LOLz...I can remember when I lived there in Vegas all the old ladies sitting in the bingo rooms and parked in front of the slots chain smoking with their oxygen tanks beside them....Smorgass Bored said:
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More On Jennifer Chen
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Smorgass Bored said:
smorg you are probly right about that
I literally lost a friend to gambling.
They never found his body and found his burned out car in Cali. (we were in Phoenix ). It was said he owed the mob a ton and couldn't pay up.
They never found his body and found his burned out car in Cali. (we were in Phoenix ). It was said he owed the mob a ton and couldn't pay up.
Smorgass Bored said:
Don't think so.
60 year old man, left his homes and buisnesses.
He was also a central figure in the Italian community.
Gambling is a disease, and a horrible one at that. Many a family has been destroyed because of it.
I have friends in my neck of the woods who boast and brag about a big score they made on the Internet playing poker. Of course, you always hear about the big kahunas they catch and NEVER about the ones that got away. Their credit cards, if they still have them, are usually maxed out.
Personally, I enjoy having a roof over my head. Gambling with monies you cannot afford is financial suicide. JMHO, FWIW!
JAM
I have friends in my neck of the woods who boast and brag about a big score they made on the Internet playing poker. Of course, you always hear about the big kahunas they catch and NEVER about the ones that got away. Their credit cards, if they still have them, are usually maxed out.
Personally, I enjoy having a roof over my head. Gambling with monies you cannot afford is financial suicide. JMHO, FWIW!
JAM
JAM said:
I'm in 100% concurrence with you JAM. People have very selective memories about gambling and remember their scores, but not their losers.
It may have something to do with a experiment I read about once. The experiment was to train lab rats to run a maze to get a food reward. The variable was that one of the groups learned under normal conditions. The other group were given adrenaline when they were learning. The rats under the influence of adrenaline remembered what they learned much more readily than the control group.
The purpose of the experiment was to try to determine factors contributing to post-traumatic stress syndrome. However, I think the findings might apply to this case too. Gambling junkies are pumped out of sight on adrenaline when they win... maybe they do literally remember winning very well, but not remember losing nearly as well.
Just a thought.
I think we all gamble to a degree, most of us pay an entry into a pool tournament to try to multiply our stake, its dressed up but its still gambling. Many on here like a flutter in the casinos too, and of course buying a house is the biggest gamble in most peoples lives.
It's ironic that many people have lost their house (my father included once!) through gambling yet buying a house is often the biggest gamble of most peoples lives. Interest rates can go up making the payments unpayable as happened in the UK not all that long ago, it happened in Thailand even more recently, or even worse the market could collapse leaving you owing a debt much greater than the value of the home. Putting your money in a bank is a gamble, buying stocks certainly is.
There's no bigger stake than your life, getting into your car or flying in current times could result in the ultimate loss!
Excessive gambling, like eating, drinking, etc certainly isnt good for you! But there's no reason why gambling in moderation should be any more risky than playing the lottery, or dream tax as it should be called.
It's ironic that many people have lost their house (my father included once!) through gambling yet buying a house is often the biggest gamble of most peoples lives. Interest rates can go up making the payments unpayable as happened in the UK not all that long ago, it happened in Thailand even more recently, or even worse the market could collapse leaving you owing a debt much greater than the value of the home. Putting your money in a bank is a gamble, buying stocks certainly is.
There's no bigger stake than your life, getting into your car or flying in current times could result in the ultimate loss!
Excessive gambling, like eating, drinking, etc certainly isnt good for you! But there's no reason why gambling in moderation should be any more risky than playing the lottery, or dream tax as it should be called.
TheOne said:I think we all gamble to a degree, most of us pay an entry into a pool tournament to try to multiply our stake, its dressed up but its still gambling. Many on here like a flutter in the casinos too, and of course buying a house is the biggest gamble in most peoples lives.
