You've got to know when to fold 'em

Martha

Martha

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Camped last night in a casino campground, waiting out a snow storm. It cost 20 dollars, but we got $15 back in slot machine vouchers. This was exciting, I have never been gambling and never have tried a slot machine. Our plan was to feed the voucher to the machine, bet 25 cents, and any time we won, cash out the winnings. Won $16.25! So we camped for $3.75. Yeah! We also ate at the lunch buffet: $4.00 for the over 50 crowd.

Watching the people, mostly elderly, at the machines going through their money was rather frightening. Cigarettes and coffee in hand, feeding $20s to the slots. Jonesing for the all American drug.
 
I went to a riverboat casino the other night, just for something to do while the wife was out. I'd never been to a casino before, and I agree it was kinda scary.

I had no idea that smoking was so essential to gambling.

I blew through the $12 I happened to have in my wallet. Have to admit I don't see the appeal, sitting at a slot pressing a button over and over again, watching your money deplete to zero.

I guess a room filled with terminals where you could pump dollars into an index fund wouldn't be very succesful.
 
Martha said:
Watching the people, mostly elderly, at the machines going through their money was rather frightening. Cigarettes and coffee in hand, feeding $20s to the slots. Jonesing for the all American drug.
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Yup. Been to a casino exactly once (Atlantic City). Ugh. Never again. Degenerate effing gamblers. Not only do I not see the appeal, I have a hard time understanding how people can stand to be in that environment.
 
I'm working in a casino now. Well not right now, but I'll be there tonight. Talk about depressing. I like to watch people and many of those sitting in front of the machines look very sad and bored. Many of my co-workers have the same look.

I've seen people literally wet themselves because they didn't want to get up and go to the restroom.
 
DH gambled a twenty one time he was in Atlantic City for business, first and last time he set foot in a casino. Said it was like "Taking a bath in greed". I went once in Shreveport when I was there for a football game--much the same reaction.
 
lets-retire said:
I've seen people literally wet themselves because they didn't want to get up and go to the restroom.
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As much as I want to believe you are joking, I am pretty much sure you aren't.

Dad hits the AC casinos at least once a week and goes to Vegas something like 10X a year. I simply cannot fathom it.
 
I've been in casinos many times. I like to watch the players at the craps tables. One time in LV we hit it on a slot and had a bucket of quarters. Cashed out then used some spare change in a slot at the airport. Hit again and got on the plane with another bucket.

But I agree that it is a special breed that frequents them regularly. They have a unique vacant stare after being drained of their cash.
 
About 20 years ago, the young wife and I went to Nova Scotia on the ferry boat from Portland, Maine. It is an 8-10 hour trip. Going there was okay -- it was an overnight trip -- we ate dinner, then went to bed, and in the morning we were in Canada. However, coming back during the day was what I envision Hell to be like.

The boat was lined stem to stern, gunwale to gunwale, with slot machines, which they turned on as soon as were three miles out to sea. Almost every one of the machines featured a chain smoker putting the coins in the machine and pulling the handle with metronomic efficiency. It was very disturbing. I was really surprised to see that some machines had spectators, who would cheer and groan appropriately as the wheels spun to a stop. The attraction to playing the slots is inexplicable enough to me, but I just can't imagine what would make a person want to watch someone else play them.
 
If you get a chance, go to a very low-stakes blackjack table or craps game anytime after midnight. The slot players tend to keep to themselves, but the down-and-outers at a craps game or blackjack table in the low-rent district are a more lively bunch.
 
I know one person that gambling paid off . She won 250000 on a slot machine. The rest of the people I know routinely get their butts kicked in Casino's .
 
I've seen people literally wet themselves because they didn't want to get up and go to the restroom.
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To be fair, this also happens to many of us busily posting on the forum.
 
At least one of the smaller RiverBoat casinos features a brightly painted bus that picks up loyal customers, makes a stop at the "payday loan" place and then the casino. I just don't know how these casinos can afford all this customer service ;)

Of course I'm assuming all these bus riders maxed out the 401K before they hopped aboard :eek:
 
Dh and I go to Foxwoods in Conn. about once a year. We take only what we would spend on an evening out and no more. We have fun, walk around looking at all the sights have lunch or dinner, if we win fine, if we don't then that's fine too. We don't go there looking to hit it big, to us it's entertainment. It also helps that most of the time we come home with more than we started out with or break even. :)

We also were on the Nova Scotia Ferry for a company outing, that bothered me because we were captives, there was nothing to do besides gamble or sit on the deck and freeze. It's not something we'd pay to do and I remember us both thinking that out loud to each other.

I'll bet ( haha) that all those people you see sitting at the slots, sucking down free drinks and puffing away on butts are the same ones littering the doorstep of the convenience stores with uses scratch tickets. Sad, very sad.
 
