Gambling

[Lord Zombiac]

I have a bumper sticker on my car that says "Risk Takers always win," gamblers always lose." I thought I'd elaborate on this for those of you who don't understand the difference.
Taking a risk in order to accomplish something is more likely to be an informed and well planned risk than gambling at a casino.
As a risk taker, you will examine from every angle the likely outcome of every resource you invest into your endeavor. Gambling is impulsive, and your concept of WHAT MONEY IS is incredibly unrealistic when you are being encouraged by every means available to psychology to take unrealistic risks.
Failure at a risk taking capitol venture will prepare you for further ventures by educating you on how money works-- failure at a casino does NOT TEACH YOU A F****G THING, in fact, failure at gambling often entices you to take further risks and blow lots of money by luring you with the possibility of WINNING IT BACK!
Furthermore, if you win back a gambling stake, you are now (psychologically) on a "winning streak" and will risk it all to "win big."
In this aspect, gamblers are actually DUMBER THAN F****G FISH.
Fish don't even realize there's a stacked deck or a shell game being played on them, and they often turn away from lures... GO, FISH!
A failure at investment is seen by society as forgivable. Your efforts, had they succeeded, would have rewarded everyone who had supported you, and your reasonable cautions would have instilled at least enough faith in your endeavors to gain you goodwill and more support.
failure at gambling is a catastrophic betrayal of trust, and breeds formidable resentment of everyone you let down.
You were seduced into an environment requiring a great deal of maintenance in terms of keeping every light fuel with electricity, the carpets clean, and everyone from security to beverage servers and card dealers on a stable payroll.
There is NO WAY IN HELL anyone would build an expensive casino and employ hundreds, if not thousands of people IF THE ODDS WERE CONSISTENTLY IN YOUR FAVOR OR EVEN CLOSE TO FAIR!
Your losses will be JUSTIFIABLY seen as your own stupidity, and make you seem JUSTIFIABLY like an asshole who doesn't give a damn about your money.
Going to a casino to pass time is ok, if your are incredibly bored and don't want to contribute to anyone who is actually working hard as an entertainer to give you a meaningful or artistic product.
This, in many ways, displays why casino patrons are the diametrical opposites of beatniks. This is also why gamblers are marketed like a pack of sheep waiting to be fleeced.
It is exactly what they are!!!!
Coz, 2011

[Vader]

The immortal Lemmy agrees but hopes for the joker.

You know I'm born to lose, and gambling's for fools,
But that's the way I like it baby,
I don't wanna live forever,
And don't forget the joker!

Do you wanna live forever, LZ?

[[Syl]]

Never bet on a game? A coin flip? Played rock-paper-scissors? Hell, with the possible exception of chess, every game you've ever played is rooted in gambling. Whether you want to call it gambling, risk assessment, or just leveraging, people who win consistently are those who know the odds and those who know the rules, including the unwritten ones.

As for casinos, I think you have it all wrong. There's a lot of work going into them, from the cocktail waitress busting her ass for tips, to the pit boss managing the floor, to the sadistic geniuses who design the layout. How anyone could walk into a casino (a real one, I mean. none of those cheap Canadian or Native American ones where you can't even get a page from the customer service desk) and not be entertained, even if it's just to cash your paycheck for free and get a couple drink coupons... they're not paying attention. Anyone setting foot inside a casino is participating in an elaborate, stunning experiment in what it means to be human that rivals or eclipses most of the art we consider challenging. But then, I'm a Nevada boy at heart and probably just another asshole that doesn't care all that much about my money.

Hey, when's the next KW poker tournament?

[Hashi Lebwohl]

I enjoy the occasional trip to the casino but then I have done my resarch on the table games I want to play and I stay away from the ones I don't like. Of course, I never walk in with more money that I am prepared to lose; to date, I am ahead--I have walked out with more money than I had going in.

In general, though, LZ is right--risk takers are seen as "winners" and gamblers are seen as "losers" (with the exception of those people who do things like World Series of Poker, but I don't like that game and those people take it far too seriously).

[Lord Zombiac]

The immortal Lemmy agrees but hopes for the joker.

You know I'm born to lose, and gambling's for fools,
But that's the way I like it baby,
I don't wanna live forever,
And don't forget the joker!

Do you wanna live forever, LZ?

I do live forever, and only reward or expect to be rewarded by productive behavior. Everyone who walks into a rigged game thinks he has angle.
Superficial flash is not in the least bit entertaining for me. I prefer stoned conversation around campfires, and games of skill.

[MsMary]

I have one thing to say about casinos: NIMBY

[Avatar]

I don't gamble. I like my money in my pocket, thank you very much.

--A

[dmc-4359]

I prefer stoned conversation around campfires, and games of skill.

Casinos generally have a Texas Hold'em tournament or two going if you want a game that requires skill. Then you get at what you are after and a chance to see some very interesting psychology in action as Syl mentioned.

That said, you're making some fairly stout generalizations to an entire industry without much in the way of supporting data. While any reasonable person would concede that the majority of the games in a casino are based on chance (poor at that) some do involve other concepts. A simple black jack game is very similar to music with regards to its use of math for those who play to understand either concept inside and out. Some interesting developments in algorithms for network node control theory might even be able to realistically predict a song's popularity before it is ever heard by the masses. 30 years ago, it was a big deal when people used simple statistic mechanizations to make similar predictions to the outcome of a blackjack hand. I've even seen movies about such antics.

Texas Hold'em tournaments, on the other hand, lend themselves only marginally to statistical considerations when professionals are playing the game. Were that not the case there would not be the same returning top players making the ranks through the various World Series Poker tours and the like.

Also, some people have enough money that they need not be concerned with all of it and it isn't a big deal to blow some of it on a good time. Characterizing them as an asshole just because they do so doesn't seem entirely fair to me.

[sgt.null]

i have decided to live practically forever - right before the sun explodes taking the earth with it. then i am going to fly off and listen to a black hole for some centuries...