A question for all gamblers. .. . .

I’m definitely behind because of course when I started, I didn’t know what I was doing.

Ive got a buddy who only picks winners and losers (moneyline) even if the payouts are miniscule...he swears hes up every year...I can't do that seems too boring to me to bet $100 to win $13. But there's no gambler thats ever up over long term, otherwise there wouldnt be gambling & casinos.

Behind. The 5% juice assured that over time, it's the point. But I'm way ahead so far this year, although each week gets tougher. Beginning of the season is always the easiest because of ridiculous expectations for some teams. But I don't do it for a living, I do it for entertainment. If it wasn't fun I wouldn't do it win or lose. But like anything else (like golf) it's even more enjoyable when you win.

Anyone who has gambled more than 6 months who says they're ahead is probably lying. Rule #1 of the house is to keep gamblers at the casino for as long as possible. Just see gambling for what it is - a way to make games more interesting. It's been worth it for me, as I'll end a season up a thousand dollars, but then I'll lose a thousand over the course of the next season. I only bet on the spread, which is a good way to keep yourself from having a really bad week if you spread money out on five different games.

thOMpson said:

Ive got a buddy who only picks winners and losers (moneyline) even if the payouts are miniscule...he swears hes up every year...I can't do that seems too boring to me to bet $100 to win $13. But there's no gambler thats ever up over long term, otherwise there wouldnt be gambling & casinos.

I do that a lot, but I parlay several moneyline games together to get a pay out. Won a 4 team last week that paid 180 on a 100 bet. Had to hit all of them, but any loss would have been a really big upset. Biggest risk was Navy and it came close. The other 3 were Georgia, Michigan, and Clemson, none of them were close.

spiritchuck said:

If you had to add up all your winnings and subtract all your losses over your lifetime of betting, do you think you would be ahead or behind? If ahead, ahead a lot? If behind, behind a lot? Or close to break even? The only gambling I have ever done is poker at casinos and I believe I am pretty far behind if I am being honest with myself. Of course, my desire to play makes me believe I am close to even. How about you? Honestly. . . . .

I'm ahead but not by much. I bet small $$ and it's just for fun. I do a lot better lately because i quit betting the NFL. I was terrible at that...

ApalachRebel said:

I'm ahead but not by much. I bet small $$ and it's just for fun. I do a lot better lately because i quit betting the NFL. I was terrible at that...

Home dogs are a lock in the nfl

Played one slot machine once. Put in a dollar, won five. Never played again. :)

spiritchuck said:

If you had to add up all your winnings and subtract all your losses over your lifetime of betting, do you think you would be ahead or behind? If ahead, ahead a lot? If behind, behind a lot? Or close to break even? The only gambling I have ever done is poker at casinos and I believe I am pretty far behind if I am being honest with myself. Of course, my desire to play makes me believe I am close to even. How about you? Honestly. . . . .

Worked for a bookie several decades ago as a part-time gig while going thru college. He probably had 200 players at the time. They would all have hot streaks where they won a lot of money - but over about a 2 year window I'm not sure a single one of them came out ahead. Gambling is addictive. It took me years to figure that out and quit - and thankfully I was still pretty young when that happened. Anyone who keeps honest records of wins and losses will quit too- or try to anyway.

Casinos don’t build themselves….the juice is real

TracerRound said:

Played one slot machine once. Put in a dollar, won five. Never played again. :)

Sounds like me. Had a Christmas’s party at an Evansville IN casino 10 years ago. On the way out dropped $20 in a $5 slot machine and hit $600 on first pull. Cashed out and left.

spiritchuck said:

If you had to add up all your winnings and subtract all your losses over your lifetime of betting, do you think you would be ahead or behind? If ahead, ahead a lot? If behind, behind a lot? Or close to break even? The only gambling I have ever done is poker at casinos and I believe I am pretty far behind if I am being honest with myself. Of course, my desire to play makes me believe I am close to even. How about you? Honestly. . . . .

I do not gamble, but I do believe that it is interesting to look at gambling outcomes. The evidence would suggest (and by evidence I mean looking at the magnificent appearance of those Vegas casinos) that ultimately gamblers in general lose money over time. I would like to also compare the idea of gamblers, all of whom believe that they have the magic touch, to that of active money managers and their stock market performance. So, hear me out, Morning star published a report that stated that only 33% of active fund managers that trade equities in the stock market have out performed the basic Index Funds. So, 66% of the "Experts" that spend their entire career trying to win at stock trading fails to outperform the most basic of stock market strategies. So, here is my thought. If stock market experts fail at attempting to think through stock picking strategies, then do gamblers error by overthinking their attempts to pick betting winners? Would they do better by taking a simply approach such as only picking the betting favorites regardless of the teams?

