Is it a mistake to gamble? It's fun. I like to gamble once in a while. But as a financial strategy you have to agree that gambling is kind of a disaster-prone path that leads to ruin. Except for the minority of professional gamblers who work with sponsors, most people who try to live off gambling go through an endless cycle of feast-or-famine experiences. So if you have set out on a path to change your fortunes I think gambling is probably the least likely way to achieve that goal.
I have met people who thought gambling would be a way for them to get ahead. We called them weekend warriors when I was in college because they spent a lot of their weekends in poker games trying to get some extra cash. I knew a couple of guys who were really good. I only played with them once though.
Maybe as long as you treat gambling as entertainment and you limit how much money you spend on it you'll be okay. But gambling games are designed to take your money. Look at how much money people spend on the lottery. The state lotteries have a pretty low return-to-player (something like 55% in most games, I hear).
People expect a lot from gambling because I don't think they would really throw their money down on games of chance if they didn't believe they would win. Or maybe they just like the thrill of not knowing? I can't say for sure but when I think about going to the casino I try to be calm and mull it over carefully. If I'm going with friends we treat it as a social time. I never go to the casino by myself.
And I love to play blackjack. I wish I could say I were great at the game but I'm not. I've had some good nights and some bad ones. You could say I probably make a lot of these common mistakes that blackjack players make. And blackjack is supposed to be an easy game!
If you really want to try your hand at gambling then you should check out some Websites that teach people how to avoid the most common gambling mistakes. At least that way you won't be charging in with cash falling out of your pockets.
But my advice is to not think of gambling as a way to make money. It's a way to socialize with people and get around some exciting sounds. But at the end of the day a casino is just like any other business: it is there to sell you a good time, maybe some food, and to make a profit. As a gambler you are a consumer, not a business.
That is good to remember.
