hamilton.likes.to.draw...

Ok, let's talk about the difference between gambling for fun, gambling for profit, and gambling with your life.

Gambling for fun is something most people can do. Hell you probably do it every time you play a video game. Gambling concepts, strategies, and triggers are all over the video game world. The new Battlefront Star Wars game is coming under heavy fire for having a gambling system in place that uses real money. I think the key to gambling for fun involves a few things.

1. Gamble with gains. Never gamble at the bottom of your worth if you want to have fun gambling.

2. Set yourself a goal, and cut out your goal from your gambles, if you've managed to win. You'll walk away with something, and you still had fun.

3. Always consider your gamble to be money spent. This is the problem a lot of gamblers can't get their head into, and they psych themselves out. "I'm up 5 since last hour." No, you're down 20 for the day.

Now gambling for profit is a different beast. It is 100% possible to gamble for profit, and not have a problem. BUT, whereas all the previous rules still apply, there's an amount of strategy and higher buy in that SHOULD discourage the average joe from thinking they can attempt it. gambling for profit involves a full understanding of the rules, the odds, and a complete separation of the personal need for any one amount of money.

I think this is where gambling with your life comes in, is when people can't see those road stops in the concept of gambling. They see people gambling with high amounts, and they think that's what gambling is. They see people making moves, and they think it's JUST guessing. They see people winning lots of money, but they don't see the losses the next day.

When I used to go to the casino I would leave my wallet in the car. I would bring in 50 dollars, and I considered it payment for the amusement park ride. If I got up above 100, 50 would go in one pocket, and I would only gamble with the other pocket. And most days I would walk away with nothing. But more often I walked away with 50. And some days I walked away with more. But I always had fun. I think it is possible to gamble and have fun. I think one has to keep their head about them in order to do it. But I think it's possible.

There is a problem that comes when you're not really poor, but you're not at all rich. You're in that middle bracket. I'd imagine this is the 40%? The graphs all seem to indicate forty percent of people are poor. Forty percent are what might pass as middle class, and then about twenty percent move up into the upper bracket. So let's say you're reading this and you're not poverty stricken. You also aren't currently wiping your bottom with the tears of the fallen. You make a decent wage. You pay your taxes. You pay your bills. You buy yourself fun this month, and then suddenly you have no money.

Where did it all go? You just got paid, and it felt great. And then suddenly there's nothing left. It's only one week after your "me" paycheck. You know the one. One of your paychecks is the rent. And one of your paychecks is the check that has your me money. You wait four weeks every month for that Friday. Then it comes and you promise yourself you're not going to spend it this time. Maybe you actually do put some in savings. Either way, one week later you look in the bank and realize that one of your bills hadn't gone through on time. You miscalculated exactly how much those last two items actually add up to.

Now you're broke. For three weeks. This is a first world problem, to be sure. But it's serious. It's mentally debilitating. Now you're scraping by for food, because you didn't plan it right. You can't go out and live the fun life that all humans want to live. You can't even hang out with your friends, because if all they do is go to the bar, you've only got a little bit for the rest of the week, and if you have to buy one round, you're fucked. Even if you have to buy two drinks for yourself that's like two whole lunches you could have bought.

Now suddenly you feel like some sort of social pariah. No, I can't hang out. Sorry, guys, I wish I could. I'll just stay home tonight.

But actually... You have savings. Actually, you have some cash stashed away. Actually, all your bills are paid, and there's tons of food in the pantry. Actually, all your friends would buy you a drink if you just asked. But it doesn't feel that way. You feel broke. In a couple ways that matter in the moment you are in fact cash depleted. But you're not poor. You're just rich broke.