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So, how much have you lost gambling?

ChrisL said:
I've never gambled for money. We're supposed to have a casino built pretty close by soon though, so I just might have to give it a try one of these days. :2razz:
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What did you gamble for? ;)
 
Lutherf said:
I'm not a big gambler. I like poker and Blackjack but it tends to be more of a social thing for me. When I hit Vegas I might blow a couple of G's but it's nothing extravagant and I've learned to get up when I'm losing as well as when I've hit a good payday.

I dated a woman who was a rather heavy gambler (in proportion to her means) and understand the allure but some times you just run into something that makes you head spin.....such as Maureen O'Connor - Maureen O’Connor: Former San Diego Mayor Bet More Than $1 Billion as a Result of Gambling Addiction | TIME.com

Yep, you read that correctly. She lost more than $1 Billion gambling.

Just to put that into perspective, if we stretch that gambling spree out to 10 years and assume that she did nothing but lose and nothing but gamble (no eating, sleeping or using the toilet) to lose that kind of money would mean playing more than 7 games a minute of video poker at $25 a game...doing that and ONLY losing for 24 hours a day, 365 days a year for 10 years.
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$250. I went with some buddies of mine to a casino, once, in college, with that much. Checked out that much to see how it went. Lost it all in about two hours, and quickly decided that this hobby was all lose. After that I just sat there with chips in front of me and continued to drink the free drinks all night long while my buddies played. :)
 
Lutherf said:
I'm not a big gambler. I like poker and Blackjack but it tends to be more of a social thing for me. When I hit Vegas I might blow a couple of G's but it's nothing extravagant and I've learned to get up when I'm losing as well as when I've hit a good payday.

I dated a woman who was a rather heavy gambler (in proportion to her means) and understand the allure but some times you just run into something that makes you head spin.....such as Maureen O'Connor - Maureen O’Connor: Former San Diego Mayor Bet More Than $1 Billion as a Result of Gambling Addiction | TIME.com

Yep, you read that correctly. She lost more than $1 Billion gambling.

Just to put that into perspective, if we stretch that gambling spree out to 10 years and assume that she did nothing but lose and nothing but gamble (no eating, sleeping or using the toilet) to lose that kind of money would mean playing more than 7 games a minute of video poker at $25 a game...doing that and ONLY losing for 24 hours a day, 365 days a year for 10 years.
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I bought some scratch offs the day I turned 18, I won exactly what I spent and didn't play again.
 
ecofarm said:
So many winners are broke again very quickly.
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I'm familiar with the history of gambling in this civilization and here it is just a pastime for people with too much money, not a potential source of income.........................
 
No losses.

I used to play poker, by which I mean real poker at a table with real people and real cards, sometimes. I always left the table with more than I started with.


Of course, I also very carefully didn't play poker with anyone except casual players.
 
Bonzai said:
I'm familiar with the history of gambling in this civilization and here it is just a pastime for people with too much money, not a potential source of income.........................
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I was making a joke. Usually the evidence is the odds, and I thought my angle was more fun.
 
I've played scratch tickets before and Power Ball. I guess that counts as gambling. I hardly ever do that though. Only if I'm feeling lucky! ;)

Geesh, how could I forget? I won 10,000 once on a scratch ticket!!! I really didn't believe it until I want and picked up my check. That was a GREAT weekend! LOL!

I only ended up getting like 7500 after taxes though. That kind of sucks.
 
Goshin said:
No losses.

I used to play poker, by which I mean real poker at a table with real people and real cards, sometimes. I always left the table with more than I started with.


Of course, I also very carefully didn't play poker with anyone except casual players.
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See, that's what I enjoy.

We have a regular Tuesday night game with anywhere from 6-10 guys and the buy in for the whole night is $24. We generally play tournament style and the last two split the pot 60/40. It's never a big enough win to change anyone's life nor will the $24 loss prevent one from making a mortgage payment. It's just good fun.....and I generally win!
 
ChrisL said:
I've played scratch tickets before and Power Ball. I guess that counts as gambling. I hardly ever do that though. Only if I'm feeling lucky! ;)

Geesh, how could I forget? I won 10,000 once on a scratch ticket!!! I really didn't believe it until I want and picked up my check. That was a GREAT weekend! LOL!

I only ended up getting like 7500 after taxes though. That kind of sucks.
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Yeah....trading $1 for $7,500 always bums me out too:doh
 
When I used to live in DC, I would go drop some money on the ponies. Not huge wads but somewhat regularly. It was more entertainment than anything else--acting like my $5 to place or show made me a high roller as I sat there smoking cigars and drinking beer with the boys. Every now and then I would splurge on a trifecta.

