I look at the money I spend playing in a casino as an “entertainment fee”. How much would you like to be entertained? Deposit cash here.
My high school-educated wife is partial both to occasional gambling and to fishing. The underlying similarities in the two activities have provided me with much food for thought.
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The Lottery: a tax on people who are bad at math.
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"The gallows humor and camaraderie is the closest you might ever get, in the material world, to an audience with a capricious God."
Wow, very depressing.
Legal gambling is a yawn. The off-the-books experience on the other hand...
"I don't gamble often." The author is lucky (pun intended) to be able to say so. He probably never had to worry that someone else was going to gamble their pay away every week or get their knees broken because they couldn't pay up. "Unless you're clinically crazy, you can't believe you affect the results of a roulette wheel." That's exactly what compulsive gamblers do. The next time is always going to be the big win that changes their lives for the better. This essay is naive at best and silly at worst.
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We are all the descendants of survivors, most of whom lived in prehistoric times. Survival was chancy in a world little understood. These beings who passed our DNA on to us got lucky, guessed right, picked well, and sometimes even figured something out correctly. Now survival is more assured and the world is better understood; But, we still expect to get lucky, hope to guess right, try to pick well, and apply our minds to making sense of apparent meaningless random disorder. I am field testing a unified field theory of horse race forecasting myself.
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I buy PowerBall and MegaMillions tickets for every drawing
I have played on combination of six numbers for close to 40 years now starting with the NYS lottery and moving along to the current 2 big lotteries.
I also play Lucky for Life since it started.
Prize is $1000 per day for the rest of your life-non transferable.
Fortunately at age 72 I can elect for the lump sum.
Just like with waiting until age 70 to take Social Security,
the break even point is about age 85.
My best bet at the moment, due to some health issues, is the lump sum.
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@adara614 Respectfully, however much it was, each week for 40 years, placed in the market or a CD with interest compounded would be a win of its own.
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Even putting that money in a shoebox would be a better long term strategy.
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When I play with money I can afford to lose, I consider it gaming, not gambling. It's gambling when you wager money you cannot afford to lose. Second point: Poker is unusual in that SOMEBODY at the table wins.
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"To gamble is to give up control."
Being the son of a compulsive gambler who smacked mom around for money, threatened to kill me at casinos, squandered untold amounts of cash and generally defined his life by 'investing in chance', I'll admit there's some truth to that.
The upside is that after spending a chunk of my youth hiding in the closet while my 'father' threatened my Mom and Christmas Eves in a casino parking lots I had the good sense to just become an alcoholic (the return on investment is much higher).
Gamble if you want, drink if you want, smoke if you want, pack a fat bowl whenever you want … I don't care any more than you care about what I do. But stop with these limp, equivocating stabs at rationalization.
Another thing the author overlooks is that gambling takes disposable income (in my case, it took most income). In light of the current state of what used to be America, this is, even at the tepid level it's written, tone-deaf and egregiously uninformed.
Everything that surrounds gambling is dubious … oddly though, the thing I find close to being the worst is the absolute tackiness of it all. The culture is bereft of nuance, taste or any level of sophistication, no matter how you define it. As my daughter said as we stayed at a casino one night since they have cheap rooms for obvious reasons, 'Does everyone smell like urine and beer?'
Yep, in one form or another.
Shoot, did I unfairly generalize? I though that's what we were doing here …
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Likening gambling to smoking? Try alcoholism.
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Isn't life enough of a gamble for you?
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Lest we forget, all legal gambling is legal for one reason only: so the state gets a cut of the vigorish in return for "regulating" the gambling. This reinforces the "tax on the poor" facet of the moral implications of legalized gambling. Those who support the expansion of legal gambling emphasize that it is "adult entertainment" and a "choice" and that gamblers are thereby taxing themselves is an avaricious spin that has worked on many levels for time immemorial.
