Gambling Kills - Top 5 Reasons Why A Gambler Will Lose
 

#1: Winning Today Does Not Mean You Will Win Tomorrow

I have many friends who would brag about winning thousands of dollars yesterday when they visited a casino over the weekened, but what you rarely hear is them telling you that they have lost tens of thousands of dollars over the years.

The truth is, it does not matter if you win today unless this was your last day gambling. In life, you win some and you lose some. If the former is true, the latter will bite you in the butt sooner than you expect. All it takes is 1 losing streak and your bank account could be hurt badly.

“It's hard to walk away from a winning streak, even harder to leave the table when you're on a losing one.”
- Cara Bertoia, Author of Cruise Quarters (a novel about casinos and cruise ships)


#2: You Gamble With A Cost But Not The Casino

When you change your money into cash chips, you are literally telling the casino that I will now fight you with my blood, sweat and tears in return for an unknown sum of money. You have worked hard over the years for this sum of cash and you are about to go wage a war with someone with unlimited ammunition that is meant to destory your financial life - is this not a lose-lose situation?

A player could be on the table for hours, fighting with his life and health by consuming free alcohol and breathing in 2nd hand smoke from someone else's cigarettes. Slowly, the player will subconsciously grow weary, but due to the adrenaline rushing like an uncontrollable burst water pipe within him, the player could hardly feel that his body requires rest and might make very irrational decisions costing him his entire bankroll.

"By gaming, we lose both our time and treasure - two things most precious to the life of man."
- Owen Feltham, English essay writer (1602-1668)


#3: Humans Are Not Perfect

Many professionals started out gambling professionally because they believe that they are able to outsmart the casino. Unfortunately, they have failed to see that they are merely human and as a human being, they are not perfect.

Quoted from a professional gambler friend:

"In the midst of my gambling career, I was also going through a roller coaster ride with my family and girlfriend. I allowed emotions to take over my mind. During a very bad breakup with my ex-girlfriend, I was taking revenge on the Baccarat table. What started out as a simple S$200 bet became a S$2000 bet and eventually S$20,000 per hand. I lost S$90,000 in 2 hours. This was the beginning of my downfall."

A professional gambler cannot have people around him, he must lead a very individualist life. You cannot show compassion to a friend, you cannot entertain someone while at the tables and you cannot be hit so hard emotionally that you start to do stupid things while fighting with the casino. Many thought that they were strong enough to carry the perfect formula into the battlefield, but because of their imperfection, they died.

"In gambling the many must lose in order that the few may win."
- George Bernard Shaw, co-founder of the London School of Economics


#4: Distractions

The casino is designed to kill. Look at their beautiful majestic interior. Billions of dollars were spent to make sure you are consumed in totality by their beauty, it was meant to hypnotize you so that you will willingly empty your wallets or even better, your bank accounts to them. The Marina Bay Sands integrated resort cost US$4.7 billion, the world's most expensive building - where do you think they are going to get their money back from?

Alcohol. You are entitled to free alcohol if you are considered a mid-range roller in the casino. If you have obtained VIP status, you are entitled to a variety of alcohol for your consumption pleasure. Why would the casino be so kind towards you?

According to the USA National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcholism, alcohol messes with our brain's communication pathways causing it to work out of the norm. Our mood and behaviour would be disrupted, affecting the way we think and make decisions. These inhibitions could also produce an illusionary effect of bravery - "Let's kill the casino, I'm all in!" and then in a moment's time, you are all dead.

Sex. "Why don't we make enough money tonight to have some fun? After all, we have fought so hard at the tables - it is time we pamper ourselves after the massive amount of stress, life is short! Let us try for another S$1,500 so that we could have a big blast later tonight!". This extra S$1,500 would often cost gamblers their profits and capital.

In addition, entertainment at night places would most definitely cost you a bomb. A simple mid-end night session in a Macau nightclub could cost you S$2,000 for a mere 4-hour session, this is not including the tips you would like to pay your hostess(es) for them to spend the night with you.

Patrons. Some players are carry the "smarter-than-god" attitude, they teach you what to do and where to place your bets. If you do not follow their call and if they happen to be right, you'll get a lashing from them - "see I told you so, you should have listened to me!" You start to get really annoyed and increase your bets to win everything back to prove your intelligence and sooth your ego - this situation often gets you from the frying pan into hell fire.

