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Ask HN: Do you gamble?

by bluerail on 5/1/15, 1:51 PM with 10 comments

If so, is it online or offline? How often do you visit a casino, and how much you spend on it?

  • by corin_ on 5/1/15, 2:03 PM

    Used to gamble a lot: casino at least once a week, online for sports betting (mostly UK football, horse racing, sometimes US baseball, and occasionally other sports like tennis), and sometimes online live dealer casino (you see video of a dealer giving you cards, and use the online interface to manage your hand in, for example, blackjack - would only play this late at night on Skype with one or more friends also playing it, usually while drinking.)

    Was always for fun not as a profit-generating scheme, but decided I should cut back about 3 years ago, the only sports betting I've done in the last year was during the Cheltenham Festival (four days of horse racing in the UK), and I go to a casino maybe every 2-3 months. I've also cut down the amount I spend - now I won't lose more than £100-£300 in a casino, whereas a few years ago I could easily win or lose £5,000 in a night. Sports betting used to put on between £20 and £100 on most bets, during Cheltenham this year I was placing £5-£10 bets.

    I love gambling and think as long as you know when to stop, or when to cut back, it's a great activity.

  • by AnimalMuppet on 5/1/15, 4:21 PM

    I don't know enough. Fortunately, I know that I don't know enough.

    I was in Las Vegas on a business trip, and I mentioned to a co-worker that I didn't see anything wrong with taking entertainment money to the casino. He replied, "Why don't you just give it to a bum on the street?" I'm going to lose the money just as much, but it might actually do the bum some good.

  • by partisan on 5/1/15, 5:49 PM

    I gamble when I make a trip to Vegas or Atlantic City and I go in with the expectation of losing money. I am a somewhat novice blackjack player. It's typically a social experience so I avoid tables where the players appear to be making their lunch or dinner money. I usually interact with the dealer a lot, asking for advice on hands, etc. My wife plays along side me and she has some incredible luck or skill so I use her to hedge my losses and it seems to work.

    I go about once every 3 years or so. The losses I can tolerate are typically on the order of $500/day for a 3-4 day trip but I do my best to avoid hitting that limit and so I play at the daytime $10/hand tables. Suffice it to say, I am not high on the casino's list of valuable players.

    Also, I live near a large, popular, all machine casino and have only been there once out of curiosity. Not really appealing and the liquor is not free there.

  • by nicholas73 on 5/1/15, 5:11 PM

    I used to gamble weekly, as a way to look for other income streams. Lost a lot at first like most do, starting winning consistently, blew up, win, blew up. Learned about math and psychology. Finally decided that making money that way is a job like any other. You put in hours and have some expected rate of return. Not really worth the time so now I only play for fun.

    Edit: Most people lose at first, except the very FIRST time they play.

  • by stevewepay on 5/2/15, 11:24 PM

    I play poker in card rooms often, but I don't consider it gambling. There is an aspect to luck, but it's mainly skill. Betting and knowing how to bet is a dominant aspect of the game, and there is a huge skill component to that.

  • by mod on 5/1/15, 4:21 PM

    I gamble at poker and pool. I played poker professionally for a couple of years, something like 2007-2010.

    Now I live in a town with a card room (and casino floor) and I go about once a week to play.

    I don't spend anything on it (I win).

    I also am not interested in any other games. I've never played a hand of blackjack or put even $1 into a slot machine. I detest losing.

  • by S4M on 5/2/15, 10:48 PM

    No. I never understood the attraction of casinos.

  • by Varkiil on 5/1/15, 3:10 PM

    You can always gamble as a game as long as it doesn't become an addiction but never gamble for anything else. Life's not a game.

    Also I have so much bad luck that it spreads around me.

  • by Errorcod3 on 5/1/15, 1:53 PM

    Do not gamble.

    No good luck here in order to do that and come out ahead.

  • by dotcoma on 5/1/15, 2:05 PM

    no.