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Oregon's most popular destination is an Tribal-owned casino, one of nine such in the state. The state's Lottery Commission aggressively promotes a wide range of "games" supposedly sanctioned by its claim that proceeds support public schools. The state is gearing up for sports gambling which it's prohibited. Meanwhile, Portland's actual horse race track is defunct. So let's consider organized gambling, with its claims of being a friend of various causes, as a true enemy. Informal gambling, of course, is a different situation, with its long history in many cultures. Poker sessions, office pools, etc. serve a social function besides the money at risk.
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The house always wins.
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There it is; the comment I was looking for. Why do gamblers always think they’re going to beat the house? I’ll never understand that illogic.
Politicians are the worst gamblers of all.
They gamble with your money, your children's money, your grandchildren's money, as well as our rights, and yes, our very lives.
When their projects and programs go "snake eyes," they don't mind, YOU CHOOSE to put them back in that giant casino called "Congress" and your state legislature. Pay them with YOUR money!
Gambling has always been part of the human condition. The Time Life series on The Wild West had a whole book on gamblers, noting that some Native Americans gambled as a signal on whether the spirits thought well of them. Some lost even their pots and pans, literally the last things they had, chasing losses.
Sound familiar?
Now Native American tribes have too much power in gambling. The whole Supreme Court ruling that allows states to legalize sports betting has caused wondrous chaos, many entrenched special interests who want gambling laws their way, while politicians seek to leech off "degenerates" for their own gambling projects. High taxes cause black markets and crime, and fixed sporting events due to unregulated gambling, causing more government forces to "fix" the problems THEY created.
It never ends.
The correct route is have a set number of BETS and budget accordingly. Walk away after the number of bets run out. Always.
Understand that, discipline yourself, and you will find it is more entertaining.
My Twitter is @GamblerAdvocate. Until gambling is regulated by reality we can't address human nature.
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This is an irresponsible recommendation.
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You put down $10 or stick a quarter in a slot and 10 seconds later, it's gone. Where's the fun in that? If you won more than you lose, the casinos would not be in business. Gambling is literally for losers.
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I recommened a far better, and less dangerous hobby to grapple with the ups and downs of life: passionate fandom of a sports team. It is (usually) less self-destructive than gambling but gives one the same sensation of "unearned gain", i.e., MY team won today and I am happy and can brag about and enjoy it even though I did nothing to steer that outcome. That sort of catharsis is healthier and less prone to inflicting personal and societal harm.
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It is always up to me to report the boring yet oceanic psych explanation. "The most obvious (and probably most dangerous) appeal of gambling is the pure feeling of undeserved reward." No. In so many cases where the client has depression (acknowledged or not), there is the "inner child" need not to have to work and struggle for what should have been the free gifts of life that children deserve. Many children never got unconditional love, a pet, a bicycle, a birthday party, at all or only with strings attached. The need never dies. Hence gambling.
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When I first moved to Vegas in the 70's I worked in casinos and learned how cheating was possible. Once I took $500 off a slot machine in a way that was probably illegal (the machine was malfunctioning).
I was approached one evening during my dinner break by an older man who saw my casino name tag and asked if I wanted to work with him. I looked down and noticed both of his index fingers had been cut off at the knuckle. I decided then and there my "gambling" days were over.
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@blurkosphere The guy was just Nic Cage getting in character for another Vegas movie.
It doesn't seem to me that gambling is a moral issue, but an economic one. My thinking is that if you see gambling as an entertainment, like going to a ballgame or movie - where you have no expectation of 'winning' anything- and spend no more on a gamble than you would on the whole event, than there is no harm; and if you went to every ballgame everyday, and didn't have enough money for the necessities of life, that would be as much of a(n economic) problem as gambling would be. I didn't gamble -not even an iced-coffee's amount- because I didn't want to have a stake in an event that would otherwise not matter to me.
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@Roger
False equivalence, I think
The analogy only holds if you're given the option of attending 7 baseball games in a row. Or seeing the same movie day after day.
@JayPMac How? I don't have to play the same game to have (or not have) a gambling problem.
My mother in law sank her pension into the local casino. So much effort by her children and grandchildren to keep her afloat and in her apartment. I guess I’ll never see that money again.
