Comment by corytheboyd | Hacker News Reader

Comment by corytheboyd | Hacker News Reader

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This does not sound like a real gambling addiction, it sounds like a group of friends who enjoy the occasional small thrill and doing something together. Losing a few hundred dollars every now and then is fine, even if you personally find it morally unacceptable. A gambling problem is taking your entire paycheck to the casino, taking out a loan, selling a car… Borrowing $40 is so far from being problematic, sounds like a group of people who trusts each other to occasionally borrow and pay each other back, and for things other than gambling too. And seriously, all this over $40?

I don’t really get skiing, it’s a very expensive and dangerous activity to me, yet to others it’s a whole lifestyle. Fine by me, put knives on your feet and fall down a hill. Life is short, find your dumb thrills, it’s fine.

You don’t need to gamble yourself, that’s not the point, just maybe understand that you’re talking shit about “friends” behind their backs? Kind of a dick move where I am from.

Yes, skiing and gambling are very similar, that's why there are all those hotlines you can call for help quitting skiing

The parent poster isn't claiming that skiing and gambling are "very similar" in general, just that in the particular example given where they only loosing a few hundred bucks is pretty close to a mildly expensive hobby, like skiing.

Thrill seeking can be an addiction, but whether its bad is debatable. I have that tendency myself.

I see what you're saying, but I never referred to it as an "addiction", which I agree it isn't. It does seem to be becoming a compulsion among them though. I think there may have been a miscommunication here, because I also never referred to it as a "gambling problem". This is just me sharing an anecdote.

> Losing a few hundred dollars every now and then is fine

Agreed. I think everyone has that freedom to do so. I'm just commenting on the gambling trend I see in my peer group. That said, a few hundred dollars means different things to different people, and without diving in, these friends should not be losing a few hundred dollars every month.

> just maybe understand that you’re talking shit about “friends” behind their backs? Kind of a dick move where I am from.

I feel like there's some hostility in this comment. I'm sharing an anecdote anonymously on an online forum in a relevant thread. I don't have these conversations with our mutuals.

people are eager to look for some sort of leading indicator that there's a gambling problem before you get to the 'taking out a second mortgage' level of desperation.

however, if we ever came up with such an indicator the gambling companies would be quick to campbells-law it to death so people would ignore it

Man, this post sucks. I’m sorry for making the internet worse.

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