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My wife and I went to Foxwoods Casino in CT last night.  Whenever we go we opt to play bingo.  Even if we don't win we drop 20 bucks and we get to stay for several hours playing.  I've been to the casino a few times with my father and I've seen how fast 20 bucks can last you otherwise. 

I pretty much never gamble though.  I feel my money is better off being put towards something I can use.  I understand theres always that "chance".  However, I'm 1.) unlucky at gambling and 2.) really think the odds are immensely against you winning. Hence the bricks of cash I saw the attendents bringing toward the drop off at the casino yesteday. 

So how about you?  Do you gamble?  If so how often and what do you prefer?  Slots, Black Jack, Dog Racing, Lottery, etc?

Nope. I never have, as I have enough vices and bad habits as it is. Don't think I ever will either, as I can't stand to risk losing any money, even if it's just a few £'s. I'll make my own fortune.  :teddyr:

Never gamble, just don't get any enjoyment out of it.  You see those big multi-million dollar casinos, I think I know in which direction the money is flowing. 

Ive wasted a lot of money on fruit machines, but I don't play them any more.

I think one of the worst things that can happen is to get a big win when you're very new to it, like I did - well kind of,  I won 60 quid after putting 50p in a fruit machine just after Id started playing them. If that hadn't happened I probably wouldn't have been so enthusiastic in trying to win more out of them...in the end I was playing them just to try and stay even. they're rubbish things, really

I did have a small wager on the Grand National today and managed to pick the fourth placed horse. I'm not a great gambler despite being a major fan of horse racing. I'm just not much of a a risk taker, especially in financial matters.

I usually don't, but I did start an online betting account. I put $50 on the account and when that's gone, I'm through. Enough safe bets to put 5-10 dollars on to build it up over time, , I think. .

Not unless I am sure of winning!
(http://archive.sensesofcinema.com/images/08/cteq/dr-mabuse-der-spieler.jpg)

Living in Vegas for 8 years, I had plenty of opportunity to gamble, but almost never did.  Only when friends came to town and wanted to go to the casinos.

When I got there, I believed that it was possible to make money betting on sports, because it appeared to be a game of skill.  Not so, it turns out.  The market sets the line fairly at a 50% chance for any bet to win.  There isn't any advantage to the player, who will win exactly 50% of his bets over time. Therefore, everyone loses money in the long run because the player can't cover the bookie's cut (the "vig").  You would have to hit over 55% consistently to profit once vig is factored in.  This is especially true today with so much info at everyone's fingertips; unless you know a match is fixed, no one has a hot tip anymore that the rest of the public doesn't know.

I like to bet on the horses at Churchill Downs, but only about once a year.

I'll play poker with local buddies every once and a while, with only a few dollars at stake.  I'll also play in poker tournaments where the money goes to charity.  Poker is a game of skill, but I've heard only the top 10% of all players in the world can consistently make money

Gambling is fun when you set a budget for yourself before you go to a session and quit when it's exhausted.  If yoiu win, it';s a nice surprise. Most people can do this, but I've seen a few who can't.  In Vegas it's not uncommon to meet people who routinely lose their enitre weekly paycheck a few hours after they cash it.   

stock market  :thumbup:  actually lately  :thumbdown:

I guess I'm a true sucker though because I don't believe it's gambling.  Alot of research and charology goes into the buying and selling and it's based on fundamentals thugh I suppose you could say the same about betting on sports events

I don't think investing is gambling, although the commodities market comes close.  A gambler friend of mine used to make that argument until I pointed every bet has one winner and one loser, but the large majority of stocks go up in value over time.  With investing the question is more in putting your money where it will be most profitable, not avoiding losses.

I have to add in that if there were more games of skill I'd join in more.  I'd pony up for a "whack-a-mole" for money.  :teddyr:

I have played cards with family for money - not serious money - just coppers and pocket change. The feeling of loosing money is far worse than the feeling of winning is good, so I don't like it. Add this to my general competative streak and I become the sorest loser and most obnoxious winner when money's involved.

With that in mind, I would never gamble for serious money. It would turn me horrible

Yeahhhhhhhhhhh! won big on an online sports betting site, my first time betting and I WON!