I know of friends who were mesmerised by the "pretty girl effect" - straight from my friend's mouth, he said: "I remember once I was playing BlackJack and my calls were causing the whole table to take a beating, including this gorgeous girl who was sitting beside me, she died a terrible death, I soon tried to be the hero and got myself into an S$8,000 trouble. On other occasions, I did not want to lose in front of another pretty girl - bets then became irrational and soon enough, me, being the girl-pleaser ended up in a lot of pain."

Member Points. I call this the casino pointing you to your death. So many people try to fight for a complimentary night's stay at the hotel - the points system is designed to keep you playing at the tables, the longer you stay the higher the chance for you to lose it all. We want that free air ticket, accommodation, dinner, concert tickets and that nice little gold plated souvenir, but in return for all those things, you could lose a house and even your entire life.

Remember, the casino is designed in a way to obliterate your financial health - in the casino, there are no windows and there are no clocks for a reason, because they have got no mercy. This reminds me of a song - Hotel California: "you can check out anytime you like but you can never leave."

"Casinos and prostitutes have the same thing in common; they are both trying to screw you out of your money and send you home with a smile on you face."
- VP Pappy, Las Vegas professional Poker player


#5: Unfair Advantage

In a game of Baccarat, the chances for you to win on the Banker position is 45.86%, chances for you to win on the Player position is 44.62%, chances for you to win a tie and pair bet is 9.51% and 7.47% respectively. This means that the casino has got a 55.38% chance of slaughtering your bets every time you wager something.

In a game of Roulette, the chances for you to win on a number straight up is 2.63%, in a game of BlackJack using an automatic random shuffler machine, your chances to win is only 45.72% and in a game of Jackpot, your chances of striking the ultimate Jackpot is astronomical (statistics are from http://wizardofodds.com/).

Singaporeans are legally offered 2 games even before the casinos were in place, they are 4D and ToTo. The odds for you to win are 23 in 10,000 and 1 in 13,983,816 respectively. But you still get long queues especially during the Lunar New Year period. We need to open our eyes to see that what we are doing is far from taking a calculated risk, it is more like taking a calculated suicide.

In an interview, Warren Buffet said: "On my honeymoon I traveled out west. When I visited the casino and saw all these smart well-dressed people participating in a game with the odds against them, it was then that I realized I won't have a problem getting rich!"

Buffet also said: "These weren't dumb people -- they had money to blow in Las Vegas, after all -- but they weren't playing to win. They were playing games of chance where they were almost guaranteed to lose."

I have seen many people losing their lives from gambling. Some people tried to make it big all these years, but in return, they became the ultimate loser with bank loans, moneylenders' loans, personal loans from friends and other gambling debts. Don't walk in these footsteps, you'll experience a lot of pain, tears and thoughts of suicide. The joy obtained from gambling is short-lived but the negative effects are there to stay for the long term.

My wish is for you to read this write-up and then make a decision to walk away. Do not approach the banks or moneylenders any further to fuel your gambling problem - you will get yourself into deeper trouble, I can guarantee you that.


You need to make a conscious decision and quit from your heart. Stop, right now.


Yours truly,
Notary

Re: Gambling Kills - Top 5 Reasons Why A Gambler Will Lose
 

Good extracts for sharing.

Re: Gambling Kills - Top 5 Reasons Why A Gambler Will Lose
 

Nice Thread! :)

Sad to say, pple only learn when they are at rock bottom..

Re: Gambling Kills - Top 5 Reasons Why A Gambler Will Lose
 

Indeed, it is a sad fact of life.
People need to pay tuition fees before they learn - some pay more, some pay lesser and some pay with their lives.


:(

Re: Gambling Kills - Top 5 Reasons Why A Gambler Will Lose
 

Thanks for the commendation, honourable forum section sponsor :p


With pleasure,
Notary

Re: Gambling Kills - Top 5 Reasons Why A Gambler Will Lose
 

Ddog agree, though a very small player nowadays. And RWS+MBS further distort by bending logic, example banker X 15 straight wins, or 6 banker, 2 house, 4banker then suddenly 20 house etc catching everyone off guard. Happened constantly or roulette even if bet 32/36squares you can lose 2-3 rounds straight. Would say machines are programmed to houses' benefit in some ways distort logic so whoever think can bear the house would lose. It's a software!
Else billion dollar casino would close down. Think of it...

Re: Gambling Kills - Top 5 Reasons Why A Gambler Will Lose
 

Nice one bro.

