How Degenerate Is This?

[suzzer99]

I'm sure this counts for nothing here, but some girls on my last trip to Vegas thought I was pretty degen for flying there with just the clothes on my back.

Very painful early morning hangover flight back the next day. Not going to be doing that w/o stimulants again anytime soon.

Most 3rd-world airports >>>>>>>> McCarran on a Sunday morning.

[Maulik]

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Most 3rd-world airports >>>>>>>> McCarran on a Sunday morning.

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Are you talking about the tail floating around?

[suzzer99]

I'm talking about 2 hours to get through security, standing in line with the dredges of humanity. And the utter inconsistency, inefficiency and disorganization of the TSA. Watching those guys do their jobs, I really couldn't help thinking it's late in the afternoon of America's day in the sun - as we descend into an inept, corrupt Soviet Union-style bureaucratic quagmire.

[kimchi]

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How long was the drive?

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Seven hours. Seemed like less than one: I was out like a light, and woke up briefly only when we stopped for gas.

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"That'll be $1000, you pay for gas."


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Not a bad hourly rate for Mr. Cabbie? I wonder what he did with that grand in Vegas?

[Howard Treesong]

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I'm beginning to understand why Howard used the word degenerate instead of baller. I thought the most interesting thing about this story was how much money Howard spent on the cab. But what Howard thinks is most important is the fact that he wanted to gamble right now and didn't care about how ridiculous the situation was.

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Hence the original post. Remember, I'm a family and career guy. I spend a ton of time with my family and a ton of time on a reasonably successful career. My gambling time is limited, but I really enjoy it. Al Alvarez, in his great book "The Biggest Game In Town," poses the question of the theoretical value of a milkshake. If you were the thirstiest man in the world and had the sweetest tooth in the world, how much would you potentially pay for a milkshake? Here, I had five days to play at the WSOP. What was it worth for me to not have to give up one of them? I now know a bit more about my answer to that than a week ago. I can safely say "more than $1180."

Although I didn't know this at the time, the Bellagio gave away my suite, even though I called them from the cab to tell them I was arriving late. I was furious when I checked in at 6:30am, so they refunded that night entirely and put me in a different room until noon. Thus, I ended up saving $300 or so on that end, reducing the cost to that extent. Of course, I didn't know that when I made the decision to cab it. I also had no raging desire to gamble as soon as I arrived: after finding my other room, I spent an hour working, worked out, then napped for an hour and changed clothes before heading over to the Rio.

And yes, I'm hopefully self-aware enough to recognize how degen my behavior is. I myself voted for "massively degen."

I'm still amazed at the 20% who voted "totally normal." Could someone who voted that way (Shaniac?) explain their rationale, please?

[El Diablo]

Howard,

I voted either Slightly or Averagely Degen. I think we're both very degen for our social and professional peer groups, but not degen at all when compared to many of our 2+2 peers.

[Emperor]

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iron,

Fair enough. But really, anyone participating here should understand basic fundamentals of what constitutes "degenerate" behavior.

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True, but what Iron is pointing out, and you seem to be failing to acknowledge, is that there is actually two degen situations here for most, and that may be skewing the results.

Degen 1. paying a cabbie $1K+ to GAMBOOL ASAP! (OMFG I GOTTA GET MY GAMBOOL ON!)

Degen 2: PAYING A CABBIE $1K+ (OMFG THAT IS 2WKS PAY FOR AVG AMERICAN!) to gambool asap.

Oh and you want to be nitty about logical alternatives, AND want to be nitty about iron's nittyness on the multiple degens. That is awfully Nitty. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[guids]

if you are a good gambler it is not degen, if you are a bad one than yes it is, imo.

[Howard Treesong]

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if you are a good gambler it is not degen, if you are a bad one than yes it is, imo.

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Well, my WSOP trip was profitable. So in that sense, I'm a good gambler, although that point certainly seems results-oriented.

[Cornell Fiji]

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I'm still amazed at the 20% who voted "totally normal." Could someone who voted that way explain their rationale, please?

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Howard,
Your decision was completely rational. You did a cost benefit analysis and determined that the utility gained from one extra day in Vegas (and being able to play in the event) was worth more that the cost of the cab ride + the potential discomfort of an 8 hour ride.

How could such a rational thought process be anything more than "totally normal" for an intelligent person?

I say this without even considering the fact that your expected winnings from being in vegas for one more day is probably high enough to cover the cost of transportation. This is not relevant because the utility gained is worth more to you than the cost of the trip even if you ended up losing money during your extra day.

Good decision, I would have done the same.

-Steve