Ask Lemmy

if you're not first... you're last

Gambling with your friends is ok, BUT it can create resentment if the stakes are more than a nominal amount. Even as little as $100 can mean a lot to some people and can create problems when someone thinks they can afford it, but they actually can't.

Gambling using a third party is throwing your money away UNLESS you have insider knowledge. It's a fact that the majority of people lose money on these, and a very small percentage of people make A LOT of money by "gambling" on events they can influence the outcome of, or have prior actual insider information on.

Essentially unless you're defrauding people, you are very likely getting defrauded yourself.

Gambling just isn't worth it in any context.

Last time I gambled I won $90. Figured that was the best it was ever going to get, and gave it after that. Go out on a high note, right?

I play micro stakes poker. Without gambling its likely that I wouldn't. Its something I enjoying doing, am able to afford, and entertains me for less than the cost of going to the cinema for, potentially, a longer amount of time. So I suppose I view it as entertainment.

I take part in regular live low stake tournaments, which are more of a social get together than anything really competitive.

I'll occasionally put a little on horses.

I think issues appears when there no bankroll. I allocate a set amount a month, if I spend it then that's it. If not then whatever is in the account rolls through. Been lucky enough that I dont have to top it up often.

I dont think it should be illegal, I do think there should be more done about awareness, approaches, and pitfalls. I also think there are personality types which are more prone to issues and that could be identified and addressed by looking at deposit and betting patterns, but the industry doesn't due to wanting to make money.

I personally don’t do it, aside from small stakes poker.

I don’t think betting on sports should be illegal. The problem is the endless advertising and the way sportsbooks have invaded and completely taken over sports coverage in the media. Feels like literally everything now is just about discussing under/overs and what Vegas thinks.

Call me crazy but I miss when sports was about sports.

I love petty, minimal stakes gambling. House poker. Prop bets with my coworkers. Sometimes I do squares for big games, brackets or pick ems for tourneys/leagues. Im spending 5, 10 or rarely 20 bucks on a fun activity with people. Its fun to do at work, while drinking, having a smoke, or just walking down the street.

I think gambling addiction is a serious problem and casinos need much heavier regulation with funding for addiction healthcare coming from their profits. I also dont support eliminating any native casinos in the US unless they are repaid by the federal government for breaking our original treaty obligations with these tribes and seizing their land. Its disgusting to keep taking from the tribes without giving any of equal value back.

It's like drugs.

If it was just going to a casino and playing a few games I wouldn't mind it. The fact that it has infected sports and video games like the plague is what's really killing it for me. Sports is particularly horrible. You got dudes out there who think just because it's a $5 bet here and a $2 parlay there and they hit for $200 once 3 years ago means they're always on top. Then it takes away from the actual game watching experience. Bro comes in all miserable because they lost out on $100 by 1 pt or some shit, but their team won by 21pts. Just vibe killer. Go away. Then you got Mom involved in it who's irresponsible with her money to begin with. Complaining how her bills are past due, then dropping money on prop bets she never wins. I see this everywhere and it's fucking disgusting.

The people who create this stuff are just preying off poor dumb asses with no brains or impulse control.

Video games(NOT ALL, YOU KNOW THE TYPE) is programming our kids to feed into that from day 1. It used to be illegal and taboo. I'm not talking 50 years ago, I'm talking like 5-10. It was never this out in the open. People operated with integrity when it came to gambling. The addiction side of it was taken seriously. All that was thrown out the window. Now you got zombies sitting in smoke shops gambling away their meager savings then bumming cigs off everybody who passes by. This part of culture really fucking sucks.

Sometimes if I have cash to spare, I'll throw it in a scratch-off machine and maybe get a few bucks back. Other than that, I think gambling is awful.

I will not partake, I know that I can get hooked on stuff like that really easy, and have a hard time to walk away, but I have no problems saying no thank you at and not engage in it.

I don't really understand it. What's the appeal? Personally, at least, the moment I realise that there's nothing I can do in a game that affects whether I win or lose, I lose interest in it completely. Well, it's not like I'm completely oblivious to the mechanisms here, I also get a little dopamine boost when, for example, I get a critical hit in a video game and disappointed when an attack misses, even though I can only vaguely influence the probabilities of those things happening, but that only works as a little constant pleasure differential as seasoning to keep you on your toes, it would be completely pointless as something that cumulates into a single climax.

The closest I've come to understanding the appeal is that the thrill of not just possibly winning money but also the risk of losing the fruits of your labour (i.e. "real stakes", even if small), is pleasurable to some people...? But if that's what it is, quite frankly, that's seems less like seeking simple pleasure and more in the realm of depravity.

Anyway, I do think gambling is one of the dumbest dumbass dumb-dumb thing a person can do that doesn't involve scooping out your eyeballs with a dirty plastic spork. Even putting aside that the odds are never in your favour and so, it isn't rational thing to do, someone who starts gambling may not know they have the kind of addictive personality that gets them sinking into a bog, because that part of their character may have never surfaced, or only in low-stakes situations. So they're not just gambling with money, they're gambling with the very quality of their life.