Able to write one on commercial sex? Intend to quit or at least tone down my unhealthy obsession in this line.

Cheers~

Re: Gambling Kills - Top 5 Reasons Why A Gambler Will Lose
 

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Re: Gambling Kills - Top 5 Reasons Why A Gambler Will Lose
 

I know you are going to hate it when I say part of my income comes from soccer matches. :) And I am not a bookie at all. So really maybe you should ask him if he is making or losing. If he is making then aren't you standing in his way of fortune? :)

Btw, TS, I made a lot from the casinos but I know I am the RARE one!

But the reason I am still around to talk about it is because when I made it, I quit. I did not carry on. The stories I can tell my children etc are worth more than the money I made so that is why I quit while I was ahead. :)

Re: Gambling Kills - Top 5 Reasons Why A Gambler Will Lose
 

I would beg to differ.

Here is one thing I will share with you guys and you go home and sit down and think about it. Software games in actual fact distort reality. We can always do a reset or have another life. Thus when a lot of us play computer games etc, we begin to have a mindset that we can beat the house because of our past experience with computer games etc. Think about it.

Now having said that, apply it to the casino. If you have been to a casino, and you are up 10k, you find yourself unable to leave the casino, it is always another last hand. I am sure that if you gamble you always have that mentality. But the minute you lose a bet, you want to gain it back and more. Isn't that true?

That is when the trouble begins really. Because of our past experiences, you now begin to think you can win this game. But the odds are stacked against you! The house is never afraid of you winning money as long as you don't leave. They will take it back from you sooner or later.

To win money from a casino is the following, if you are a gambler.

When you make money, drop everything and walk out of the casino. The minute you are out of the casino, you are a winner. If you are still in the casino, you are NOT a winner, the chances are you will lose it back. Take your money and spend it elsewhere. You will be happier for sure. :)

I will share personally, I have made more than a 6 digit sum before in the casinos; and I walked right out of the door after my session and never looked back. In fact, I now don't gamble simply because I want to be able to tell people I won over a million and kept it and that story is more priceless than anything else.

So really guys, if you win, walk away

Re: Gambling Kills - Top 5 Reasons Why A Gambler Will Lose
 

"In gambling, the many must lose in order that the few may win" is a personal tagline of mine and I quite surprise you quoted it. :)

I would put myself in the class of a semi professional gambler. And highly doubt that your friend is a professional gambler. Professional gamblers don't gamble at all. Most professional gambles have an edge. But when I mean edge, I do not mean cheating.

Eg, you can count cards and give yourself a slight edge; that is an edge though it does not mean you are cheating, it means you have slightly made the odds in your favor instead of betting dumbly. This is especially useful when u are in older casinos that do not use those automated cards shufflers.

For Barccarat, count counting is especially useful when u are counting down the to the end of the cards, especially if the house does not use a black card to signify the last card. You should then in fact take advantage of possibilities of possible combinations and place your stakes accordingly.

Poker players also have an edge especially if they have AA right and then only bet the pot; that is a professional gambler. And I am sure your friend is no where close to that.

Cheers.

Re: Gambling Kills - Top 5 Reasons Why A Gambler Will Lose
 

I don't have any issues with member points per say. I don't think majority of people are after points anyway. I gamble for fun not for points. :)

Pretty gal effect. I don't think it has affected me much at all. I normally am too engrossed to notice women in casinos when I play. It is after I win and walk out then I start to notice women then. :)

Re: Gambling Kills - Top 5 Reasons Why A Gambler Will Lose
 

Yes, gambling in casino 99% is death. But, in sport game, you still can make some if you have lobang. Some of the match is fixed, you can bet it and run away, 80 to 90% win, i had make over 2m over 5 years, but donate half to casino....lol...

Re: Gambling Kills - Top 5 Reasons Why A Gambler Will Lose
 

if i was you.... i rather take 2M to invest on the stock market to keep on growing. ;)

Re: Gambling Kills - Top 5 Reasons Why A Gambler Will Lose
 

Sounds like he is enjoying his job, don't you agree? In SG, we may NOT have a culture of sports betting etc, but in the UK, you do have legal bookies and basically it sounds like he is scalping the matches don't you agree?

But here is something since you are so headstrong about him gambling. You said he is glued to the monitor thus he is using online and with the internet ban, guess you can use that to threaten him to submission. You have the desired results you want then.