Pros and Cons Gambling

Simple question. The Pros of gambling are when you win money! The Cons of gambling are when you lose! That’s it in a nutshell.

The truth is that we are all wired differently. Some of us have an affinity for gambling and some of us don't. I won’t shame a man for either preference.

I liked to gamble since I was very young, playing Steely Boulders for keeps in the fifth and sixth grade. I gravitated to pitching pennies, then nickels, dimes and finally quarters. Then I discovered poker and gin rummy (thanks dad) and got into that by age 13 and kept at it all through high school. Always for money of course!

In fact I’ve continued playing poker all my life, either in cash games or tournaments. Pool didn’t arrive for me until age 18, when I went off the deep end, never to return. I only played someone if there was a bet involved for the next 15 years or so, when I had an epiphany and realized it was okay to have fun playing pool without a bet.

I’ve also gambled in business ventures, real estate investments and marriage. Guess what, life’s a gamble! Take it or leave it.
 
Last edited:
jay helfert said:
I’ve also gambled in business ventures, real estate investments and marriage. Guess what, life’s a gamble! Take it or leave it.
Click to expand...

Yeah, when the question comes up on the most I ever bet, $100,000 in seventies dollars and eight years of my life!

Oh yeah, about that marriage thing, cost me a quarter million and a good horse the first time I played, never played again!

Hu
 
ShootingArts said:
It doesn't give a ton of information because gamblers gamble when they get a chance. Since you mention Pete Rose, he placed a lot of losing bets. When I first got heavily involved in horses, owning a half-dozen or so, I noticed that some trainers and jockeys always plunged if they had the money to bet and overall were big time losers. Following their lead was foolish. All of their inside knowledge didn't mean squat.

One chuckle, an old trainer liked the way a shadow roll, that band of fluffy stuff across the nose of the horse, looked in photo's. While a horse might or might not need a shadow roll so one wasn't a guaranteed tell, not having one on was a dead giveaway that the trainer didn't expect any winner's circle pictures of the horse that day!(grin)

Hu
Click to expand...
I handled the stake money for the racetrack for a a few years (for me...it was STEAK money...lol). I could tell stories, as you obviously can. Racetrack denizens are characters second to none....with only pool room dwellers being their equal. I've told this story before, but I'll tell it again now cuz I need the laugh. I walked up to the bar at the track and wanted a coupla bux to bet an exacta or whatever. My buddy Gary was there betting pacers. I asked him to lend me a few bux....he said "hell, I can't lend you anthing...I'm so broke I gotta jack the dog off just to feed the cat!"......I don't think I ever did stop laughing over that one. That would have been around 2002. RIP Gary...he was the best of both worlds...horse player AND pool player.
 
Last edited:
ShootingArts said:
Brutal truth, I have never seen anyone in it for the gamble rather than for the game emerge winner long term. If they are a winner at pool they throw the money away somewhere else. Fats made a bunch playing pool but rumor has it he lost most of it at cards or other gambling.

Titanic Thompson was millions ahead between gambling at good odds and just plain cons. He died broke having given most of it to the ponies.

Having pool tournaments in casinos means most winners never leave town with their winnings. The craps table seems to be a particular weakness of pool players.

Action junkies are in it for the action. They would rather be in bad action than no action. The local guys bet with me on the tacit understanding that I would at least give them a chance at the money although most of them knew I had a "road player" game that was several notches higher.

One of the funnier things was when I played a tough road player and had to pull out all the stops to win. Afterwards the blood was still pumping when a local gambler put his money up. Still in full race mode I slashed through the first few games. He said "Hey, this is me you are playing now!"

Hu
Click to expand...
The people that should be at home or at work but get distracted on the way.
 
jay helfert said:
In fact I’ve continued playing poker all my life, either in cash games or tournaments. Pool didn’t arrive for me until age 18, when I went off the deep end, never to return. I only played someone if there was a bet involved for the next 15 years or so, when I had an epiphany and realized it was okay to have fun playing without a bet.
Click to expand...
It is also possible to have no fun playing while placing bets. Trust me on that one...lolololol
 
jay helfert said:
I’ve also gambled in business ventures, real estate investments and marriage. Guess what, life’s a gamble! Take it or leave it.
Click to expand...
I’d call that taking risk/chances to succeed.

