Gambling

[cindybubbles]

Thought that this place would be safe to talk about gambling in general.

My mom and I went to racetrack today, but not to bet on horses. You see, this particular racetrack has a huge slots room; it's had one since I turned 19, the legal age for drinking, smoking and gambling in my area.

This room has evolved a lot: a long time ago, the lowest denomination you could bet was 25 cents with a maximum of 3 lines per machine; now it's one cent with as many as 20 to 25 lines per machine. We used to just have slots and some video poker; now, not only do we have slots, we also have an area dedicated to electronic poker, some Baccarat machines, electronic roulette, etc., all laid out as though the slots room were a full-blown casino. Basically, the only things we don't have are the human dealers; we have digital dealers pretending to be humans inside the machines.

We came in with $40.00. Thanks to one of the "quick hit" slots, we came out with just under $70.00. Unfortunately, we were lucky, since we always set aside some money for gambling (and play within our limits) and we always cash out after a big win; some others I've heard about lost a lot before hitting big wins.

What do you think? The food there's so good that I'd like to go back again, and this time, hit the buffet, and maybe try a little electronic poker.

[AmbrosiaWriter]

If you set aside some money that you know you can lose, and you stay within the budget for the trip, go have fun!

You're paying for entertainment! I see no problem as long as you are having fun and you stay within the money that you set for yourself.

Don't let people who are all "OMG gambling is bad!" ruin it for you. Responsible gambling is just another hobby/way to entertain oneself!

[mjr]

cindybubbles:

I agree with what Ambrosia said. If you have the money, and you stay within it, go for it.

The Odds for Craps are less slightly in favor of the "house" winning, IIRC. And I usually think a safe bet on Roulette is either red or black, not a specific number. I don't know if they have the TWO green squares (0 and 00) or just one, but if they have 1, that's probably a 37 number wheel, and your red/black odds are roughly 48.6% that you'll land on whatever color you happen to bet on (except green). If you have TWO greens, that's reduced slightly to 47.4%.

By the way, for a fun (maybe) article about an experiment a couple of guys did involving roulette, read this:

http://thedailywtf.com/articles/Knoc...-Off-The-Perch

[Ginger Tea]

You're paying for entertainment!

This has been said many a time, you are not gambling $40 but spending it instead, if you get $5 back then you get $5 back, so long as you keep the mind set of "It's cash to burn" and if I walk away poorer it's just the same as walking away from a meal or a movie poorer.

Keep that mindset and know to walk away when you are down to your last few tokens and you should be fine. It's when you dip into the rest of your money cos you know "That big win is just around the corner" or "3 more spins" becoming an extra $30's worth.

If you go in with $40 win $10 and put it back in the machine and leave with $0 you only spent $40 that extra $10 wasn't in your wallet when you entered.

[TheHuckster]

I agree with the others. In the slight chance you make it out with more than you came in, that's just an extra bonus, and coming in with $40 that usually just amounts to gas money in the end.

I very rarely gamble, besides the very occasional lottery ticket and if I find myself in a casino (e.g. with friends who I tag along with or I happen to be at some conference attached to one) I might play one or two games with loose change. I never get upset when I lose, and I merely enjoy the rush I get when I fantasize about winning big. After reality hits, I shrug my shoulders and say to myself, "Welp, back to the grind."

[Greenday]

By the way, for a fun (maybe) article about an experiment a couple of guys did involving roulette, read this:

http://thedailywtf.com/articles/Knoc...-Off-The-Perch

Except anyone who knows basic statistics knows that if it lands on black four times in a row, those previous outcomes has no impact on the next one. It's still a 50/50 chance (not including the 0 and 00).

I've made over a thousand dollars in one night gambling. I've lost $500 in one night. It's all about setting limits on what you are willing to spend for the experience.

[cindybubbles]

If you set aside some money that you know you can lose, and you stay within the budget for the trip, go have fun!

You're paying for entertainment! I see no problem as long as you are having fun and you stay within the money that you set for yourself.

Don't let people who are all "OMG gambling is bad!" ruin it for you. Responsible gambling is just another hobby/way to entertain oneself!

Thanks for the advice. My parents and I are going to hit the slots again this Easter and enjoy the buffet.

[Bloodsoul]

Gamble on your tummy and try a little bit of everything at the buffet?

[Andara Bledin]

The Odds for Craps are less slightly in favor of the "house" winning, IIRC. And I usually think a safe bet on Roulette is either red or black, not a specific number. I don't know if they have the TWO green squares (0 and 00) or just one, but if they have 1, that's probably a 37 number wheel, and your red/black odds are roughly 48.6% that you'll land on whatever color you happen to bet on (except green). If you have TWO greens, that's reduced slightly to 47.4%.

