Anybody here ever make money gambling?

[MoKelly]

Only gamble on college football. But, its for fun and definitely not to make money.

MoKelly

 

[timswi]

The wife likes the one-arm bandits...We go once or twice a year and she relieves me of $300 each time...I just follow her around and drink beer, cheaper (I think)...One time she gave me a couple of tokens and told me to feed the machine next to her, I did and hit it for $450...I was done.

 

[JDgreen227]

The wife likes the one-arm bandits...We go once or twice a year and she relieves me of $300 each time...I just follow her around and drink beer, cheaper (I think)...One time she gave me a couple of tokens and told me to feed the machine next to her, I did and hit it for $450...I was done.

And did you give her the $450 because you were playing with her stake? Seems that would be the fair thing to do.

 

[grsthegreat]

The only time i made money gambling was when i worked on a cattle ranch in Montana back in the 1980's. Every weekend we would all head into town to drink and gamble. The bars (house) in Montana ran the table taking a small draw off of every pot (the house did not have a hand in the game). Back then i quit drinking and i was the only sober man at the tables. I won every weekend. Nearly doubled my weekly salary.

Did this for 2 years. took winnings and bought a Ford bronco .

 

[Tomtint]

Some friends were on vacation with us. They were gamblers we are not. They walked away with 37K over the weekend..... Me ... I just watched. I figure they dont build those 50 Ft tall glass and marble foyers because everyone is winning.

 

[beppington]

What definition of gambling are we talking about here?

A lot of people seem to consider the stock market gambling.

In that case I've been gambling every day since 1990.

But have I made any money on it? Not yet! (not retired)


(Actually I have made some: Dividends)

 

[MossRoad]

Thinking back on it, the first time I played games for money was in Boy Scouts. We were on a survival hike during a Brown Sea adventure with no adult supervision. I was maybe 13. Some older kids started playing black jack for pocket change. They asked me if I wanted to play. I'd been playing black jack since I was a little kid, but only for chips at home. Never money. Anyhow, I cleaned them out. Then I got threatened with bodily harm. I gave it back and got the heck out of there. I was a tiny little dude back then and it seemed prudent at the time. :laughing:

 

[JDgreen227]

What definition of gambling are we talking about here?

A lot of people seem to consider the stock market gambling.

In that case I've been gambling every day since 1990.

But have I made any money on it? Not yet! (not retired)


(Actually I have made some: Dividends)

If GIC's are considered gambling, I have been gambling every day since about 1978, and although retired, I still do. Never made much more than 6% return during the last ten years, but never LOST a penny, either. My kinda betting...low risk, stable return.

 

[MossRoad]

Now THIS is what I call gambing!!! :laughing:

 

[Reg]

I put $10 on a horse a few years ago, only because I knew her owner.
She came in at 38:1 - I haven't bet since.
What I learned from that was that he was entering her, withdrawing her, entering her again, etc in different races all week, according to who else was entering which other horses.
Like, Duhh...~ of COURSE they are playing the odds (/probabilities) from that side of the table too. Owners, trainers, jockeys all do the math to figure who they want to compete against, this week as well as next season (-:
Though sand bagging per se is almost certainly illegal ...
It affects future race odds as the stats get rolled forwards.

I know about odds vs probability, I still put $5 on powerball maybe once or twice a year.
An almost certain very small loss, a massive potential gain - probability of gain essentially zero, just a pipe dream.

It is loaded in favor of the house, of course it is.
The tragedy is that it attracts those who can least afford it )-;
Not that I can "afford" to throw money around (/away).

 

[beppington]

Now THIS is what I call gambing!!! :laughing:

Wow, look at that stinky thing run away!!!

Oh, and the skunk ran away, too!! :laughing:

 

[GGB]

As a good friend likes to say, "Do you really think casinos are built to give money away?"

Another quote I like: "Gambling is for people who don't understand statistics!"