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Uh, no. Bad recommendation. A former friend got addicted to gambling and destroyed his life to the point where he pulled a gun on another friend who was trying to help him. The casino in my town, in spite of all the lights and noise, is one of the most depressing places on the planet, and is located in one of the most economically depressed and crime-ridden areas of town. The advertising for the casino shows beautiful people dressed to the nines in designer clothes having a ball; the reality is unhappy, poorly groomed people dressed in sweat clothes and pajamas desperately trying to win back money they have lost. The only reason I've ever set foot in the place is because I was required as part of my job to attend two events being held in one of the event rooms. On one occasion, a fight broke out in the casino that require police intervention. You can't pay me to set foot in that place again.
My father always said that money was too hard to come by to risk gambling it away. One evening at the local casino cemented my father's wisdom in my conscience.
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In the 'Color of Money,' Paul Newman said it best: "Money won is twice as nice as money earned."
When at 19 I started going to the track, my father thought it was a sure sign that dropping out of college (twice) and now going to Belmont was a certain sign of my descent toward degradation.
And when in 1968 Stage Door Johnny won the Belmont Stakes and I broke my own maiden with a cold $2 Daily Double that paid $22, I was hooked. I loved reading the Morning Telegraph, and still love reading the Racing Form.
I was never a gambler, and yet I've been going to the races now for 52 years. My wardrobe of now unused ties cost me more than I've ever lost at the races in a lifetime.
Gong to a ball game is nice. But that score board is not a tote board, and after nine innings, it doesn't pay off.
Nine races might.
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As much as it is the kiss of death, the biblical wisdom ties gambling in with greed and covetousness.
One of the well known gospel songs includes the line 'this train don't carry no gamblers'.
I think a wider basis for abstinence is the concept of stewardship. Is gambling an act of stewardship?
There are many stories of life apparently going off-track due to gambling. I heard of one story personally of a young doctor who lost everything, even his practice, through gambling.
Gambling has eaten up a portion of my energy, and I believe it has not compensated me for it.
Underneath it, I believe, is a kind of desperate hope. Being unsatisfied with one's work and the rewards of it, perhaps we like to test God; maybe he will reward us with a coup.
But take heart, gambling lovers, there are powerful forces to keep opportunities open.
Most keep finding that the house wins. Else, its not really gambling, but inside info or extraordinary calculation.
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I have a lot of experience in this area. This is a terrible recommendation. There are plenty of ways to experience volatility or minor defeats without riskking your social life, addiction or enriching the unsavory or outright criminal.
Use your creativity to find something far less boring and harmful. This is a lazy choice with no upside.
What is going on at NYT? Yesterday there was "please buy extortion avocados" and now "please gamble, it is not as shady as you think." Is there now a perceived pressure to "both sides" criminality?
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@Alan
Thanks for what you wrote. I found it outright irresponsible to recommend gambling.
Take care.
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Gambling is not a hobby. Your attempt to rationalize it as such is whistling past the graveyard. Taking risks that have consequences for no reason beyond a dopamine rush is a vice, as irrational and destructive as all the others. Your letter of recommendation is a cry for help.
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Back when I was associated with one of the big six accounting firms, we audited one of the gambling non-profits.
We had a term for what they did "a tax on the stupid".
And I have seen nothing that suggests the term is no longer relevant.
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Gambling is a major source of child poverty. Telling the reader that just $5 is a small amount is okay is not okay. I hope, but don’t expect, that this piece condemned just one more child to poverty.
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What is not addressed here is that gambling can be addicting and for those who end up addicted it can be life-destroying!
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Chinese proverb: The way to lose at gambling is to win.
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George Bernard Shaw, in "Maxims for Revolutionists" ---
"The roulette table pays only the person who keeps it. Yet, a passion for gaming is common, whereas a passion for keeping roulette tables is unknown".
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Gambling is actually really popular in the United States! Largely among people who live outside of Manhattan and who aren't so wildly fortunate that their "iced coffee money" is better spent manufacturing an opportunity to learn what it's like to deal with bad luck (wow). Your thoughts on this would have been better shared at the next dinner party you attend or kept to yourself entirely.
