Having seen that I am going to Las Vegas in March, I’ve had friends and family urging me to at least try some gambling. After all, why else go to Vegas? Having heard this enough, I’ve therefore decided to put down on virtual paper the reasons why I won’t gamble. So, what follows are those reason, in order of least important to most important. Hopefully, this will explain things once and for all.
Reason #1: I don’t think of gambling as fun
Some people go to Las Vegas (or any place with casinos) because they get a thrill from gambling, an endorphine rush, a kind of “high” from the experience. While I applaud these people and their ability to find enjoyment, and while I make no judgments, I can say quite firmly that I am not one of these types of people. I once spent $10 in a casino on a cruise ship and it was the least-entertaining $10 I ever spent. When I walked into the casino, I was happy; when I left, five minutes later, I was annoyed.
Reason #2: The house always wins
This is undeniable. Play long enough, and no matter how much you win, you’ll end up losing more. This is true of any game that is heavily dependent upon chance, but moreso when stakes like money are involved. Now, for someone who enjoys the thrill that comes along with the risk; for someone who enjoys the thought of potential winnings, this reason doesn’t matter. But as I stated in reason #1, I am not one of those people. Add to that the fact that I am too conscious that the house always wins that this would probably affect my decision-making negatively, almost assuring that I would lose whatever money I would have spent on a chance. I simply don’t see the fun in playing a game that involves money when the odds are stacked greatly against you.
Reason #3: I don’t want to throw my money away
This is really a corrolary of reason 2. Knowing that the house always wins, and knowing that I don’t enjoy gambling, it would be insane of me to throw money away on it.
Reason #4: What if I won?
I have always said that I never want to win money. I’m not even going to try and explain myself here, as when I have stated this in the past, people think I am completed nuts. But it’s true. I’ve never played the lottery or entered any luck-based contest where I could win money because I don’t want to win money. I’m not looking to get rich quickly. But what if I gambled and I won? It would be, in a sense, easy money, and might I not be tempted to try again to win even more? Might I not become so greedy that I become blinded to the fact that I don’t like gambling, and keep throwing away money, in hopes of that slim chance that I might win again? Might this not become addicting? I don’t honestly know that I would be strong enough to resist such a temptation if I were to win even once. It is for this reason, more than any other, that I will not gamble. We all have to know our limits–I was taught this more clearly than ever back when I was taking flying lessons. I might be able to throw away $50 at a blackjack table (unhappily). But what if, before my $50 was gone, I ended up winning? If that happened, then I might not be able to stop.
So then why go to Las Vegas at all?
I would think the answer there is an obvious one: to hang out with friends.
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