The Poor Are Gambling More
Yet another article claiming that the poor gamble the most. Doesn't everyone have a go at Lotto? Ok, they are talking about poker machines but I get sick of the headlines saying that the poor gamble more. I find that a little hard to swallow and it reminds me of a story about Kerry Packer, Australia's wealthiest man, who regularly bets $10m on a hand.
Many years ago he was took a seat at a poker table in the US. Not long afterwards a rather upset Texan came back to the table and said that it was his seat and exclaimed "Do you know who I am?"
"No" was Packer's reply.
The Texan went on to say who he was, that he was very wealthy from oil and cattle, and kept on big-noting himself.
Packer asked him what he was worth and the Texan, very proudly, stated "About US$70m all up."
Packer said to him, "I'll toss you for it."
The Texan turned his back and walked away, refusing to take the bet.
And they still have the nerve to say that the poor gamble more. Kerry Packer was ready to bet about A$100m on the toss of a coin. Show me some lower socio-economic types who can match that.
2 comments:
the poor gamble more because the poor are more stupid (the ones that gamble) which is the reason they are poor in the first place.
Well said.
If you wish to gamble you should only gamble what you can afford to lose. I went to Las Vegas and didn't gamble anything. Well, I had lost US$20 on the pokies in Reno already.
Lack of education is one of the keys for tackling problem gamblers. It would be very difficult to help these people.
Have you seen "The Bad Lieutenant" starring Harvey Keitel? A very dark, funny movie about a problem gambler.
Now, if we could just gamble other people's money there would be no problem.
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