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I'm noticing three types of gamblers

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  • I'm noticing three types of gamblers

    It seems that we have three distinct type of gamblers that almost all our guests fall into.

    The tourist- these people are really unfamiliar with gambling, but they know it's supposed to be fun. These people tend to have big dreams, but reasonable expectations (wouldn't it be great if I won Megabucks? Oh well, I'll have fun either way.) These folks can easily get in trouble though. Terms like win/loss ratio, average payback, and house edge are foreign to them and they have no way of understanding information presented to them, much the same way that most English speaking Americans couldn't understand information given to them in Japanese. Any damage though is short lived, this is after all only a once in a while thing, if not a once in a life time thing, so they will recover from their losses and hopefully look back positively on the experience.

    The experienced gambler- These people can be locals or out of towners, but they know all the lingo, understand house edge and average payback and all the other important terms to know when making gambling decisions. Most importantly they know that the odds aren't in their favor and that they are more likely than not to lose money. When it comes to big dreams they are the most realistic, they will say, "someone will win Megabucks, it probably won't be me, but it might be me and I can afford to place the bet to find out." It is rare to see an experienced gambler get into big trouble, because they know when to quit.

    The addict- Sadly I've seen a few of these (though not as many as the scare mongers would have you think). These fall into two groups, the ones for whom addict is an accurate description (they are addicted to the rush they feel when the cards are being delt or the reels are spinning, which I will admit, is an amazing feeling), and the ones who have a complete misunderstanding of gambling. These are the people who say, "someone has to win Megabucks, it might as well be me." They won't stop at doing a $3 spin (yes, it costs $3 to do a Megabucks spin), they won't stop at two spins, or three, or four, or any number until they run out of money (and I don't mean spare money, I mean all money, after all, they knew that they were going to win Megabucks) or they win (and which one do you think is more likely). There's also a growing number of people who treat gambling a lot like people treat cutting, they are depressed and gambling, while not always being the best feeling in the world (it definitely has its ups and downs) is actual emotion that they otherwise seem incapable of feeling.
    If you wish to find meaning, listen to the music not the song

  • #2
    I agree. I go to casinos fairly regularly (about 2 times a month) and I always cash out when the machine has more then I put into it. My husband, however, just KNOWS he's going to hit big after hitting bit once, and will spend ALL his money. I usually leave ahead of the game because I know when to quit. Last weekend we went to the casino and I saw one guy asking the clerk if they take store credit cards because he had lost all of his money and couldn't get home.
    Remember, stressed spelled backwards is desserts.

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    • #3
      My grandparents loved to go gambling, they'd make regular (but not frequent) trips to riverboat casinos, and a once-a-year-or-so trip to Vegas to do it. They were smart, though. They set a limit to the amount they were going to spend gambling, and did not go over it. If they won money, they kept it and didn't use it to keep gambling. If they lost it all, then they lost it. And then they'd go home.

      Which puts them in the "experienced gambler" slot, I think.
      PWNADE(TM) - Serve up a glass today! | PWNZER - An act of pwnage so awesome, it's like the victim got hit by a tank.

      There are only Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse because I choose to walk!

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      • #4
        Lol. my parent usually came out ahead. Of course they had a plan. They went with a certain amount to play, my dad did slots and my mom blackjack. What they won went into a separate pocket than the spending money. I went to a casino once. I was so bored. Luckily I had 4 or 5 books, so I just read them in the 3 hours before the bus went back.

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        • #5
          When my friend and I went to LV last year we budgeted $xxx each per day to lose at the casinos. Most days we went away with more than we started, but not always! Best day I had, I went back to the hotel with twice what I started with, and a bag full of rather expensive jewellery and gifts.

          Our 'slush fund' (saved money to fund the gambling and entertainment) also managed to pay for all our meals for 2 weeks, a helicopter trip to the Grand Canyon, several shows, the occasional taxi or limo ride, all our tipping, souvenirs and gifts, and some serious bling. At one stage we were doing well enough at the casinos that the slush fund didn't get touched for over a week. Our own cash reserves weren't touched unless for personal purchases, eg my friend got sick and needed to see a doctor, so she paid for that herself.

          That's the thing with gambling though - it's a gamble. We had the money to lose, it was part of the entertainment, and winning was a bonus. We weren't relying on a win to catch a flight back home again.

