People Watching in a Casino: Sad
By: Keith
We’re in Las Vegas today. We’re staying at the Stratosphere (it’s only 30 bucks per night). As everybody knows, checking in to a Las Vegas hotel necessitates first walking through the hotel casino. Last night, as the boys and I wove our way through the slot machines on the casino floor, Neil asked me “what are those people doing?” I said, “Good question, boy. Let’s check-in and then I’ll show you.” So we got our room key and then started making our way back through the casino to the premier elevators (they really want to make you feel special). I took a minute to show Neil exactly “what those people were doing.”
“They’re wasting money is what they’re doing. Every time they pull the lever on that machine, it costs them between a quarter and a few bucks. If you ever hear a dinging sound then that means they’ve won something.”
“Oh, so you put money in and they give you money back?”
“Sort of, but they always give you back less than what you put in.”
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“Yes, I know. Thanks for noticing.”
But, the worst part about watching people in a casino isn’t really that they’re wasting money. I waste money all the time on stuff I shouldn’t buy or activities that are pointless. The worst thing about gambling is what it does to you as a person if you do it too much. Neil and I didn’t talk about it, but I saw how sad those people looked. They were just sitting, bored and drawn, staring a spinning fruit with the sad expectation of the machine making them feel better “just one of these spins.” Do you want to deter your children from gambling? Sit with them in a Casino and people watch for a while. That should do it.
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games for adults. It never made any sense to me either.
I’ve seen that before and I totally agree. I can’t stand the places.
Good post.
You didn’t mention the free drinks!!!!
Hehe
I’m not a gambler myself, but I enjoy the casino every once in a while. My thing is, it would be so much more fun if I could actually afford to lose money. I can’t afford to lose any money at all, so taking the chance at losing anything is terrifying to me. I feel really sorry for those that are addicted to it.
Two things are certain in Vegas:
1. You will eventually, always, lose. That city wasn’t built on winners.
2. No matter how ‘big’ you think you are, there is somebody there that’s even bigger.
When people bet the value of my truck on the turn of a card, well, I know that I’m not in the right place.
Vegas is lost on me.
Casinos can be among the saddest places you’ll ever visit, but I have to admit that occasionally I enjoy Vegas. It is like Disneyland for adults.
What are you doing in Vegas? Convention. We are headed there in January for the Affiliate Summit. Last time we were in LVS, I saw grandmas up at 6 am smoking and pulling those levers. They have some serious determination.
I am not a casino man either. I just like my money too much. People watching may deter them for a while put at an older age everyone has to ward off the siren call of “free alcohol” and the liquid courage/optimism that comes with it.
I cannot for the life of me get into gambling. You gotta play big to win big and I don’t have anything big to play with.
People are waiting for that next big payout….. it’s too bad it’ll cost them hundreds of dollars or more.
I avoid casinos, there are much better places to donate my money.