Anybody here ever make money gambling?

[JDgreen227]

For the past month, they have been discussing building a casino in downtown Lansing, and those who support the idea claim the real benefit of such a project is the revenue it will create for the city. Many of those who are opposed to the casino say gambling is basically a tax on the poor, and while that may be true in some ways, I have always felt that gambling is a tax on the foolish.

As for me, I would never waste my time or money visiting a casino 12 miles away, should it ever be constructed, and there are currently casinos operating in Central Michigan an hour's drive either north or west of us. (Firekeepers and Soaring Eagle) We have only been to Soaring Eagle one time, and that was nearly 20 years ago, and only because my mother enjoyed going there so much. To me, since the odds always favor the house, you are basically throwing your money away.

Most nights we can view commercials on our TV that show couples with movie star good looks winning megabucks at those two casinos mentioned above or enjoying one of the other amenities available there (dining, dancing, massages, fancy lodging, etc). My brother and his wife went to the Soaring Eagle casino last weekend, mainly because their oldest son attends college in that city. My nephew later told me my sister in law won $50, but not how much the three of them spent to "win" that much. :laughing:

Casinos tempt us by saying "you can't win if you don't play"....yeah, have YOU ever played and won? We never did. :laughing:

 

[MasseyWV]

Gambling is a fools errand because in the end, the house always wins.

 

[Baby Grand]

Yes, I made $0.65 playing nickle slots at a casino in Vegas. I quit while I was ahead and haven't played since.

I was a student at University of Arizona (Go Wildcats!) & my roomie was a Vegas homie. When he heard that I couldn't afford to go home for Thanksgiving, he kindly offered to bring me home to share the feast with is family. He had a gang of townie friends on campus and we all piled into my car and drove there. Before we got to his house, he had us stop by the bus terminal. He asked me to walk around and look for people with no tan where a watch or ring should be. That was my lesson for the week.

 

[Bigkrank]

I go to Vegas every year for the SEMA show but not into gsmbling. Some years back I but 4 bucks in a machine and won $1600. Next night put $8 bucks in one and another $1600. Put less than $10 bucks in a couple more times here and there and at the airport and totaled over $5000 for the week. Figured couldn't ever do that again so never risked much at all after that.

 

[riptides]

I hit big, and spent big.

I have also lost big.

In the end, I know my limits.

 

[Mace Canute]

Well, I know there are people who are addicted to gambling, worked with a couple of them in fact. One of them was living paycheck to paycheck and the other was only a little better off.

While I have zero sympathy for gamblers who lose everything, I also know it isn't just them who are affected, they often have families who are the real victims. I don't think it's ethical to make it easier for those people to gamble their money away. Theft from employers (of gambling addicts) goes up usually in the form of embezzlement. As far as increased revenue goes, is there really all that much extra cash floating around or is there a finite amount available for spending on entertainment extras after the necessities of life? If it's the later, then existing businesses are going to collectively lose revenue to the same amount as the casino takes in.

About 12 years ago I was talking to a woman in Windsor who worked in police dispatch. We got talking about the pros and cons of casinos and she said that there was an increase in crime after their first casino opened up and she said the police attributed it directly to the presence of the casino. It was hushed up because the government was pushing for the casino and didn't want any negative press associated with it.

 

[RobertBrown]

I just cashed in 24$ in scratch offs I got for Christams gifts. I rode around with them in my truck for months, almost forgot abiout them. I guess they are a popular gift these days.
Other than that, I've probably lost as much as I've made as I would play poker semi-regularly years ago.


This guy lost 127 million in one day.
The Gambler Who Blew $127 Million - WSJ.com

 

[JDgreen227]

Good post, Mace, and you said it well. We have a close family member who dug himself into a very deep and expensive hole because of gambling, maxing out his credit cards and ruining his marriage and almost losing his job because of his addiction.

 

[Barnone]

I've been on a winning streak at my Friday might poker game for the last three weeks. Hope it continues tonight but I am probably even over the last ten year.