It is interesting to find out how the slots can be set to increase or decrease the house's percentage. What I learned from a friend of my father who was a floor man in Vegas back in the 70's is that it's not always as easy as "tightening" the machines to increase house revenues. In some cases, the house will make more money in the long run by "loosening" the machines so patrons get higher payouts and more often. Word gets out, more people come in to play, and then the gross goes up, taking more to the bottom line. A lot of math and science goes into it.

For me, it's still hard to beat a good game of poker with friends, when you don't really care if you lose or make a few bucks. Great fun, just don't get to do it as often as I'd like.

 

[MasseyWV]

Many years ago, when I was in highschool, we used to pitch quarters, the one who got closest to the wall won all the coins that were pitched at that time.

Also, I used to play a mean hand of poker, where I would occasionally win many thousands of dollars during a game, but eventually gave up all forms of gambling because it is simply too risky and addictive. I still play poker now and then, but only for fun, using chips that are evenly divided among the players before going back in the rack when the game is over. No money changes hands.

 

[beppington]

Also, I used to play a mean hand of poker, where I would occasionally win many thousands of dollars during a game, but eventually gave up all forms of gambling because it is simply too risky and addictive. I still play poker now and then, but only for fun, using chips that are evenly divided among the players before going back in the rack when the game is over. No money changes hands.

I know some people say "let's make it interesting", but for me the possibility of losing money ruins the fun of games ... & the possibility of winning money from friends doesn't interest me. Translation: I'm not much of a gambler

 

[MossRoad]

Wow, look at that stinky thing run away!!!

Oh, and the skunk ran away, too!! :laughing:

Hee hee, I had that coming! :laughing: :thumbsup:

 

[jonyyuma]

Tunica mississippi is south of Memphis...Splash put a floating barge in the river there and started a casino there running on Diesel gensets...Charged $10.00 a head to enter and take your chances....$2.00 breakfast in the morning on the bank..You gamble over water..Eat and sleep mostly over land. It was over a dozen casinos to follow, now down to 9...Guess who paid for all those improvements,,All YOU Winners...Myself it is Entertainment best left others as there is no luck in it even on cruises or VEGAS..

 

[2manyrocks]

Wow, look at that stinky thing run away!!!

Oh, and the skunk ran away, too!! :laughing:

??MossRoad, did you relocate a skunk????

 

[Mace Canute]

Many years ago, when I was in highschool, we used to pitch quarters, the one who got closest to the wall won all the coins that were pitched at that time.

Many years ago at work our little work group would do the same for morning coffee, farthest away from wall had to buy, but got to keep all the coins to help off set the cost. It got so if you couldn't get within a handful of inches from the wall consistent you ended up buying a lot of coffees! New guys were hooped! We actually caught one guy who came in after hours to practice! :laughing: There were a lot of quarters leaned up against the wall too!

 

[wawajake]

I work for the Gaming and Lottery Corporation for my province here in Canada.
We run 20 racetracks and casinos her e(plus the lottery) Now here the province runs things so the profits go to things that all the taxpayers of our province get to share (ours goes primarily to healthcare) So roughly 2 billion a year that we get from this entertainment business. That is 2 billion that otherwise would need to be raised by taxes for the healthcare etc.
So on a personal level I look at it like a tax on people who like to gamble.

But its effect on a city like Lansing will be typical to all our casino cities here.
The entertainment dollar effected is the disposable income dollars that would normally be spent in things like your Lansing restauraunts and movie theatres. Now some of those dollars will go to the Casino. So the entertainment businesses in your area will feel a pinch , ideally if folks come overnight from further away they will replace some of that spending.
Your unique circumstance in Michigan is that the Native's want to run your Casinos. and with them as a middle man , then the profits will be split between them and your State government . So not all your monies will go to support all taxpayers (like healthcare or education) some will go to whatever priorities the Native bands have.

 

[jonyyuma]

Tunica was a fishing camp landing before the casinos landed there. Massive jobs and construction of many resturants and Hotels..One farmer sold over a Million Dollars in DIRT to build up an area...Several other followed suite on dirt sales..The town and county have benefited a huge amount..It nearly starved the DogTrack Gambling right across the river from MEM. None of them are native controlled that am aware of. I have visited some others that were controlled by them..