I love gambling but I prefer something that requires a little more skill and a little less luck.
streme Wheelie
Recognized Member
I love gambling but I prefer something that requires a little more skill and a little less luck.
I'm great at Poker btw.
Face
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streme Wheelie
Recognized Member
Tigmafuzz I would love to play some heads up hold 'em with you.
Only a fool gambles when you can instead kill the person possessing what you covet; it is known.
It is known.Originally Posted by Madonna
I cannot understand any moral qualms with gambling on principle. I play poker once a week at a local game, $15 buy in. The tournament generally lasts about 3 hours, with the top 3 paying out. If I lose, I just paid $15 for 3 hours of fun and entertainment, which is what I would spend for a movie theater ticket + snacks. The only real distinction between gambling and any other form of entertainment is that gambling involves the possibility of getting money back.
Of course, it can be a very expensive game and you can lose a lot of money, but people can lose a lot of money on anything if they are irresponsible (fancy cars, drugs, electronics, video games, etc.). Some people's irresponsibility does not make the act itself immoral (which is my same argument for abortion rights when people say "but some people use it like birth control!").
I will say that I do not understand games of pure chance (slots, roulette, etc.). I have fun playing poker because it also involves some level of skill and constant meaningful choices, as well as personal interaction. But I appreciate that many people do enjoy those games, so whatever floats their boat.
I used to love going to casinos for about a year. I would go and play blackjack 90% of the time because I'd just count cards and turn $40 into about $120 in an hour or two. Then I'd get them to feed me for free.
I've also played War there, which is stupidly luck based.
The Grosvenor Casino in Manchester does the best hot chocolate. And I mean the best. You get drinks free as long as someone's gambling.
I had a coworker once who would go to the casino once a week or so and she always made out with more money then she went in with. Always. It was ridiculous. Once she called in and said she would be late for work because she was busy collecting her winnings; when she finally showed up she had like $8000 cash with her.
You can go on the National Lottery website and set up a direct debit to automatically buy you a certain amount of tickets a week and send you an SMS if you win anything. I don't really care about people doing it though, the National Lottery give a phenomenal amount of money to charities and good causes.
I prefer sports betting.
there was a picture here
streme Wheelie
Recognized Member
Sometimes I feel like I should do sports betting. AFL has many games that are so clear cut that you could just bet your whole life savings and be guaranteed a return.
I certainly agree that throwing money at the lottery every week is a bit silly since it's highly unlikely any single person will ever win, but calling it a scam is a bit much. Calling it a scam implies that it never pays out to anyone. It's really no more a scam than playing slots or roulette or something in a casino. I'd actually almost say a lot of pure random chance based casino games like that are more scam like since they rely on various psychological tricks to try and get people literally addicted. The lottery does the same thing to some extent, but not quite as much as Casino's are willing to resort to I find.
I've been known to throw a few bucks at the lottery if the jackpot is high enough. If my situation were so dire that I needed that money to live I obviously wouldn't, and I don't do it very often. Maybe two or three times a year tops if I happen to be in a store that sells tickets and the mood strikes me. Yeah, I know the odds of winning; I've calculated them myself numerous times, but screw it. Sometimes it just feels nice to take the chance on it and I'm not going to miss those few dollars it costs me every year.
I disagree. The odds of you winning a greater return on your "investment" long-term is one in hundreds of millions. Say some con-artist is selling bulltrout quackery as a medical cure to save someone's life; most people would generally consider that a scam. But what are the odds of the "cure" having an actual beneficial affect by some freak accident? I'd say it's at least as high as winning the lottery. I don't see much of a reason to distinguish the two. They prey on uninformed hopes for profit but are realistically virtual impossibilities. The fact that the lottery very rarely pays out does not change the fact that the design is to take money; snake oil may very rarely work too.
Roulette and slots are also designed to take more than they give, but the odds are not nearly as bad as the lottery. It's not even remotely debatable. People also go to casinos for those games for the entertainment factor.
The chances of you winning are astronomically low. That's why success stories are so amazing
(I will refrain from telling the mother of success stories, but if you have a way to ask me out of this forum I will tell you, but I will still censor out names...censor names? you mean this story has to do with people I know???)
I don't play the lottery. I don't think the lottery is a scam because I seriously associate the word 'scam' with 'government intervention' (what other definition is there? seriously, indulge me). Say you were PG walking down the street in Toronto and some guy talks to you asking if you want to buy a computer. Would you buy it, or would your BS detector go off? If it did, does it mandate government interference? Or would you just not buy from the guy? Yeah. That's what I did.
I see the same thing in lotteries. You almost are certain not to win, and people will give me every excuse under the sun. Statistically you'll end up losing money in the long run. I see them like slot machines - if you ever profit in slots you better cash out, because you won't win. I don't play slot machines, but people win all the time. Same with lottery:
A teacher at work won the 10mil lottery once
My friends have won some nice money in slot machines - enough to subsidize their entertainment expenses.
Does this justify playing? nah. Should you play? I'd say no, but I won't complain if you did. You might even win.
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