Also, betting is just an inherently corrupting force. Even if you're only making small bets, even if you're not pressuring competitors to throw the match (if you even have the means to do so) or throwing banana peels into the ring to get the person you bet against to slip and fall or something, you're contributing to the payout to the people who are, incentivising that behaviour. There's no high payout for betting against the odds (and then working to make the unlikely the inevitable) if there's not enough livestock contributing to the pot.

I don't think it should be illegal either, but there should defiantly be limits and protections in place so people don't piss away their life savings over a slot machine.

Often people in difficult finical situations are the most addicted to gambling or playing the lotto because they are manipulated with hopes of a life changing big payout.

One simple idea to help, have a seperate bank account. You get a special "gamble debit card" that you can deposit up to 5% of your earnings from the previous year. Any kind of gambling can only accept this card - including food/drink at the facility. Winnings can be cashed out or used to refill the card.

Even if this isn't a regulated thing, people can do this on their own - leave all the main cards at home and make sure you can't transfer money to your debit without physically going to a bank.

I’ve tried to like it but I just can’t. How is it entertaining to just give your money away,, literally without anything of value?

I’ll do Super Bowl squares and March madness, because it’s a social activity. Once every year or so I’ll buy a lottery ticket for one night of amazing dreams.

But organized gambling, like casino, inline, track, sports bets always just feels like they are robbing me. I did bet at a horse track and a dog track a couple of times but it’s just so sad watching these old people piss away their social security checks. Now we have polymarket which seems like mostly a way for immoral politicians, celebrities, business people to enrich themselves with insider knowledge

Yeah, we need to ban for-profit gambling

Hope to win, expect to lose.

I would consider any gambled money to be lost, the equivalent of lighting it on fire

Anything where you're putting money in and hoping to get more money out, where it's a zero sum game and any winnings will come from other people doing the same, is gambling imo. A gamble can be a good financial investment if you only do it in situations where you know you have some kind of edge, but doing it for fun is stupid because it fucks with your emotions and you're just going to get screwed out of your money that way. If you are playing against people gambling for fun, rather than playing against "the house", that might be one you can win.

Morally I think the ideal situation for gambling is one where people in bad financial situations get together so at least some of them can escape those situations. The worst is when people who don't need more money ensure all of the profits will go exclusively to them, and no one else will really win.

Now that I'm thinking about it, I mainly have a gripe with people getting addicted to gambling. Can be in many different forms IMO; can be spending too much money at the Blackjack table (which is somewhat skill-dependent), whaling on lootboxes/gachas (where you'd literally never "win" money back), or even day trading (which is technically positive-sum)

In theory everything is fine in moderation, but then most gambling systems reward people to whale whether they intend it or not, so...

Gambling is paying the idiot tax. Every game is rigged in favor of the casino (or whatever). On the long run, you lose and they win.

If it's casual between friends, you do you so long as it's consentual between all involved parties.

If it's at a real and/or digital casino using real money, I draw the line. Don't really support them personally.

If it's something like an old PC casino game I played growing up where there's typically no real loss besides your time, I'm okay with it. Same applies to games like Balatro or Clover Pit.

Advertising it? Haell nah!

Those online betting sites like the US ones where people have been using insider trading and tampering with sensitive equipment to win bets? Ban the hell out of them!

Sports betting? If it's consentual between a few friends/coworkers, you do you. Otherwise, I wouldn't support it because you don't know whether or not any sore loser will do their best to harass you or worse.

As for legality, I am not a prune about it. Especially since my fursona loves the whole concept of random dice and card luck and at least the card and dice games ( when confirmed not to be rigged ) are mainly pure luck.

If it could be done fairly, there is no problem. But it's not, almost ever, at least in any commercial application. Your weekly church/bar/library bingo night might be on the level, but it's rife with insider corruption and rigging in almost every other case. There is no inherent problem in it, it's just that people can't really be trusted.

It's all a scam as the house and all the intermediaries win, the client over time always loses, and somehow we keep doing it in the name of "fun"

I discussed this recently with a friend. Commercial gambling, e.g. slot machines, online poker, F2P mobile games, sports betting, etc. seems like exploitation of weak people. These products are carefully optimized for return of investment, which always means nudging people to play more, even if it's bad for them. This book is pretty good: Addiction by Design - Machine Gambling in Las Vegas

When I was a kid in the eighties, slot machines were abundant and there was no age limit, at least not enforced. So we kids tried it, and basically I got lucky because I never won anything and have never tried them since.

Very indefererent. I'll buy a $10 or $20 scratch off once a month or a powerball when the jackpot gets high. I'll play keno occasionally at a bar for a few dollars.

I've only been to small casinos about 5 times in my life but I rarely spend over $50. I would like sports betting to be allowed on phones where I live just to bet on a few games here and there.

These new bet on anything sites I can't stand and I think will ruin society more than the internet