Re: Can -EV gambling be fun even if you understand EV?
 

i love sticking it to the house

Re: Can -EV gambling be fun even if you understand EV?
 

I think the more interesting question is:
What mechanics in the brain allow us to gain utility (fun/positive stimulation) from a situation where we know we will be losing resources that took time and energy to make?

Re: Can -EV gambling be fun even if you understand EV?
 

[ QUOTE ]
I think the more interesting question is:
What mechanics in the brain allow us to gain utility (fun/positive stimulation) from a situation where we know we will be losing resources that took time and energy to make?

[/ QUOTE ]

This part of the premise is false. We don't know we'll be losing. We're more likely to lose than win, but we certainly win a fair percentage of the time.

Re: Can -EV gambling be fun even if you understand EV?
 

the premise of the entire post is that you know its -ev and you fully understand what ev is

Re: Can -EV gambling be fun even if you understand EV?
 

i keep thinking about it, and maybe we're looking at the situation incorrectly. It might be -ev in terms of pure monetary considerations, but when you add in emotional highs from winning, it might turn ev neutral or even ev+

for example, and this is not a very subtle example, but lets say you take a girl for a 2 month anniversary to the casino, you set your money limit, so there's no depression in losing. You're goal, as a proffessional poker player, but vacationing floor game enthusiast is to have fun, spend time and connect to your lady friend, and if you could make some money or at least break even, that'd be great, but not at all required. When you win some small pots you get all excited with your lady friend (or partner or whatever you like), and you an A+ romantic evening, if you lose or break even, you have a B romantic evening.

On a scale of -10 to +10 (-10 is bad, 0 is neutral, +10 is great),
winning + A+ romance = 10 and
losing + B+ romance = 8.75

and expectations for entire trip is to have good but not great or sub-par time
formula for total sample ev is:

(total chance of winning * how much it affects vacation/br) - (total chance of losing * how much it affects your vacation/br)

or

(48% * (10)) - (51% * (8.75)) =
4.8 - 4.46 = .34
.34 is positive, so you're getting +ev for the experience

Re: Can -EV gambling be fun even if you understand EV?
 

OP is forgetting people are different and in particular gamble for different reasons. If everyone who gambled only did so in +EV situations then there would not be many casinos. Only the truly stupid would play casino games. Bottom line, gambling is entertainment for people and they are willing to spend money on entertainment. Is that really so hard to understnad?

Re: Can -EV gambling be fun even if you understand EV?
 

we've already accepted the premise that casino gambling is "entertainment". The question is why are we entertained when we know we're going to lose money -- and the entertainment itself is just a function of trying to make money.

Re: Can -EV gambling be fun even if you understand EV?
 

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we've already accepted the premise that casino gambling is "entertainment". The question is why are we entertained when we know we're going to lose money -- and the entertainment itself is just a function of trying to make money.

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People go out to eat, go to movies, etc. knowing they will lose money. Casino gambling is no different. In all cases the utility gained from the activity is worth more than the money lost.

Paul

Re: Can -EV gambling be fun even if you understand EV?
 

yes, this is already assumed as well -- the question is why do you gain utility from the activity.

For instance, you go to see a movie, you pay 10 dollars, you're treated to 2-3 hours of high quality, expensively made, emotional, and in some cases logical, stimulation.

You go to a casino, and you spend a couple hundred or a couple thousand dollars and you engage in an activity based on winning money, even though you know you won't win.

you get excitement from having the chance to win, but you could also get that from poker where you know you can win. Yet intelligent people, including myself, enjoy gambling. Why.

Re: Can -EV gambling be fun even if you understand EV?
 

We are monkeys