Happy holiday to our friend and ally that has worked with us in the effort to make the world a better place for all people. We are most appreciative to have Australia and New Zealand as friends with a shared history.
How endemic is gambling in your culture ?
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Originally Posted By: HosteenJorje
Happy holiday to our friend and ally that has worked with us in the effort to make the world a better place for all people. We are most appreciative to have Australia and New Zealand as friends with a shared history.
Dittos on this. Anzac Day is not well known in the States and it should be. To all our Australia and New Zealand friends, have a great holiday.
Happy holiday to our friend and ally that has worked with us in the effort to make the world a better place for all people. We are most appreciative to have Australia and New Zealand as friends with a shared history.
Dittos on this. Anzac Day is not well known in the States and it should be. To all our Australia and New Zealand friends, have a great holiday.
Not a gambler. Losing means more to me than winning. It used to bug the bejasus out of me to pay for gas and get held up by folks getting lottery tickets. Drinking and smoking are my vices. Sadly, legalized gambling is getting more pervasive in MA.
In California the combination is gambling, smoking, alcohol and Indian casinos. If you're talking young people you can add corn sugar. No more comment is needed.
Hereabouts the "Lotto" came in with the promise that "profits would go to education". ROFLMAO. It all went into the "general fund" to be bleeped away buying votes.
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Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack
In California the combination is gambling, smoking, alcohol and Indian casinos. If you're talking young people you can add corn sugar. No more comment is needed.
Did it spread FROM New Mexico or TO New Mexico?
In California the combination is gambling, smoking, alcohol and Indian casinos. If you're talking young people you can add corn sugar. No more comment is needed.
Did it spread FROM New Mexico or TO New Mexico?
I sold my "farm" in an adjacent state to a Tribe, who built a giant resort / casino on it.
I still drive by it all the time when I am in that state, but I've never stopped, not even to buy gas. One of these days I'll stop, and go in and take a look at it.
I still drive by it all the time when I am in that state, but I've never stopped, not even to buy gas. One of these days I'll stop, and go in and take a look at it.
Originally Posted By: Bud
I will spend a dollar when the Powerball gets up to around 400 million. That's about it.
Me too. Since I don't watch the news or even listen to the radio, and I pay at the pump, I'm ignorant as to the Powerball level almost always. Last ticket I bought was when it was like $600M, like 5 years ago. And last time was 5 before that. I did play regularly, when I was 18, but not for very long. I think that was mostly for the novelty of "acting like an adult" and doing what I saw in the people I looked up to. I didn't play for long before I empirically proved to myself that it was a losing endeavor.
Love dreaming about it, but I know my odds don't change if I buy a ticket. Statistically speaking, that is.
I will spend a dollar when the Powerball gets up to around 400 million. That's about it.
Me too. Since I don't watch the news or even listen to the radio, and I pay at the pump, I'm ignorant as to the Powerball level almost always. Last ticket I bought was when it was like $600M, like 5 years ago. And last time was 5 before that. I did play regularly, when I was 18, but not for very long. I think that was mostly for the novelty of "acting like an adult" and doing what I saw in the people I looked up to. I didn't play for long before I empirically proved to myself that it was a losing endeavor.
Love dreaming about it, but I know my odds don't change if I buy a ticket. Statistically speaking, that is.
A long, long time ago a 40 year old career donut maker won a 100 million dollars in the lottery. At a presentation one of the lotto officials asked if he thought the money would make a big difference in his life. The donut maker said he did not think so because he certainly would not quit his job because he need the needed the income to pay his rent. That day would indeed be the start of an adventure for the donut maker on his way to bankruptcy.
Some more musings.
Bethlehem, PA, north of us in Pennsylvania. A long-time steel town. During WWII it obviously produced volumes of steel for the war effort. I suspect the equipment wore out and never got properly upgraded, when I was a young man it saw it's last and the steel mills closed down. Bethlehem PA fell on hard times. They opened a casino on the mill property, I was there once. Not much of a place, a large open hall where you can gamble your money away.
Two thing struck me. The sign for the casino was a re-purposed gantry crane from the steel mill. I wondered how the designer of the crane, a crane meant for steel and heavy production, would feel about his work being used to hold up a cheesy casino sign. The other thing was the furnaces themselves, they were in the background, at night lit with red light, but cold, non-functioning, just vestiges of a proud past.
It all made me rather sad.
Bethlehem, PA, north of us in Pennsylvania. A long-time steel town. During WWII it obviously produced volumes of steel for the war effort. I suspect the equipment wore out and never got properly upgraded, when I was a young man it saw it's last and the steel mills closed down. Bethlehem PA fell on hard times. They opened a casino on the mill property, I was there once. Not much of a place, a large open hall where you can gamble your money away.
Two thing struck me. The sign for the casino was a re-purposed gantry crane from the steel mill. I wondered how the designer of the crane, a crane meant for steel and heavy production, would feel about his work being used to hold up a cheesy casino sign. The other thing was the furnaces themselves, they were in the background, at night lit with red light, but cold, non-functioning, just vestiges of a proud past.
It all made me rather sad.
I don't have any figures, but gambling is "somewhat" regulated here. All casinos must be government owned or licensed to a First Nation. Lotteries are ubiquitous, with provincial licensing, too. Technically, if you're even selling raffle tickets at a charity event, you're supposed to have a lottery license, so a return is done to ensure that the charitable purpose is met. Of course, it's not a big deal to get the license.
I saw on TV once a woman had a won $50,000 scratch off ticket, she squandered her money buying more scratch off tickets hoping to get a few more big winning tickets. They showed paper bags from supermarket filled with non winning tickets.
We've had similar stories (and worse) in this part of the country too, with people winning millions and the squandering it on more gambling.