I used to go to alot of conventions at casinos - what always amazed me was that on my way to the hall at 7:30am the slots were full w/ people smoking, drinking and looking miserable. How long could you live w/ this lifestyle - what is really disturbing is that.....this was prob. their vacation!
 
I do enjoy the random casino trip for fun. (about once every other year!) I have a set budget, and my goal is to play it as long as I can. Was in the Wisconsin Dells a few years ago for a recruiting function...took the bus to the Ho-Chunk casino after the Navy festivities each night...arrived no earlier than 11....sat at the cheap seats ($5 blackjack)...got to know all the dealers pretty well (we were there 4 consecutive nights - definitely not a down and out bunch at all - quite the rowdy crowd)...closed the tables at 5 am all four nights/mornings....budget was $100 for the week... came out a couple hundred ahead. I also like the nickle slots! BF and I were in AC last year for a beer convention we were working at as vendors...and our nickle slot winnings Sunday am ($125) paid for our hotel & breakfast!
 
TromboneAl said:
To be fair, this also happens to many of us busily posting on the forum.
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I am sitting in the lobby of the casino catching up a bit on the net. I kinda have to pee, but haven't wanted to put the computer away yet. . . .
 
At one time I used to frequent two casinos a lot. One would put out food at about 2 or 3 am. The way I figured it was me and the wife would each go with $20, we'd drink as much booze as we wanted smoked as many cigarettes as we wanted and eat as much as we wanted. The $40 would have been spent on booze at our other night spots so the casino was a bargain. The other one I would go to was almost like a bank account. I think I left lighter than I came two times out of about the 50 times I went, but I stayed away from the slots like they were covered in plague.
 
The slot machines just show the power of intermittent reinforcement. Every once in a while, but not too often, you win a little. Just keeps you wanting to try for more. I am staying far away, except to gamble this nights camping voucher. :)
 
Just don't sit on the cloth seats, those can't be adequately cleaned. The vinyl ones can be wiped off and cleaned rather well.
 
Every time we walk into a casino, I notice all the "wretched excess", and I wonder, "Hmmm....who pays for all this?".....and then a little voice in my head says, "Baaaa....Baaaaaa"......

We have a relative by marriage who is a big deal at the Mirage Casino in LV....in charge of the whales, (the big spenders)......he's been a casino man his whole life and his father before him. He doesn't gamble at all.

We used to have fun when we passed through Laughlin, as the Pioneer there used to have prime rib on Wednesdays for $3.99 for the complete meal. We would go in and wait in line (handily right next to a row of slots), and watch the people in line feed the machines. Our mission was to walk in, wait, eat our prime rib, leave a nice tip and walk out.....like guerilla warfare...... that was fun.

I grew up with a father in the grocery business, who taught me early about loss leaders, product placement and human nature......gambling is just not something that appeals to me....unless, of course, I owned the casino....

LooseChickens
 
Outtahere said:
We don't go there looking to hit it big, to us it's entertainment.
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Agreed. When I go to casinos (which is maybe every few years), I typically play Texas Hold'Em... I like being able to play against players rather than the house. Not to mention, though the jackpots aren't so big... being able to leverage winning primarily on skill is definitely nice.

And a lot of people in Vegas think they're better than they are, which makes for good pickings! :)
 
In 1986 my DH got a small bonus. He said, "why don't you and your mom do something fun?" Well, we decided to go to Las Vegas. A couple of country bumpkins in LV slamming away at the slot machines was a sight to behold. She and I have never had so much fun and I cherish the memories of laughter. That first trip, we may have gotten 8 hours sleep in 4 days! We went a few more times over the years but no longer since her back won't allow it.

DH could never understand why it was fun until he went to a conference. So, he and I have been to Vegas once a year for the past 10 years. It's a vacation for us. While gazing at the machines you think of nothing else and that was a good way for him to not think about his job.

There are casinos closer to us, but we don't go. We like Vegas and I think just talking about it, making the arrangements, flying .... you know the whole package is what we get a kick out of.

It's fun to throw caution to the wind every once in a while.
 
brewer12345 said:
Yup. Been to a casino exactly once (Atlantic City). Ugh. Never again. Degenerate effing gamblers. Not only do I not see the appeal, I have a hard time understanding how people can stand to be in that environment.
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Next time you are out west, stop into the sports book at Caesar's or The Mirage or Bellagio. Plush quiet atmosphere, huge TVs with sports events from all over the world, odds and propositions of every imaginable kind. Most of them are hard to beat, but the cost of play can be low-1 to 5% depending on the bet format. A person with good sports knowledge and some time to search out the best odds can do OK. In fact there are even some arbitrage opportunities.

I also feel that some sports betting experience is good training in combinations and permutations and a good reality factor for anyone who is interested in stocks.

Ha
 
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