Casino How many members in here actually gamble in a Casino?

I'm not the one to point fingers because I'm guilty of posting quite a few non gambling threads. Mostly because of the PUTZ LarryS.

But since I was away the crying has gotten worse, so here is my question how many of you REALLY gamble in a casino?? Weekly,Monthly,etc....


If you do gamble what do you play?


I play in a casino 3-4 days a week. My sessions last from 2 hours min to 6 hours.
Splitting my time between Video Poker (double double) to Blackjack

 

Nice question.

I haven't been in a casino for a couple of decades, give or take. Physically gambled for a few months, and found it was interfering with my life. Became more interested in the science and dynamics of gambling. And somewhat interested in completely original ways to win in theory, well beyond the corny gambling math stuff. Got my "fix" from the gambling forums, it seems.

In a nutshell, nobody gambles because they want to or because they have to. Everything about it is consciously engineered to totally fuck with your head.

 

Interesting reply about the science and dynamics of gambling.. What were some of the things you learned if you don't mind sharing

 

Well, a few things come to mind right away.

First, it's not the winning or losing to which people become addicted, it's the playing or risk taking. And men are much more psychologically prone to that than women. Like gambling is more about addiction than anything else.

An analogy. Particularly virulent strains of the flu spring up every hundred years or so. No big mystery. A lot of people get sick and die at first. After a couple of generations, only the very young and old remain susceptible to serious complications. Same with gambling now. Only the old get enthusiastic about it, but even they are wearing thin. And the casinos began aggressively targeting young teen males over a decade ago. (I read of a group of high school kids being led through a high roller room on a field trip.)

Second, that anyone can become gambling addicted. It only takes the right sequence of events and conditions in and outside the casino. Obviously, people who drive an hour to religiously play $5 a hand for an hour a week can't be having any experience one way or the other. They're sitting there waiting for something to happen.

Third, when left to itself, the human mind decides something 20 minutes before consciously realizes it. In other words, gambling plays on the subconscious. People wake up at 4 am, and feel compelled to go to the casino. There are plenty of theories. My favorite is the Oedipus complex theory of gambling by which gamblers want to punish themselves for trying to get away with something unnatural. Sadomasochism and Lady Luck. Often, the obsession to beat randomness stems from growing up in environments such as drunk abusive or otherwise indifferent parents.

Bear in mind that a lot of these studies are very cerebral. I know a few offhand that I more or less read over superficially years ago, still not sure of even the reasoning applied.

 

Interesting theory, but can't some people just enjoy going to the casino for a few hours to "get away" from life. By that I mean by NOT gambling your food,rent,kids daily needs...

I go because I'm retired and to me it's my relaxation time. I go with a set amount I can lose, not one dollar more...

 

Good point. Many justify gambling as entertainment...the cost of dinner and a show. I can't sat they're wrong but when the dinner is over, when the show is over you have to leave. There is not one more bite or one more scene. Not so in a casino and that's where some get into trouble.

 

Freddy

Very valid point you've made. I'm convinced a vast majority of people who go to the casino for the cost of a "dinner and show" can and will walk away if they tap out.

 

Strictly speaking, and being up front with you, there is no right amount to bet or gamble. The only way to understand gambling is to not start, or to give it up. A leap of faith. The reason it's so hard to finally figure out. You just have to go with what you know/understand in life, and that's good enough to see yourself through the difficult and boring times. In the long-run, the best possible result when you DO come out the other side. It's just a major disaster when someone is a bit bored, and wants a little fun right away to fill in the gaps, and finds out he literally can't stop himself.

The worst thing the occasional player can do is the tournaments, in which you're up against both a house rake, and the other hundreds of players. Sure, there's always a winner of a tournament, but at the cost of also a fixed casino rake on everyone. No game theorist would relinquish a guaranteed loss at the outset, even if he thought he was a better player. Certainly, no game theorist is going to become an AP. (If poker were the end all and be all, why don't all the Doctorate of Math guys end up there? Not a single one ever will. The make or break hands to the big money careers are few and far between, and so a matter of luck and mixed-up play.) Better to play only against the house. A winner isn't guaranteed then but you stand to win a lot more if and when win big, and call it a day. Eg, the baccarat Player bet gives you the best chance to win big if do win because winning with Banker guarantees the house 5% of each winning bet. Going back and forth winning and losing a while before coming out ahead may chew up the win.

A plan is always better than nothing at all. I'm not an advocate of going to a casino to "sit on yourself" while there. Find out what it's about, have your fun, and get out. Hopefully a winner. If you ever find yourself ahead a few thousand, get the heck out with a smile on your face. Don't look back, you're in very select company. You just conquered luck. After all, it's just a bunch of cardboard and plastic.

