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I don't have any horror stories, but I've probably lost ~10K over the course of my lifetime, playing in various casinos, sportsbooks, online gambling, etc. Maybe less. I won a fair amount of the time.
Losing the 10K didn't affect my life at all, and winning 10K wouldn't have affected my life at all either.
Gambling is predominantly an activity by young men in their 20s. YOU may think it's a waste of $, but I always had multiple groups of friends to go to AC or Vegas with, and it was usually a very good time. With most of my friends, we would pair it with doing drinking, watching sports and attempting to hit on women. But I was also serious enough that I took solo trips and trips with buddies for gambling and gambling alone. I can't recall any young women that I knew that were serious gamblers...
The senior thing I don't know about, I see them there, but I'm not sure of the appeal for them.
Beyond the social aspect, the best way I would describe the appeal is ... there's a good chance if you played like I did ... betting $25-50 a hand in blackjack which is not a crazy amount to risk, that you could win $1500-2000 over the course of a night. I had that happen a number of times, and that is a good amount of $$ for a young guy, so... my friends that bet a little more could easily win $4000-5000.
Of course, it goes without saying I also lost that much a number of times.
The appeal for me isn't the same as I've gotten older because now that I've seen the way that $$ works ... even if I win $30,000, it's not going to REALLY affect my life.
OTOH, if you could find a casino to take the bet and could put your life savings on black or red ... you could possibly knock 10-15 years off of working if you trust the flip of a coin. Now ... THAT is good odds.
Thinking like that makes a gambler...
The appeal to seniors is that they have senior night so they can see other similar aged people. An able bodied senior citizen has less opportunities to run into people their own age if they aren't a regular church goer or occupant of a nursing home.
Casino also gives them something to do and gets them out of the house. Have to remember, the older we get the more likelihood that some of our friends have passed away. Also, as a senior citizen, you typically don't make many new friends. You end up having the friend you see at the casino, but you likely don't spend time with them outside the casino. As you get older, you have a lot more acquaintances, but you may not have many true friendships.
Casino's in the U.S. might be the most depressing places to visit outside perhaps a hospital. To see low income or elderly people sit at those slot machines is so sad. You know they are gambling money they really need for other expenses.
I use to go to Macau next to China a couple of times a year when I lived there. It was ok the first couple of times, but Chinese do not gamble for fun. They gamble to win and are super competitive. Nobody drinks, nobody smiles and the emotions run so high that it really takes the fun out of it.
Casino's in the U.S. might be the most depressing places to visit outside perhaps a hospital. To see low income or elderly people sit at those slot machines is so sad. You know they are gambling money they really need for other expenses.
How do you know all those people are low income or gambling away money needed for other expenses? Seriously...a guy wearing a $2000 suit is just as likely to be gambling away the mortgage payment as the next person.
Yes, for some gambling becomes an addiction but for others it's a form of entertainment, nothing sad or depressing about it.
My husband used to own a business with a gambler who would drop thousands in one trip. The casinos would pay for this guy to go to Vegas or Atlantic City with all of the trimmings. Since he was single then, my husband would go with him and saw the carnage firsthand. My husband took a few hundred, sometimes winning, sometimes losing, but either way, it was like a cheap vacation for him. Eventually, his business partner tried to get into the company funds to pay for his debt. That's when my husband walked away from the partnership. The gambler's wife eventually divorced him, but not before the government came after him for some type of big tax problem.
About a decade ago, a video slot machine player discovered a flaw in the game's software. He had a good thing going but got too greedy. Here's a link to his story.
my husband used to own a business with a gambler who would drop thousands in one trip. The casinos would pay for this guy to go to vegas or atlantic city with all of the trimmings. Since he was single then, my husband would go with him and saw the carnage firsthand. My husband took a few hundred, sometimes winning, sometimes losing, but either way, it was like a cheap vacation for him. Eventually, his business partner tried to get into the company funds to pay for his debt. That's when my husband walked away from the partnership. The gambler's wife eventually divorced him, but not before the government came after him for some type of big tax problem.
That's what happened to me in 2000.. I had won big for the year....I gambled exclusively at Indian casinos down here. You had the option of having taxes deducted from the W2G(I don't know if the local casinos are required to do so).Like most gamblers,I didn't...I coulda shoulda....
Ended up owing $38,000 to the IRS on my 1040.....Made a payment plan,etc. and its long ago paid...but that's what started my downward financial spiral.
My appetite for gambling went away when I was finally in a position of having earned a larger salary than I needed. After that, I just couldn't see the point of going into casinos. Socking money away gave me more pleasure.
About a decade ago, a video slot machine player discovered a flaw in the game's software. He had a good thing going but got too greedy. Here's a link to his story.
Interesting story I had never seen. Yes, they were very reckless. If they'd been more cautious it's hard to imagine they would have ever been discovered. The gambler's mentality at work... bet big when the odds are in your favor.
And the article mentions that the IRS was still after the fellow from Pennsylvania for nearly a quarter million dollars in taxes, even though the casino got all of the money back. As the saying goes... don't mess with the IRS.
About a decade ago, a video slot machine player discovered a flaw in the game's software. He had a good thing going but got too greedy. Here's a link to his story.
Not really a horror story, more of a funny story. I went to Las Vegas once. I heard that your best odds are at Blackjack, so I sat down at a Blackjack table. The minimum bid was $20. So I bet $20. I got 21 on my first hand! I think I won $30 from that if I recall. I thanked the dealer and started to leave. He wanted to know why and I said, "I already won. I can only go downhill from here." He laughed and told me to at least wait for my complimentary drink.
Yeah, it was exciting to win... and I didn't want to ruin that by losing. haha.
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