I do gamble every now and then usually just lotteries like Powerball.  I usually only play when the jackpot is fairly high but even when it gets high I will just usually just play 1 night then that will be it.   

I do most of my gambling when I go to Las Vegas, although I go to Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun occasionally.  I never play games I don't understand and I tend to do a good amount of reading before I play.  Then I play EXACTLY with the odds . . . I never play hunches and I never place bets on games that have terrible odds.  I cringe when I see people at the casino huddled around the Wheel of Fortune, which is one of the biggest rip-offs known to man.

My 2 big games are:

* Blackjack - I memorized every hit, stand, split, and double down scenario and that's the only way I play.  I never play tables where blackjack pays only 3 to 2 (like at Harrah's in Las Vegas).

* Craps - I play only pass and come bets (taking advantage of 2X odds, 10X odds, or whatever the casino offers).  These bets keep the casino's advantage at a minimum.  Just about every other bet on the table is a sucker bet with the odds HEAVILY in favor of the casino.  And don't let anyone tell you any different.

I have also dabbled in LET IT RIDE and 3 CARD POKER.  Both have worse odds than Blackjack and Craps, but the odds aren't terrible.  Mainly, I play these games just when I'm tired of Blackjack and Craps.  Never make the "side" bets these games offer (that promise you large payouts if you get dealt certain hands).  These are sucker bets and the odds of getting dealt those hands are far smaller than the associated pay-outs.

I also played TEXAS HOLD 'EM when I was in Las Vegas last summer.  One of the players at my table was a young Asian guy who was apparently on AMERICAN IDOL a few years ago (and I understand he was a terrible singer, but the audience liked him).  I had no idea who he was, but the lady playing beside me recognized him.

Of casino games blackjack has the best odds for the player, if you use optimum strategy.

Keno (if you don't know it, it's a pick a number game, like a lottery) has the worst.

Surprisingly, the player can make money at video poker, using the optimum strategy (which few people use) and the right machine (since some have more favorable payout schedules than others).

Only every once in a while.  And I usually quit after losing a couple dollars.  I went to the new Diamond Jo Casino in Dubuque when they moved into a new facility just to see what it was like - but I'm more interested in their bowling alley than their slot machines.  I put five bucks in and managed to lose that in about half an hour.

I never really caught the gambling bug.  I have other hobbies to throw money at that I actually get something in return.

When my grandma was alive she loved to go to the dog track and play the slots there.  If you put the words dog and track together in her house she'd be halfway out the front door by the time you finished saying those two words, all ready to go.

This is true, but you probably need to play for a long time to make any money (I think the player's advantage is 1% or less with perfect play) and you will surely hit some peaks and valleys along the way.  I tried this last summer in Las Vegas.  I sat at a video poker machine with the "perfect play" chart in my hand.  After about an hour, it started to become a real pain in the ass to keep looking up everything on the chart to see which cards I should keep and which I should throw away.  So, I abandoned the video poker machine and went back to playing Blackjack.

Exactly. Gambling is big business because most people are losing. I'll p**s away money on a lot of things, but not on a razor-thin chance of a big enough return to make it worth the cost and the stress. I don't even do lotteries or raffles.

I have, on two occasions, gone into a casino and played the slots. Both times, I left twenty minutes later and twenty dollars poorer, wondering what the hell the attraction is. I can't see why solitary people sit around like lab rats pushing a button on a machine that just spins its wheels for a second and asks for more money. At least lose your money playing cards or dice or roulette, or put it on a horse. All these at least offer some entertainment value I can understand, even if I wouldn't do it myself.

I don't do the lottery either, I never have. They keep sending emails round at work about it and I'm getting sick of them. It's like everyday trying to get me in on it. The delete button is my only friend at the office.  :smile:

My sister and brother-in-law do. They drive up from their home in southern California to Las Vegas and stay in one of the hotels on the Strip. Then they stick to the nickel slots.
They look at it as an inexpensive vacation.

Myself . . . ? Nope! If I gamble I lose  money, and I hate to lose money. The last time I gambled it was at a charity affair, when I was in college. And I lost big and quickly, but, at least I didn't mine, as the money was going to charity.

...only with my life.  :teddyr: