Gambling fever is not an affliction I have.

on winter test trips in Sault Ste Marie MI, a group of us would buy a "casino package" for $20 at the hotel and take the shuttle to the Kewadin Casino.  the package included $20 in chips plus a free pull on a designated slot and a couple other freebies.  we each had our favorite way to lose, but the rule was always the same:  leave when you're at $0 or at $40.  sometimes it took 3 hours, sometimes it took 10 minutes.  i spent 61 nights in SSM that winter, probably went to the casino 40 of those nights.  $2 blackjack for minimum burn rate.  at the end of the season I was down $40, but it was fun.   That was 1997.

Last time i was in Vegas was '98 or '99.  we were returning from a brake test in Death Valley, Delta oversold our flight so we took the buyout which was a hotel and meals and some airline credit.  So we wandered around the city with no real plan.  The Eiffel Tower was just a construction fence and some concrete footers.  we walked around photobombing people, went to a show, used our comp'd chips, had some drinks, and GTFO the next morning.

The night before my wedding in 2000, we went to a casino on the Canada side of the Blue Water Bridge.  My buddy gave me $10.  I put it on a specific roulette number.  My buddy said to the roulette guy, "He's getting married tomorrow!"  not sure if that influenced the outcome or not, but my number hit, which is a pretty decent (but i don't remember the multiple) payout.  We tipped the roulette guy and went back to Port Huron.  I haven't been in a casino since.

Hey friends, I was thinking how it is possible to make money easily and quickly. Suddenly [canoes] came to mind. I know that more people lose than they earn with boats, butt they are still people who earn, and earn very good money. I was thinking about starting to [polish canoes for money].  Does anyone know a way to do this, even if you have no years of experience?
 

I usually like boats but ^^^this one^^^ is offensively wrong. 
 

First time I gambled was a slow loss of $5. Second time I put $20 down on a blackjack table and walked away after 1 hand with $80. Third time was waiting for a flight in Vegas. I put $60 in a poker machine and it's still there. That brings me up to date. 
 

Vegas sucks. 

I stick to penny slots and don't play more than a few bucks. I'm done after that before I keep going..

I've been to casinos for bachelor parties and such, but never actually gambled on anything other than a couple dollars on a sporting event or something.

The one time I did try to gamble, I was on a family reunion trip in Reno.  I had some degenerate butt-hole literally try to fight me right on the casino floor.  Apparently I was sitting in a special seat at the blackjack table, and I hit when I supposedly shouldn't have and ruined mr. B-holes hand...  he was spitting mad.  Mad enough to fight me.  Keep in mind this was before noon on a thursday, and we were on a 5$ table.  I'm sure I probably did something dumb in the gambling sense, but what the hell?  To want to fight someone over 5$ in the middle of a weekday is just... I don't and never will get it. 

I've never so much as scratched a lottery ticket after that.  

We were back in Vegas this week.  I was working in El Paso and stopped in Vegas for a few nights after the work trip since I needed to close the deal on a Beetle anyway (guy didn't want to do a remote deal).  The wife met me and we stayed at the Cosmopolitan.  Gambled one night, blackjack and roulette, and overall down about $400,  but had a lot of fun.

Like most here, im not a casino guy. I did the math early on about how they built vegas, NOT by "doubling your paycheck".  While there i'd be looking at the mountains wishing i could be out there instead.  One morning we got up earlier, prob 7 or so,  to do something and they were still hosing the puke and other bodily fluids off the sidewalk.  100% not my kinda place.  Gimme some nature and hiking trails. 
 

Ive been to many industry meetings held at various casinos. I dont drink, dont party, hate tobacco smoke.  Ive been up later coming back from a dinner and seen some old people chain smoking at the slot machines. Get up the next morning for breakfast 6-8 hours later and see the same old people still sitting at the same machines chain smoking.  Pretty sad. 
 

and of course seeing how the casinos can and will have you removed for winning too much or "counting cards", but your free to sit there and lose every penny you have. 

On New year's day, I ran a special where for $20, my players could get an 18 face card, a jitney card, a quickie coverall, and a jackpot coverall.  Total value was $27, but no substitution allowed and they could buy any additional paper they wanted.  I had more people than I could count come through the line and want a 24, 30, or 36 face card.  I tried to explain to them that if they bought everything ala carte the way they usually did, it would be $18 for the 24, 30, or 36 face paper, $5 for the quickie, $3 for the jitney, and $1 for the jackpot game.  Total of $27.  If they got the special plus an 18 face or 12 face to get to their usual 36 or 30 face package it would be $20 for the special plus $18 for the extra faces to get to 36 (total of $38) or $12 to get to 30 faces (total of $32).  For the exact same amount of bingo cards.

At least twenty people gave me blank stares and insisted that they wanted the special since it was $7 cheaper. 

After I explained it to them twice.

I can only assume that gambling doesn't thrill me because I know how numbers work.

wae said:

On New year's day, I ran a special where for $20, my players could get an 18 face card, a jitney card, a quickie coverall, and a jackpot coverall.  Total value was $27, but no substitution allowed and they could buy any additional paper they wanted.  I had more people than I could count come through the line and want a 24, 30, or 36 face card.  I tried to explain to them that if they bought everything ala carte the way they usually did, it would be $18 for the 24, 30, or 36 face paper, $5 for the quickie, $3 for the jitney, and $1 for the jackpot game.  Total of $27.  If they got the special plus an 18 face or 12 face to get to their usual 36 or 30 face package it would be $20 for the special plus $18 for the extra faces to get to 36 (total of $38) or $12 to get to 30 faces (total of $32).  For the exact same amount of bingo cards.

At least twenty people gave me blank stares and insisted that they wanted the special since it was $7 cheaper. 

After I explained it to them twice.

I can only assume that gambling doesn't thrill me because I know how numbers work.

 

I had absolutely no idea what you were talking about until I read the word, "Bingo". 

Streetwiseguy said:

wae said:

On New year's day, I ran a special where for $20, my players could get an 18 face card, a jitney card, a quickie coverall, and a jackpot coverall.  Total value was $27, but no substitution allowed and they could buy any additional paper they wanted.  I had more people than I could count come through the line and want a 24, 30, or 36 face card.  I tried to explain to them that if they bought everything ala carte the way they usually did, it would be $18 for the 24, 30, or 36 face paper, $5 for the quickie, $3 for the jitney, and $1 for the jackpot game.  Total of $27.  If they got the special plus an 18 face or 12 face to get to their usual 36 or 30 face package it would be $20 for the special plus $18 for the extra faces to get to 36 (total of $38) or $12 to get to 30 faces (total of $32).  For the exact same amount of bingo cards.

At least twenty people gave me blank stares and insisted that they wanted the special since it was $7 cheaper. 

After I explained it to them twice.

I can only assume that gambling doesn't thrill me because I know how numbers work.

 

I had absolutely no idea what you were talking about until I read the word, "Bingo". 

And I've read through that post 5 times now and while I understand it's about bingo I absolutely can't follow his specials.  So it's no wonder he was getting blank stares - listening to that in person instead of reading it I'd have been lost by less than halfway through. Mostly since I don't understand why the special would be a worse deal than the normal deal.

Duke said:

Streetwiseguy said:

wae said:

On New year's day, I ran a special where for $20, my players could get an 18 face card, a jitney card, a quickie coverall, and a jackpot coverall.  Total value was $27, but no substitution allowed and they could buy any additional paper they wanted.  I had more people than I could count come through the line and want a 24, 30, or 36 face card.  I tried to explain to them that if they bought everything ala carte the way they usually did, it would be $18 for the 24, 30, or 36 face paper, $5 for the quickie, $3 for the jitney, and $1 for the jackpot game.  Total of $27.  If they got the special plus an 18 face or 12 face to get to their usual 36 or 30 face package it would be $20 for the special plus $18 for the extra faces to get to 36 (total of $38) or $12 to get to 30 faces (total of $32).  For the exact same amount of bingo cards.

At least twenty people gave me blank stares and insisted that they wanted the special since it was $7 cheaper. 

After I explained it to them twice.

I can only assume that gambling doesn't thrill me because I know how numbers work.

 

I had absolutely no idea what you were talking about until I read the word, "Bingo". 

And I've read through that post 5 times now and while I understand it's about bingo I absolutely can't follow his specials.  So it's no wonder he was getting blank stares - listening to that in person instead of reading it I'd have been lost by less than halfway through. Mostly since I don't understand why the special would be a worse deal than the normal deal.

 

Yeah, sorry - there's a lot of bingo jargon in there.   But that's the part that everyone there totally understood so that's not where the blank stares came from!  It's kind of like if you didn't have a small/medium/large value meal selection:  You could get the small fry and a small Coke with the meal and then also buy a second small fry and a second small Coke if you wanted more fries and more to drink, but it would be cheaper at that point to just buy the three items separately and not as a "special".

In reply to DrFrankenstein :

Nice canoe, jackwagon.

This thread keeps popping back up, and has me thinking about how much precipitation the California high desert has been getting this winter.  Really wish I had the time to hop a flight to Vegas in March for s drive out to the desert.  Bet the superbloom is going to be awesome this year.

In reply to joey48442 :

[double edit!?]

Weber77 said:

Why you discribe it as a illness? I'm playing poker for ten years and i can't say that i'm obsessed with it or lost a lot of money, i just like spending time while playing and that's it...

I enjoy canoeing myself!

Spam deleted on this old thread.

John:

You missed spam from 2 posts above - dated 6/25/20.

Thanks!

I like to gamble.  When the odds are impossibly against me. 
  324 million to 1 that I'll win a lottery. 
  So once it hits over 600 million  I'll toss away $2   But I'll buy the ticket 3-4 days before the drawing.  That way I'll fantasize about the good I'll do with the money.  Local food shelves and charity kitchens.  
  Put solar panels and wind Generators in any Indian reservation without a casino.  
    Build decent homes in really poor neighborhoods. Write a really big check to habitat for Humanity.   Children and poor seniors would have my attention. 
     Finding worth while things to do to improve the lives of the needy and  those living in "homes" ( including a decent car for each of the staff) 

    However much I won I'd make it my life's goal to help others. When that was all gone, I'd start over again $2 at a time. Once they are over $600 million. 

In reply to frenchyd :

I've heard it said that playing the lottery is a terrible investment strategy if the goal is to make money, but is really cost effective form of entertainment.

It's a. Way of satisfying my wish to be more charitable. Sort of a mini Bill Gates. 
  I don't fool myself I know the few dollars I bet aren't going to win so I match that with actual  donations to organized charities. 
    

Appleseed said:

I'm a gambler. I fly airplanes and ride motorcycles. I figure I've used up all my luck there. Casinos have no appeal.

Same here, only my airplane has no engine.  =~ 0

Went to Vegas for a wedding once so I brought $20 downstairs and tried to win a chopsicle.  A nice young girl in a tiny skirt asked if I wanted a drink, of course.  When she came back with a Dos Equis I reached for my wallet.  "Oh no, sir, it's free if you're gambling".   I asked if she can take tips, "Yes", do you mind quarters?  "No".  I scooped a bunch of quarters up and she flitted away.  I got soldered, then walked out a few hours later with my original $20; so technically I beat Vegas. 

No interest in going back ....

Beer Baron said:

In reply to frenchyd :

I've heard it said that playing the lottery is a terrible investment strategy if the goal is to make money, but is really cost effective form of entertainment.

When the last giant jackpot came along, I think we spent $20 on some numbers. Man, thinking about having giant levels of berkeley you money sort of shined up the daily grind a bit. I even thought about what a NEW escalade smelled like inside, instead of a 15 year old one. 

In reply to Furious_E :

Gambling and booze industries have very similar demographics. The full-on addicts are ~10% of the clientele, but account for 50% (or more) of revenue. It's full on exploitation of folks are that predisposed to addiction. 

I won the lottery!

$2.00 on a $6.00 ticket.  Still...