Do you gamble alone?

I know that everyone is different, and what's right for me isn't right for you. I'm interested in learning about how others approach casino gambling, regarding this.

When I go to a casino, I don't go alone; I always go with my wife, or my dad, or my sister or her husband, or all of us go as a group. I've tried going alone, and it just doesn't feel right. I feel a little seedy, or something; desperate, maybe.

I think it's because for me gaming is fun, but it's only part of the experience. If I'm with friends or family, the good time we all have as a group outweighs the fact that the house has the edge; but when I go alone, I feel like I'm throwing my money away in a foolish attempt to beat the odds.

I'll go to the movies alone, or to a restaurant, or a game, if I'm off and Mrs Mosca is working. But I've gone to the casino alone, and it's no fun. For me.

Now, my dad will sometimes stop at Mohegan Pocono and run $100 through the video blackjack; he's 82, and still plays tournament duplicate bridge (he's a Gold Life Master). He'll stop on the way home from a game, if he needs to kill some time or if his competitive spirit is still high and he needs to burn it off a little. But generally he only goes with us or with his girlfriend (the video poker fiend). He won't just take $500 to the casino to play all afternoon or evening for fun.

How do you play? Is the fun tied to the gaming, or the friends, or some of both?

I typically go to the casino alone, but that's primarily because I don't have friends close by who gamble, and Mrs. 'dice' does not gamble unless we are in Las Vegas. Even then, she spends her time at the spa or shopping while I play craps.

I like the experience. I am almost exclusively a craps player, and most of the time I play the do side, and a big part of the experience is the shared thrill of winning with everyone else at the table/ (Don't bettors usually slink away when the table turns against them.) Mrs. 'dice' will hang out with me sometimes when we are in Las Vegas -- one time I even got her to roll the dice -- but for the most part it's just me and the new friends I make while at the table.

I think most other table games are not like craps in that not everyone at the table is winnning at the same time, so the cameraderie is much harder to build.

I have no problem gambling by myself, though I prefer to go with a couple of friends. Unfortunately, most of my friends do not have the desire to spend 10+ hours a day at the craps or blackjack table with me, so they have worked out a shift schedule where some will join me during the morning and others in the afternoon. In the late evening, we all get together for a few more hours of fun.

Yes, I love to gamble and I love casinos.

I prefer to go with Mrs Mimbo (that would be Bimbo) but if she doesn't go, I have no problem going by myself. I usually end up at the same place and the dealers and some other players know me anyway. I don't feel like a degenerate unless I act like one (pulling money out of a bank that I can't afford) which is very rare.

I prefer gambling alone, I like going on trips with my spouse but he usually sits at the sports book and watches the games. I feel I can concentrate better at the BJ tables when I am gambling alone. I also take day trips to the indian casinos by myself, I enjoy that, I only have to worry about myself and not making sure he is having fun too.

there are no casinos where we are so we have to travel to gamble, so we are always together. ms. nap, (i guess i might as well jump on the band wagon and start calling her that instead of my better half, and it sounds cool too), only plays vp so we play together, which is fun. we practice and check the pay tables and try to find the best casinos and promotions to play etc. that's one reason we drive alot when we go to vegas. but being out of towners we also play for the rooms and food, and as our vegas trips are also for vacation we are always trying new food places, shows, and different things to do.

but although we enjoy playing vp together i do play one 'table game' (which i won't get into now), and when i am playing that game i don't want her near me! i need to concentrate and focus and there are enough distractions around. we play vp together for fun and comps, and i play the other game for myself.

I'd like to think I don't gamble alone, but the fact of the matter is Mrs. Gambit does not join me at the craps table... she may or may not be playing video poker.

Something that is happening is that table games are coming within day trip distance for me. That is going to be interesting. There is no way I'm not hitting the craps table at least once when it is new, going alone if necessary. I will want to give it a rest after that, remaining to be seen what goes at that point.

I have gambled alone but I prefer that my wife be in the casino--just a little chat now and then when she comes to claim her drink (I always order two at the tables because service is horrid in much of the slots areas recently) and get more of "her" session budget. She goes $20 at a time so the machines don't "hoover" the money too fast. The best trips to the tables for her are the ones where she hands me a ticket in exchange for $20...she likes for me to cash them.

I do gamble essentially alone besides that...she is bored after about a minute at the table. She doesn't even want to stay long enough to do the match plays!! I have to play hers first and do it quickly!!

I also put in more hours in the casino than she does...so I guess I am technically alone but she is right upstairs.

