It’s Melbourne Cup day today, probably the biggest day of the year for bookmakers. Will any of you be having a flutter?
In fact, does anyone here gamble at all? I remember a while back the South Australian government ran a terrible bus advertisement trying to link gambling to video games. That was a bad time.
But an interesting twist: more and more bookmakers see eSports as a growth area for their business and a way to get younger people gambling.
Anyway — are there any gamblers here? What do you gamble on?
For many, gambling is a popular pastime, but it can be hard to know if your gambling is getting out of control. If you feel like you need someone to talk to, you can call Lifeline on 13 11 14.
Image: Vince Caligiuri / Stringer
Comments
66 responses to “Off Topic: Do You Gamble?”
I gave up gambling a couple of years ago – Innocent enough but i started just betting on sports I wasnt really keen on watching just to get a bigger multi going! lol – mostly fruitless!
The only gambling I do is buying the odd lotto ticket, I’m terribad at horse betting or dog betting or fight betting or even betting on politics. But I can bet that one day I may or may not win the lotto
Put a sneaky 50 on Trip to Paris.
Dropped $20 on the rapid roulette a few times and a bit of change (~$5) in the pokies many years ago. Nothing for a long time though.
Nope. Mum’s best mate’s husband was a gambler. Pulled in a better wage than I do now, 20 years ago & they lived in a tiny one bedroom apartment. Nice guy, but fuck that.
My parents also had friends where the husband was a gambler. Started off as a light tab session on a Friday night then ended up putting his entire pay check into those stupid machines and lost everything including his family. The only gambling I do is with blood shards and kadala in diablo 3!
Yeah, his lifestyle choice impacted me a lot. I won’t even gamble in games unless I really have to.
I’ve tried it virtually & irl, but I don’t like it.
only a maxi pick on powerball and oz lotto when above 10mil
Yeap this sums me up as well.
The only other thing would be in the office sweeps today.
edit – Speaking of which *goes and gets a lotto for tonights 25 million*
I don’t mind going to the races once a year, something like Derby Day and I’ll give myself $200 or so to bet with. Apart from that, I don’t usually bother with gambling.
My mates all seem to be mad over Craps whenever we end up at a Casino. I don’t see the appeal.
First time I played the pokies when I turned 18 I put $1 in the machine, won $20, then lost $20.
I learned my lesson. That was the first and only time. 17 years ago.
Are we the same person???
Could be, you handsome devil!
ON my 18th birthday i went to the pub and put a single $20 note into a pokie machine. it took all my money in under 5 minutes. I said “well that sucked” and i haven’t gambled with money since.
My version of gambling is spending $25 on Marvel Puzzle Quest in the hopes of getting a 4 or 5 star character from their random character draws.
That and video roulette, like an old lady….
What is video roulette?
its like regular roulette but everyone has their own little touchscreen to put bets and theres a bad CGI roulette on another screen in the center where the number gets spun.
One time I made TEN dollars…. Usually i lose like…20-50…lol
Nope. Lotto, scratchies, pokies, horses are all rubbish to me. I dislike the lack of agency.
There are two things that guide my gambling habits:
1) Don’t gamble money you can’t afford to lose.
2) Don’t gamble on something you don’t control the outcome of in some way.
This basically translates to: Don’t gamble.
It’s working out alright so far.
You’ll just have to start match fixing.
Basically.
First time I went to Crown casino, about 10 years ago, I set myself a limit of $50. Lost that at blackjack over the course of a few hours. Went back the next night, set myself a limit of $50. Won $250 on blackjack.
I now have a lifetime net profit of $200 from casinos, which would have to be a rare situation. I have no intention of ever spending a dollar more – even when I just spent 3 days in Vegas.
Oh, there was also the time I put $50 into some sports betting account because they gave me a free jersey (which is worth $150+). As far I was concerned, that was a purchase, not a gamble!
I don’t gamble, but I also moved to Australia from Canada, and gambling is much more taboo over there, one of those dirty little things people don’t like to talk about along with drugs and sex. I think it’s bizarre that Victoria now has a public holiday for what is essentially a gambling event but it’s not my place to judge, I have a pretty neutral opinion of gambling.
I don’t do any animal sports for reasons. I’ll put the occasional multi bet on English footie maybe twice a year and about the same for the pokies. The lotto gets a ticket usually on a rollover. It’s interesting how people (me included) won’t ‘gamble’ but will play the lotto even though the odds for winning on the lotto are almost always higher than anything else. I try to get to the casino once a year or so if I’ve saved up some spare cash. Some people say that even that’s too much but then I see those same people going out every weekend getting wasted and being hungover the next day but that’s seemingly a better way to spend money rather then the occasional flutter
Do your reasons for not betting on animal sports relate to ethical treatment of animals, out of curiosity? Horse racing in particular has always been a pretty brutal industry for animal treatment and it got a lot of public attention last year with two Melbourne Cup horses having to be put down, yet everyone seems to have forgotten about it this year.
