Las Vegas Advisor Menu
« LVA Forums « Vegas Free-for-All

"Winning"???

alexlifeson
alexlifeson
Sep 10, 2011
1:28pm
Block User
Quote
Originally posted by: arcimedes
Frank, I think your description covers a lot more in life than you might think.

If you talk to a golfer about their latest round you will hear about the one birdie or par ... never about the triple bogeys or worse.

If you talk to someone about their vacation you hear about the highlights.

In fact, most people generally focus on the good things that happen in their life when discussing them with other people. I suspect gambling is just an extension of what I would call typical behavior.

So, I'm not so sure this is as big of a problem as you might think. The real question is what do they tell themselves in private.


Arc, how about the bowler who bowls a 258 in a set with the other two games in the 160's?

alexlifeson
alexlifeson
Sep 10, 2011
1:32pm
Block User
Quote
Originally posted by: arcimedes
Quote
Originally posted by: DonDiego
Quote
Originally posted by: snidely333
Poor, old DonDiego. I feel so bad for you. Next time you are in the Philly area I will buy you a hotdog.
DonDiego is pleased to see his strategic thinking paying off. However, when in Philadelphia he'd prefer a cheesesteak, . . . "wit".


Since DD is into local favorites ... if you happen to visit Minnesota I'd be happy to buy you some lutefisk


Isn't that the stuff that put Bobby Hill on the crapper on an episode of the King of the Hill? The new preacher was a woman from Minnesota and she served it. I believe that Bobby accidently burned the church down when he lit a match in the bathroom to combat the smell.

alexlifeson
alexlifeson
Sep 10, 2011
1:41pm
Block User
The use of "winning" is also prevalent with people playing slots or even VP. The phrase "I won $100 on a slot machine" is usually not indicative of their actual profit/loss for that session. It means they hit a $100 jackpot regardless of how much money they pumped into the machine. I can see why it would be more fun to report the wins to people and not talk about the losses.
marlo36
marlo36
Sep 10, 2011
6:15pm
Block User
I think that what discotu was referring to in his example was the experiential aspect of an event as compared to its "objective" aspect -- meaning that whatever objective criteria you ascribe to an event, people will perceive, think, and feel about it they way they will.

Changing snidely333's example somewhat, let's say someone was shopping for a computer and was willing to spend up to $2000 on it. Then that person finds the computer she was looking for but it only cost her $1500. Objectively she spent $1500 of her $2000 budget and had $500 left. Experientially she a) feels like a shopping genius and b) thinks that she now has "extra money" to spend on other stuff, even though in reality she has $1500 less than she started with.

The smart person does not let the mental experience drown out the math. In the meantime, as long as you're not going overboard or fooling yourself in the end, why not let yourself enjoy your "winnings?" It's better than losing everything.



arcimedes
arcimedes
Sep 11, 2011
6:54am
Block User
Quote
Originally posted by: alexlifeson
Quote
Originally posted by: arcimedes
Frank, I think your description covers a lot more in life than you might think.

If you talk to a golfer about their latest round you will hear about the one birdie or par ... never about the triple bogeys or worse.

If you talk to someone about their vacation you hear about the highlights.

In fact, most people generally focus on the good things that happen in their life when discussing them with other people. I suspect gambling is just an extension of what I would call typical behavior.

So, I'm not so sure this is as big of a problem as you might think. The real question is what do they tell themselves in private.


Arc, how about the bowler who bowls a 258 in a set with the other two games in the 160's?


I thought about mentioning that one but I figured more people would get the golf analogy. I did have one series last year where I shot two 190 games with a 300 in between. In that case I really didn't care what the other games were.

alexlifeson
alexlifeson
Sep 11, 2011
6:47pm
Block User
Quote
Originally posted by: arcimedes
Quote
Originally posted by: alexlifeson
Quote
Originally posted by: arcimedes
Frank, I think your description covers a lot more in life than you might think.

If you talk to a golfer about their latest round you will hear about the one birdie or par ... never about the triple bogeys or worse.

If you talk to someone about their vacation you hear about the highlights.

In fact, most people generally focus on the good things that happen in their life when discussing them with other people. I suspect gambling is just an extension of what I would call typical behavior.

So, I'm not so sure this is as big of a problem as you might think. The real question is what do they tell themselves in private.


Arc, how about the bowler who bowls a 258 in a set with the other two games in the 160's?


I thought about mentioning that one but I figured more people would get the golf analogy. I did have one series last year where I shot two 190 games with a 300 in between. In that case I really didn't care what the other games were.


Nor would I. Congrats on the 300 game!

jatki
jatki
Sep 11, 2011
7:28pm
Block User
It was the smelly man,thats who did it,gotta find the smelly man!

-cotton hill


Quote
Originally posted by: alexlifeson
Quote
Originally posted by: arcimedes
Quote
Originally posted by: DonDiego
Quote
Originally posted by: snidely333
Poor, old DonDiego. I feel so bad for you. Next time you are in the Philly area I will buy you a hotdog.
DonDiego is pleased to see his strategic thinking paying off. However, when in Philadelphia he'd prefer a cheesesteak, . . . "wit".


Since DD is into local favorites ... if you happen to visit Minnesota I'd be happy to buy you some lutefisk


Isn't that the stuff that put Bobby Hill on the crapper on an episode of the King of the Hill? The new preacher was a woman from Minnesota and she served it. I believe that Bobby accidently burned the church down when he lit a match in the bathroom to combat the smell.


alexlifeson
alexlifeson
Sep 12, 2011
1:53pm
Block User
Well done jatki99! I think the Cotton episodes were among the best they had to offer.

Quote
Originally posted by: jatki99
It was the smelly man,thats who did it,gotta find the smelly man!

-cotton hill


Quote
Originally posted by: alexlifeson
Quote
Originally posted by: arcimedes
Quote
Originally posted by: DonDiego
Quote
Originally posted by: snidely333
Poor, old DonDiego. I feel so bad for you. Next time you are in the Philly area I will buy you a hotdog.
DonDiego is pleased to see his strategic thinking paying off. However, when in Philadelphia he'd prefer a cheesesteak, . . . "wit".


Since DD is into local favorites ... if you happen to visit Minnesota I'd be happy to buy you some lutefisk


Isn't that the stuff that put Bobby Hill on the crapper on an episode of the King of the Hill? The new preacher was a woman from Minnesota and she served it. I believe that Bobby accidently burned the church down when he lit a match in the bathroom to combat the smell.


mrmarcus12LVA
mrmarcus12LVA
Sep 12, 2011
10:41pm
Block User
Quote
Originally posted by: arcimedes
Frank, I think your description covers a lot more in life than you might think.
Agreed. Call it cognitive dissonance. Call it denial. Call it lying to oneself. It's a general human trait, not unique to gamblers in any way.

jatki
jatki
Sep 13, 2011
6:35am
Block User
A great one to tout is the stock pick home runs. I had a conversation with my account one time(actually we were freinds way before he become my acct) and we talked about that. He was going over all my trades one year and it came up about how we can tout the big winners but yet let the dogs remain quiet. It was quite the amusing conversation. Holds true to this day. Unfortunately i've been sleeping with the dog lately,drag.

JOHN
Already a LVA subscriber?
To continue reading, choose an option below:
Diamond Membership
$3 per month
Unlimited access to LVA website
Exclusive subscriber-only content
Limited Member Rewards Online
Join Now
or
Platinum Membership
$50 per year
Unlimited access to LVA website
Exclusive subscriber-only content
Exclusive Member Rewards Book
Join Now