Do You Gamble?

[rastahomie]

I enjoy a friendly wager from time to time. Growing up, my grandparents were always taking me to the horse race track (my grandparents weren't your typical grandparents, lol), and Grandpa taught me the finer points of odds, payouts, Win Place & Show, Exactas, and all that. Unfortunately, he taught me jack about handicapping, so I generally lose my shirt at the track.

I also live about 100 miles from St. Louis, which has all kinds of riverboat casinos (and by "riverboat casinos" I mean "casinos on the ground that are kind of near the river"). I've dropped a few bucks in the slots, when I've had a few bucks to spare - which is few and far between.

And of course, my dad and his friends have their weekly Texas Hold 'Em game ($5 buy-in!), which I make sure to visit every time I'm back in Illinois.

 

[wishesuponastar]

I like the idea of gambling and winning but the only gambling I do is play the lottery a little bit. Last time we went to a casino was 15 yrs ago. Lost my $40 but on the way out I played a slot machine and won my $40 back.

 

[tvguy]

Just back from an overnight trip to an Indian Casino. First trip to a casino of any kind in years. We were there for the celebration of a friends 80th birthday, and it was kind of in the middle of where all of us lived, about a 90 minute drive for all over us.
So we went more for the gathering and dinner, but the birthday girl does like to gamble. I left $25 in the slots in 25 minutes of gambling.
The Nevada casinos, which are also about a 90 minute drive offer lower hotel prices, lower food prices, and the odds seem better than the Indian Casinos.
I avoid all other kinds of gambling, NCAA pools, regular season football, Super Bowl etc.
I worked one place where one woman kept winning all the sports pools. Some wanted to ban her since she knew nothing about sports, and used the dart board method of selection. Her winning frequently kind of proved that either the sports experts weren't so expert, or that sports knowledge had little advantage in gambling on sports.
I do, however, buy 2 lottery tickets every week.

 

[Micca]

I buy the occasional lottery ticket, and if I'm in a casino (about once every 5 years) I'll play slots. Those two examples are, or course, the worst possible ways to gamble as there is no skill involved and it is all totally random. When I lose about $20 or so I lose interest because I start thinking of things I could have bought with the money that would be something of value I could actually hold on to...or a pizza There have been a couple of occasions over the years where I did come out ahead and that was kind of fun.

 

[jt'smom]

I love to play slots. But I'm boring, because I immediately cash out enough to cover my initial $50 budget, and then play with whatever I when. I usually walk out with a couple hundred bucks almost every time. It drives my husband crazy since he's a "let it ride" kind of guy.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

 

[marcyleecorgan]

Absolutely not, never no. I work too hard for my hard-earned money than to throw it away in a game of chance...

 

[DaretoDis]

Debating putting a bet down for either Tiger Woods making the cut, missing the cut, or finishing in the top 10 for the upcoming Masters. Want to make sure he's going to play though.

 

[AlohaNow]

I always have a MegaMillions ticket going. After all, you've got to be in it to win it! And I enjoy wagering on the Triple Crown races. For the first time this year I got into an advance pool for the KY Derby. I sure hope Irish War Cry makes it to the starting line!

 

[antmaril]

I play the slots maybe once every couple of months. My friend and I usually do an overnighter to Firekeepers Casino in Battle Creek, MI. We also like Turtle Creek Casino in Traverse City. We do that at least once a year.

 

[Hikergirl]

No, but I occasionally get scratch off tickets for the kids

 

[MrsDuck]

Nope. DH's parents live in Vegas - we just visited them this week. I put $1 in a cute slot machine (don't judge me - I like cute, sparkly machines! ) and lost $.80. Only reason I didn't lose the whole dollar was because I got a bonus of $.20.

I didn't put any more money in the entire trip.

 

[xlxo]

• As a jackpot chaser.... I may drop $300 a year on the lottery
• I may drop $200 a year with local charity lotteries, 50/50, etc...

 

[Yoshi]

Yes, I play slot machines a few times a month and have a limit of losing no more than $10 to $15 per trip. I only play the penny slots and extreme low roll betting usually $0.03 to $0.10 a spin. I am playing more for entertainment than expecting a big win but even if I walk out a few dollars ahead, I consider it a good trip to the casino with the occasional larger win like in January where I won $42 on a $0.05 bet.

 

[DawnM]

I have never gambled. It just seems like a waste of money.

 

[North of Mouse]

No

 

[Mizzoufan]

Yes

 

[Gumbo4x4]

I buy the occasional lottery ticket, used to enjoy cards in my 20's with friends, and have been in the odd casino here or there. Not really a fan of the "riverboat" casinos here in Missouri, but have enjoyed Reno & Vegas. DW could play nickel slots all day.

 

[kimblebee]

Yep. I like to play bingo with my friend every once in a while. The machines we play also have slots so we drop a pretty penny on those nights out. I also will buy a scratch off ticket if one is calling to me.

I also do a hockey playoff pool..sometimes a regular season one too. I used to do an NFL one too but the site went belly up. The weekly prizes were decent and the extra pools (undefeated week, most overall points, least overall points, highest gainer for the week) had some insane prizes.

 

[wenrob]

Back in the day when drinks were served as long as you were playing (and you were good to the bartenders) I would give up $20-$40 to the machines on payday. Sometimes I was going home only an hour or so in and sometimes I was calling my DH at 3am to ferry us all home. I never went over my $40 limit though. If I hit anything over $100 I'd cash out immediately. I had a friend who had such a problem that if I was done early would buy rolls and try to give them to me so we wouldn't have to leave. I recognized very early on in my life that a lean towards addiction runs very, very deep in my family so I've always kept a tight leash on those kinds of things. And let's face it, this city wasn't built on people winning. These days, no. Probably not for close to 20 years.