I'll buy into lottery pools at work when the jackpots get on up there, and I will occasionally drop a buck on it or scratchers. Again, it is more entertainment to be able to chit chat for a few days about what I was going to do when I won the powerball.
 
i have purchased some scratch offs, and i play the lottery occasionally when it gets huge. i generally lose, as does everyone else.

i go to the casino once a year, and spend five bucks on slots. i find that you generally win on a slot machine pretty quickly, and then you lose and lose and lose. i learned that by watching a buddy who really likes gambling. i'm kind of meh about it. i prefer to go to the casino just to get a room there. it's fun to go downstairs at any time of day or night, get a drink, and walk around bull****ting with random people that i'll never see again.
 
Bonzai said:
I see no reason to make myself agreeable to all....................
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What a shame. And you were so close to winning the "most agreeable" trophey, too.... :) Even JH and AP were on board.... sorta.....maybe....I think....
 
Harry Guerrilla said:
I bought some scratch offs the day I turned 18, I won exactly what I spent and didn't play again.
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I have never bought a scratcher in my life. My aunt and uncle gave me some when I turned 18, don't remember if I won anything but I don't think so, but never had the slightest interest in ever doing it again.
 
polgara said:
What a shame. And you were so close to winning the "most agreeable" trophey, too.... :) Even JH and AP were on board.... sorta.....maybe....I think....
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Oh, I'm no saint.................
 
Cephus said:
I have never bought a scratcher in my life. My aunt and uncle gave me some when I turned 18, don't remember if I won anything but I don't think so, but never had the slightest interest in ever doing it again.
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Well it's like when I turned 21, I bought some beer and I think I bought some again a couple years later.
It wasn't all that amazing.

I spent $21 on those scratchers and won $21, that was enough of a clue for me.
At best I could break even.
 
I don't gamble, but I also don't think I would get addicted to the point where I would lose a large sum of money. I just don't get addicted to things easily. The thing is I just don't have any interest to gamble and that is not saying I haven't been in casinos because I have many times, but just that nothing there interests me. I could see myself trying blackjack, but since they won't allow you to count cards even if that is the right way to play blackjack,(sorry, but it is) I just don't see anything there for me. As for lottery tickets and such, I just don't feel like doing it and so I don't.
 
The most money I've lost was a paper cup of nickles in Vegas on my honeymoon. I'm not a big gambler, lol.
 
Hmmm. Does it count as 'gambling' if you don't think you are going to win over the long haul? Gambling seems to me like it should have as part of it's definition the attitude of the person playing.

In any case, I could only guess at my lifetime losses. I have been to Vegas countless times and had a great time with friends, but over time I know that I have lost and never thought anything else would happen. When I have 'been ahead', the trips were extra fun. When I wasn't, they weren't too bad either as I actually had a decent time because it was with friends. I try not to tell my gambling friends about my attitude, because they are superstitious about it.

Very seldom do I sit at a card table by myself and play. That is indeed boring. I do it for the socializing.

There, I believe someone here said no one would admit that they had lost significant money. While I agree that people like me are less common, they are out there.

Oh, and those who've been saying the stock market is gambling are delusional. The expected value (output) of 'gambling' in the stock market is greater than your inputs. That is not gambling, even if you do it by investing money by picking your stocks at random, which nearly no one does. I believe over the long haul the value of all stocks together tracks with GDP, which is shown to be and can reasonably be expected to be rising.

I think the matter of playing a private poker game for money is an interesting case. Considering the cards alone, the expected value is zero. The same inputs as outputs. It is your skill relative to the other players which makes it less than or greater than zero. Is this 'gambling'? It seems to me that any definition of 'gambling' should include delusions as to the expected value. That is for example, the expected value is -$0.10 per $1.00 played and the gambler believes that it is greater than $0.00 for some usually superstitious reason. I suppose poker could be because you don't really know what other people's skill is relative to your own, and you could certainly be delusional about it.
 
I look at gambling like I do any other form of entertainment. I take "x" amount with me and worst case scenario, plan on losing it... I've been to a casino exactly 8 times in my entire life.

I don't buy lottery tickets or scratch offs...I have enough money stress as it is without blowing it on stupid crap.

I will say that years ago, I used to get together with friends during football games to drink beer, play nickel, dime, quarter poker and watch the game. Again, considered that entertainment and nothing more.
 
Harry Guerrilla said:
Well it's like when I turned 21, I bought some beer and I think I bought some again a couple years later.
It wasn't all that amazing.

I spent $21 on those scratchers and won $21, that was enough of a clue for me.
At best I could break even.
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Seriously, the last time I had alcohol was about 25 years ago, a couple of weeks after I turned 21. My friend and I went out to a bar, had a couple of beers and I never bothered thereafter. It just wasn't worthwhile, I don't like the taste and the only reason I ever drank before that was to be social and because there was the "thrill" of not being legal. Once I could go buy it, why bother?
 
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