 

No one puts a gun to anyone's head to go gamble, fact is every State that has the daily numbers is worse for someone with a gambling problem. Scratch offs, that keno type game every few minutes, but state says money goes to help out education. What a scam.

Casino gambling is a recreation act for most people. I volunteer in the AM then go play at my home town casino.

 

I was drinking in a bar over in Billings one time with a guard who worked at the Women's state penitentiary. He told me that a third of the women were in for gambling related offenses like bad checks and embezzlement.

A casino owner told me that one of his expenses was replacing chairs that women peed on. They would get into such a zone that they wouldn't even get up and go to the restroom to relieve themselves.

 

Not directly of course, until THEY get their hooks into you (with pushy comp programs, etc). You already noted one indirect but powerful means of getting people into casinos. The everyday pressures of life. The need for quick and effective relief. However, not for throwing away your essentially good life in the process. How about, no one puts a gun to your head to force you to quit. Only about 1 in 20 burnt out gamblers seeks help, and of those, only 1 in 20 succeeds in quitting (entirely).

We all have the God given right to wreck ourselves.

 

Mickey, half the people in jail have brain damage. Of the provably diagnostic sort.

Offhand, I heard it's 40% for men.

 

that rings true. There is actually a thread asking why people gamble, and a lady answered that she does it to help her forget about her cancer for a few hours. It seems everyone has something they want to forget about for a few hours at some time or another

 

Why can't people go to gamble just for fun? In my circle of friends we are all from late 40's to mid 50's. The wives like to have dinner and get hair and nails done. While the men talk sports and smoke a cigar, none of us drink in the casino.

 

There are exceptions to everything. Some people are extremely well-grounded, and can safely find entertainment and study in just about everything. But there's no way of telling who's who at first glance. Uneducated people gravitate to systems play; educated people, to advantage play. Both - again in my opinion and experience of many years on the gambling forums as a non-gambler - lead absolutely nowhere.

Educated or not, how do you tell what your own subconscious brain is going spring on you years down the road? Can't question every thought that pops into the head. It never ceases to amaze me how life has a way of getting around us. Slowly and innocently at first. No one is perfect or can see everything coming. Why hasten this process? So many other ways to have fun.

 

DontLookNow

It appears to me that you lack the self control to play in a casino. Your replies reek of bitterness towards recreational gamblers. If I'm wrong I apologize in advance.

I can introduce you to atleast 20 people who gamble 2-3 days a week just for fun.

 

When most people, virtually all people, are presented with the word-association 'fun', none will come back at you with 'casino'. But when they do, it's to the exclusion of all else... duh, casino, that's it, fun.

The real fun for me has always been trying to figure out from where a lot of the responses on these sorts of forums stem. I already noted that approximately 1 in 400 gamblers seeks help and finds it. Why then would anyone pin any hope on what any gamblers do, eg? Part of the whole point of an uncensored forum is to be able to elicit and evaluate responses from gamblers.

It's about as much fun - sorry to say - to watch them squirm with their often crazy stories, sometimes for years, only to silently fall off the grid. I mean, where do those guys go? Is there something more distracting than gambling? You tell me.

 

DLN
I agree with you in some ways.,
I mean I always wondered why real winners at casinos would post on gambling boards trying to convince people that they really really honestly win.
My view is that if they were consistent winners, they would be on a island beach drinking pina coladas quietly taking the money from casinos. They wouldnt care if anonymous people on a board really believed them.

But I also think for some, gambling can be fun. People do have craps tables at home roulette wheels,..smaller versions of course. As kids I played War with my brother for fun.(i have seen versions of that at casinos). So yes the games themselves can be fun. So why couldnt those same games with money attached be fun as well? As long as the money attached does not significantly alter your net worth negatively.....what is not fun about gambling those games?

 

The means to quietly take money from casinos would be Nobel Prize worthy. If Thorp gained recognition for his bit on card counting, which was around long before even him, and never profited by it per se, could you imagine the news were some of these guys to do what they claim?

Daoism tells us that contention when one with nature is okay. When not one with nature, then even no contention leads to violence. Bee keepers tell us that healthy hives swarm (spread out), and weaker ones stay home and build. When the population reaches critical levels, they sometimes swarm.

Was it okay for Germany to try to take over the world? No, because they didn't attempt to do so in a natural manner. The end didn't justify the means. Is gambling a natural form of contention? No, because it involves manipulation of what's fairly available to everyone. There is no way to devour your opponent given a fair set of rules and enforcement. For most casino customers, eg, there is no reasonable way to walk away, anyway. They are mentally hooked, and mayn't even mentally fight back.

 

Ok........I AM OUT