. I do feel a little bad for people that end up spending more money than they would normally and people that become addicted.

I pity people who fool themselves into thinking they can overcome the house advantage without any legitimate math to back it up.

I certainly respect the people who know and realize hey have a disadvantage but enjoy playing a lille bit just for fun..

I feel bad for people who go frequently and have no clue what they are doing while trying to make ends meet Walgreeens salary..

Could you fix up the quoting please Axel. I don't see where you are quoting from.

Eighteen THOUSAND posts and the guy doesn't know how to quote or use the forum properly?

I never said that.



"passtime" ?? Mismatching singular Everyone with plural pronoun their ?? Doesn't even sound like the MDawg we know and love.


Or is this deliberate on Axel's part.   🥴

'Its all about the money, all of the time' wmw `tm`. Whether people subconsciously realize it or not, they ultimately are doing it for the money. We all want it, we all need it, we all can't live without it, and I would venture to say that most people's problems , excluding severe illness and / or dysfunctional families, can be solved with money.

If there was no monetary exchange at the tables, the sports book, the slot machines.... there would be little to no activity... just sayin!

Quote: WatchMeWin

If there was no monetary exchange at the tables, the sports book, the slot machines.... there would be little to no activity... just sayin!

I would play for sandwiches.

Quote: WatchMeWin

'wmw `tm`.

What's wmw? What's tm?
I think I just figured it out. wmw probably means watchmewin and tm probably means trademark.

Slews of honest posts continue. And a second post by the same guy - demonstrating only, again, how large others live in his head!

I gamble to make money, but that doesn't mean others can't gamble to lose money while still coming out ahead.

Let me explain. A long time ago, in a universe far, far away, some literary agents requested that I do sample chapters for a book about gambling.

One of the key themes of the sample chapters was that not all resources are material. American capitalism largely blinds people to that reality. So if you maintain some control of what you're doing, losing money gambling can be an overall positive, even if you just count the material end of things and especially if you do not.

First, a non-material example. Everybody wants to be James Bond. Well, if you're James Bond and you lose money, but you garner a certain personal profile that aids you among your business peers or in the pursuit of sex or relationships in general, then a net loss in money can lead to a net win in living.

Next, a material example. If the relationships boosted by the gambling have networking or profile value for you business-wise, then losing the money can boost your overall financial situation despite the (limited) gambling losses.

Also, if you operate at a certain level in life in general financially, then blowing off steam or relaxing while losing some incremental amount of money may be the mental/psychological equivalent of meditation-for-cost that gives you an efficient break and rest from your job. That break, if it refreshes and boosts you, can be of value if it's one of the optimal things you can do to rest. Many writers, for example, often recommend working at a mundane 9-to-5 job to contrast with the neurons you're burning while you're writing in your "spare time." Gambling of various sorts may provide a way to rest those parts of you that you use in money-making life or during relationship-building.

Now of course the problem is that most avenues of gambling are provably addictive, so that's the trap. When people like Leonard Tose or drug czar William Bennett lose their asses, you see the dangers. Bennett was lecturing on "Just say no," while gambling in his hotel rooms (he had machines put in the rooms -- LOL) and cavorting with babes. Anyway, between these guys, and Michael Jordan (who can sort of afford it) and Charles Barkley (who sort of can't), the caveats are in plain sight.

Overall, however, you can make the case that controlled gambling has a potential upside despite financial losses.

When I was 21/22, I hoped I could walk between the raindrops and make money gambling without having any edge. The HE on BJ was small enough that I hoped with BS and short sessions I could come out ahead. Obviously that’s wrong. For years I avoided table games and only played poker. At this point, I’d look at table games and think “why play that when I know mathematically it’s going to cost me $5-$10/hour in expected losses over the long term.” I read a ton of books on card counting. I found high-low too hard with the TCC. Tried Red 7 but still too hard to do in a real casino. At some point, I read an article pointing out that you wouldn’t think it odd to pay $15 for a movie. Looking at gambling that way—as entertainment and not a way to make money—made table games much more palatable, especially with the occasional free room. And learning to play games with a low house edge and zero strategy (craps over BJ) meant I could drink and not worry about strategy mistakes. Looked at as entertainment, craps is great! Highs and lows and suspense and interesting characters, all for about $4/hour in my local casino. $5 table with 10x odds means the money involved in each roll is enough to make each roll meaningful to me while long term I (mathematically) should not lose too much. Plus I really liked buffets when they existed. So, TLDR version: entertainment.

