Predatory gambling, an interview

[ZeeBabar]

Just because the odds are against them and they still go to the casino does not mean the poor go there for entertainment just like the poor purchase lottery tickets in greater proportion. The poor go as a desperately attempt that they might get lucky and get to the life they had dreamed about. It's not entertainment, it's desperation.

The poor and the elderly see the casino as the only means left to get to their dreams and the casino exploits it by everything they do including putting up pictures of slot winners and such.

Then there are the young that are conned into believing they can mAke career out of the casino. Some of you have done it but it's like a pro baseball players encouraging the young to believe they can and should pursue a baseball career, the odds are even less.

It's praying on the unrealistic dreams of the young or the desperation of the poor and elderly.

[BoSox]

Just because the odds are against them and they still go to the casino does not mean the poor go there for entertainment just like the poor purchase lottery tickets in greater proportion. The poor go as a desperately attempt that they might get lucky and get to the life they had dreamed about. It's not entertainment, it's desperation.

The poor and the elderly see the casino as the only means left to get to their dreams and the casino exploits it by everything they do including putting up pictures of slot winners and such.

Then there are the young that are conned into believing they can mAke career out of the casino. Some of you have done it but it's like a pro baseball players encouraging the young to believe they can and should pursue a baseball career, the odds are even less.

It's praying on the unrealistic dreams of the young or the desperation of the poor and elderly.

At least the government running the lottery systems are not nearly as bad as the casinos, as they are only recouping large percentages of moneys which is necessary too help pay for next months dispersed free play. The casinos on the other hand are the slime of the earth.

[21forme]

At least the government running the lottery systems are not nearly as bad as the casinos,

IMO, the gov't is worse. Typical lottery return is in the 50% range.

[BoSox]

IMO, the gov't is worse. Typical lottery return is in the 50% range.

The government pays for the ammunition to play.

[Three]

At least the government running the lottery systems are not nearly as bad as the casinos, as they are only recouping large percentages of moneys which is necessary too help pay for next months dispersed free play. The casinos on the other hand are the slime of the earth.

The government pays for the ammunition to play.

I don't understand what you mean here. Perhaps you are being cryptic about an occasional advantage lottery drawing in rare places. It is like slot machines that have to keep a certain pay schedule which creates a limited period of advantage spins where getting a big payoff becomes more likely.

[BoSox]

I don't understand what you mean here. Perhaps you are being cryptic about an occasional advantage lottery drawing in rare places. It is like slot machines that have to keep a certain pay schedule which creates a limited period of advantage spins where getting a big payoff becomes more likely.

Nothing more than a small part in a government run Ponzi scheme to keep functioning for now.

[BoSox]

Unsustainable government where outgoing expenditures exceed incoming, creating a down the road day of reckoning.

[JamesonDetroit]

IMO, the gov't is worse. Typical lottery return is in the 50% range.

Yeah, I've always thought it's crazy that the government can prey on its poorer citizens with the crap odds of things like scratch-off tickets.

[BoSox]

Yeah, I've always thought it's crazy that the government can prey on its poorer citizens with the crap odds of things like scratch-off tickets.

Entitlements, and welfare payments are paying for those tickets that the majority of the sales go.

[Dbs6582]

they may know it but there is a difference between knowing it and having it constantly rubbed in your face.

it became widely known that smoking caused cancer as early as the 1950s but that stopped very few people from smoking (including myself, although I stopped in the late 80s).

but the constant drumbeat of the negative effects of smoking coming from the FDA and required on all packaging dramatically decreased the number of smokers (in percentage terms) and the rate of the contraction of cancer.

quote from the link:

• "Lung cancer is down 45 percent since 1990 among men and down 19 percent since 2002 among women"

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/healt...moking-n834686

I respectfully disagree with you on why smoking is down in our country. It’s moslty because it’s become socially unacceptable to smoke, and smoking is banned about everywhere. It’s not like it was in the past, where smoking was cool and you could smoke in planes and restaurants. It’s not down because of some warning label on cigarettes packages or some stupid government studies.

As far as knowing the health impacts of smoking, this has been known way before the government or FDA did all their studies. People with common sense could see smoking caused health problems and early death from way back before civil war times. Do some research on this. You’ll be surprised at how much was known about smokings impact on health from way before the 50s. It doesn’t take a rocket science to understand that putting smoke in your body every day probably isn’t a good thing.

