Apple
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Post by Apple on Oct 11, 2012 21:46:52 GMT -5
I've never gambled (even a lottery ticket), guess I'm boring.
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Angel!
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Post by Angel! on Oct 11, 2012 21:59:28 GMT -5
I think it is fun. But I don't play more than I can afford to lose & look at it as paying for entertainment. Some people will spend hundreds on a meal, others to see a show. I put gambling in line with this type of spending for me.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 11, 2012 22:15:55 GMT -5
I just don't see the attraction.
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2kids10horses
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Post by 2kids10horses on Oct 11, 2012 22:28:26 GMT -5
There was a casino in the hotel when I went to Costa Rica. I ent in the casino several times, but didn't play. Mostly slots.
They had a blackjack table, but no one played.
There was another table playing something similiar, but I couldn't figure it out. No, not Baccarat.
If the blackjack table was open, I probably would have played a few hands. I know and understand the rules.
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susanb
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Post by susanb on Oct 11, 2012 23:24:35 GMT -5
Well, since I live in Vegas I am a little biased, but....
What may look like people wasting their money to you looks like people purchasing entertainment to me. When people purchase entertainment in the form of gambling, employment results. There are dealers, cocktail servers, slot machine designers, repairmen, cleaning people, chefs, accountants, analysts, valets and on and on. Then there are all of the people who make money suppporting the casino workers by doing the casino worker's dry cleaning and cooking meals for them.
Then there is the fact that many casinos in Vegas today are publicly traded companies. The stockholders are normal people.
It is sad when someone has a gaming addiction because this city will capitalize on that. They will take the title to your car or your house and send you right back to those games.
On a personal level, I play poker, but not in the casinos. Other than poker and a couple of table games, nearly every other game in the casino has a negative expectation and I don't see the entertainment value, but I am glad that others do.
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weltschmerz
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Post by weltschmerz on Oct 11, 2012 23:26:26 GMT -5
I found a quarter outside of Caesar's Palace. Clearly, it was a sign. I went in, put it in a slot machine and immediately won $600. Then I got the hell out of there. Bought a beautiful hand-carved chess set with the money.
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cronewitch
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Post by cronewitch on Oct 11, 2012 23:56:20 GMT -5
I don't enjoy gambling when I know the odds are against me or even break even. I don't even like gambling with family. Mom and my brother and his wife enjoy it. Today mom turned 86 so they took her to dinner then a casino. I called and she didn't answer my call so she wouldn't lose her machine since she was winning. When she lived alone and drove she went gambling almost every day to get out of the house. She was losing a couple of thousand a year but tracking it carefully so it was budgeted up to $700 a month but she didn't always lose. She said gambling was cheaper than shopping.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 12, 2012 6:24:29 GMT -5
I agree with the others that stated it is just another form of entertainment and if they can afford it; more power to them.
I gamble once or twice a year usually when I am in Vegas, limit is $100 for me.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 12, 2012 6:37:14 GMT -5
I think it is fun. But I don't play more than I can afford to lose & look at it as paying for entertainment. Some people will spend hundreds on a meal, others to see a show. I put gambling in line with this type of spending for me. It helps local economy.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 12, 2012 6:40:08 GMT -5
I found a quarter outside of Caesar's Palace. Clearly, it was a sign. I went in, put it in a slot machine and immediately won $600. Then I got the hell out of there. Bought a beautiful hand-carved chess set with the money.
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movingforward
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Post by movingforward on Oct 12, 2012 7:56:57 GMT -5
I enjoy gambling. I am going to Vegas in 3 weeks - Whoop Whoop!! I stick to the cheap stuff - penny slots, $5 blackjack, .50 cent roulette. You have to get off the strip to find most of the cheap table games in Vegas. I typically go once a year and it is part of my travel budget.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 12, 2012 7:58:32 GMT -5
I think gambling is awesome. How else could we get people with no self control to pay for awesome things like the construction of Vegas?
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jeffreymo
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Post by jeffreymo on Oct 12, 2012 8:03:38 GMT -5
I enjoy gambling, and I really enjoyed Vegas the one time I went - probably because I won. I try to stick to $100 day gambling when I'm at a casino, and I don't want to lose more than $300 for the entire trip. I've had $100 turn into $600 in 3 hours of blackjack, and I've also seen $100 disappear in 15 minutes.
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midjd
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Post by midjd on Oct 12, 2012 8:40:41 GMT -5
I think Vegas would be fun. The casinos around here are just depressing (even on Friday/Saturday nights, 90% of the clientele are Social Security age and a good proportion are dressed very shabbily or toting around oxygen tanks).
Luckily I'm too cheap to gamble much, I can see how it would be easy to get hooked.
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swamp
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Post by swamp on Oct 12, 2012 8:47:48 GMT -5
we spend $2 a week on lottery tickets.