I grew up in North Carolina. I turned 18 right around the time the state established a lottery with profits going to education, so my friends and I would buy cheaper tickets for the novelty of it, but the novelty wore off quick and nobody I knew won more than maybe $10 or $20. I don't think I bought a ticket after 2007 or so, and probably only bought 4 or 5 total. When I lived in Charlotte, there were internet gambling places that operated via some loophole, and were sometimes robbed. They only operated for a short time before the state closed the loophole and shut them down.
Now I live in Alabama, which has a strange relationship with gambling. There is still no state lottery here, but plenty of nearby gambling and loophole gambling, and a lot of people are into it. Lots of people here play Georgia lotteries, there is Wind Creek Wetumpka (Poarch Band of Creek Indians casino resort), and we have a seedy dog racing track here in Birmingham that has betting on telecast horse and dog races, and live dog races. It was originally a horse track in the 1980s and 90s, but when that didn't pan out, they went to dogs. It's a strange place. I've never been inside, but have heard enough about it. Some of my relatives here used to go to the riverboat casinos in Louisiana and Mississippi along the Mississippi River. Not so much now, but it used to be a regular vacation thing for them. As much as people in this state love to gamble, the state still won't operate a lottery that might at least benefit schools or something. Instead they'd rather have loopholes for weird stuff like the dog track. Get drunk and bet on dogs? No problem. Buy a state lottery ticket with profits going to schools? NOPE, IMMORAL. Granted, I wouldn't participate in a state lottery beyond maybe a couple of tickets, but if the dog track is allowed, why not a lottery that might at least benefit the state in some way? One thing I remember about the NC state lottery too is that there was lots of access to help for gambling addiction. I bet the dog track doesn't offer resources for gambling addiction...just more beer and telecast dog races until you run out of money.
Though I don't gamble much myself, I'm not opposed to people doing it, I just hate when government takes a hypocritical stance on it or allows stupid loopholes when there's a better way to do it.
Now I live in Alabama, which has a strange relationship with gambling. There is still no state lottery here, but plenty of nearby gambling and loophole gambling, and a lot of people are into it. Lots of people here play Georgia lotteries, there is Wind Creek Wetumpka (Poarch Band of Creek Indians casino resort), and we have a seedy dog racing track here in Birmingham that has betting on telecast horse and dog races, and live dog races. It was originally a horse track in the 1980s and 90s, but when that didn't pan out, they went to dogs. It's a strange place. I've never been inside, but have heard enough about it. Some of my relatives here used to go to the riverboat casinos in Louisiana and Mississippi along the Mississippi River. Not so much now, but it used to be a regular vacation thing for them. As much as people in this state love to gamble, the state still won't operate a lottery that might at least benefit schools or something. Instead they'd rather have loopholes for weird stuff like the dog track. Get drunk and bet on dogs? No problem. Buy a state lottery ticket with profits going to schools? NOPE, IMMORAL. Granted, I wouldn't participate in a state lottery beyond maybe a couple of tickets, but if the dog track is allowed, why not a lottery that might at least benefit the state in some way? One thing I remember about the NC state lottery too is that there was lots of access to help for gambling addiction. I bet the dog track doesn't offer resources for gambling addiction...just more beer and telecast dog races until you run out of money.
Though I don't gamble much myself, I'm not opposed to people doing it, I just hate when government takes a hypocritical stance on it or allows stupid loopholes when there's a better way to do it.
Originally Posted By: PimTac
Originally Posted By: HosteenJorje
Happy holiday to our friend and ally that has worked with us in the effort to make the world a better place for all people. We are most appreciative to have Australia and New Zealand as friends with a shared history.
Dittos on this. Anzac Day is not well known in the States and it should be. To all our Australia and New Zealand friends, have a great holiday.
Thank you HosteenJorje
Thank you PimTac
It's good to be among friends.
Originally Posted By: HosteenJorje
Happy holiday to our friend and ally that has worked with us in the effort to make the world a better place for all people. We are most appreciative to have Australia and New Zealand as friends with a shared history.
Dittos on this. Anzac Day is not well known in the States and it should be. To all our Australia and New Zealand friends, have a great holiday.
Thank you HosteenJorje
Thank you PimTac
It's good to be among friends.
Originally Posted By: supton
As much as I think the lottery is a tax on the poor (especially scratch-offs!) I have to wonder if it's "good enough" to keep the masses from going to illicit gambling places where they are yet more unlikely to win and to wind up arrears. I mean, when booze was illegal people still pursued it. At least under the guise of a sin tax it is kept free of wood alcohol and shady middlemen.
Honestly...the mafia's numbers racket probably had better odds than most state lotteries!
As much as I think the lottery is a tax on the poor (especially scratch-offs!) I have to wonder if it's "good enough" to keep the masses from going to illicit gambling places where they are yet more unlikely to win and to wind up arrears. I mean, when booze was illegal people still pursued it. At least under the guise of a sin tax it is kept free of wood alcohol and shady middlemen.
Honestly...the mafia's numbers racket probably had better odds than most state lotteries!
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Gambling is an ages old tradition. Here, gambling is a way for Indian tribes to make money, and more recently, for states to make revenue.
Not recent...state lotteries have been around for more than 50 years!
Most people I know don't gamble. My father in law does, though I hesitate to truly call it gambling, since I don't think he has lost money in years. (Never play poker with my father in law.)
Gambling is an ages old tradition. Here, gambling is a way for Indian tribes to make money, and more recently, for states to make revenue.
Not recent...state lotteries have been around for more than 50 years!
Most people I know don't gamble. My father in law does, though I hesitate to truly call it gambling, since I don't think he has lost money in years. (Never play poker with my father in law.)
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