The Good Side of Video Poker?

[alpax]

you cited specific examples? where? other than mentioning 2 companies that did succeed, everything was generalities and excuses.

I gave specifics not only about interest rates 30 years ago and stock market levels.

most of the companies that went bust in the dot com era, had no chance of succeeding. not only did they not have profits, many did not have revenues. those who chose to work there took a risk, they hoped for big rewards. anyone who counted on stock options from an untested, unproven, no profit company for their future is/was a fool. b/t/w, the DOW was around 10000 in year 2000, when the dot com burst and is nearly 18000 now. lots of folks have made money.

I did not buy a house in AL, rather NYS. I just chose not to live in the highest priced area of the state or the country. most everyone has that same option.

you say I am not accustomed to specifics. here is a specific, I agree with you on one item, you are not much of a stock market person.

I suppose to clarify things without taking things the wrong way.

When Phil brought up the dot com time period, I was thinking within the perspective of someone working for a company. You were thinking within the perspective of an investor on the stock market. Phil was not specific about it at first, but it turned out to be neither as Phil's business was a third party who assisted other companies through consulting.

When olds brought up the idea of avoiding paying interest, I happen to be in an area where avoiding mortgages is not possible for many. The near 400k loan with a $3000 monthly mortgage happens to be someone I know whose annual income is 80k (higher than average), he has quit casino gambling because he can ill afford the risks of not being able to make a payment, but that is reality to most people here though it might sound idiotic to people outside. I only stated that because interest rate is not the sole factor of things. Property values may not have changed as dramatically where you reside, so you could think along the lines of family sizes. Though the quality of life here is great, the idea of living close to paycheck to paycheck stresses people out. So there is a fine balance with living in less expensive areas.

No offense taken about my lack of knowledge with the stock market, but at least we were able to express our opinions with the other stuff.

[notes1]

I understood exactly what you meant about employees of any company, whether it be dot com or not. these employees took a chance, a risk, in hopes of hitting it big. many of those companies involved in the tech bubble/burst had no profits or revenues. this is no different than someone opening a pizzeria and it failed. those who choose to take the risks should know what they are doing. if the risks are too high, pick a different line of work or employer.

we currently live in an area that has above average home costs. but, typically those areas often have above average incomes. if your friend earns around $130k year and bought a house with a $400k mortgage, he bought more house than he can afford. and , interest rates do make a difference. compare the cost of a loan at 7.5% and today's rates of less than 4%, on a cost per $1000, over 15-30 years. we paid off our house at age 50, by giving up stuff.

you are missing the point of olds post and my comments. people need to live on less than they can afford, not at or above their earnings.

just as it if difficult to find someone who will admit they lost a great deal gambling, it is equally difficult to find folks brave and honest enough to admit they over spent, over borrowed and under saved.

I will make a suggestion, if you are interested. spend 10% less time researching the in/outs of casinos and reading dancers material and spend that time reading about investing and wealth creation.

[alpax]

I forgot to bring up angel investing on these startups if people wish to gain shares (some of it goes to the company's employee pool) before it goes to IPO, but that comes with all the same risks that you've mentioned. Monitoring a company's revenue I agree is the most important thing for any intelligent mind to look at.

I also failed to bring up that the wise ones are saving up on the side from their mortgage to put down another sum of down payment to refinance a new mortgage, and eventually paying it off. Yes, it does require a ton of discipline and is the core of old's post. When the principle is high, the interest will keep it high so it is urgent to get the principle down.

The greed of the banks approving unqualified loaners and real estate agents selling homes greater than what people can actually afford is a factor which led to 2008.

Without getting into details, I have spent money unwisely unfortunately and have regretted it, so sometimes it takes learning things the hard way to really drive a point through. And yes I have phoned into 1-800-GAMBLER when my slot playing days gotten out of control. VP is pretty much all I can play.

I do not spend nearly as much time these days with reading into gambling experts (Dancer is not the only one). Wealth creation is a whole seperate pursuit, but I am not investing life earnings all into VP. I learned enough dynamics within the casino to gamble responsibly, no need to spend more time on that matter. However, I can say if played correctly, video poker is an entity that brings in the most value for the buck. I do not go to fancy restaurants much anymore, I will only go to the ones that are comp'ed by the casino on a monthly offer.

[FloridaPhil]

It's obvious to me that anyone on this forum who plays video poker for money regularly is affluent and probably more educated and well off than your average American.  I also doubt anyone here is gambling their mortgage payments. In our case a significant amount of our accumulated wealth is tied up in tax deferred investment accounts.  Both of us started maxing out these accounts years ago and we have never made a withdrawal. We will be forced to start taking withdrawals next year and will probably give the money to our local church which is heavily involved in local social assistance programs. The point I was making in my original post was the interesting
addiction video poker players have in accumulating a bankroll
and how that bankroll can grow over time.  If you are going to play video poker as much as we do, you need a separate account for that purpose alone.  As your bankroll grows you can safely move up in denomination.  Personally, I would like to play dollars all the time.  My bankroll is big enough now, but I have a personal problem with daily losses that keeps me awake at night.  Most of my life my hobby was restoring classic cars.  One thing I liked about the hobby was when you were done you sold the car and got a payday.  If I choose to walk away from video poker tomorrow, I would still have a good stack of cash.  Nice...