I still have good friends with advanced degrees that smoke...most are from Europe. Their view is they’re going to die in some way so they might as well enjoy some vices while they’re here. I don’t agree with them, but they are still my good friends.

Btw, congrats on quiting smoking. I have friends that have quite so I know it’s hard. I basically started smoking when I started my AP career. My smoking involves second hand smoke....part of the hazards of the job. Lol

[Dbs6582]

Just because the odds are against them and they still go to the casino does not mean the poor go there for entertainment just like the poor purchase lottery tickets in greater proportion. The poor go as a desperately attempt that they might get lucky and get to the life they had dreamed about. It's not entertainment, it's desperation.

The poor and the elderly see the casino as the only means left to get to their dreams and the casino exploits it by everything they do including putting up pictures of slot winners and such.

Then there are the young that are conned into believing they can mAke career out of the casino. Some of you have done it but it's like a pro baseball players encouraging the young to believe they can and should pursue a baseball career, the odds are even less.

It's praying on the unrealistic dreams of the young or the desperation of the poor and elderly.

Zee, while I somewhat agree with your post, I don’t know what your point is? Should casinos be against the law? Should there be laws that don’t allow poor people to go to casinos? I’m pretty sure that would violate a lot of laws in our country and if any casinos did this, they would be sued out of existence. Btw, how do you define poor? Is there an arbitrary income level that makes someone “poor”?

When I see these posts about how casinos exploit (or target) the poor, I don’t understand the point. They never give any solutions. They just complain about things, kind of like a bunch of old ladies gossiping about something they know nothing about. If someone is going to point out a problem, they should at least try to give a solution.

Btw, I’ve never been to a casino that only targets the poor. All the casinos I go to target (or serve) everybody, the poor, middle class and rich. They believe in equal opportunity...everybody has the right to play at their casinos (except talented APs - and it makes sense to me why they don’t want these people in their casinos). I’ve often wonder where all these casinos are that just target the poor. If someone knows where they are, they should sue them. This could be a good AP move and make that person a lot of money.

Personally, I wonder if the same people who believe casinos target the poor, are the same people that believe McDonalds targets the poor and tries to make them fat. There are a group of people out there that think this way.

[ZeeBabar]

Casinos do target the poor for the most part. Take a look at casinos in MO, MS, small rural towns, where casinos have penny, nickel or quarter slots, where buses from poor areas bring those on social security on free rides and coupons and more. These are not like casinos on the strip.

I liked the idea that, as strip clubs are restricted to certain parts of a city, casinos were restricted to certain parts of the country, away from cities, rural communitiex, college towns and such.

[Dbs6582]

Casinos do target the poor for the most part. Take a look at casinos in MO, MS, small rural towns, where casinos have penny, nickel or quarter slots, where buses from poor areas bring those on social security on free rides and coupons and more. These are not like casinos on the strip.

I liked the idea that, as strip clubs are restricted to certain parts of a city, casinos were restricted to certain parts of the country, away from cities, rural communitiex, college towns and such.

I get what you’re saying Zee. But middle class and rich people can still play penny, nickel or quarter slots. Rich people can also ride the buses to casinos, although I know this is mostly done by the poor. Obviously different casinos in different areas will have a different Cliental, and therefore a different marketing strategy. I guess this can be construed to believing some casinos target the poor.

I go to several casinos that cater to the poorer in our society, but I still get comps and mailers from these casinos like everyone else. If I’m away from home for a week, my mailbox is stuff full of coupons and mailers from these casinos. Even though I make a decent salary, these casinos don’t discriminate against me. As long as they think I’m a loser, they like my business. Btw, they think I’m a loser because I’m a world class (by my own standards) ratholer.

As far as casinos being restricked to certain parts of the city like strip clubs, that’s already done. It’s called zonning laws. I don’t know of any casinos located next to schools. Usually they are located in tourist areas or along rivers. Most poor people can still get to them though.

Are you suggesting casinos should be hidden so poor people can’t find them? And secret maps would be given out to the rich to let them know where they are. I’m obviously being sarcastic. My point is I don’t know how you deal with the problem of the problem gambler in our society where casinos are legal. It’s similar to the problems with alcohol. As long as alcohol is legal there will always be problem drinkers, and this will ruin some poor, middle class and rich people’s lives, just like gambling.