I like to gamble with friends, but I also often go to a casino alone.

A lot of it depends upon the situation.

For example, I go with my brother, a friend, and the wives to a casino for a couple days every Christmas. (What else are good Jews gonna do?)

We tend to play a lot together, got to meals together and have a good time.

However, on the times were I go to a casino just with Mrs Bear, we tend to go our own ways except to eat. She likes slots, I hate slots. We both play BJ, but she gets nervous when I press my bets. We both play craps, but she again gets nervous when I press my bets. She's also one to tell me "Seven Out." While she is usually right, she usually tells me when the dice are in the air. We also both play poker, but she doesn't like to play at the same table as me.

The poker thing has gotten to the point where we play in different poker leagues at home!

For me, when my wife and I go to the casino, we often split up, so I explained my answer to my own question wrong. When I go with the in-laws or my dad, we always play together, when I go with my wife we sometimes play together and sometimes split up. But I never actually go to the casino alone, or plan a trip alone.

So my pattern fits a few of the others here. Mrs Mosca doesn't like the dice, but she'll sit with me at cards. When I throw dice, she'll play slots. And sometimes when I play cards, she'll say she'd rather play her favorite slot (Wizard of Oz). But I don't go to the casino alone; I won't say to myself, "I think I'll stop by Mohegan on the way home from work and run a couple hundred through the video blackjack, see what happens."

I do what makes me happy, if that made me happy I'd do it. I wonder sometimes, though; I grew up in a household that played cards constantly. My dad taught me how to play gin and cribbage by the time I was 12, and we used to play all the time, penny a point or quarter a game in cribbage. Family weekends were spent sitting around the table playing Hearts, Spades, Oh Hell, Euchre, whatever. So I grew up loving games, but I think it's that family association that I really love about them. It's the competition and the chance to win, but within the family circle, that I enjoy.

To expand upon my prior post, when I go, I have a bankroll and I won't go to the ATM if I bust out. The wife, on the other hand, talks about the ATM as the one machine that always pays off.

So, since I'm much more controlled, I tend to have far less loss than she does. Heck, my usual bankroll is $800, but I'll start to tighten up when I lose $50.

Because I have more controlled than she, I made my last three trips alone. Plus I'm starting to get a good grip on poker, to the point where I usually leave the table a winner. (Can't say the same about craps.)

I lost a little on the first trip, lost a bunch on the second, and won a lot on the third. My net for the three two-day trips was a loss of $100.


Hmmmm..... I'm starting to get the itch again....

I hear you, two weeks until I go to vegas and I havent played in about 3, should I stop by the card room on my way to work for two $10 hands of pai gow?

Quote: gambler

I have no problem gambling by myself, though I prefer to go with a couple of friends. Unfortunately, most of my friends do not have the desire to spend 10+ hours a day at the craps or blackjack table with me, so they have worked out a shift schedule where some will join me during the morning and others in the afternoon. In the late evening, we all get together for a few more hours of fun.

Yes, I love to gamble and I love casinos.

Too bad we don't know each other in real life, we could be casino buddies.

I have a similar problem. Most people I know don't like hanging forever in a casino, and the few that do it is hard to get together with. One I meet for poker every now and again yet we have played at the same table only one time. Sometimes this one and a few other college-buddies will meet at a casino for a "reunion" of sorts. We will sometimes play together for a little while and sometimes play alone.

As someone who has moved several times I don't have a large circle of friends in any one place so if I want to go I go alone. But unless you are playing heads up you are never alone at a casino, I always find fun conversation at the tables!

When I gamble, I tend to go to the casino for a game of poker with friends from work, or in there with a fair few people.

When they go home and I am left alone I find it far too easy to lose control of myself and gamble beyond my bankroll. Just because I know the odds doesnt make me any less of a mug than anyone else.

I do gamble alone, but then I travel alone, too. 9 times out of ten, given a choice, I prefer to be by myself. It helps I'm single.

I used to travel with my family, then I traveled with friends. Going solo is a lot better. I can do as I please and when I please. No compromises, no arguments, no complications. If I want to stay up late, I do. If I want to go back to the hotel for a nap, I do. If I want to spend the day shopping, I do.

due to scheduling, the rare times ms. nap and i aren't in vegas together for a few days, it did get lonely as we do other things together besides gamble. not as fun sightseeing or eating alone, etc. in the casino we usually go our separate ways only if i go to play my game.

but i agree with Nareed in that being with others can restrict your plans. especially if they don't like to gamble as much, or want to see or eat something else, or have different sleeping habits like going to the room earlier or needing to take afternoon naps! when my daughter went to vegas for her 21st birthday with her friends who also just made 21, she said she didn't have as much fun as she thought she would because everyone wanted to do something different. it helps to have a few things in common, expectations, gambling, etc. to have a better vegas experience.

