Any gamblers here?

[nash031]

FIL was a gambler... As were 2 of DH's uncles. The casino used to send a limo to pick up one of DH's uncles on payday. He thought he was hot stuff because of that. Fortunately, he held back just enough of his paycheck before getting in the car... because he lost the rest that night. FIL had to hand over his paycheck to MIL after he gambled and lost their mortgage payment one night. He'd do side work for extra money to feed the addiction of gambling... DH remembers being on odd jobs with his dad and having bookies trying to trick him into giving the bookie his dad's real name... Said it was pretty scary.

I play the lottery 2-3 times a year. I don't go out of my way to go to casinos. If I am at a casino - I set a fixed amount for "entertainment" - and when that is gone - I'm done.

I've done the same in Vegas. Fortunately I set aside $50 to play blackjack, made $60, cashed out and took the wife for a $110 dinner. [emoji1]

 

[braumeister]

My favorite gambling story:
When my grandparents retired, they took a driving trip for a couple of months to "see the USA."
They arrived in Las Vegas in early afternoon and went right to the first big casino they came to.
A few hours later they were up over $6,000. My grandmother said "Shouldn't we be checking in to the hotel?"
He replied "There is no way we're staying the night. We beat the system and we're getting out of this town as fast as we can."

That was in 1960, and $6,000 then would be the equivalent of about $50,000 today. They loved to tell that story the rest of their lives.

 

[Walt34]

He replied "There is no way we're staying the night. We beat the system and we're getting out of this town as fast as we can."

That was one smart guy!

Like rodi, we'll buy lottery tickets ~three times a year for the entertainment value as the whim strikes but that's about it.

 

[Koolau]

Interesting Factoid: The number one tourist destination of those living in Hawaii is Las Vegas. IIRC there are special flights that allow a person to leave Hawaii for Vegas just after w*rk on Friday and be back early Mon AM in time to go back to w*rk.

Personally never been much of a gambler. Recently went to Windsor Ont and was going to meet an old friend at the casino. Since he was running late, I got to looking around and saw slot machines that were 1 cent bets! Of course, you could bet a lot more, but if you set it correctly, there actually WAS 1 cent betting on the slots. So I sat there for a couple of hours and lost less than a dollar. Kind of fun, kind of boring.

Years ago I was at a convention in Reno. I suppose DW and I put a total of $5 in the slots during the 4 days we were there. We were sitting in snack bar waiting for our transportation to the airport on the last day when we heard our names called over the PA. Turns out we had won a small TV as a door prize for visiting one of the vendors. So here we were with our luggage and a TV in a box, heading to the airport. The airlines said "can't guarantee the TV will arrive safely, but it should." So our "big win" in Reno was a 13 inch TV that we didn't want or need. YMMV

 

[mamadogmamacat]

Definitely a YMMV topic if there ever was one. I bought a lottery ticket once. Also spend $5. towards Charity raffle tickets once a year. That's it. Child of a compulsive gambler and his enabling spouse(a professional person reduced to dumpster diving after long since losing everything she had built up prior to her marriage). Still, I'm not hard up against it as say someone might be with my background.

 

[street]

My thoughts exactly. On any given day I can easily be up or down 6 figures. To get the same kind of "excitement" gambling I would soon be penniless I think.

Life itself is enough of a gamble in my view.

I agree playing the stocks is a big enough gamble to me. Six figures is a lot of money.

 

[Elbata]

My favorite gambling story:

I never gambled. Moved to CA and went to the fair, and later they had horse races. I boxed 2 horses for the exacta. That's where the horses are picked to come in first and second place. My horses won, and I was so excited. Soon after the 2nd place horse was disqualified for bumping another horse in the final turn.

I'm surprised so many here look at investing in the market as gambling.

 

[Car-Guy]

My favorite gambling story goes something like this:

There was a rich Texan (a mulit millionaire) at a Vegas casino playing in one of the high stakes rooms and making a real A$$ of himself acting like a big shot. Then a fellow player that he didn't know (a billionaire) asked him, well sir, just how much money do you have? The Texan reportedly boastfully replied, 50 million "son". The billionaire then replied, do you want to flip for it?


And my favorite gambling video.

 

[Car-Guy]

I'm surprised so many here look at investing in the market as gambling.

It certinely is to me, albeit a lot more measured than the craps tables. Everything is a gamble, to some degree.

 

[gcgang]

I love gambling and bet sports every day, I've tried "systems" on almost every game the casino has but right now I play poker and bet on sports only, they are 2 games I can pretty consistently beat. I'll throw maybe $20 or $40 in the slot machine but that's about it. I tried counting cards on 21 and read a book on a roulette system that I played with but nothing is as good as poker for me, I watch my mom and wife throw hundreds at the machines with little returns. do you gamble and what do you play?

I'll gamble a little at craps. I view it like going to the movies, you're paying for entertainment.

Poker and blackjack I view as games of skill, much like golf. I do play those for money and the challenge of playing well, trying to improve my skills. Occasionally I get a rush from having a big bet out, but it's mostly about making the correct play. I've won much more at poker and blackjack than golf.

I agree you can have an advantage at sports betting, but I know I don't have it.

 

[97guns]

I agree you can have an advantage at sports betting, but I know I don't have it.

I rolled into Reno Yesterday and I'm laying on the hotel bed right now, didn't get to play poker yet but made 2 sports bets and both lost. I was feeling really good about them before the games started and thought I had the edge, my first rule of gambling is never give up, it's all odds and the odds will turn. My second rule is you can't be afraid to let it rip, ties into rule #1

 

[Big_Hitter]

I'm surprised so many here look at investing in the market as gambling.

investing is completely different from gambling

investing involves exchanging an asset for a positive risk premium

gambling involves creating a risk where none previously existed and exchanging an asset for a negative risk premium

 

[YVRRocketSurgery]

I love to gamble but I hate losing money.
I'm under no illusion that it's not a logical way to net more money since the odds are essentially stacked against you. It doesn't hurt to learn how to strategically play the casino games you play so you hopefully don't lose as fast.

