My mother always says she makes money on these trips, but
My father always corrects her: She is ahead at some point and comes home with less.
He claims out of town gamblers can’t help blowing any money they are ahead.
(The out-of-town part is because he will play cards at his club, and I guess the difference is knowing there will be a next time, rather than feeling “today’s the day”)
So, did you ever really come home with more from a trip?
I did what your dad said on my last trip. I was up just a small amount, not enough to brag about, so when my tour director said “last call” I put it on Red and lost.
Absolutely. Not very often, but it’s happened – about 5 times in a row recently, but the streak appears to be over.
Oddly, our luck appears to be driven by my wife’s luck at slots (I play blackjack & video poker), and she was on an incredible streak.
I have come out ahead but only once in a while. My mom comes out ahead on a regular basis.
I have only been in the Casinos twice. The last time was in Atlantic City and when we left, I was up $2.25 having played for about an hour in the quarter slot machines.
The other time was in Korea. I spent 6 hours playing Blackjack and I played conservatively. I lost $41. However, while I was there, I was fed many sandwiches and drinks by scantily clad young Korean Woman. As I was a 19-year-old US sailor at the time, this was a very inexpensive and enjoyable day. I was actually up as much as $80 at one point. By hour 4 the drinks affected my judgment and I lost $121 over the last 2 hours.
Jim
Casinos set up a sufficient advantage (approximately 5-10%) on their games (for example by having two zeroes on roulette), so that they win in the long run.
tTherefore, provided enough people gamble, the casinos make profits.
Now there will be short term winners, so it is possible to make a profit on a trip. But if you keep playing, you will eventually lose.
This is why Las Vegas casinos have no clocks, are open 24/7, offer free drinks to persistent gamblers and provide shows + food to their customers. And why they make billions every year.
Losing gamblers seldom keep records and tend to remember the wins far more than the losses.
I have actually won money on Las Vegas slots :eek: (and I have a witness in the estimable DMark). On a recent Dopefest, he explained the video poker, I played for a few minutes and won $5.26. Then I stopped. (I spent the rest of the week eating, at shows, learning a magic trick and sightseeing.)
Yes.
I usually gamble only once a year on a trip with my cousin and a bunch of our mutual friends. The past two years, I made enough to pay for drinks and dinner both nights of the trip, plus my hotel room and gas/tolls. So I guess you could say that I came out on top where the gambling was concerned and broke even with respect to trip expenses.
I play blackjack exclusively. (Unless you count occasionally dropping a quarter in a slot machine if it looks at me funny as I pass by.)
In the fall of 1977, my wife and I stopped in Las Vegas for the last four days of a long vacation. We had five hundred dollars on arrival. We had lots of fun, saw a couple of shows, ate well and gambled. At the end of the four days, we left Las Vegas with five hundred ten dollars and a full tank of gas.
We never went back, so even in the long term, we are ahead.
I have come out ahead and come out behind. Some trips up a couple thou, some the other way.
I did hit a Caribbean stud jackput for 5 figures at one point, so overall I am *way * ahead.
All the time. The last trip, for the Vegas Dopefest, we ended up $400 to the good, including all expenses and shopping costs. Usually it’s just a fraction of this, but since we don’t have to pay for the room, Vegas is cheap.
Yeah, the two times I’ve gone I’ve come out ahead, because I had a good score or two and stopped. I came out two hundred bucks ahead on a cruise, and 70 ahead at Reno.
I’ve come out behind way more often than I’ve come out ahead - probably 85% of the time I’ve lost. That said, due to one Royal Flush on a $1 video machine, I am still ahead all-time. I am good about squirreling away my winnings if I hit it big.
On my way back form Northern Minnesota I had to pee like a racehorse. I stopped at a casino off the highway and answered natures call. On the way out, I thought, “Oh what the hell” and put a five in the last slot machine before the exit. Won 350 bucks.
I’ve had three trips to Vegas where I won enough to cover hotel, airfare, and food and still had $300-400 in my pocket.
As for all of the other trips where that DIDN’T happen, well, who’s counting those? 
An impressive achievement on $5.26.
I’m even overall. Won a total of US$50 in Las Vegas and lost a total of US$50 in Macau.
Yes.
I had a couple trips to AC to play poker and came out a few hundred ahead.
The only time I’ve been to Vegas, I played mostly Craps and Blackjack and came out well behind.
Yes, off the boat in N.O. during my bachelor party I won enough to pay for the trip with about $400 left over. Do the ponies count? Cuz we nailed the pick 6 and came out way ahead there.