The consensus is that professional sports bettors are on average 5% more successful than the average person betting football. For context, that 5% success means winning 1 additional single bet out of 20 games than someone who blindly picks winners by flipping a coin. Factoring in the juice, recreational bettors should not reasonably expect to win over a long sample size. You can have good days, weeks, years, etc. but in the long run the odds are against you. Always set a bankroll limit and stop betting if it's not serving you in any meaningful way.

spiritchuck said:

If you had to add up all your winnings and subtract all your losses over your lifetime of betting, do you think you would be ahead or behind? If ahead, ahead a lot? If behind, behind a lot? Or close to break even? The only gambling I have ever done is poker at casinos and I believe I am pretty far behind if I am being honest with myself. Of course, my desire to play makes me believe I am close to even. How about you? Honestly. . . . .

I always picked my spots carefully. Never was a big spender, always calculated in my approach. Hit a big 12-leg parlay in 2019 because Joe Brady decided he wanted to go for two versus Texas because "analytics". Then, hit big on Rory McIlroy running down Scottie Scheffler in the Tour Championship – grabbing him at +800 odds. Other than those two big ones, I was always careful with small risk, high reward bets. Because of those two big wins and being a frugal gambler, I'd say I am ahead as of today. Add in the fact we had a banner year last season on "Hit That Line", and it's a comfortable lead now

Why I just stick with the ol penny slots. A little won, a little lost.

My Dad told me many years ago, when I first visited Tunica when I was at Ole Miss, don't ever start gambling. His quote that I can always remember "Do you think Vegas can keep all those beautiful shining and flashing lights on all the time by losing money?" For some reason that always resonated with me. And yes, I had already lost my shirt when he told me that, so I would be in the negative column.

chrisfromroosters said:

Anyone who has gambled more than 6 months who says they're ahead is probably lying. Rule #1 of the house is to keep gamblers at the casino for as long as possible. Just see gambling for what it is - a way to make games more interesting. It's been worth it for me, as I'll end a season up a thousand dollars, but then I'll lose a thousand over the course of the next season. I only bet on the spread, which is a good way to keep yourself from having a really bad week if you spread money out on five different games.

You bring up an interesting point about gambling by saying, "It makes the games more interesting." I wonder if much of the NFL success over the past couple of decades is due to the fact that the NFL embraced and promoted sports betting for so long? How many people watch NFL games not because they are a fan of the teams, but because they have money riding on the outcome?

Draft Kings app will track this for you. I have bet $31, 541 overall and received $31,218 for a net loss of $322 over many years. For me, the fun and excitement is worth the $322 but obviously would like to see a positive number. Betting on MLB kills me and NFL has been way more unpredictable this year, so far. For example, Bills losing, Chiefs losing, it's getting harder to predict IMO.

Ptolemy1 said:

I do not gamble, but I do believe that it is interesting to look at gambling outcomes. The evidence would suggest (and by evidence I mean looking at the magnificent appearance of those Vegas casinos) that ultimately gamblers in general lose money over time. I would like to also compare the idea of gamblers, all of whom believe that they have the magic touch, to that of active money managers and their stock market performance. So, hear me out, Morning star published a report that stated that only 33% of active fund managers that trade equities in the stock market have out performed the basic Index Funds. So, 66% of the "Experts" that spend their entire career trying to win at stock trading fails to outperform the most basic of stock market strategies. So, here is my thought. If stock market experts fail at attempting to think through stock picking strategies, then do gamblers error by overthinking their attempts to pick betting winners? Would they do better by taking a simply approach such as only picking the betting favorites regardless of the teams?

OleReb94 said:

Draft Kings app will track this for you. I have bet $31, 541 overall and received $31,218 for a net loss of $322 over many years. For me, the fun and excitement is worth the $322 but obviously would like to see a positive number. Betting on MLB kills me and NFL has been way more unpredictable this year, so far. For example, Bills losing, Chiefs losing, it's getting harder to predict IMO.

Wow. You have bet that much and are only $322 down? Hell, I'd gamble too if I thought I could do that well. Seriously. Like you say, the fun and excitement is worth the $322 over a period of years. $300 is about what I lose when I sit down at a poker table.

I treat it like the lottery, which of course puts me in the hole--albeit a small one. I never understand people risking $100 just to get a $130 payout; the risk vs reward doesnt click with me. However, I do like to throw $1-5 into big parlays for payouts of like $20k. I havent won anything significant yet, but the $1-5 is worth it for the adrenaline rush when I come close. I did, however, turn $.25 into $750 on one parlay once.

I'm a. couple hundred dollars behind.

Those high risers in Vegas weren’t built on winners if that answers your question ! 😜

Ptolemy1 said:

You bring up an interesting point about gambling by saying, "It makes the games more interesting." I wonder if much of the NFL success over the past couple of decades is due to the fact that the NFL embraced and promoted sports betting for so long? How many people watch NFL games not because they are a fan of the teams, but because they have money riding on the outcome?

The NFL would be dead as a doornail if it wasn't for gambling and fantasy. It's the only thing keeping it so successful and they know it.

Bogeygolf said:

Those high risers in Vegas weren’t built on winners if that answers your question ! 😜

Speaking of Vegas. They are in big trouble right now. It's not what it used to be. It's a dirty Disneyworld now.