Gambling is so large a subject that one has to despise it in chunks. I’ll probably tackle poker and casinos later, but for now its ‘Gambling in General’.
What’s wrong with gambling? I’ll tell you what, the people who run ‘gambling’ are all morally bankrupt and the people who gamble are all cretins.
What’s that you say, you want me to be more specific? OK, I’ll do my best.
Lets deal with the ’stoopidity’ bit first.
Whether it is down to stupidity or just the result of a general lack of education, gambling is stupid.
Even if you have an excuse for ’starting’ (eg. I never went to school), it’s impossible to have an acceptable excuse for continued gambling.
Its just a matter of statistics.
Lets take the least biased of the casino ‘games’ as an example, ‘roulette’. Look at the roulette wheel - see those little holes that the ball can land in? see those numbers? They start at zero and go all the way up to 36. That is 37 numbers, one of which you cannot bet on and which causes all bets to go to the house. That means the wheel is biased in their favour. If you bet on ‘red’, for example, there are 18 ways you can win and 19 ways you can lose.
If you based your pension investment on these odds, everyone would think you were mad, right?
Obvious, then, gamblers are stupid.
Oh, I hear someone at the back saying ‘its an addiction’, its not their fault. Yeah, yeah, it’s an addiction. One based on stupidity. I never met an gambling addict yet that didn’t also make a load of other bad life decisions. Stupid wig, ‘dick extension’ car he can’t afford, beta max video etc.
So, what about those nice people who run gambling?
Well, we will leave the Mormons for another rant - they are far too nice a target to waste with an aside. That leaves just the ‘normal’ morally bankrupt. In short, even the least offensive of them are using statistics to take money from idiots and fools. They have analysts and statisticians who specialise in making sure that they don’t miss an opportunity to separate the fool from his wealth. Whilst technically legal, its not much better morally than the heroin pushers who sell cheap or give free samples in order to start the addict on the path to addiction.
Scum of the earth.
Yeah but its not the winning its the taking part what gives the bigest thrill, and dont call me a cretin…DAD
Right then, where do you draw the line.
If I propose a game where we roll a dice and every time it comes up 6, I give you £5 - any other number and you give me £5. That fun? Is the ‘taking part’ fun?
I suspect not.
Its only fun when you are able to fool yourself into thinking it is either ‘fair’, ‘in your favour’ or down to your skill and judgement.
But it ain’t, and it never will be.
So where does that leave you ….SON
err it leaves me potless DAD
can I have my pocket momey early this week
no - get back up the chimney and earn it.