The Sad Part of Gambling

I've experienced the same once, but it was funnier, than sad 😂 On my way to school, a man with a very strange appearance was all the time staying near the light signal for cars, and when the cars stopped, he came to the drivers asking for some change.

This continued for years, and everyone from that area knew this young man as a dumb, as he hardly ever spoke.

The time passed and one day, my friends called me, they were shocked- the same man with two beautiful ladies went to the casino where my friends gambled, he was well-dressed and had a lot of money, he spoke quite normally and even did not try to hide his identity- he came to my friends to say hello 😂

I don't see that much at all here, but we only have one casino and I am not there all that often. I have never seen anyone outside begging - perhaps it is more subtle and they do it inside. I do know that loan sharks operate inside though. They try to prey on the big losers who are desperate to win it all back in a hurry.

But related to this I was watching this show the other night where an English guy called Louis Theroux goes to Vegas and follows around and plays with a few high rollers. Some of the numbers you hear are mind boggling. This little old lady tells how she lost over $4 million in 7 years and she's still there every day playing. It is insane.

Edit: found it on youtube. Looks like it is split into six parts:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6x4rn8zq4s0

I've not watched the video as I have no headphones with me, but I've decided to read the comments to get an idea, and this is what I found : "Ah Casinos. Just a huge place to separate idiots from their money." Hmm...

I am amazed at how much some bet and lose, too. I mean if I had a ton of money, I might splurge and have a great casino trip, now and then, but I sure like to think that I would do more productive things with big money, like help others and give to charities, etc. It is really sickening, when you think about children going to bed hungry and then someone betting 10,000 bucks a hand on black jack.

I would think if you had that much money, there would also come a point where it would not even be fun anymore (and I am talking about the situation where one is NOT a problem gambler or gambling addict).

I haven't seen anything like this but I have had (many years ago) a person try to scoop out my coins out of the tray. That was kind of scary. He was a disheveled kind of person.

No poor beggars at the land casino I go to.... I've seen many baby boomers making use of their retirement monies and enjoying their golden years 😂 Perhaps on the flip side of the coin, they are on denial.

I think I shared before that I have seen people lined up at the cash machine, at midnight, waiting for their "unemployment to come in." I am sure the little bit received could be gambled away in no time at all.

I also see a lot of seniors on senior days. Many talk to me, and many seem very lonely. May be the only time they get out of their homes to socialize with anyone.

I get this all the time, and its in the casino, People ask me if they can 'borrow' a dollar. Yeah right, that's when I get security over, or tell them to call 1-800-bets-off. If they need a dollar that badly they should not be in the casino in the first place. Although this happens at one casino I do not frequent like the other one I go to where everyone knows my name. But I have had a ticket stolen out of my machine as I cashed out a man ran up grabbed it, I tried chasing him down, but lost him in the casino It was very crowded that night, luckily I was able to get a hold of security and an attendant, the man cashed my ticket, but management decided to give me the amount back I lost, which was in the amount of XXX.xx. I was very lucky they did that, usually casinos will not do that, since they are not responsible for lost or stolen tickets.

@VPRoyalFlush: a friend of mine has the same experienced like yours. These kind of people are almost like panhandlers, just a thought! If they have a bad gambling problem, they should be reported and restricted @ any casinos..

@Ubetcha, if they have a gambling problem they shouldn't be gambling, no casino is going to restrict clientele unless they are trouble makers. Those with problems will soon find it hard to gamble with no money. But all in all all one should do is bring what they can afford to loose. Usually that's what I do, some days I win, some I loose.

VPRoyalFlush wrote:

I get this all the time, and its in the casino, People ask me if they can 'borrow' a dollar. Yeah right, that's when I get security over, or tell them to call 1-800-bets-off. If they need a dollar that badly they should not be in the casino in the first place. Although this happens at one casino I do not frequent like the other one I go to where everyone knows my name. But I have had a ticket stolen out of my machine as I cashed out a man ran up grabbed it, I tried chasing him down, but lost him in the casino It was very crowded that night, luckily I was able to get a hold of security and an attendant, the man cashed my ticket, but management decided to give me the amount back I lost, which was in the amount of XXX.xx. I was very lucky they did that, usually casinos will not do that, since they are not responsible for lost or stolen tickets.

Omgoodness! Wow! That is just crazy. I always feel safe from that kind of thing at the casino, because of the high security and cameras, etc., but I guess it really does happen. My friend had a ticket stolen. She took her ticket out and went to cash in over 200 dollars and her ticket said 1 cent. Someone had figured out how to rig it that way, and took off with her ticket. Fortunately, they figured out the person had not cashed the other ticket, gave her the money which voided the ticket. Ever since then (this was years ago), I double check my chit when it comes out of that machine!

I get frustrated when I hear the stories of people playing back all their money. I am one who takes the money and runs! If I win, I set aside a certain amount I cannot touch, then play on the rest of the casino's money (IF I win, lol).

I have seen SO MANY people around the dollar Sizzlin 7s carousel, hitting the three red sevens for 300 dollars, but they play it ALL back in trying to hit the sizzles for 1,000 dollars.

My latest land casino trip this guy stopped to tell me how he won 700.00 at a casino that was between where I was and another way up north (he was traveling back to the city and stopping at casinos on the way home, for a night or two each). I started to congratulate him when he stopped me and told me he played it all back....lost it ALL!

Those stories are SO depressing to me, because I don't win often, but if I did, a percentage of that money would be tucked away and would go home with me! 😢

well, i never went into a land casino but there's one in a place called Póvoa do Varzim. The story was told me by a friend: Some night, a chinese went there with 2.000€, Tried hes luck in some high and low dice game. Placed a bet of 1.000 and lost. Placed another bet of the same value and lost again. Then he went to the casino's cashier and bought 2.000€ again. Went to the same game a placed a unique bet of 2.000 and won 4.000. He had recovered he's money but he was not happy with that. He was there to win. Placed a bet of 4000 (all-in) and...won! He looked with a smile to the coupier, said bye bye to him and left. In 5 minutes the chinese had a profit of 4.000€.