You're ADULTS!

[Muses_nightmare]

I was on one of the higher limit tables the other day and second or third hand in one guy takes an extra couple seconds to place his bet, and another guy at the table, the anchor, snaps at him saying something like "are you going to place your bet anytime soon? The dealer is going to deal you out if you don't!"
Now if the guy had been taking too long I would have just said he could decide his bet for the next hand and I'd deal the current one out, but he paused for a couple extra seconds, nothing major, and it would have been very rude to not let him finish.

So the other guy gets his back up about the guy and tells him to stop being an asshole about it. The anchor guy then calls him a "fuckwad" and they start in on eachother one saying the other is drunk and so fourth. My supervisor steps in and tells them that he'll have to close the table if they keep it up, so they shut up and the game continues.

The anchor says something about how what happened was that he was explaining the rules and that the other guy started swearing at him because he was drunk. Which was not what happened, not even close.

A few minutes later the anchor is talking to one of the other supes, she didn't realize that they had been arguing, so when he's telling her that the servers should really limit people's alcohol and stop serving them when they're drunk, she's like oh they do, it's really well monitored, but sometimes people slip by and get extra drinks ( Btw at our casino you can only have a drink about every 45 minutes), the other guy then pipes in that the anchor is talking about him, and the supe (sweet lady, but almost the definition of a ditz) says "oh no of course he's not!", it was completely obvious that was the case, even if you hadn't seen them fighting, the anchor kept looking over at the other guy while he was giving his little spiel about drunks.

I felt bad for the other guy because he asked me after " do I look at all drunk to you?" I said no, because honestly, he didn't and I'd only seen him have ONE beer, and he wasn't even finishing that very quickly. But really the way they were snapping at one another it was like schoolchildren, I mean really, what adult sits there are talks vague crap about a person sitting 4 feet from them?

[gerund]

I was on one of the higher limit tables the other day ...
it was like schoolchildren, I mean really, what adult sits there are talks vague crap about a person sitting 4 feet from them?

From my mis-spent past when I was a gambler in local casinos frequently, I have seen losing gamblers do quite strange things. They are addicted to gambling, yet they know if they keep giving all their money away they are going to be in lots of trouble with their partner, their company or their bank.

They take out their losses on the nearest target, that might be the dealer, the floor manager, the casino or another gambler.

I have seen a drunk being carried out by security screaming at the top of his voice "You've stolen all me money" (sic).

I have seen a gambler who thought it was unlucky to let the dealer touch his bet before the hand was dealt. So the dealer would heel his stack of chips and the gambler would straighten them, and the dealer would heel the bet again. It ended with the gambler screaming at the dealer "Don't touch my bet!" and the dealer saying "It has to be like that. I can't deal the cards until it is counted and stacked, and I have to do it and then you can't touch the bet after that. If you touch it I have to do it again." We all had to wait while the floor manager told the gambler to put up with it or get off the table.

I've seen the gambler who started losing and would scowl at the dealer and then slam the next bet on the table from about 2 feet up. Then 3 feet, 4 feet, then as high as he could reach. Then he would throw a heavy wooden chair and stomp out of the casino, only to return a few hours later and start again. He was next to me and he started the slamming of chips again and I told him to stop. He said to me that he had not won for two days.

I said "Stop playing then. If you can't win and you can't afford the losses, then stop playing." He looked at me like I was the crazy one. He didn't last much longer after that. I didn't know it, but the casino was preparing the exclusion order that day, and he was gone forever that night.

Crazy, crazy. I saw an old man who played poker. He pushed the rules every way he could and one night went too far. I told him he was cheating doing that and afterward he got up in my face, screaming that he wasn't cheating. His face was all purple and all the veins in his neck were sticking out. I have never seen anyone do that before.

Sorry for the hijack.

[Muses_nightmare]

This is why I don't gamble, and will never understand the people that come in and spend thousands, I mean the guys I was dealing to were playing $500 a hand sometimes, I get that it can be an addiction though, but it's hard for me to wrap my head around some people's behaviour.