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Neither persuaded nor convinced. to each his own.
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Interesting philosophical perspective...but the real problem with gambling is the casino understands your unconscious psychological terrain far better than you understand your own.
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As what little money we have gets devalued bit by bit, why not take a chance at getting it back with interest at the gambling venue? My dream win is getting all the tax money I have ever paid back and telling the story to my loved ones.
@dixiebrick Probably just that - a dream.
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This article really makes me want to go to a horse race! Sadly, for us, the old fashioned sulky races we had nearby closed down ten years ago. My gosh they were fun. It was exciting if we came home with 45 dollars! We more typically lost 45 dollars. It didn't matter because the whole show was so pretty. But it was one of those things we did like once a year. We never had a big win, maybe a good thing.
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Gambling and winning, consistently, is more difficult than holding down a regular job. People rarely get something for nothing. I don’t like losing, so I rarely bet unless I’ve done enough work so that I have some kind of edge. My advice to those who want to “try their luck” at a casino: Just put your entire bankroll on one bet where you have decent chance of winning. Be aware that you may lose. Then, win or lose, leave the casino. Generally, the longer you stay the greater the odds are against you.
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As Richard Feynman noted, the smart gamblers don't bet the game. They bet the marks who think they can make the game go their way, or who believe in the non-random magic of randomness. Life is stacked against you, but you can bet against people who think it isn't.
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One of my favorite memories is screaming "over, over, over" with my friends during the 2019 NFL playoffs while a group of confused Canadians looked on. nothing beats it
Updated Letter of Recommendation: Gambling and me.
I am problem gambler that has not made a bet on horses and sports (or anything else) since July 15, 1970. What started as an innocent right of passage at age 18 exploded into an uncontrolled compulsion in a mere 10 years. Aqueduct, Belmont, Roosevelt & Yonkers were my magnificent obsessions. Social life revolved around handicapping, discussing horses and obtaining money to gamble. First it was Saturday afternoons at the racetrack, then it was evenings at the Trotters. At times, I even went to Aqueduct on the "Aqueduct Special" from 42nd Street and taxied back to NYC after the 2nd race. Many hours were spent handicapping the card and betting via a bookmaker when I could not attend live racing. Even getting married in 1968 and my wife becoming pregnant did not deter the siren song of gambling. Who knew then that the addiction of gambling was so strong and yet, hidden. No smell of alcohol on the breath, no needle marks, no nodding off but a smooth way of handling this most hidden disease. The turning point was when my wife caught me and I confessed that our funds were gone, we were in debt and our checking account had a $5.00 balance. The MOST IMPORTANT moment in my life took place Sunday evening July 26, 1970 when I entered the Flushing Y.M.C.A. and attended my first Gamblers Anonymous meeting. I surrendered and became teachable. I will be celebrating 50 years of non-gambling and recovery on July 26th.
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@Broz
Thank you for this first hand account of gambling’s destructive dangers. My best wishes to you.
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@Broz Thank you for your honesty and hard work to overcome this addiction. Congratulations on 50 years of recovery!
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It's not that gambling by itself is a bad thing it's the illusion surrounding gaming that is the problem. There is nothing real about it and like life itself, the odds are stacked against you.
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How can anyone go to Vegas and see those casinos and not realize they are not going home richer? They were not built by charities.
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To me gambling was as important skill as anything I learned in school. I am not talking about the slot machine or roulette type of gambling where the smart person knows that the odds are against them. I am talking more about the social gambling with friends where it is a zero sum game and if I do well, my friends lose and vice versa. The pool of money is not lost forever to cover the cost of a dealer and the fancy lights, but rather the money has just found a temporary home with a friend, and is just waiting to come back to me some other night. You want to learn about probabilities? There is nothing like a deck of cards and money in the pot to get your mind focused on what the chances are. Add to that the skills of learning to read people and get a deeper understanding of personality traits. Those are all skills that I learned 30 years ago in my friends' basements playing cards to 4 AM. I spent a year studying calculus and never use it, but the skills I learned at the table, I use all the time.
