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The battle to stop clever people betting

economist.com

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Re: The battle to stop clever people betting

#111

Post by BrandoElFollito »

blell wrote: post #42
m4ck_ wrote: post #26

I would love to see the gambling industry beaten back into whatever holes they slithered out of. If you want to gamble it should be in some smokey back room at a liquor store. I'm surprised the christian right isn't making more of a fuss about gambling, but I guess they're getting greased to look the other way.

Lately it feels like more and more people who are not religious invoke Christ to tell believers what they must do.

Yes we do because some religious people have the annoying habit to stick their nose in other people business (and laws) so they should be faced with their hypocrisy when the pure, "natural laws" get in their way. Or the rulings of their book of choice.

Re: The battle to stop clever people betting

#112

Post by BrandoElFollito »

RickJWagner wrote: post #104
m4ck_ wrote: post #26

I would love to see the gambling industry beaten back into whatever holes they slithered out of. If you want to gamble it should be in some smokey back room at a liquor store. I'm surprised the christian right isn't making more of a fuss about gambling, but I guess they're getting greased to look the other way.

Right side Christian here. There are much bigger fish to fry at the moment. Gambling does wreck families, though.

What are those fish? And do they interfere in any way with the fish of us atheists?

We do not have any fish to fry. We want to live free from opression from the ones that beieve they should turn others to the Truth.

Re: The battle to stop clever people betting

#114

Post by paulgb »

timcobb wrote: post #100
paulgb wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> an unrealistic maladaptive cope I like betting myself, but I don't think abstaining from betting is maladaptive at all. Most of the bets we encounter in the real world are negative EV.

What do you like about betting? > Most of the bets we encounter in the real world are negative EV. Yeah that's why I don't like betting. It feels not smart, for me especially. But people who make the right bets can make very large otherwise unrealizable gains.

I like betting because I find it fun to quantify probabilities of future events, and having a ~small amount of money at stake keeps me motivated to follow through on whether I was right.

I do think there are positive EV bets to be had on prediction markets though, they are mosty not efficient.

Re: The battle to stop clever people betting

#115

Post by pama »

ekjhgkejhgk wrote: post #108
pama wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The financial markets are only near-zero sum at the level of large finanical institutions. For everyone else there is a cost per transaction (either a direct fee or your info gets shared with a favored sharkpool first). Limit orders give away information and market orders pay the spread between buy and sell. Not exactly zero sum at a technical level, but definitely much closer to it than casinos.

Financial markets are positive-sum if you measure utility rather than cash. The person you were responding to is just generating garbage.

Agreed on utility

Re: The battle to stop clever people betting

#116

Post by RickJWagner »

BrandoElFollito wrote: post #112
RickJWagner wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right side Christian here. There are much bigger fish to fry at the moment. Gambling does wreck families, though.

What are those fish? And do they interfere in any way with the fish of us atheists? We do not have any fish to fry. We want to live free from opression from the ones that beieve they should turn others to the Truth.

The fish I’m talking about include hungry homeless people, poor people that need clothing, and young people dealing with unexpected pregnancies. There are ministries for all of those here, staffed and funded by churchgoers.

Maybe think about it, see if there are some fish you could pick up.

Re: The battle to stop clever people betting

#117

Post by BrandoElFollito »

RickJWagner wrote: post #116
BrandoElFollito wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What are those fish? And do they interfere in any way with the fish of us atheists? We do not have any fish to fry. We want to live free from opression from the ones that beieve they should turn others to the Truth.

The fish I’m talking about include hungry homeless people, poor people that need clothing, and young people dealing with unexpected pregnancies. There are ministries for all of those here, staffed and funded by churchgoers. Maybe think about it, see if there are some fish you could pick up.

These are not fish specific to religious people.

Helping in these areas is what makes us human. If you need to invoque a deity to explain the action, good for you. The most important part is that help is provided.

Now, unexpected pregnancies is not the strong part of Christianity. When you start to promote teaching about sex and birth control we can talk.

Re: The battle to stop clever people betting

#118

Post by [deleted] »

integralid wrote: post #58
int32_64 wrote: post #47

As the middle class continues to shrink in the West the gambling crisis will only get worse. It has to be understood by older people that for many young people the only way to afford a lifestyle previously achievable in many cities with a basic job is to win the lottery.

Gambling addiction is a pretty certain way to become poor though.

[deleted]

Re: The battle to stop clever people betting

#119

Post by tsoukase »

int32_64 wrote: post #47

As the middle class continues to shrink in the West the gambling crisis will only get worse. It has to be understood by older people that for many young people the only way to afford a lifestyle previously achievable in many cities with a basic job is to win the lottery.

There are two motives for gambling: one is to win but a bigger one is to harm yourself in a quasi suicidal mood. Gambling hides a state of depression.

Re: The battle to stop clever people betting

#120

Post by thrance »

RickJWagner wrote: post #116
BrandoElFollito wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What are those fish? And do they interfere in any way with the fish of us atheists? We do not have any fish to fry. We want to live free from opression from the ones that beieve they should turn others to the Truth.

The fish I’m talking about include hungry homeless people, poor people that need clothing, and young people dealing with unexpected pregnancies. There are ministries for all of those here, staffed and funded by churchgoers. Maybe think about it, see if there are some fish you could pick up.

Surely by now you must have noticed that the Right is completely uninterested in solving these things? Cutting social nets and criminalizing abortions will only aggravate these important issues.

Also, I don't see why caring about the homeless prevents also fighting rampant gambling addictions?

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