Tedlark's Position on Casinos

[DaBurglar]

Here is a quote from Tedlark, regarding the nature of casinos and the gambling industry....I think this says a lot about him and should provide a lively debate as to its relevancy and appropriateness."And to me, the very nature of casinos is greed on the part of the gambler and not the casinos themselves.
"What does everyone here think?    Do you agree that Casinos are NOT driven by greed?   That it is all and exclusively in the players themselves?I must say I find this statement and viewpoint to be a puzzlement....I would ask Ted if he includes himself in that group, that since he is a PLAYER is his very nature all about GREED too?My OPINION is a 100% disagree with this statement....I think its obvious that casinos are greedy and that this has contributed to their decline.   Self evident actually......

[Tedlark]

Because I'm up past my bedtime I might as well take a minute to respond.

Yes, it is greed on the part of the gambler who: throws good money after bad chasing losses; wins x amount of money and then proceeds to lose some, most, all of the winnings because they could not stop and walk away with their winnings. Greed brought about by lack of control. Don't you think that casinos have this figured out?

Because I have self control I do not consider myself to be in that group.

[DaBurglar]

Because I'm up past my bedtime I might as well take a minute to respond.

Yes, it is greed on the part of the gambler who: throws good money after bad chasing losses; wins x amount of money and then proceeds to lose some, most, all of the winnings because they could not stop and walk away with their winnings. Greed brought about by lack of control. Don't you think that casinos have this figured out?

Because I have self control I do not consider myself to be in that group. Oh sure, players obviously can be greedy too......But to portray casinos as paragons of virtue and integrity while lumping even casual players who visit vegas once a year into a "greed" catchall is extreme to say the least.I look forward to hearing from many others on this interesting viewpoint.

[olds442jetaway]

     I'm not sure greed is the right word to use for most people. In my case for instance, sometimes I will say to myself...I'm ahead 98 bucks. Let me just play until I even it off at a hundred. Of course, we know what usually happens there. Some may say...I'm up a couple of hundred, but that new lawn mower is about 259-. I'm going to try and see if I can play and get up to that amount. I don't think most people play just to try and break the bank at the casino.
     On the other side of the coin, casinos make money obviously by parting our money from our pockets. I'm not sure if their mindset is to have everyone go home totally broke. Of course their goal is to keep you there and do whatever it takes to accomplish that. No clocks, shows, free food and rooms, along with various other promotions. I haven't sat in on their boardrooms, but I can tell you from my experience where I play and interacting with some of the top guns, they seem to want you to have a good overall casino experience. That will keep you coming back time and time again. Sure continue to part you from some of your money, but I don't think they really want the patorns to go broke and become destitute.

[notes1]

how does someone stating that players may also be greedy, turn into a statement that 'casinos are paragons of virtue and integrity'?  

[Chicagoan]

It is not greed per se, but rather an addiction to winning that drives many players to stay longer than they should and give back money that they have already won. Casinos actually have a term for this. It is called "churn". Many casinos see as high as 50% churn, meaning that as much as 50% of what they pay out in the casino is actually returned to the casino. Winnings are defined differently by casinos and players. Casinos like to lump all payouts into the winnings category for promotional purposes. For players, on the other hand, winnings should only be the total of what they have in their pocket when they leave the casino minus what they had in their pocket when they arrived at the casino.

[Buffilita]

I think Dabug took Ted's quote out of context. Of course casinos exist to make money and the more bells and whistles, or volcanos or waterfalls they include, attract more visitors to the casino. They are banking that those visitors play while they admire the surroundings. But there are certainly numerous entertainment options at a casino, outside of gambling. In this instance, there may be a fine line between greed and the thrill of winning or beating the system, sticking it to the man. A smart player knows his budget and plays for recreation. A greedy player will lose his house to place one more bet. That's called a gambling addict.

[notes1]

I think Dabug took Ted's quote out of context.  .
  that is the exact point i was trying to make. liberals have become famous for taking any statement or action, distorting it, and then labeling that person something offensive, such as greedy, a racist or uncaring about the poor. i/m/o, this is among the lowest actions one can do to gain an advantage. any wonder the country is so divided.

[DaBurglar]

[QUOTE=Buffilita]I think Dabug took Ted's quote out of context.  .
  that is the exact point i was trying to make. liberals have become famous for taking any statement or action, distorting it, and then labeling that person something offensive, such as greedy, a racist or uncaring about the poor. i/m/o, this is among the lowest actions one can do to gain an advantage. any wonder the country is so divided.[/QUOTE]WOW        WHatever high ground you think you were standing on notes1, you just lost it......what a total hypocrite, not to mention pot shot lobbing coward to boot,,,,,,and by your own words, if what I did is (in your opinion) "Among" the lowest actions one can do  to gain and advantage, then what you just did above is lower than that.    But of course, I did NOT do what you accuse, at least not in this thread........First off, "This is the exact point I was trying to make"....?   REally?   Well what stopped you previously?  Second,  "Liberals  have become FAMOUS for taking any statement or action, distorting it, and then labeling that
person something offensive, such as greedy, a racist or uncaring about
the poor. i/m/o, this is among the lowest actions one can do to gain an
advantage."    This is exactly what Liberals say about Right wing conservatives........BOTH are right.You just repeat typical, tired, Right wing narrow minded self righteous IGNORANCE and then claim it represents "THE RIGHT way, the ONLY way, to conduct any and all affairs."    But alas, there actually ARE NO SPECIFIC solutions or concepts forthcoming.....like all people who label themselves conservatives who have everything they need in life and have not faced any type of REAL, bonafide hardship or adversity, you cavalierly advocate the most austere philosophies when it comes to helping (or NOT helping ) anyone.    You would rather deny 10 people who TRULY need Snap benefits just to make sure the1 or 2 who receive them who DO not need them are denied.   The primary reason for the divided country you see to day is the republican party and their incompetence, their intractable positions, total unwillingness to compromise, and inability to adapt and change with the times.     The democrats have MANY flaw as well, but not any where near the FATAL type that the republicans have.     From day one, the republican party, embodied by that 73 year old miserable man Mitch McConnel, made up its mind that, even before Obama had uttered a single word as president, they would thwart, subvert sabotage and  deny whatever he wanted to accomplish.    Its on record......McConnel said in November 2008 right after the election of the first Afro American, that "His (Mcconnel's) job as Senator Minority leader is to make certain barack Obama is a ONE TERM president."         I am sure the original framers of the constitution would have loved to hear that......a senator, elected by the people to represent them while also seeing to getting things done and running the country and solving problems. totally abandoning responsibility and his job!I posted a quote, from ted, in the first post.....the quote is pretty self explanatory and straightforward, and has to do with casinos and gambling.    I ask people to either argue for or against the permise of Ted's quote....and THIS is what Notes1 comes up with.    AND THE MOST ABSURD THING OF ALL......if someone wants to go back and research Notes1 posts from the past, you will find that he often advocated and argued essentially that casinos today are extremely flawed, that the value is gone for players compared to the past, etc.   Somehow he is now on the opposite side of this fence!

[DaBurglar]

how does someone stating that players may also be greedy, turn into a statement that 'casinos are paragons of virtue and integrity'?  It's not, I was making a comparitive point using something called HYPERBOLE......how can you be so thick sometimes?      Now go ahead and make some insult about how much more intelligent I happen to think I am compared to you or whatever.....UNREAL.As I said in the above LONG post,  YOU of all people should have at least taken a little issue with what Ted's statement implies about Casinos NOT being about greed.