# Friday night, $2,000 at the casino **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 27, 2025, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friday-night-2-000-at-the-casino/1017555 "2025-04-27T06:39:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 14
**Author:** ![MW\_Degen\_Gamblr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ec9cab/32.png) [@MW\_Degen\_Gamblr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MW_Degen_Gamblr)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2025, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friday-night-2-000-at-the-casino/1017555/261 "2025-06-05T18:19:27Z")
Online or live? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2025, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friday-night-2-000-at-the-casino/1017555/262 "2025-06-05T18:25:35Z")
Both. Would you say you earn (after the losses are subtracted and travel expenses are factored in) the minimum wage for your state? ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2025, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friday-night-2-000-at-the-casino/1017555/263 "2025-06-05T18:31:02Z")
> [@MW\_Degen\_Gamblr](#): > > My point is that professional gamblers and other people who have unconventional sources of income also deserve privacy and respect. Is that also why you won’t tell us **how** you keep track of your winnings and losses because that is the real question, not how much you make. Apologies if you already have answer and I missed it. ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2025, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friday-night-2-000-at-the-casino/1017555/264 "2025-06-05T18:53:14Z")
Im not an expert, but earning money at a job instead of gambling would make for a better retirement? ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2025, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friday-night-2-000-at-the-casino/1017555/265 "2025-06-05T18:54:25Z")
Of course, it depends, like anything else, on how much you make, your financial discipline, and the tax implications. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2025, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friday-night-2-000-at-the-casino/1017555/266 "2025-06-05T18:54:36Z")
> [@MW\_Degen\_Gamblr](#): > > Online or live? All live. I dabbled a very small bit in online poker but not enough for it to count or make a difference. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2025, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friday-night-2-000-at-the-casino/1017555/267 "2025-06-05T20:46:22Z")
> [@SuntanLotion](#): > > Im not an expert, but earning money at a job instead of gambling would make for a better retirement? Yes indeed. After working for about 40 years, I had earnt a valuable work-place pension for life (which involved my employer and I paying into it every year.) If you are self-employed (like a gambler) you have to make your own pension arrangements. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2025, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friday-night-2-000-at-the-casino/1017555/268 "2025-06-06T15:13:29Z")
Do gamblers retire? At age 65 or so, after many years of hitting the casinos and such do they suddenly say “Well, it is time to stop doing this. I have carefully set aside funds that cannot be touched every time I won, and now I can just stop doing this and retire…because, after all, this is not an internal need at all, but just a job.” ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2025, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friday-night-2-000-at-the-casino/1017555/269 "2025-06-06T16:43:13Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Do gamblers retire? At age 65 or so Judging by what I saw the few times I’ve walked thru the slots aisles, it’s the second career after retiring. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2025, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friday-night-2-000-at-the-casino/1017555/270 "2025-06-06T16:43:43Z")
The top very successful poker players definitely retire. Besides their poker winnings they make a lot of money from sponsorships. They are generally smart enough to have healthy savings. Analogous to professional athletes they may go on to be tv announcers or consultants/coaches or authors. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2025, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friday-night-2-000-at-the-casino/1017555/271 "2025-06-06T16:49:58Z")
What percentage might that be? ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2025, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friday-night-2-000-at-the-casino/1017555/272 "2025-06-06T16:52:25Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > Judging by what I saw the few times I’ve walked thru the slots aisles It’s where SSN checks go to die. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2025, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friday-night-2-000-at-the-casino/1017555/273 "2025-06-06T17:03:22Z")
I think regular poker is different from the other games at a casino - for poker, the players compete against each other and the casino charges some sort of fee ( they take a percentage from each pot, charge an entry fee, etc) while for the other table games you’re playing against the casino and the casino makes money through the house advantage. One player or another wins every hand of poker but everyone at the table can lose in blackjack or “carnival games” ( which includes some poker variations) ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2025, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friday-night-2-000-at-the-casino/1017555/274 "2025-06-06T17:06:24Z")
I think @MW_Degen_Gamblr has said many times he has a day job. I imagine retirement is not dependent on his gambling. He is hobby gambling. It’s not semi-pro. I’ve lived around many gamblers, no professed pros, but they would like you to believe they were. Not one, none, nada would answer questions about their earnings.(it was considered rude to even ask) They didn’t mind bitching about losses. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2025, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friday-night-2-000-at-the-casino/1017555/275 "2025-06-06T17:13:11Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > What percentage might that be? What percentage of regular poker players fit in that category? The ones who be become very wealthy are probably fewer than one in ten thousand. There are some who eke out a living fleecing tourists at low levels. They are fewer than one one in one hundred. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2025, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friday-night-2-000-at-the-casino/1017555/276 "2025-06-06T17:37:34Z")
Agreed. The same applies to horse racing: the house takes their cut (“vig”) and the gamblers are competing among themselves to take home the rest. Not at all like a standard casino game. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2025, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friday-night-2-000-at-the-casino/1017555/277 "2025-06-06T17:50:24Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Do gamblers retire? The best that they can hope for, according to one expert, is to die in their sleep. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2025, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friday-night-2-000-at-the-casino/1017555/278 "2025-06-06T23:29:55Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Do gamblers retire? I know one guy who was a successful professional poker player for a while, online. He lives in Vegas, and can win money playing against the kind of people who go to Vegas on holidays, but he’s lost interest. I think that he thinks that taking money from loosers just isn’t an interesting way to make a living. ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2025, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friday-night-2-000-at-the-casino/1017555/279 "2025-06-07T00:36:19Z")
Its Friday night.🎲 ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2025, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friday-night-2-000-at-the-casino/1017555/280 "2025-06-07T18:18:57Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > I think @MW_Degen_Gamblr has said many times he has a day job. My impression was that it was a part-time job. Hard to work full-time when you’re traveling to hotels all the time. Maybe he’ll fill us in. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friday-night-2-000-at-the-casino/1017555.md?page=13) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friday-night-2-000-at-the-casino/1017555.md?page=15)