I gamble once in a while. I considering it entertainment. I'm too cheap to spend a lot on it.
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Formerly SK
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Post by Formerly SK on Oct 12, 2012 8:57:02 GMT -5
What may look like people wasting their money to you looks like people purchasing entertainment to me. When people purchase entertainment in the form of gambling, employment results. There are dealers, cocktail servers, slot machine designers, repairmen, cleaning people, chefs, accountants, analysts, valets and on and on. Then there are all of the people who make money suppporting the casino workers by doing the casino worker's dry cleaning and cooking meals for them. The casino I was in easily cost over a billion dollars. Some of the players were gambling a thousand dollars a minute. Sure it's there money to do with as they please. I still think it an awfully sad waste of a lot of money. I'm not a gambler, but I don't think it's fair to call it a sad waste of money. That's just how those people get their entertainment. I was watching a HGTV show the other day and a guy had spent 250K to put a mahogany SLIDE in his house. Yes, a slide. For 250K. Different strokes for different folks. As to the issue about there being a lot of seniors gambling, I actually think that's logical. When you can't move very well, what sorts of things can you do for fun? Gambling gives you great highs and lows and can be quite an adventure...and all you have to do is sit in a chair. Again, it's totally not my cup of tea, but I understand why people do it.
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imawino
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Post by imawino on Oct 12, 2012 9:04:48 GMT -5
I love gambling, and Vegas! Fantastic restaurants, fun shows and awesome people-watching.
There is a casino not too far from where I live with a racetrack and I like to go a couple times a year, put a couple bucks on a horse and cheer for it, drink a few drinks, listen to a band and blow $100 at a table game. But if I went too much the allure would definitely wear off. Of course I am sorry for people who have a gambling problem, the same way I am sorry for anyone who suffers from any other type of addiction. But for a regular non-addict it's really much the same as any form of paid entertainment.
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movingforward
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Post by movingforward on Oct 12, 2012 9:08:40 GMT -5
Well, since I live in Vegas I am a little biased, but.... What may look like people wasting their money to you looks like people purchasing entertainment to me. When people purchase entertainment in the form of gambling, employment results. There are dealers, cocktail servers, slot machine designers, repairmen, cleaning people, chefs, accountants, analysts, valets and on and on. Then there are all of the people who make money suppporting the casino workers by doing the casino worker's dry cleaning and cooking meals for them. Then there is the fact that many casinos in Vegas today are publicly traded companies. The stockholders are normal people. It is sad when someone has a gaming addiction because this city will capitalize on that. They will take the title to your car or your house and send you right back to those games. On a personal level, I play poker, but not in the casinos. Other than poker and a couple of table games, nearly every other game in the casino has a negative expectation and I don't see the entertainment value, but I am glad that others do. I don't live in Vegas but have been there at least 20 times and I agree with everything you just said. For most people it is just entertainment. Sure there are a few sad cases but for the most part people have just chosen to spend their money gambling for entertainment as opposed to doing something else. Also, I own some LVS stock so I am one of the normal people you are talking about ;D
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 12, 2012 9:14:24 GMT -5
I enjoy gambling. I am going to Vegas in 3 weeks - Whoop Whoop!! I stick to the cheap stuff - penny slots, $5 blackjack, .50 cent roulette. You have to get off the strip to find most of the cheap table games in Vegas. I typically go once a year and it is part of my travel budget. almost, I am like you, it's on our travel budget. ;D We are taking, Transatlantic 15 days Cruise in less than a month. Plan to spend about few thousand Dollars on gambling.
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movingforward
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Post by movingforward on Oct 12, 2012 9:17:50 GMT -5
funsnowbird - that sounds fun! Have a great time on your cruise!
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 12, 2012 9:22:24 GMT -5
funsnowbird - that sounds fun! Have a great time on your cruise! Thank you, almost. ;D You,too.
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shanendoah
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Post by shanendoah on Oct 12, 2012 9:28:43 GMT -5
While I'm no longer there, I lived in Reno for 12 years, including my college years. As a college student, there is no better place to be (maybe Vegas, but I hate the heat, and really, who'd want to be UNLoVed ) The machines keep the prices in the restaurants down. You could drink most of the night on $20 (only put money in a machine when the cocktail waitress was nearby, TIP the cocktail waitress, and otherwise, drinks were free). There are sad parts of gambling, though I saw that at the grocery store, not in any casinos. The little old folks with their cigarettes, oxygen tanks, and pushing the button on slots. Yes, gambling can be addictive, but so can many, many other activities. If this is what people want to do with their money, why is it any sadder than buying stuff they don't need? At least gambling is an experience, you get good stories out of it, sometimes meet interesting people at the tables, and there's a chance (a slim one- casinos advertise exactly how much of your money they take on average) that you walk away ahead of the game.