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Oh wow. I've read many of the comments here and agree with so many, but would like to add just a bit more.
Yes-some people enjoy an evening/weekend trip/ two week vacation take your pick of gambling with no regrets. For others--its the rent money and literally the new shoes the baby needs.
There are two legal gambling venues in my immediate area. These are not dinner/show/shop and gamble establishments, The parking lots stay full all open hours, with a few expensive cars, but mostly work trucks, and scooters from the nearby public housing complex. Everybody betting on the chance for one big score that somehow never comes.
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@Margie
'.. from the nearby public housing complex'.
Did you see any Welfare Queens driving Cadillacs in the parking lot? /s
2
I have been gambling a fair amount for over 40 years now on horses and dice and blackjack, in that order. I have lost a fair amount but I don't feel bad. I have never married nor had any children. I do think that marriage would minimize my gambling -- no sane wife would allow gambling to the degree I engage in it. I have reduced gambling in more recent years, though I still do enjoy it. I have attended Gamblers Anonymous meetings, though not regularly. I believe my gambling is not too bad because some of the stories I've heard are genuinely frightening. I do believe that my gambling may be associated with my bipolar disorder and the more recent reduction may coincide with aging and lowering of hormones. Right now, my gambling is in better control than ever because when I think of going to a casino, I think of all the other people and the germs floating around, especially on dice which have not only been handled by a dozen or more other people before me, but which have also been blown on in a common ritual. Basically, I feel my gambling is enjoyable, not too bad given my circumstances, but the odds are against me.
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It would have been nice if this piece had given at least a cursory nod to gambling addiction which is one of the hardest to cure. I know an article about enjoying a cocktail doesn’t have to talk about alcoholism, but gambling addiction does not usually get that kind of attention. And it should as it tears apart people and families in much the same way while the casinos and bookies and governments with their lotteries gladly pocket the profits.
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@Michael Hill Thanks for this. Gambling addiction thrives in the silence around it. It has a much larger presence than is generally known. Those afflicted suffer in silence, self recrimination and guilt for their lack of self control. In this way it is a unique form of self torture that is highly resistant to remedies.
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@Gersh "Those afflicted suffer in silence, self recrimination and guilt for their lack of self control."
Not nearly as much as the family that pays for the addiction … and I can say that being the product of a gambling addict. And an alcoholic.
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Like drinking and other addictive vices, gambling can be a fun social activity as long as you can do it in moderation. Some people can’t, and the results for them and their families are just as devastating as with any other addiction. And just like the pharmaceutical and alcohol companies, the casinos actively court the ones who can’t control their gambling. Recommended? For some, but not for everyone.
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"When I told a colleague that I was writing in praise of gambling, she blanched and said, 'Rational people don’t do that.' "
And in another example of how far apart our different American social-class bubbles have drifted, I bet this same colleague has no idea that for vast swaths of blue-collar America, casino gambling has become one of the most, if not THE most, beloved entertainment pastimes. Before there was a casino an hour or two's drive from almost anywhere in America, folks got their gambling fix at bingo nights or card games with friends -- social, community-based activities. Now they stare vacantly into slot machines. Not an improvement, to my mind.
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@gmg22 Do you think the people staring into slot machines which are designed to manipulate the player so she never stops inserting coins are somehow a low-rent version of "rational"? The expensive slot machines have replaced the social, community-based activities because they make much more money. Keep in mind, the writer's colleague said "irrational" not "unfashionable" or "unpopular."
Nicely expressed and I see your point of view. In some people's lives, gambling is a great tragedy. Living in a gambling town, I have seen the horror of gambling first hand, among tourists, friends, and one member of my family. For many, gambling is not a philosophic tryst.
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It’s one thing to accept bad luck as part of life, quite another to go seeking it. And in gambling, the odds are stacked against you. If anyone is financially secure enough to throw good money at bad, and they are not disposed to any addictions (which gambling can become), it could be okay. But I learned the hard way that even a ‘win’ from gambling is probably going back to the house - and then some.
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So, did dad make it to the church on time?
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@Bill He did indeed.
6