Exactly that. It’s about as far from glamorous as you can get but people are willing to overlook that in order to dress up to be seen and have (more than) a few drinks. I don’t agree with any sort of selective animal breeding (just look at how certain dogs have evolved over the centuries because of breeding and the health problems they now have) nor the treatment of the animals pre, during and post race, but when it’s all in the name of sport and money for the horse owners, the whole thing is abhorrent imo
I don’t even buy lotto tickets, scratchies or play pokies.
I think I went in the office sweep a few years back for the Melbourne Cup. I did go to Vegas with work in the late 90s, I took $60 into the casino, lost $40 and spent the rest on drinks and munchies, it was fun watching other people bet, though terrifying how much some were betting.
I bet my kids a buck sometimes over inane things, but that is about it.
So, pretty much that would be a no. I’ve got very little disposable income, and there is always something more compelling to spend money on.
Nope not at all.
I hate gambling and never do it. I feel sorry for people who are compulsive gamblers, how do they avoid it when there are so many betting agencies targeting them? I think the whole industry is a disgrace.
I agree completely however I was talking to father in law who is a sub branch treasurer for one of the local RSLs here in Newcastle and over 60% of their total profits come from pokies. I asked what would happen if the pokies were gone, simply said they and just about every RSL club in Australia would shut down. And when you look at what RSL clubs do for local communities and sporting clubs with sponsorships etc it would really impact everyone.
I still say get rid of pokies but it just won’t work.
It’s sad that that’s the case. I love having dinners at RSL’s, but the noise of those pokies drives me insane! I remember years ago when pokies were banned in Victoria, we used to go away once a year across the border so my parents and their friends could have a go at the pokies. We’d have dinner at the RSL then they’d head off for a ‘quick 20’. They enjoyed the experience, but never went crazy. Now, pokies are everywhere and so are the zombies. Some people still enjoy popping a few dollars through, which, as boring as I find it, doesn’t concern me at all, but some people are in a trance and stare all night long.
They wouldn’t have to shut down, but they would need to scale back.
The community argument doesn’t really work, if you destroy a community by making money from problem gamblers, and then sink a small amount of those profits back into community projects, it doesn’t really work out a positive.
Like a cigarrette company putting a small amount of its profits into cancer treatment programs, doesn’t really offset the damage caused.
Nah.
Put my first ever bet down for the All Blacks to beat South Africa in the RWC semis the other week. Wanted to give it a try but it isn’t really my thing.
Sometimes when we have cup day BBQ’s we might throw 50c in a pot each race and everyone gets a horse/number.
Occasional multi’s on NBA games but that was a couple seasons back when I broke even on my wins and losses. Haven’t touched it since
The odd lotto ticket and (VERY rarely) maybe 20 bucks on a footy match. That’s it.
Too much of a tightarse to gamble. I’d rather actually get something for my money.
Closest I’ve come would be buying cheap games to use on trade deals back in the day 😛
The odd lotto ticket when the prizes are a good size, other then that I’ve dropped $30 into the pokies and lost it all, so I stopped.
When it comes to the horses, it’s been just the family gathering $1/$2 random name out of a hat thing… And one time where Mum’s workmates placed a couple of $5 bets using picks I made (not my money, and I was underage at the time) and those won, I got half, which I spent on junk food lol.
I use to have the odd punt, but ever since all those betting ads have come on, and are trying to hard to become part of sports culture in games like NRL I decided never to place a bet again. I don’t know how sports can support it even if money is being thrown at them, as Helen Lovejoy once said, “won’t someone please think of the children”.
Yeah this really worries me for when I have kids.
Watching the NRL it disgusts me at the amount of gambling advertising they have.
I really don’t want my kids to be raised to think that is normal.
The only solution I can think of is not having them watch it at all.
Unless they can set a parental control lock that blocks out ads like that.
Texas hold’em with mates, blackjack at the casino if there are enough people on the table that know what they’re doing. Horses at the pub when having Sunday lunch and drinks with friends.
$2 office sweeps… such a risk-taker.
I only really started to gamble about 12months ago I’ve got to the stage in my life where im doing ok enough moneywise I can handle to part with a bit of money that way (tightarse) and im talking small as amounts as in $4 in a pokie if im down the pub having a drink. also went to my first casino about 6 months ago.
I have splashed out and thrown a $10 bet on the cup race today one on a favourite and one on wildcard that is paying heaps.