It's ironic that many people have lost their house (my father included once!) through gambling yet buying a house is often the biggest gamble of most peoples lives. Interest rates can go up making the payments unpayable as happened in the UK not all that long ago, it happened in Thailand even more recently, or even worse the market could collapse leaving you owing a debt much greater than the value of the home. Putting your money in a bank is a gamble, buying stocks certainly is.
There's no bigger stake than your life, getting into your car or flying in current times could result in the ultimate loss!
Excessive gambling, like eating, drinking, etc certainly isnt good for you! But there's no reason why gambling in moderation should be any more risky than playing the lottery, or dream tax as it should be called.
I think the point JAM was making and that I concurred with was that excessive gambling is the problem. The bigger problem is that the person doing the excessive gambling would rarely consider it excessive. The problem gambler thinks (or at least claims) he is "even in the long run", which clearly very few people are. This is where selective memory comes in to play.
BTW, I don't consider buying a house gambling. I wouldn't ever get a variable rate so that eliminates that risk. Furthermore, if you weren't making house payments you'd be paying rent (as a matter of fact I refer to my house payment as rent), so even if the bottom falls out, you're even. If the housing market goes belly up over the long term, the economy is in such horrid shape that we're in a new great depression and you just walk away from the house and the bank owns it and you've simply paid rent.
catscradle said:
I think we agree on the first part, but some have simply said "gambling" and not "excessive", I only agree with excessive as we all gamble (I hardly do btw)
With regards to buying a house, there have been many articles recently appearing trying to educate people about the risks of buying a house and why it is "the biggest gamble you'll ever make". the main argument being picking the right time to make a purchase in these volatile and changing times. You can make and lose fortunes if you get the timing wrong (probably likely to be much more than many gamblers could get their hands on to lose!).
Im also not sure why you think your worse case scenario is "even"? It is not unknown for the price of your house to devalue, you could purchase a house for 500k and it could be worth 450k 3months later, how could you walk away then? Of course if you are buying long term then youre odds of making a loss a further reduced as most houses do double in value approx every tens years (very rough rule of thumb!
TheOne said:
Barring semantics, gambling is a disease. I went to a Gamblers Anonymous meeting once with a friend of mine who owed the bookmaker five figures. Just like the prisoner who discovers his higher power in jail, the gamblers will seek help when they're stuck big time. I will note that the all of the participants in the GA meeting I attended in a church were male.
I'm not gambling-addicted, but I do recognize it when I see it. Recently in Vegas, I've never seen so many broke sad-sacks in my life, and it was because they were gambling-addicted. I couldn't imagine betting my last sawbuck on anything.
There used to be a Greek guy in my area who'd gamble every dime in his pocket. I don't know where he got all his money, but whenever he entered the pool room, he was loaded, and every pool player kept him within their eyesight, hoping to get a game with him. He'd roll the ball on the Keno board, play 9-ball with a spot, anything just to get in action. I saw him drop over at least 100 grand in a year's time. People would bet on the side with him, hoping to make a score. I used to think what's wrong with this guy. He seems to enjoy losing his money. What he did enjoy, poor fellow, was the adrenalin rush he received when he was engaged in games of stake. Show me somebody who likes to be a loser, and I'll show you a loser.
JAM
JAM said:
I totaly disagree with this sweeping generalisation, but I guess we'll have to agree to disagree!
I rarely gamble when I go to vegas, I play occassionally for my own money at pool, and I'be gambled online on two pool tournaments in my life - I don't play the lottery! I don't feel sick, and I don't even have a fever, if it's a disease then whats the cure? There's millions of people in the UK alone that play the lottery, and gamble on a few big horse races a year and I'm sure they don't feel ill either?!
I agree with cats that excessive gambling is extreemly bad, I don't agree with you that ALL gambling is a disease - as with everything its about moderation and self control, variety is the spice of life!
TheOne said:I totaly disagree with this sweeping generalisation, but I guess we'll have to agree to disagree!