Quote: redietz

Everybody wants to be James Bond. Well, if you're James Bond and you lose money, but you garner a certain personal profile that aids you among your business peers or in the pursuit of sex or relationships in general, then a net loss in money can lead to a net win in living.

To a certain extent anyone who walks up to a gaming table, especially a high limit Baccarat table but really, any table game, and pulls out vast sums of chips is doing it because he feels he's at a place in his life where he may afford to bask in the fruits of his labors by indulging in gambling. Gambling - whether with the French nobility and their Chemin de Fer or the "sport of kings" - horse racing - has always been something that people with too much money entertain.

A friend of mine once suggested I buy a race horse.

"Why?" I wondered, "so I can win some money?"

"No, so that you could lose and not care."

I've seen with my own eyes and pit bosses have remarked to me about Asian players at the Bacc. tables who lose millions and then come back just weeks later to do the same again. To me, losing would be no fun and I'd stop it after one or two losing trips, but apparently that is not the way many see it. That is notwithstanding the possibility that some of these huge losers are compulsive gamblers, but then they have achieved success to the point of being able to play very big and I'd think most compulsive people would have lacked the discipline to succeed at anything.

They do play the James Bond theme every now and then at Wynn. 😎The idea is definitely to get people pumped. Not too different from when you're at the gym about to leg press some massive weight and Tom Petty's Runnin' Down a Dream comes blaring over the sound system.

I did want to mention an element to this particular poll that makes me cringe. The idea of "Advantage Play" as some umbrella thing has, I think, more pitfalls than superficially evident.

I really believe people might be better off selectively defining themselves rather than using that phrase "Advantage Play." If you're a card counter, great. A machine hustler, great. A bonus whore, great. All of these things, separately, can yield a true advantage. When people start claiming they do some of this and some of that, I kind of roll my eyes, like I would regarding a doctor who says he delivers children, does brain surgery, and provides epidemiological advice.

Card counting, and knowing how to apply that to real casino situations, is its own thing requiring an awful lot of experience and expertise. Machine hustling is its own thing. I have a lot of issues with mickey crimm at the moment, but I think expertise-wise, he does know his machine playing as well as anyone. But this idea that people can truly be "advantage players" across a wide range of endeavors is semi-ridiculous, in my mind. I don't even like the idea of claiming that someone wins at "sports betting." The phrase "sports betting" covers too much ground. There are college hoops savants. There are college football savants. Not sure anybody wins much at anything else in terms of everyday betting, and I've been doing this for 40 years.

So I have a problem with "I am an 'advantage play' gambler" as a broad statement. If you think you can do everything, odds are you aren't doing anything terribly well.

Quote: redietz

So I have a problem with "I am an 'advantage play' gambler" as a broad statement. If you think you can do everything, odds are you aren't doing anything terribly well.

But some people only gamble where they have an advantage. They would be advantage gamblers.

Quote: redietz

So I have a problem with "I am an 'advantage play' gambler" as a broad statement. If you think you can do everything, odds are you aren't doing anything terribly well.

A machine player can't know how to take advantage of a hole card opportunity? A card counter can't walk by a must hit by and quickly crunch the numbers to know if its in a positive state? This has to be a troll post.

A good advantage gambler has many tools in their 🧰.

I voted for fun as I technically don't Gamble. I play. The money I bring, I consider it already gone. I consider a Gambler someone who brings money they need in hopes of winning more money to pay their basic needs. To me, the money I bring in is discretionary money that I don't actually need. If it's gone, it's no skin off my nose as I was expecting it to be gone anyways. If I win, great.