No way! Betting on animals is awful. Melbourne Cup is just for cashed up commoners and big lunch businessmen.
Yeah, I have a punt on the lotto every week, have a set of three games that cost me just under $3.00. Same numbers every week because my brain decided it works better that way, haven’t won much but hey, someone has to win it.
Does unlocking a crate in CS:GO count as gambling?
Probably. I’ve been hooked on TF2 crates since I unlocked an unusual hat early on (between hour 500-800 ingame). Now at hour 3800 without another lucky crate. A little voice says every crate helps put money towards HL3 and VR…
No thanks. Mum does, in that harmless, middle-aged white lady kinda way. It always seemed so hollow and pointless to me.
Would rather make my own success.
No, with the only exception of an entry in the office sweep on Melbourne cup day.
The only gamble I take is whether to go to the bathroom before the next Dota match or try and hold it in…
I might buy a lotto ticket if it’s a big one, but usually only a minimum pick. And Iike $1-2 scratches. And raffle tickets for things like school fundraisers. But that’s it.
Got your ticket for the $25m tonight?
That would require me going to the shops. Maybe the 50m Powerball on Thursday
I switched to buying online, because my laziness knows no bounds
Placed 1 whole dollar on the sweep at work!
They had a $2 and $5 one too but that’s a bit rich for my blood. It’s the only gambling I do all year.
I’ll be the rare one that says yes I do. I have a monthly budget that i never exceed. Winnings do not roll over into next month’s budget and if the budget doesn’t last the month i cut my loses and wait for the next month to start. I plan ahead, do my research and always place my bets before i start drinking. I was lucky that my father taught me well but i fully understand the problems that gambling brings when not controlled.
I don’t gamble at all, unless you count preordering the occasional video game. With one exception they’ve all paid off or at least broken even so far though!
Closest thing is when a mate hosts poker nights. Maybe 2 times per year. $10 buy in and you can only rebuy once, so max $20. Max 30 people as well, multiple tables on a timer to get down to the final table.
Why yes…yes I do enjoy a punt every now and again….or more regularly if the time is right,
Got the Panthers -7 against Colts, have Spurs/GSW/OKC/Bucks multi on the NBA today and have Preferment to win the Cup.
I punt a bit.
Yeah, I gamble more regularly than most it seems. I like going to the casino every few months, and have been known to drop $20 on the pokies while at the pub.
I play poker at pubs occasionally, and might spend up to $30-40ish on buy in / rebuy / add-on… but that’s for a full evening of doing something I enjoy. If I went to the movies, that’d cost around the same, and that only lasts 2 hours.
At the end of the day, if you enjoy it and don’t waste too much money, I don’t see the harm. I don’t believe in animal-based gambling (let’s see how many horses they put down today…), but if no one is harmed and you might come away with a win, what’s the harm?
Weird double posts ftw
I don’t gamble, apart from things like the occasional fund raiser raffle tickets.
I once did some work for someone who bet on the horses as his day job. and it looked like a lot of work. From memory, it involved downloading all of the race results and compiling them into a database, and then running them through a model he designed to predict future outcomes. He’d then search for places where the bookies’ odds differed from his own and place bets where the difference was in his favour.
This didn’t guarantee wins, but over a large enough number of bets you’d expect it to produce positive income if your model was better than that of the bookies.
Lotto when there’s one worth it. Other than that, i’ve played the pokies once, walked away with more than I started with, so that was nice I guess. But not that into it.
I gambled on the PC version of Arkham Knight and I lost. 🙂
Don’t bet at all now.
I used to go to the Caulfield Cup and spend around $100 as “part of the day out” every year though. Then I started work for an online bookmaker a few years back and saw how much people lose and how pointless it all was.
I open the occasional crate in TF2, although with money made from selling trading cards, not from my own pocket.
I also have a Gwent problem that I can’t get under control.
Oh, in real life? Nope. I like my money in my pocket.
The only gambling I ever do is the occasional charity raffle, when I know the money is going to a good cause. I figure that’s not gambling, it’s a donation.
Otherwise, nada. (It’s surprising how many people think this is strange.)
Once I was ina pub with some friends and one of them suggested I have a go at the pokies. I told him no, I don’t waste my money on gambling, so he gave me a dollar specifically to put in the machine.
I did that, won something (can’t remember what) and told him to keep the money.
People in general, for some reason, fail to make the connection that casinos and lotteries make lots of money with the fact that the money has to come from somewhere, and that somewhere has to be people losing when gambling.
The only exception AFAIK is Blackjack, and taking rational measures to win at blackjack (i.e. card counting) is treated as grounds for ejection from the casino.