 

[charlz]

I have had a few decent runs similar to but not as big as Bigkrank mainly before I lived in Vegas. Start out with $10 in quarters and walk out with $1200. Once you live there you either have a gambling problem or you don't. It is pretty much that cut and dried.

In the late 80's/early 90's the machines were pretty loose and you could gamble all night on $.25 slots with a $20. The machines would give you just enough to keep going and maybe a big score once in a while. They then tightened up the machines and these days you are lucky if you get even $.25 back for putting in a $20 So I pretty much never gamble if I head back to Vegas for some reason.

Overall I am too much of a cheap ******* to gamble. However, one of the things I liked to do was start out with quarters but if you hit say $100 or $200 then move up to dollars. 'Found money' and all that. Once I hit $400 so I moved to $5 machines. I about gave myself a heart attack every time I pulled the handle with $20 (4 coins max bet) on the line and nothing, nothing, nothing. I got lucky and about on my last $20 I hit $400, I took the money and never went back to $5 slots again

Overall I think I am still up $100-$200 dollars.

Supposedly you can make money playing video poker if you strictly follow some set of rules for playing. There is/was an illegal job you could get where you played video poker all day for some 'shadow' type company. Something for retiree's I guess.

 

[edlegault]

It is really easy to make money from gambling --- open up a casino!

The odds are against players, and sometime even when you do win big the casinos control who gets paid and who doesn't. If they say they think you might have cheated -- no payout. If they say there was an equipment malfunction -- no payout. They pay so much in taxes and control so many politicians that they get what they want, public be wary.

Now we go to Vegas once in every decade or so, but it is for the shows and entertainment.

 

[Egon]

Everyone wins at the Casino; Don't They??:thumbsup:

Gotta have casino's. Makes it easier to laundry money.:laughing:

 

[brin]

My wife and I have been to Casinos several times over the years and at some time during each visit we were up on the house..we were winners but we always left losers or with just a small winning...the key is ...play until you win and stop...but who can do that.

On another note....it was a Saturday and my wife and I drove off to go grocery shopping..we stopped and bought a scratch off lottery ticket, we won $20.00...so I stopped at the next conv. store and we bought another scratch off...we won $10.00 ...to make a long story short ...I told the Mrs. lets just keep stopping a convenience stores we pass and buy a scratch off all the way to the grocery store and all the way home ...we are on a run...she agreed...we made all those stops and got home and had total winnings of $90.00 - We talk about that often and have never tried it again...all of the stars must have been in alignment for us that Saturday....The End.

 

[JDgreen227]

From about 1996 thru 2003, my wife and I went about half a dozen Carnival ship cruises, and the ships have casinos. Our experiences aboard playing the slots taught us that the first night out of port the machines paid off reasonably well, but after that first night the payouts got sharply reduced, and we knew others that had the same experience. Either you could chalk your good fortune on opening night up to beginners luck, or you assume they had the slot machines rigged to lessen your chance of winning after your initial experience.

And, for those who have never been on a cruise, beginning about 2001, you could actually play casino games via your room tv, betting with the credit card account you established when you first boarded the ship. I have no doubt that the in-room gaming was highly rigged to favor the house, so we never tried it.

 

[TripleR]

I gambled for several years, I was a farmer. Never gambled outside of that and never will.

 

[clan de boye]

I put $100 cdn into my wifes online poker account at that time it translated to 78.50 us. I told her this is like when I buy her a six pack when we visit her family. Drink it fast drink it slow your choice but when its gone so are we:laughing:
She's sitting at $320us now and that has to be 3 years later. I'm just glad that she drinks her six pack fastr than that:laughing:

 

[RSKY]

All the money the casinos use for payroll, insurance, taxes, utilities, etc. comes from the people who loose. It may be different now but I once read that if you played constantly every day you would average a five percent lose. If you gamble do so expecting to loose.

I have relatives who gamble all the time, always telling how much they win, always broke.

 

[2manyrocks]

No, unless you count investing in the stock market.

 

[300UGUY]

I used to play poker, but never liked casinos. Too cheap I guess.