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          • #6
            Quoth LesserSouthernFroglet View Post
            When my friend and I went to LV -snip-
            This was a great story, but I'm afraid I simply cannot condone a happy story out of Vegas
            Here, I shall correct the story:
            We were hot and miserable, the crowds were crushing, and everything was overpriced. Next time we will not make that mistake and vacation in the much more relaxing Northern Nevada destinations
            If you wish to find meaning, listen to the music not the song

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            • #7
              As I mentioned before, my last time in Vegas, I budgeted a certain amount for gaming, and I didn't even touch it. I started with 100$ on Blackjack, built it up to 600$, and every day after paying for meals and shopping and stuff, I seemed to win back up to around 500-600$ again; so I won most of my trip's costs and expenses. (By the end of my week, I was losing my touch and I left with only 200$ that I spent in the airport duty free on gifts for mom so it worked out well. )

              And since it was Vegas in October, the temperatures were very nice, and the crowds were not bad at all. And I got to take in two shows while I was down there.

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              • #8
                Never been to Vegas. Rarely gamble money.

                (I'm gambling time+effort - I'm writing a screenplay that I hope to shop around to directors - but it's time+effort that I'm willing to lose. And yes, shopping it around will cost a certain amount of money, but again, it's money we'll choose to spend in the chance of it being picked up.)


                With the exception of the money mentioned in the paragraph above, and a similar 'gamble' for the book I wrote (and got published, in two editions), I gamble only money I specifically have in an entertainment budget. If it's not in the entertainment budget, it's not available for gambling.

                Gambling addition - and get-rich-quick-scheme-addiction - is a trait on both sides of my family. I think they're related, in fact. And it's one reason I won't try things like the book or the screenplay without having a cooler head than mine assess the risks and benefits: I'm sure my grandfather lost more to get-rich-quick ideas than to the horses. And he loved gambling on the horses.
                Seshat's self-help guide:
                1. Would you rather be right, or get the result you want?
                2. If you're consistently getting results you don't want, change what you do.
                3. Deal with the situation you have now, however it occurred.
                4. Accept the consequences of your decisions.

                "All I want is a pretty girl, a decent meal, and the right to shoot lightning at fools." - Anders, Dragon Age.

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                • #9
                  Quoth smileyeagle1021 View Post
                  This was a great story, but I'm afraid I simply cannot condone a happy story out of Vegas
                  Here, I shall correct the story:
                  We were hot and miserable, the crowds were crushing, and everything was overpriced. Next time we will not make that mistake and vacation in the much more relaxing Northern Nevada destinations
                  We went in March, and got weather from 'rather hot, sunny and fine' to 'freezing cold, raining, snow on the surrounding hills'. Agreed, it was crowded, but I expected that anyway.

                  Next trip to the USA and I promise to go a bit further afield!

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                  • #10
                    I've never been to Vegas, but I enjoyed the casinos in Mississippi. My mother and her friends said they would each spend forty bucks, and when they'd spent forty bucks they'd be done. Mom won a hundred bucks and we all had casino buffet dinner, which was... actually really good. Cajun shrimp, nom.

                    That time I was twenty so I couldn't go onto the casino floor. XD I took my siblings to the kiddie area which is like those pizza restaurants -- you buy tokens, you play games and buy tickets, you trade the tickets in for prizes. Gambling junior. But it was fun.

                    I've only tried going to gamble in a casino once (my best friend's bachelorette weekend in Niagara Falls), and I told myself I'd spend thirty bucks and then stop. After about ten bucks I couldn't stand the noise, and it turned out the rest of the girls couldn't either, so we beat it and went to the mall.

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                    • #11
                      I went to Monte Carlo once, in 2006 while I was on a tour holiday of Europe. It's the only casino I've been in. I took €30 to play with and immediatly lost a third of that on the entrance fee. Rest went on the one-armed bandits, really, good fun for about half an hour but unclear and had too much flishy-flash (my eyyyeeesss)

                      I was hoping to keep one of the token things/metal chips as a souviner - not sure if it's legal and couldn't find out either way - but I had to give them all back. O.o No idea.

                      I think I spent more time oogling the marble and gilt and palm trees than trying out gambling. And gonking over the €11 bottles of water. It wasn't really fun but at least I can say I went. *shrug*
                      "...Muhuh? *blink-blink* >_O *roll over* ZZZzzz......"

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