Quote: inap

but i agree with Nareed in that being with others can restrict your plans. especially if they don't like to gamble as much, or want to see or eat something else, or have different sleeping habits like going to the room earlier or needing to take afternoon naps!

I've become an early riser due to my current job. Add, or rather substract, the two-hour time difference between Mexico and Vegas, and it's a struggle to stay up past 10 pm. Not to mention I tend to wake up at 5 am.

I managed better on my second trip, which included a couple fo afternoon naps to reset the internal clock. But the first trip I hardly even saw Vegas at night! The day of the Hoover Dam tour I woke up at 4 am

The last time I traveled with a friend I came close to strangling him. I'll share just one detail: we found a very decent, no-frills motel, this was in Orlando in 1990, for the fantastic rate of $11 per night for two people. He said "I think we can find something cheaper."

Donald Trump is a fucking criminal

Quote: Nareed

...for the fantastic rate of $11 per night for two people. He said "I think we can find something cheaper."

Now THAT's funny!

Quote: DJTeddyBear

Quote: Nareed

...for the fantastic rate of $11 per night for two people. He said "I think we can find something cheaper."

Now THAT's funny!

You know, my blood pressure stil rises when I remeber that event. But I can see how it would seem funny.

I'll sum up that trip in one sentence: never before or since was I ever so glad to return home.

Quote: Nareed

never before or since was I ever so glad to return home.

Yeah, I know the type of flea-bag place you're describing.

Last summer, I stayed Friday and Satuday as a dump in A.C. for $40. It was halfway between Taj and Ballys. (It's a stretch of boardwalk with no casinos - just typical psychics, boardwalk souvenir and junk shops.) For that price, it was 'European Style' I.E. Use a common bathroom.

I describe it this way: Like most guys, #1 is no problem. Heck, we'll pee into an open grave, and if the un-dead was reaching out, we'd aim for his head. But #2? I had to walk the 1/2 mile to the closest casino.

I'd nover take my wife there, but for $40 for two nights, I can't complain.

Quote: DJTeddyBear

Quote: Nareed

never before or since was I ever so glad to return home.

Yeah, I know the type of flea-bag place you're describing.

Actually the place we found for $11 a night was rather good. It was clean, no bugs (other than the ever present love bugs outside the rooms), and the bathroom, though small, was satisfactory. It even had A/C. On the downside there was no restaurant, no gift shop, and the safe deposit box at the front desk wasn't that safe. Of course it was way off-season, September, and close to 20 miles away from the nearest Disney park.

No, I was glad to get home because I could get away from my best friend for more than a few minutes at a time. That we stayed friends says a lot about the guy, but I'd never again travel with him.

Quote: DJTeddyBear

Quote: Nareed

...for the fantastic rate of $11 per night for two people. He said "I think we can find something cheaper."

Now THAT's funny!

that is funny! this brings up another point when traveling with others. having a common idea of how much you expect to spend on the trip!

i have a friend who i think must be a relative of Nareed's friend. he just went to vegas in dec. with another couple. although this couple has been married for over 20 years, this was essentially their honeymoon trip as her husband promised to take her when they got married 20 years ago and only now took her! on top of that she has never been to vegas! knowing my friend i know he would have tried to stay in the same room to split the cost! he said he didn't think they would go for it. duh!

Quote: Mosca

How do you play? Is the fun tied to the gaming, or the friends, or some of both?

It depends, really. I almost always go into a casino with someone else. However, once we're in there, I've been know to spend a lot of time at the tables, where most of my friends/relatives don;t care to. I believe my longest stint was 7 straight hours at a craps table in the Mirage. We may start out playing at the same table, but more often than not, I'll be the last one left standing... for better or worse. If I go with my wife, she tends to rotate between standing behind me and watching and wandering off.

By myself, usually, but I prefer going with friends. I find that when I am by myself I tend to get degenerate at times and it's better to have someone along to control/distract you.

I prefer to play alone. I think it has to do with more of a personal issue though, there's a reasonable stigma in my family against gambling that I've had to deal with. I always enjoy a friend to share a story with though so it's a give and take.