At the casino I work at patrons are not supposed to be totally drunk, we don't want them to lose all their money and come back at us for letting them do it because they were drunk. They aren't even supposed to be allowed into the casino if they are stumbling drunk before they enter. Though, these guys weren't drunk.

[MadMike]

I never really saw the appeal of gambling either. I did a little bit of it on the cruise ship, and it was kind of cool when I'd win a little something, but as numerous people pointed out before, the odds are always in the house's favor, and you're most likely going to lose more than you win.

I pissed away about $30, not counting what I won and put back in the machines, and said "The hell with this!" I know a lot of people get addicted, but I just never saw the appeal.

[gerund]

This is why I don't gamble, and will never understand the people that come in and spend thousands, I mean the guys I was dealing to were playing $500 a hand sometimes, I get that it can be an addiction though, but it's hard for me to wrap my head around some people's behaviour.

You don't have an addictive personality. The ones who are really addicted will do anything (*anything*) to get more money and continue gambling. They lie, cheat, steal, beg or whatever to get more money. While they are losing the slightest thing will set them off at someone.

When they are winning you can not upset them. You can say anything to a winner and they just laugh.

A dealer made a comment to me about the ones that drink and smoke when they were about to bring in new rules about smoking. He said that it was like they had to indulge every addiction at once. They could not bear to spend a moment without a drink or smoke or gambling.

The ones I knew could not wait while the dealer shuffled the cards on their table, and they would leap up the instant he was about to shuffle and start back betting on the next table, then when he was finished they would rush back so they would not miss a hand. If you got in their way, you would be trampled.

[Muses_nightmare]

A dealer made a comment to me about the ones that drink and smoke when they were about to bring in new rules about smoking. He said that it was like they had to indulge every addiction at once. They could not bear to spend a moment without a drink or smoke or gambling.

Yeah, here in BC our smoking laws only allow for people to smoke outside, at least 3 meters away from entrances. I had one guy with a smoke in his hand ask me for a light, he had just been mentioning being from another town in BC, so I looked at him like he had two heads and said " you know, you're not allowed to smoke inside, you'll have to go out to the patio to do that." :P

The ones I knew could not wait while the dealer shuffled the cards on their table, and they would leap up the instant he was about to shuffle and start back betting on the next table, then when he was finished they would rush back so they would not miss a hand. If you got in their way, you would be trampled.

We use automatic shufflers where I work, and you aren't allowed to back bet. Though I know several regulars who move from table to table. It only bothers me when they decide to take their huge stack of $5 chips to another table when I'm running out, and won't change them up even if they are asked to, it's just rude.

[Gurndigarn]

I never really saw the appeal of gambling either. I did a little bit of it on the cruise ship, and it was kind of cool when I'd win a little something, but as numerous people pointed out before, the odds are always in the house's favor, and you're most likely going to lose more than you win.

I pissed away about $30, not counting what I won and put back in the machines, and said "The hell with this!" I know a lot of people get addicted, but I just never saw the appeal.

For me, it was getting a royal flush, taking three (IIRC) people for as much as I could, and then thinking "That's it?" And going back to games that emphasize skill over patience.

[gerund]

Sucky Customers

The ultimate thing about gambling is that any dealer will ultimately get their revenge on all the customers (suck or not).

The thing I like about playing poker is that I can take lots of money from the other sucky players all the time. I like the way they moan and bitch when I take their money - it makes me feel warm inside.

Anybody who works in customer service should have a look around a casino and watch the addicts loose their money and bitch about the service and the dealers and the other customers and the rules and the price of food and how they can't get comped when they only bet $5.

They could have better service, better drinks, nicer staff - everything they want if they would just stop gambling for a few minutes and go to a real restaurant for a meal. But no, they have a compulsion.


Me - looking down a row of slot machines full of people - "They give pigeons food rewards for pecking at coloured dots."

