Re: Anyone get a real gross feeling while they\'re in a casino?
 

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Hmmmm Only when I am sober do I find casions disgusting.

saw some asian kid sticking chiips in his mouth one night

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Why? He didn't feel like having teeth anymore?

Re: Anyone get a real gross feeling while they\'re in a casino?
 

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Yes, I know exactly what you're saying. Given the choice of supporting California-style cardrooms or giant casino extravaganzas, i much prefer the former. But there aren't cardrooms in New England, so I try to rationalize supporting a business that I really don't care much for.

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I completely disagree. In a big, full service casino, you're much more likely at all levels to get crossover from table games and much more profitable situations at the table ("Hey, I'm bored with BlackJack, let's give poker a shot").

Why is it a business "[you] don't care for"? Don't you see the inherent contradiction in you trying to profit from people who have little understanding of the odds and a business doing precisely the same thing?

The truth is that the vast majority of casino patrons are not financially damaging themselves. It's passtime money, no different than money spent on golf, skiing or attending sporting events. To even hint that there's something dirty about the business is to give credence to the nits in DC who want to ban it all.

Sure, there are people who ruin their lives in casinos. But take away the casinos and they'd find another way to ruin themselves.

Re: Anyone get a real gross feeling while they\'re in a casino?
 

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While most people in a casino are not gambling addicts, there is something troubling about so many people spending their retirement pumping quarters in the slots. (At least poker, even badly played, is a bit more intellectual though not much at its nadir.) Being troubled by it doesn't make me holier-than-thou.


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If they can't afford to lose it, then yes, it's troubling. But how do you know? And why are you not troubled by the fact that most of the people you are playing poker with are also throwing away money that they might not be able to afford? Who is losing more money -- the perpetual loser playing 10/20 Hold 'em or the old lady putting quarters in a 97% payback machine?

I just think you draw too large of a distinction between what goes on in the poker room and what goes on in the rest of the casino. I see so many people around here falling back on the old "Poker is +EV!" line of reasoning. It's not my place to question whether or not anybody on this board is a winning or losing player, as I simply do not have enough information to draw such a conclusion. But the fact is that while poker can be "+EV" when played at a highly skilled level, the vast majority of players lose more money at the game than they win.