Gambling: do you, and if so, how much?
 

I'd say I never gamble. Not much anyway. Lotto at the weekend, the odd bet on the World Cup every four years. I know some people here gamble a lot more than that, and I just wonder, do you consider you spend more than you should, is the return worth it, and basically what is anybody's view on gambling, whether casually, professionally, online, at casinos, whatever? Has anyone got or had anyone with a gambling addiction? Do you think enough is done in your country/state to tackle it, or do you even see it as a problem?

No pre-judging here; just wondering how people feel about it, if at all.

My job back east brought me to Vegas numerous times for conventions and seminars, etc. Since it's only a $100 plane ticket from San Diego, me and Lin have gone recreationaly a few times too.

Linda like the slots, but plays the cheap ones so her losses are minimal.

I go black jack and have trained and done my homework. Vegas has paid for our meals pretty much the last 5 times we were there.

I have absolutely no inclination towards it.
Also, shockingly for someone with a jewish background, I'm not greedy.
I'd probably be bored after two games. I know I am when playing poker.

Over the past 3 years I've been spending about $3 to $5 a week, buying scratch tickets and/or daily/weekly numbers games. The first year I didn't keep track of my winnings/losses. Last year I broke even, this year I've only made back about 40% of what I've spent so far. I've never set foot in a casino and don't plan to anytime soon. I've never spent more than a few dollars a week since I started when I was in my mid 20's and there have been several times when I haven't gambled at all for several years at a stretch.

Once in a great while, I play poker or black jack with friends for a few dollars.

Gambling is just something I do in phases, for a few dollars, when the mood strikes me.

Never, and I don't intend to. Not like I have anything to gamble anyway, but it seems like a huge waste. I know several people who gamble/have gambling addiction and it's terrible. My grandfather would gamble away his cash every week and the one time he did win after 20 or so years (100k) he also gambled that away. Watching people put themselves in debt and having to live with the repercussions of their decisions as well isn't fun. As long as you know how to control yourself I don't see a problem with it.

I love gambling. I don't do it regularly or anything but its such a rush when I do.

Only when I know I am guaranteed to win, which I guess isn't really gambling but fuck it.

I have lost about three or four bets in my life where it wasn't tactical betting for the sake of getting a profit, I just fancied a bet while watching some sport and I made a financial loss, £20 max, the others were the odd fiver. All the rest I make a profit on. I am up on the bookies, couple places have banned me.

It's only worth it if there is value in the bet. It isn't really about if you lose, you could bet on Real Madrid to win each home game in a season, at the end of the season you'll have won most of your bets but are you going to be in profit at the end of it? No.

As long as you only bet what you can afford to comfortably lose and don't chase your losses and you know about what you're betting on then feel free. The fact of the matter is only 4% of gamblers will make a profit, the bookies are rarely wrong.

Many years ago I played poker online for money. Realised I was no good at it after a couple of months, and stopped. That's the extent of my gambling.

I hit Vegas once a year and play poker tournaments, usually at Luxor or MGM. They seem to have the best returns and its alot of fun. I generally pay for my stay and entertainment for the weekend by placing in the tournaments. Occassionally I use the money set aside to pay for my losses, its all part of the game. To anyone looking for an absolute great time gambling, bet the horses. I frequent Del Mar over the summer months and its always a blast and you can usually gamble the whole day for 50 bucks.

It's not something that appeals to me. I've gambled at a casinos a few times because I was with people who wanted to go and I very occassionally buy scratch tickets, but that's about it.