Craps has the least-favorable house odds in the place, you just have to understand how to bet. There are a lot if Wheel of Fortune games and they are the worst to play. Roulette is the worst to play of the major games from an odds perspective.

Roulette is a losing proposition, no matter how well you know the odds, and if it's a 00 table, it's even worse. (source: I used to be a roulette dealer for a party company and Nekojin used to be a dealer in Vegas)

That said, if you have a budget and consider it money spent for the entertainment of playing the games, then you're golden. And if you drink much, you're spending even less on the games than otherwise.

[Rageaholic]

This has been said many a time, you are not gambling $40 but spending it instead, if you get $5 back then you get $5 back, so long as you keep the mind set of "It's cash to burn" and if I walk away poorer it's just the same as walking away from a meal or a movie poorer.

Keep that mindset and know to walk away when you are down to your last few tokens and you should be fine. It's when you dip into the rest of your money cos you know "That big win is just around the corner" or "3 more spins" becoming an extra $30's worth.

If you go in with $40 win $10 and put it back in the machine and leave with $0 you only spent $40 that extra $10 wasn't in your wallet when you entered.

That's exactly how I see it. It's a form of entertainment, just like anything else. Those who are all 'zomg ur throwing away money' can find some other form of entertainment.

Personally, my favorite is deuces wild video poker (I never had much luck on slots aside from one free spin bonus feature). Though if I had more money, I'd play Texas Hold Em.

[cindybubbles]

Most "slots" areas are more than just slots. I think they're just a little ahead of the law by installing electronic table games that look like the real thing from afar.

Now my slots and racetrack area wants to be a full-fledged casino. I'm hoping they will.

[Racket_Man]

I have never gone into a casino to gamble. I have gone to a casino to make a pizza delivery. most of the games the local Indian casino has are slot machines. All I usually see is zombied bodies sitting in front of the machine mechanically pullin the lever again and again

My reasoning for NOT gambling is this:

This comes from my time in college with the math courses I took for IT/programming/CompSci such as Probability and Game Theory, Statistics and the like.

We did problems based on the stats and probability of gambling type games, YES most odds favored the house.

The most I will do is buy a nation-wide lottery ticket when the jackpot get big.

[wolfie]

Interesting tidbit: some jurisdictions require that slot machines have internal workings that duplicate the effect of pull-tab cards (i.e. machine generates a bunch of tickets, pulling the lever "draws" one, and any interaction between the initial screen and the payoff has no in-game effect (e.g. if you have the opportunity to "discard and re-draw" any icons, the re-drawn icons will have the same value as the ones discarded, since the game already "knows" whether you've got a losing or winning ticket, and if a winner, how much it's worth). None of these machines, if made by the "big names" in gambling equipment, will use either cards or dice as the icons.

The reason? Nevada law requires that, in order to sell machines in-state, ALL of your machines sold world-wide that depict cards or dice must have internal workings that duplicate physical cards or dice. Since Nevada is such a big market, the "big names" don't want to lose it, and will therefore use other icons on machines sold in the "electronic pull-tab" jurisdictions (e.g. Nevada doesn't care about a machine sold out-of-state that depicts pulling the marshmallows out of a bowl of Lucky Charms cereal).

[Jetfire]

My mom and I gamble a bit, my mom a bit more than I. (And at times I think she's playing the machines a bit much, but that's up to her; it's more annoying when we're in Vegas and she chews into my own pool a bit but it all works out in the end). All in all, we have our fun money budget and spend it accordingly and go from there.

What's a bit strange, and I've mentioned this before, is how we're complete opposites in the Casinos.

Outside, I'm the Introvert, rarely talking, or doing much with other people, while she's a complete extrovert, saying hi to everyone and so forth.

But in the Casino, she's a complete slot junkie. She'll sit at the slot machines and play for hours.

Meanwhile, I have little to no patience for video slots. My game is blackjack, and the fuller and livelier the table the better. While I don't mind doing 1 on 1 games with the dealer, I prefer to have more people playing with me (friends or strangers), so we can cheer the wins and groan the losses collectively.

[Andara Bledin]

The most I will do is buy a nation-wide lottery ticket when the jackpot get big.

So, you know the odds, and the only thing you do is the one thing that has the worst odds of any of it?

Fun fact: almost every lottery out there has worse odds than the lowest odds legally allowed in most casinos.

If your a slots hound, your best machine is typically going to be the one near the doors. They have low pays, but they have the highest win rate because they want people walking by to see people winning.

I tend to leave with more than I started with. My first ever slot quarter netted me a jackpot, and if anyone had told me how slots worked, I'd have come away with $700. As it was, I had to 'settle' for only $200.