I buy a lottery ticket maybe 5 times a year. It's somewhat random, the odd time I'm in a 7/11 and I get the urge to buy a ticket. I'll also buy the odd 50/50 ticket at an event.

There's also a lottery pool at work that I'm in. It's kind of dumb but the only reason I take part is the fear of the pool winning and being the only person being left behind in the office.

I'm in an annual $20 hockey pool with my friends. It's more for the social aspect.

My friends will get together about once a year to play poker. Again pretty low stakes like $20 to $40 for a buy in and mainly just for the social aspect. I've won a round a couple of times and just use the money to buy pizza for the night.

A couple of buddies and I go to Vegas once a year for a boys trip. I generally hate playing regular slots but I'll throw a few dollars in while sitting beside my buddy who loves slots for some reason. I'll play a bit of video poker and I like craps and blackjack just for the potential socialness of these table games. Obviously, I typically come home with a few hundred dollars lighter in the pocket.
We typically don't go to the casino in town. I think we've gone as a group once in the last three years. I actually won $200 that night.

 

[Meadbh]

I took statistics class in college. No.

+1

 

[kcowan]

DW1 used to play the 25 cent slots in LV. Last day she hit it big. We took the buckets to the cashier to convert to bills but kept some small change. Found 25 cent slots in the airport to get rid of the small change. Damned if she did not hit it again. So we went on the plane with buckets of quarters! Never been back. Beginners luck!

 

[REWahoo]

DW1 used to play the 25 cent slots in LV. Last day she hit it big. We took the buckets to the cashier to convert to bills but kept some small change. Found 25 cent slots in the airport to get rid of the small change. Damned if she did not hit it again. So we went on the plane with buckets of quarters! Never been back. Beginners luck!

That's an amazing story - not that she hit the slots twice, that she hit a slot at the LV airport! I thought those only existed as a convenient way collect any winnings you might have left prior to boarding the flight home.

 

[Car-Guy]

That's an amazing story - not that she hit the slots twice, that she hit a slot at the LV airport! I thought those only existed as a convenient way collect any winnings you might have left prior to boarding the flight home.

McCarran is notorious for having tight slots. I don't typically play slots but many years ago I had an hour to kill waiting for a flight there, so . Just about the time they called my flight I hit a $300 win. That required a hand payout. Almost missed my flight.

 

[RobbieB]

Nowadays no coins are needed and none are paid out. You stick your bills in the slot and when you cash out the machine prints you a chit which you take to the chit machine (or a cashier) to get your dough.

 

[Mulligan]

I probably have the record for most trips to Vegas to bet without spending a penny in a slot or table game...Off to the sportbook I go. Bet weekend trips on Masters golf daily pairings and a few weekend football bet trips. Also schedule separate trips to lay my NFL season win total over under bets and my NHL season point total over under bets.

 

[mystang52]

The closest thing to gambling for me is a suicide football pool I am in, with my daughter. Very high stakes - $5. That's it for me. I don't get any thrill from traditional casino-type gambling. I don't judge anyone else who enjoys it, presuming they can afford to do so, but it's just not my thing. I'm doing a sprint triathlon this Saturday, and the entry fee for that is $95. That's how I'd rather "lose" my money.
As another one wrote, this is a definite YMMV form of recreation.

 

[Dash man]

I used to love playing blackjack and some craps. But when the salaries stopped coming in and the grown kids still needed help, the gambling stopped. Had a two week cruise this summer and didn't donate anything to the casino.

 

[GravitySucks]

Too cheap to truly enjoy gambling, however:
$5 / $10 a week on Lotto / Mega / Power ball tix. Funny the State gives worse odds than the mob did. Horrible odds but I got some good karma due and I need to be prepared to accept its bounty.
10 times a year at the horses. Most often Harness racing. Takes 20 minutes to lose $5. Usually hit a Exacta or Tri to off set the most of the loses. After the ponies take our cash me and my buddy will saunter over to the attached "Raceino" for video poker. Gambling portion of these evenings never run to more than a $50 loss over a 3 hour stint.
Real casinos I like Roulette. Terrible long term odds but I have system that shows short term wins by learning to walk away. ( For $10 I'll send you the system I bought from The Colonel.)
Friendly bets on NCAA basketball, but that leads to having to bet with the same guys on pro football, so it works out as a wash.
I also took Stats, undergrad and accelerated grad, they never added in the entertainment value of gambling.

 

[Car-Guy]

McCarran is notorious for having tight slots. I don't typically play slots but many years ago I had an hour to kill waiting for a flight there, so . Just about the time they called my flight I hit a $300 win. That required a hand payout. Almost missed my flight.

Nowadays no coins are needed and none are paid out. You stick your bills in the slot and when you cash out the machine prints you a chit which you take to the chit machine (or a cashier) to get your dough.

That should give you an idea of how long it's been since I've played any slots.

 

[Katsmeow]

I haven't actually gambled for money in years since I just haven't been to any place where I can do that. We plan to go to Las Vegas next year though. Anyway, back in the day I liked to play mostly Blackjack. Occasionally, I would play craps.

 

[googily]

I'm guessing that the sort of people who can be squirreling away enough money to retire early are not going to be a big bunch of gamblers.

That said, yes, I like to gamble. Never more than I can afford, but blackjack and video poker do have a siren song for me. And I like craps but I can never remember the odds and the proper bets and I'm scared someone will yell at me.

My father has played the ponies for 50 years, so it clearly runs in the family.