Sunday, March 05, 2006
Where does all the money come from?
I went to Atlantic City last night...first time in about a year. In that time, I forgot about how ridiculously expensive every casino in AC is on a Saturday night. Every blackjack was 25 minimum. Every roulette table was 15 minimum. It's absolutely absurd. In twenty minutes, I was down $300 after a few roulette spins. 90 minute drive...5 bucks to park...20 minutes, -300.
Now, of course, you have to continue to gamble. But it's getting to the point where I can't even "dabble" in any other game besides poker. It's the only game you can actually play for a few hours without risking losing your life savings (besides slot machines, of course)...
Which brings me to the obvious question: There were thousands of people at table games last night. Each table was completely full, and most were double-deep, at every casino we visited.
Where are these people getting all of their money?
Are people gambling money they can't afford to gamble? Or are there just a lot more wealthy people than I realize? I honestly don't know the answer to this...Keith, do you get any sense of this in Vegas? Is your typical 50-dollar a hand blackjack player a tourist just blowing through a couple grand on a weekend or is he wealthy? Or, is he so desperate that he actually is tied to the hope that he wins, for his livelihood and sanity? I wish casinos gave all their patrons a questionaire so that there were some statistics on this...I'm very curious.
Now, of course, you have to continue to gamble. But it's getting to the point where I can't even "dabble" in any other game besides poker. It's the only game you can actually play for a few hours without risking losing your life savings (besides slot machines, of course)...
Which brings me to the obvious question: There were thousands of people at table games last night. Each table was completely full, and most were double-deep, at every casino we visited.
Where are these people getting all of their money?
Are people gambling money they can't afford to gamble? Or are there just a lot more wealthy people than I realize? I honestly don't know the answer to this...Keith, do you get any sense of this in Vegas? Is your typical 50-dollar a hand blackjack player a tourist just blowing through a couple grand on a weekend or is he wealthy? Or, is he so desperate that he actually is tied to the hope that he wins, for his livelihood and sanity? I wish casinos gave all their patrons a questionaire so that there were some statistics on this...I'm very curious.
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I sometimes wonder this myself, but I don't think I have much of an idea either. My general sense is that most people playing these games can afford to gamble, in the sense that they were going to waste that money on something else useless anyway.
In all honesty, though, I have no idea how so many people can afford to gamble the way they do.
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In all honesty, though, I have no idea how so many people can afford to gamble the way they do.
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