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justme
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Post by justme on Oct 12, 2012 9:35:31 GMT -5
I've gambled a few times with <$10 at a time. I always walked away thinking I could have been way more entertained using that money on something else (a movie, a drink, a concert). But maybe that's because I kinda suck and my money doesn't last long. Though I do pretty well at poker when it's free, there's a group in my town that does free tournaments and I won $15 last time I played.
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souldoubt
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Post by souldoubt on Oct 12, 2012 9:59:14 GMT -5
I've been to Vegas over 30 times since turning 21 (9 years ago) and local casinos in CA probably another 30 times. To be fair though a lot of those trips happened from the age of 21-25 and recently I've cut back. My last two Vegas trips which have been over the last 13 months were for a bachelor party and a birthday and by the time this year ends I'll have been once in 2012. When I've been to Vegas all but two times I took all the cash with me I would spend on gambling, food, drink, etc as the other two times I hit the ATM which I obviously try to avoid. When I went to casinos locally I'd take money out before going there because that's all I wanted to spend and even just taking money out there costs you like $5 in ATM fees.
I agree that it's entertainment. The last time I went to Vegas by the time I went to bed after the first night I had been up for almost 40 hours because I drove out after work and stayed up through the night gambling with friends. We spent hours at the blackjack tables getting free drinks and having a great time. To me it's worth it to get away and have fun and there's people that go with us that don't gamble and instead drink, hang out and go to clubs with us.
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Tiny
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Post by Tiny on Oct 12, 2012 11:33:43 GMT -5
I don't live in Vegas - but I also see gambling as entertainment. I've been to a boat casino and to Vegas a couple of times. Unfortunately, I get bored pretty quickly gambling (I've put some money in slots, played video poker, played blackjak, and craps). Craps did keep my interest I went to the table with some rudimentary knowledge and did place bets and did win and lose and win and lose... it was amusing for about 30 minutes. I personally would rather spend my entertainment dollars doing something else. I do find it 'fun' to people watch and to do other things in Vegas, though. I'm just not much of a gambler - I apparently don't have the attention span for it.
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Angel!
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Post by Angel! on Oct 12, 2012 11:36:51 GMT -5
I think it's fun to go to the casino. I like to walk around with a drink ( a real one, not the free tea, I love a good spicy bloody mary) and people watch. They have casinos where you have to pay to get drinks?? Every one I have gone to has free drinks, you just have to be playing & tip the waitress. If you gamble cheap (like me) then generally you pay less to drink + gamble than if you just went to a bar. $20 on 0.10 roulette or in penny/nickel slots will last all night unless you have really bad luck (or bet stupid).
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movingforward
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Post by movingforward on Oct 12, 2012 11:45:12 GMT -5
I think it's fun to go to the casino. I like to walk around with a drink ( a real one, not the free tea, I love a good spicy bloody mary) and people watch. They have casinos where you have to pay to get drinks?? Every one I have gone to has free drinks, you just have to be playing & tip the waitress. If you gamble cheap (like me) then generally you pay less to drink + gamble than if you just went to a bar. $20 on 0.10 roulette or in penny/nickel slots will last all night unless you have really bad luck (or bet stupid). The casinos I went to in OK and LA didn't offer free alcohol. They had a drink station set up with free coffee, tea and sodas but no alcohol.
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Angel!
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Post by Angel! on Oct 12, 2012 12:11:35 GMT -5
They have casinos where you have to pay to get drinks?? Every one I have gone to has free drinks, you just have to be playing & tip the waitress. If you gamble cheap (like me) then generally you pay less to drink + gamble than if you just went to a bar. $20 on 0.10 roulette or in penny/nickel slots will last all night unless you have really bad luck (or bet stupid). The casinos I went to in OK and LA didn't offer free alcohol. They had a drink station set up with free coffee, tea and sodas but no alcohol. Wow, that kind of sucks. Free alcohol is part of the fun of the casino for me.
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souldoubt
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Post by souldoubt on Oct 12, 2012 12:24:00 GMT -5
It can depend on the type of casino you go to in CA. The one's not on Native American land owned and run by a tribe have a pay to play system as in last time I went it was $0.50 a hand for blackjack. Some of these one's either don't serve drinks or have extremely poor table service at the $10-15 tables. The Native American owned and run casions are much nicer and there's no pay to play system while the drink service is similar to that of the Vegas casinos.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 12, 2012 15:45:37 GMT -5
I've gone to a casino a grand total of twice. Both times I took $50 and both times I came home with between $110-$140. I can see where that can get addicting, but I was just lucky and didn't think it was tremendously fun. I sat at the penny slots the entire time. My husband blew his $50 each time in less than 10 minutes at the craps table.
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