Comment by digler999 | Hacker News Reader

Comment by digler999 | Hacker News Reader

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> For the House to win and be profitable, the average person has to lose on average.

and if people always lost, vegas would collapse because people would stop going.

You could make the argument that any other expensive hobby is also throwing away money:

* boating: buy a brand new boat for $65k, sell it 8 years later for $35k, plus $5k in total operating costs/insurance. You just "lost" 35k (not counting interest)

* rock climbing: buy $3k of gear and travel, $2k on lessons. Fall and break your arm for $6k, $11k "lost" for a couple years of entertainment.

* "travel", spend $6-10k on hotel, airfare, meals, in 2 weeks, all we have left to show for it is "memories". Great "investment".

(disclaimer: I'm not actually against the things I just mentioned. Only pointing out that they are "throwing away money" just like a weekend in vegas). Unless you're some hyper-disciplined monk who only uses money for humble necessities, you, too are throwing away money just like people do in a casino.

I think the difference in perspective here is that many people see gambling explicitly as a way to make money—not something they would do for fun, but something they would do because they need money, like a job.

These people are mostly wrong (save for the games of skill, e.g. poker, that are only played in casinos for traditional reasons.)

However, both your examples gave you "years" of entertainment while travel/vegas is very shortlived for a similar amount of money

Who are you to tell people how to spend on entertainment? Some people want to spend money on rock climbing, and others want to spend money on gambling. As long as neither leads to financial ruin, who are any of us to judge? I don't work hard so other people can tell me how I should and shouldn't have fun.

The state already tells you how to have 'fun'. What's the difference between being addicted to slot machines and being addicted to -your favorite drug- ? As long as it doesn't lead to financial ruin, it should be fine?

Well, yes, as long as your drug addiction doesn't hurt anyone else, I'm personally fine with that. I wish the state would stay out of it.

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