[atomicthumbs]

I have seen a drunk being carried out by security screaming at the top of his voice "You've stolen all me money" (sic).

Yarr. That casino be stealin' me hard-earned booty!

[hecubus]

[Flanders] One betting disk please. [/Flanders]

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

The only gambling I do is slot machines. Penny or nickel ones. In Las Vegas.

I don't look at it as moneymaking thing. I look at it as entertainment. If I make a little money, it's a bonus. The eating and the shopping and the people-watching are the bigger attractions for me in Vegas.

It keeps me from blowing all my money and having nothing to show for it.

[Kheldarson]

I think the appeal depends on the setting. At least for me. Best time gambling ever: weekly poker night at summer camp. $2 ante...small bets, but was still fun. I didn't win much, but the guys came out occasionally with $20 extra.

[Muses_nightmare]

I don't look at it as moneymaking thing. I look at it as entertainment

.

That's the best way to look at it, because that's what it is. While some people can in fact make money, it's by no means a way to earn a living. I'd really like to go to Vegas some time, haha, and now that I know the basics of Blackjack I really want to try a few hands as a player.

[gerund]

That's the best way to look at it, because that's what it is. While some people can in fact make money, it's by no means a way to earn a living. I'd really like to go to Vegas some time, haha, and now that I know the basics of Blackjack I really want to try a few hands as a player.

I tried card counting. Here in Australia the casinos have (mostly) 6 deck or 8 deck shoes and deal about 70% of them. The true players odds under the rules we have is about -2% to -3%, which means that even with card counting it's a hard way to make an easy living. Just playing basic strategy, which is all you would be doing if you only know the basics of it, you will drop about $10 an hour on a $5 min table if you only play min bets.

If you have to play on a $25 table your average loss will be $50 an hour. That is average. The variation on that can be huge. It can vary by thousands. I have lost $3000 in about 4 hours playing min bets on a $25 table and won back that $3000 and another $2000 on top in one good shoe in about 15 minutes. If that one good shoe does not come, or you miss it because someone gets drunk and spills their drink on the cards, then you leave your $3000 in the casino, and that can happen every night for a week.

Given that sort of variation in your bankroll, and the mental instability that comes from those extreme wins and losses, do you wonder why the gamblers in your original post were acting like children?

[Muses_nightmare]

I tried card counting. Here in Australia the casinos have (mostly) 6 deck or 8 deck shoes and deal about 70% of them. The true players odds under the rules we have is about -2% to -3%, which means that even with card counting it's a hard way to make an easy living. Just playing basic strategy, which is all you would be doing if you only know the basics of it, you will drop about $10 an hour on a $5 min table if you only play min bets.

If you have to play on a $25 table your average loss will be $50 an hour. That is average. The variation on that can be huge. It can vary by thousands. I have lost $3000 in about 4 hours playing min bets on a $25 table and won back that $3000 and another $2000 on top in one good shoe in about 15 minutes. If that one good shoe does not come, or you miss it because someone gets drunk and spills their drink on the cards, then you leave your $3000 in the casino, and that can happen every night for a week.

Given that sort of variation in your bankroll, and the mental instability that comes from those extreme wins and losses, do you wonder why the gamblers in your original post were acting like children?

We use automatic shufflers, so they're continuously shuffling, so not all the cards are ever used. The automatic shufflers make it pretty difficult to count cards, I'd be surprised if someone did to be honest.

They didn't have to play on the $25 table, they chose to, and they were playing way more than the minimum bet. Not to mention, not that this never happens, but generally people aren't allowed to be drunk in the casino I work at, if they are showing signs of being completely intoxicated they are told to leave for the night. I get the impression that other casinos don't watch this at all.

I know why they were acting like children, it still doesn't excuse it. There is a simple solution to their problem, and they know it.

Really I'm just commenting on something I saw at work, there's no need for a big explaination of things I already understand. I appreciate what you're trying to do, but I do understand the basics of these things, while I don't gamble, I know people who do.