To call marriage gambling is questionable. It’s fixed. You cannot win. We’re not suppose to win.
Life’s a gamble. I love it. I love being here. Somehow made it through the hiccups that came along. Luck and gambling go together … been lucky on this end
 
Last edited:
I saw Billie W. & Sam Bowie (yeah, the basketball player) play 9 ball for around 5k per rack after the race track once. Racetrack action was over for the day...but action was open for biz as always. I swear each game lasted an eternity....neither of them knew how to play a lick. It was hilarious listening to Billy yap around the table and equally hilarious watching Sam stoop over so low to shoot the shot...he made the table look like it was made for a lilliputian.

​

 
Back to gambling… Pros of losing. It cured me real fast real early. In the 60’s I was bringing home $42.50 a week. I’m playing a dollar a game and up $20. Guy leaves the room without paying. Happened again with a different person weeks later. Done. Never played for $$ again unless it was a friendly odd ball game with people I knew. The track bored the crap out of me. Cards are not my thing. Winning a few bucks did not thrill me. Losing was tossing money out.
I currently have a non employed card player in my family.. I want to bang his head against the wall. He does not get it.
 
Many moons ago, I was accused of being a "local pro" by a pool playing buddy of mine. That actually used to be my handle on this forum for a short while. The idea was, I was content with merely being the top dog in my home town and didn't have the balls to step out and mix it up with unknowns. This pre-dates rampant use of the internet to advertise everything and of course something like fargo.

I adopted gambling only for sake of testing myself and building some 'street cred'. It was never about having that won money for me.

I was hitting my prime when I opted to give it up and focus on family. Not saying I could have been pro or anything else delusional. Just that I was peaking when I stopped.

With the kiddos being older and being allowed to have some free time, I'm back at playing. However, I'm back to not bothering with the money games as well. These days we have fargo and the internet which allows me to sort out when a tourney I would like will be happening. My 'street cred' is now my fargo rate. If decide I need more cred. I simply jump on FB and see what events fit my schedule.

Tons of cash games if I want them. I'm not above them, but I don't need them. Frankly I think tourneys are a harder grind. Even if the money is shorter.

Does gambling hurt your game..? Depends on what game you want to be good at, and what kind of 'cred' you're after.
 
garczar said:
Does anyone drive? With today's cell-phone addicted morons behind the wheel you are taking a MASSIVE gamble EVERY time you start your car. Betting on pool ain't shit in comparison.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately distracted driving has always been a problem. One study found that eating while driving was just as dangerous as driving while drinking alcohol, for different reasons of course. One guy I worked with was famous for eating while driving. He was also reading a real book and watching TV. He seemed determined to see how much he could do while driving. Nobody that knew his habits stayed near him on the highway long!

Today, the cellphone is a major issue. It has been found to be no safer to talk hands free than to talk with a handheld unit. To make matters worse, some are texting while driving. However, few civilians are as distracted from driving as cops. My local cops are monitoring three video screens, operating a laptop, watching for violations, and driving. The cops themselves are the ultimate distracted drivers.

We need to go back to driving as a one task occupation instead of thinking we need to be entertained while driving. I know a handful of people who get on the phone as a part of their routine to start driving, as automatic as turning on the car. They don't live on the cellphone while at home, why do they think they can't drive without being on the phone?

Hu
 
at gambling at a particular game there are winners and losers. the losers always lose and the winners mostly win.

some of winners also blow their winnings at gambling on games they are losers at.

some dont. they are the smart ones. or ones that are not addicted to just being in action.

very few people that can win at a gambling game dont gamble at it.
 
maha said:
at gambling at a particular game there are winners and losers. the losers always lose and the winners mostly win.

some of winners also blow their winnings at gambling on games they are losers at.

some dont. they are the smart ones. or ones that are not addicted to just being in action.

very few people that can win at a gambling game dont gamble at it.
Click to expand...

