When did y'all draw the line in gambling

[GON]

Here is an article of a 1-million-dollar judgment against the mayor of Orem, UT and his. Gambling appears to be the root cause of this judgment and ruined numerous lives.

The judge found that David Young had a duty to inform Gagliano that Shawn Young “had misappropriated and gambled away the loan proceeds.”

https://www.heraldextra.com/news/lo...ayor-and-son-hit-with-1m-civil-suit-judgment/

 

[DejaVue]

I only bet on things when I think I have an advantage.
It causes me pain to play a slot machine because I know on every spin I'm only getting back an average of 70 to 90% of every dollar I put in.

Scratchers are similar to slot machines. Even worse since nothing spins, there's no flashing lights, no buttons to press, and no cute waitresses. So even the entertainment value is basically non-existent.

At least if a person bets on football games or similar there can be some thought involved.

 

[samven]

I was never lucky when it came to gambling. Years ago my wife and I were going through Vegas and decided to go to some of the casino's and just look around. We ended up playing the slots for a few hours and were down $120 when we stopped. That does not sound like much but at the time it was half a weeks bring home. We went to the bar for a drink before we left and bought 1 keno card and won $150. We were out of there so fast and so relived we never went back into a casino or bought a lottery ticket again. The desperate feeling of wondering how we were going to eat and the relief of getting out intact made a real impression.

 

[hrv]

When do you draw the line???? When you keep saying I will stop tomorrow and tomorrow never comes....IMO

 

[4wd]

Years ago a Texas based magazine bought a whole bunch of two types and lost.
Can’t even hit on a large volume purchase like that ?
What‘s annoying to me is you swing by an overpriced convenience store because you are in a hurry - but stand in line behind 3 scratchers who need purchase advice from the 22 year behind the counter …

 

[javacontour]

I've been known to buy scratchers for Christmas stockings or we'll get some for oilBabe on a road trip.
We actually won 5 or 10 Euros on a ticket in Italy. Took our original 2 Euro (IIRC) "investment" and put it back in my pocket and she played the rest.

I only play PB or MM when the jackpot is over $300 million as the odds to win are just under 300million:1 One ticket for each draw.
Back when the PowerBall was up to over $1 billion, a couple we hang out with called me and said they were having an debate over spending $100 on PB tickets. One wanted to, the other no, so they called. I said no, the odds of winning don't go up appreciably, so buy one ticket and dream.

Had I been on my game and not tired at the end of the day and driving home I would have said give ME the $100 and I guarantee you'll get at least $50 back. That's more than the could have reasonably expected on their $100 "investment."

 

[dlundblad]

My wife and I both spend $1 on a slot machine down in the Bahamas. That was about it.

Depends on what you want to do with your money. We also spent $20 each in an arcade just to fool around since she had never been to one.. At least with gambling you have a chance at getting it back.

We have friends that go to the casinos often. I suppose if I had a chance to go and blow $100 I would but I wouldn’t make a habit of it.

 

[Slick3914]

Very easy, I don’t do it in the first place.

 

[PWMDMD]

I've played the penny slots once or twice in my life for about 5 mins each time because I was at a casino for some other reason like a concert. I don't gamble because:

1. It does nothing for me
2. I understand math and probability

 

[Jetronic]

gambling can be done on a coin toss, it's either heads or tails. Pretty much anything else, including sports events isn't gambling, it's a money pit.

 

[wings&wheels]

Funny, just went to a casino, for the first time in a decade, to see Seinfeld.

My initial impression is always the same; walk in, look around and ask myself; "..what pays for this?"

 

[atikovi]

If you're going to be gambling, at least do it on something where you have some control and where some skill plays into the game, like Black Jack. If you have a good memory for remembering the cards, you can improve the odds enough to make consistent money. Scratchers are pure luck, which is just an imaginary concept.

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

So the last day I played scratchers i was $38 profitable from all that I've spent and won in total.

So I got pretty cocky today since I won $1,000 on a scratcher a while ago. I went in to buy many more and kept rolling the cash back into tickets and now I'm at -939. So I lost a total of $977. So I'd have to make that back to at least break even which I'm not sure I wanna try. Yeah I think I might end it here.

So when did y'all draw the line after some decent losses, or did y'all keep going? Has anyone on here won more than they lost? Before this I've won more than lost.

I've never play scratch offs. If I play drawings it's only when the grand prize equals the odds of winning. Ex: Say grand price for a $1 play is $1,000. If the odds of winning the $1,000 is 1: 1,000 then you should buy 1 tix for $1. Needless to to say this is extremely rare like almost never.

