I have a prediction, Online Gambling is going to seriously fuck over a huge number of people. Yeah, I am a Gambling Puritan. I think it is a really stupid way to just flush money down the toilet. I am also well aware that it can be a serious addiction for those prone to addiction.

As for those who claim to be "ahead", don't believe that at all. Every single gamble is designed so that the "House" always comes ahead. Sooner or later every single gambler will lose.

Note, I don't consider Poker as Gambling. That is a Skill and Strategy game where those with the skills can come out ahead. As I don't have these skills you won't ever see me playing poker.

As for what's the trigger for my rant, it's the damned advertising. Seem like half of all advertising on TV today is touting some online gambling scheme. One common aspect of these ads are what sounds like big money just for signing up. Big money that I expect can only be used on the gambling web site. These sleezes will do anything to draw in the suckers. It's also all over Youtube, you can't open a video without getting blasted with this sleeze.

Gambling addiction is a real problem. Poker is gambling as well. There are plenty of players that bet recklessly and do not know the game. The casnios are in the MATH business not the gambling business. The bulk of the revenue comes from slots. Money is made from online sports betting as well.

The ads for it are never ending. I am waiting for Joe Namath to begin hawking online gambling.

quote:

Originally posted by YooperSigs:
The ads for it are never ending.

Didn't know what I was missing till they legalized it here in 2019.

Don't forget the radio slots, filled with ads.

$1 will get you a hundred....

I’m not good at Texas hold ‘em poker, but while the house probably doesn’t make as much money on poker it is a guaranteed win for the house since you aren’t playing against the house. They just take a cut of every pot.

I get the same way about fast food commercials. Shit will kill ya, literally over time. Obesity is a major thing in America. And food is the biggest drug problem we have.

Gambling, yeah I’ve seen the shit before. I rarely watch commercial tv. I think just sports. But it was amazing to see all the ads for these websites for betting on sports. I gambled once. I just turned 21, and we all drove to Bossier City. My friends had already gone and were hell bent on going back, getting the free drinks, etc. It was supposed to be a pseudo birthday deal. I arrive, settle down at a $5 black jack table. Pretty quick I’m up over $100. I hit $125 or something. I go to my friends after a half hour and say “lets go”. They of course did not want to leave. So like a dumbass, instead of going to the bar and just getting drunk I gambled more to the point I lost $150. Best $150 I have ever spent in my life. That was a quarter century ago and I have never bet since, sans a once in a few years $1 TX Lotto ticket.

Before I closed my business and retired, I went to Lost Wages on business around 3 or 4 times a year for a week at a time.

Stayed in a casino the whole time I was there.

I have nothing against gambling but if they had to depend on me for their income, they wouldn't be able to afford a decent ashtray.

quote:

The ads for it are never ending. I am waiting for Joe Namath to begin hawking online gambling.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I never see those ads. Probably because casinos have been in my market since 1992. At that time the ads were never ending. My children were young at the time and both learned and sang their catchy jingles. Talk about annoying.

I worked in a casino for 3 years. You will never, ever beat the odds. Of course, there is the person who puts a nickel in the progressive machine and drops the 10 million jackpot - but 10 thousand suckers before them put in $100 and got nothing. Slot machines are truly 'one armed bandits'.

The only casino game where you stand a chance of making money is Blackjack. Even then, you have to know when to walk away or eventually the house will clean you out, never mind the amount of cash you have in your bankroll. Roulette is the same. They always have 'the edge'.

Poker, the house doesn't care, because they take a standard cut from each pot. The bigger the pot, the bigger the house's slice. There is no risk attached - whoever wins, they win. All they are out is the table, a dealer, and a few packs of cards.

No one wins (legitimately) in a Casino, except the house.

Incidentally, the best place in America, outside the ER, to have a heart attack? A Casino. The video surveillance ensures you will be receiving CPR within 30 seconds or less, along with a defibrillator.

Apparently TN just legalized sports betting, because I keep hearing about "sports books" ad nauseam on the occasion that I do listen to the radio in the work van. Honestly I don't care as I don't like sports and don't gamble but it's annoying to listen to.

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The only casino game where you stand a chance of making money is Blackjack.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Some say the best odds are with Baccarat which is popular with Asian players. It may be a toss up with Blackjack. The problem with Blackjack is ALL the inexperienced players at the table and the countless number of decks and reshuffles which may be permitted by the house.
There are winners. One in twenty gamblers walks out with more money.

I don't gamble because if I went upside 20 hard earned dollars I would bleed all over the casino.

I don't recall ever having seen a casino ad, except maybe a billboard for Bel Terra. I went to a casino with my wife twice. The first time, the guy behind me on the big slot machine (1 dollar at the time, grand prize was huge) won 35k. Turns out he was my boss. He bought us dinner.

My second trip I got a roll of quarters (it was that long ago.) I was working a slot when my wife came up. "You have to stop! You've lost three fifty!" I said no, I was having fun. A guy told me if I was down that much, I needed to stop. I informed him she was talking about three dollars and fifty cents. But I stopped.

And why is it now legal in Michigan? The state gets more tax revenue.

Kind of like during last years stay at home order, essential businesses only were allowed to be open. One essential business was the state lotto. On a TV news Q and A with our U.S. Senator Gary Peters he was asked what was considered an essential business and why the lottery was considered essential. He smiled and stated that it did create revenue for the state.

We could not buy house paint or gardening supplies at big box stores supposedly to slow the transmission of the virus in buildings os 50k sq. ft.like most big box stores but we could allow party stores of 1k sq. ft. to sell lottery tickets where people gather around the terminals. Made perfect sense to me.

I'm convinced of it, that at least 60% of the reason people in this country are so stupid, is from being bombarded by commercials. lol Still putting my hypothesis together.

The guy I work with gets upset and questions me about it... in the truck, listening to the radio, when commercials come on I turn the volume down. He asks why and I say... "Are you going to buy whatever they're selling?" (no) "Then why listen to it?"

But that's not unfair. They're housing the game providing a dealer and equipment/supplies. It's probably a little more than break even for them, and less than they'd make if they filled the same space with slot machines / video poker. In most of the casinos, you can even get free drinks at the tables.

The big casinos do it mainly to drive traffic into the rest of the casino.

quote:

Originally posted by Kskelton:
I’m not good at Texas hold ‘em poker, but while the house probably doesn’t make as much money on poker it is a guaranteed win for the house since you aren’t playing against the house. They just take a cut of every pot.