Pool was a cash cow for me but I very seldom gambled at it. Betting money isn't always gambling. When there is a large difference in skill there is almost no spot that will change the outcome.

The better player always has much more in reserve compared to a weaker player. A banger is playing with basically no reserve while the "A" player to use an example, can keep reaching a little deeper. The spot may be modified during a session until it appears ridiculous and still the winner keeps on winning. Partially a difference in physical skills, more a difference in mental skills.

Hu
 
I never considered myself a gambler as I only played $5, $10, $20 per game and only played guys that worked. I played 6 red snooker for that money and was generous giving my regulars a handicap that they thought they could win with. It kept me in cigarettes, coffee, table time and pocket money. One thing I learned was to put up an issue ($) that your willing to lose if your having a bad day .
 
1. your % edge(chances) in any betting situation determines how much you will win or lose over time.

2. the higher the % determines how fast you will achieve that rate of return.

for instance a 5% edge on a 100 dollar bet is the exact same thing over time as a
50% edge on a ten dollar bet.

and a 10% edge on a 100 dollar bet is twice as good as a
50% edge on a ten dollar bet. meaning you will make money twice as much and fast.
 
Last edited:
A person who knows he's beat can't win, so why would he bet? Ego and intimidation are key components which I observed growing up. Being unable to accept the public shame of admitting defeat, player after player went off for thousands and thousands. And, still being unable to admit defeat, went off for more. As an uninitiated teen, I asked myself, "Why don't he quit -- he can't win". Around here, we described this phenomenon as "having someone gut-hooked" or "being gut-hooked" (I suppose owing to our familiarity with fishing and the predicament of the fish in such a circumstance). I later learned that it is referred to elsewhere as "having one's nose opened". Whatever it is called, it is not a pretty sight, sometimes even from the winner's point of view -- we are all human. This is why I find casino gambling to be so attractive -- taking off a corporation is so much cleaner than a married father of three. Adjusting the spot can have several purposes: among persons seeking a fair contest -- to even the game, among others -- assuaging guilt or keeping the mark at the table. It is all a very complicated situation when examined.

Whatever the dynamics, gambling is something I grew up with and I truly enjoy despite all of its warts. Folks joke about Catholics and Bingo, but we had no limit craps tables at our church bazaars -- with coke crates available for us shorter bettors. So what chance did I have? Little or none. Survival in such an environment requires either abstinence or discipline. I chose the latter, and it has stood me in good stead, Without discipline, I have watched many descend to despair.

So what did I tell my kids? Pick your spots carefully. You are looking for an anomaly, and when you find one, exploit it and get out. Never try to play your way out of a losing streak.
 
Last edited:
L.S. Dennis said:
Gambling is and always will be a part of pool, in part that's what makes pool more interesting to the average person. One only has to look at the success of the movie The Hustler to illustrate that. So many of the great stories and folklore relating to pool has to do with gambling in some way or another. As mentioned in some of the above posts gambling in other major sports is also pervasive but nobody seems to criticize that too much. Add to all this is that pool is tailor made for betting and matching up with all the different ways to make spots on games.
Click to expand...
From good ole Wikipedia: "Robert Rossen said: "My protagonist, Fast Eddie, wants to become a great pool player, but the film is really about the obstacles he encounters in attempting to fulfill himself as a human being. He attains self-awareness only after a terrible personal tragedy which he has caused — and then he wins his pool game."[20] Roger Ebert concurs with this assessment, citing The Hustler as "one of the few American movies in which the hero wins by surrendering, by accepting reality instead of his dreams".[14]"

Great movie, not really about gambling per se, at least in my opinion, but nevertheless about those who gamble.

For the record, I like keeping personal tragedies limited to fiction, but they do bleed into reality, now don't they?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top