Gambling for the youth....

[Piemaster]

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Go buy some fish and chips to make yourself feel better.

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That's not a bad idea actually.

Although as I said I'm not bitter at all, just making a joke.

You Americans are really weird sometimes.

[passthesuga]

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Surprise surprise the brit doesnt get it.

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Funnily enough, as usual, it's the Yank who doesn't get it.

[Gonso]

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Surprise surprise the brit doesnt get it.

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Funnily enough, as usual, it's the Yank who doesn't get it.

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...go Yanks

To the OP:

I was born and raised in Atlantic City and so I was always kind of exposed to this gambling culture. Unlike many parts of the country, we embrace gambling as the norm. 20 percent of the people in this county work in the gaming industry, myself included.

However, for many years I wanted no part of it. I actually start playing poker in the Army about 10 years ago, when I was in Alaska of all places (at least it as still the USA).

For many years I always wanted to avoid the industry because I've seen what gambling can do to people. There's tons of stories here... things like people losing their $80,000 life savings and jumping off a casino parking garage.

Also, a very disproportionate number of people that gamble here are flat-out scumbags. I mean, you can find jerks anywhere, but they're in exceptionally high numbers at the casinos.

But all told, gambling is entertainment, plain and simple. It can be an expensive form of it, sure, but so can many other things if you're not careful.

I think the big issue is that gambling is one of those things that is easy to abuse by those with certain types of personality disorders. It's just like your comparison to alcohol abuse. In and of itself it's really harmless and very enjoyable. But when abused, the consequences can be devastating.

Poker is a brilliant game, and I think it's a great mental workout for young folks, but gambling should be restricted to adults. It's like TV - they're just not ready for some channels yet. Someone just needs to tell them what the deal is.

[holyfield5]

I started gambling in the 6th grade but i did it because i knew i had an edge. I would play mostly tonk for a dollar.

its not like gambling corrupts your morals so i dont see what the issue is. many things in life can be defined in terms of EV, if they are saying -EV is immoral then poker should be given a pass. if you work hard enough at poker it will be +EV, but people dont treat it fairly....if i jump into starting a business with no prior knowledge it is -EV as ill lose my investment probably, but if i go to school for it and put in the study time it becomes +EV.

with or without your company selling them poker chips kids are gonna make wagers and its not like its hurting society. people need to teach control and responsibility and stop trying to prohibit everything.

[cwar]

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people need to teach control and responsibility and stop trying to prohibit everything.

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Very nicely put.

[vhawk01]

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people need to teach control and responsibility and stop trying to prohibit everything.

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Very nicely put.

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Nicely put and still almost completely useless. Its basically a nice catchphrase. How would we go about doing this?

My alternative theory is we should instead focus on 'making the world a better place.'

[Brayn]

I so hate people who try to tell other people what to do.

[keith123]

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On a sidenote, is it a bad thing that when I approach a girl I think, hmm this ones probably 2:1 against.

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flash the cash man. flash the cash.

[cwar]

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Nicely put and still almost completely useless.

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Teaching self-control is pretty specific and it's something that a lot of people lack, I learned a lot about self-control from poker but learning it some other way would be very positive for society as a whole.

[cwar]

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Funnily enough, as usual, it's the Yank who doesn't get it.

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I guess speaking English correctly is not important when your trying to bash on the US. Hows Australia? Your probably just jealous because a really good salary in Australia is $50k a year (maybe!).