I'll occasionally play video poker. Some of those games the house edge is under 3 percent. Which isn't to bad if you're burning time. I do it for points in order to earn "status" with the company (MGM, Cesars) and comps but it takes a lot of time because the house edge is so small.

I never play slots or blackjack (continuous shufflers negate card counting).

I've heard that PaiGaw (sp?) is one of those table games where it's entirely social and the win/loss swings are very small.

 

[GON]

If you're going to be gambling, at least do it on something where you have some control and where some skill plays into the game, like Black Jack. If you have a good memory for remembering the cards, you can improve the odds enough to make consistent money. Scratchers are pure luck, which is just an imaginary concept.

I don't concur. There is absolutely no mathematically way to make money in a casino (except own it).

Some games, such as blackjack, allow one to lose your money slower than other games. But the end-state is always the same, you will 100 percent be a loser by gambling. There is no art involved- a casino bet is 100 percent math- and a suckers bet.

 

[SC Maintenance]

Scratch off tickets and like are highly controlled to ensure the house (state) wins the majority of the time. I believe by law they have to print the odds on the back, but even that really isn't accurate because it might be published as "return to players %", but if its a $1 ticket and has a $100K payout, that means 1 wins and 99,000 lose.

While you can "beat the odds" in short intervals occasionally, the more you play, the closer to the norm you get. Meaning you will never be positive playing these these things. If your already calculating how much you won or last then its no longer a game IMHO.

When I was younger I used to travel nationally a lot more and enjoyed the casino's a bit - Vegas, Tunica, As an Engineer I spent some time trying to figure out how to game the system. It can't be done. Well some MIT guys figured it out - but it took them working in teams, and the Casino's figured it out and tossed them, and put up camera's.

 

[alarmguy]

Never interested in gambling or the lottery. Actually your odds are more higher in Las Vegas than the lottery I am sure.
Been to Vegas twice, business, fun place to go for a change, three are other things besides gambling, like any cool city and Vegas has plenty of entertainment. Byy no means am I am gambler, not even a lottery ticket buyer.
The odds are 1000 times greater that you will die of something tomorrow than win the lottery.

Anyway here is a freaking FANTASTIC MOVIE ! True story! A retired mathematician who found a loop hole in the Massachusetts lottery.
MUST SEE MOVIE! Unbelievable story, amazing. Great people, great acting, awesome.

It's on Paramount + and Showtime right now, if you dont have those sign up for a free trial "Paramount+" or just keep an eye out for the other streaming services.

Movie name = Jerry and Marge GO Large

 

[thastinger]

I've never bought a single lotto or scratch off ticket as I'm aware of what kind of luck I have.

The only person I've ever known to end up net + is a cat that used to work for me. He had a system, he played PICK3 only. He was a smoker so he would go to the 7-11 for a pack daily, while there he would buy 3 PICK3 tickets and he would pick 444 or 555 or 777 etc and play those numbers all 3 ways. He hit it three times during the three years he worked for me, I think it pays 9K to hit all 3 ways before taxes.

 

[DriveHard]

When I did the math, and looked at the odds.

 

[Astro14]

I don't concur. There is absolutely no mathematically way to make money in a casino (except own it).

Some games, such as blackjack, allow one to lose your money slower than other games. But the end-state is always the same, you will 100 percent be a loser by gambling. There is no art involved- a casino bet is 100 percent math- and a suckers bet.

You can count cards in Blackjack, and make money. It’s difficult, and illegal in many places, but it’s doable.

Because the player can adjust their betting, and the dealer cannot, if the deck becomes “ten rich” - i.e., has more face cards than a normal distribution, the odds of the dealer busting on a given hand go up. Player adjusts betting, and bets, upward to take advantage. If the deck becomes “ten poor” player adjusts betting, and lowers bets to stay in the game while reducing loss.

“Beat the Dealer” by Edward O. Thorp was the first book to popularize this strategy. And it works. Burning the first card, multiple deck shoes, and ending the dealing before the end of the shoe are all game rule changes to minimize the impact of card counting.

You have to have a bankroll of at least 100 bets, and you must count every card to eke out the advantage, and most importantly, you must not get caught.

I‘ve done it, having read the book, and practiced before going to Atlantic City, in the mid 1980s. Not easy. Not recommended. But it works.

 

[Astro14]

For the OP - you’ve crossed the line.

If you miss the money in your budget - it’s too much

If you think you’re going to win - it’s too much

If you’re counting on the winnings in your budget - it’s too much


You’ve stated all three. You’re way over the line.