I rarely gamble when I go to vegas, I play occassionally for my own money at pool, and I'be gambled online on two pool tournaments in my life - I don't play the lottery! I don't feel sick, and I don't even have a fever, if it's a disease then whats the cure? There's millions of people in the UK alone that play the lottery, and gamble on a few big horse races a year and I'm sure they don't feel ill either?!
I agree with cats that excessive gambling is extreemly bad, I don't agree with you that ALL gambling is a disease - as with everything its about moderation and self control, variety is the spice of life!
Well, if this ain't a semantics colloquy, I don't know what is.
I never said ALL gambling is a disease. I said gambling is a disease. This somehow seems kind of deja vu, who's on first, who's on second.
Some people can drink, and others can't. Are the ones who can't called alcoholics? Alcoholism is a disease. Are all drinkers diseased?
JAM
JAM said:Well, if this ain't a semantics colloquy, I don't know what is.
I never said ALL gambling is a disease. I said gambling is a disease. This somehow seems kind of deja vu, who's on first, who's on second.
Some people can drink, and others can't. Are the ones who can't called alcoholics? Alcoholism is a disease. Are all drinkers diseased?
JAM
I totally agree. When you are addicted to gambling, it really is a disease. I know a pool player that can't play a lick, he doesn't make much money at his work, but he gambles away every paycheck, all the time. He lost his wife and kids because of that. He gets in real bad games almost every time I see him. It's like he must lose, or he isn't fulfilled. To be honest, the guy is a real scumbag degenerate, but I do feel slightly sorry for him. He can't stop and he knows it, he's a lost cause.
JAM said:Well, if this ain't a semantics colloquy, I don't know what is.
I never said ALL gambling is a disease. I said gambling is a disease. This somehow seems kind of deja vu, who's on first, who's on second.
Some people can drink, and others can't. Are the ones who can't called alcoholics? Alcoholism is a disease. Are all drinkers diseased?
JAM
Nah its not quite as funny as the bun fight thread, that made my day!
You said "gambling is a disease" which I take offense too because I, like many people "gamble" and don't consider it a disease. But to follow your own logic you would have to say "drinking is a disease", and no I don't agree with that either.
I've stopped drinking heaps of times hehe
Quite Frankly
When anything controls 'you', rather than you controlling it, it is a disease of a nature, which includes many things, gambling, drinking, shopping, garage sales and estate sales, food, stock market, drugs, thrill seeking, working, constantly complaining about the government but never doing anything about it, etc..
The point of sobriety is the moment when you realize you are no longer in control, usually after a period of self-denial.
I think that the expression, 'All things in moderation' is a good one to keep in mind for a balanced life.
When anything controls 'you', rather than you controlling it, it is a disease of a nature, which includes many things, gambling, drinking, shopping, garage sales and estate sales, food, stock market, drugs, thrill seeking, working, constantly complaining about the government but never doing anything about it, etc..
The point of sobriety is the moment when you realize you are no longer in control, usually after a period of self-denial.
I think that the expression, 'All things in moderation' is a good one to keep in mind for a balanced life.
TheOne said:Nah its not quite as funny as the bun fight thread, that made my day!
You said "gambling is a disease" which I take offense too because I, like many people "gamble" and don't consider it a disease. But to follow your own logic you would have to say "drinking is a disease", and no I don't agree with that either.
I've stopped drinking heaps of times hehe
Well put, I was thinking the same thing, her logic didn't hold up and the generalization of "gambling is a disease" wouldn't make sense to anyone who gambles but doesn't have a "disease". I don't think it is a question of semantics more an illogical statement unless it is made more specific to cover those that are compulsive like "alcoholics". Something like "alcoholism is to drinking" as "__________ is to gambling".
Wayne
So, what's up with Jennifer Chen???
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I guess she's got two things to fall back on to pay off. Acting and ...