re: I don’t understand gambling

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Of course the math doesn't make sense. If you're gambling for profit you're doing it wrong, outside some very niche sports gambling where you can find an edge. Gambling at a casino should be considered spending money for entertainment and drinks, not trying to profit.

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This.

Back in the day it was a place to get cheap drinks and kill some time on shitty weather weekends. I can't go over to the boat in Southern Indiana anymore. It just gives me the ick.

Getting out to Keeneland or sometimes Churchill is fun, but that's more about seeing the horses, dressing up, the social aspect then the gambling itself.

I have an Aunt that has blown tens of thousands of dollars gambling. She's blown so much that at Derby City Gaming she's a preferred member or some shite. It's incredibly sad. But her and her sisters are all trash and "going to the boat" is their thing to do together. I felt incredibly bad for my Uncle who had to sit her down two weeks ago to tell her that if she wants to keep doing the gaming she's going to need to get a job because he's retiring and they won't have the money for it. My Grandmother (Uncle's mom) had to go to the ER the other night for a gash in her foot and while we were waiting my Aunt bitched the whole time that she wasn't going to be able to go to DCG as much anymore. It was absolutely insufferable. She did Gambler's Anonymous but refuses to get any help, doesn't think she has a problem.

I wouldn't be remotely surprised if they're divorced within 6 months of him retiring.

I didn't see that in Biloxi. Only time going, people looked pretty checked out at the slots, and at other tables, I didn't even want to approach because everyone looked so grumpy.

Life is a gamble

If their physical location shows a downturn in traffic, don't worry. They'll lobby politicians to legalize online sports gambling.

Must be working well, can't watch a football game without seeing 30 ads for sportsbooks.

It was sarcasm I believe but truly it is depressing. Used to hit Lauberge or Hollywood on Tuesdays for a cheap drink in college. Imagine the crowd you'll find on a Tuesday at 5pm. They don't even celebrate wins, just keep spinning.

Left Hollywood one afternoon and saw some poor soul's car breakdown under the bridge heading home. Had to just start paying for drinks elsewhere, most depressing place to drink.

I grew up as an only child to a single mom. shite I remember being at walmart as a kid and mom looking at her checkbook balance to see if she could afford a basketball. She wrote a hot check over the weekend and got paid on Monday.

I kept that poor mindset, even though I'm well above middle class now through A LOT of hardwork and sacrifices.

No way could I ever go and give my money away like that at a casino or a bookie or whatever.

I’ve been to Vegas, tossed a couple of 20s in machines and I just don’t get the draw. Won some, lost some our a couple of hours. I can do without it. It’s just not for me. My wife however and MIL, would go to Mississippi onc3 a month for several years. They’d get antsy the few days leading up to one of their trips. MIL won $10K on a slot machine and my wife won $4,100. That’s the only t8me they came home happy.

It’s called variable ratio reinforcement. The strongest type of behavioral reinforcement. It leads to the highest rates of responding and is most resistant to extinction. In other words, people keep playing for that payoff (however small or large it may be ) that they know will occur. They just don’t know when.

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I don’t understand gambling

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math doesn’t make any sense

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Unless you are betting Calcutta's or Pari Mutual's the house has the odds. "A sucker is born every min" according to P T Barnum and DJT has proved it true in this generation.