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PaperclipPerfector  1yr ago (text post)   3329 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for November 10, 2023

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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Yeah, losing $5K gambling and having it actually sting is basically a sign that someone is just a complete fuckup. Really, that's true of any sum of money. Gambling is fine and losing a decent bit can be a funny story, but betting money you can't afford to lose just means you're a degenerate loser. I lost $800 on a day of football bets and was irritated, but not genuinely upset. I watched a buddy roll up to the $100 blackjack table at Caesar's, go up $2K, then proceed to lose that and the $1K he walked up with in the first place. That one stung a little because he could have walked and bought us steaks - what an asshole!

I have a hard time picturing chance financial losses that genuinely damage people's lives that are generally well-arranged, because deliberate exposure to excessive risk is just a stupid thing to do. That said, I would feel great empathy for anyone who had their business collapse, even if it was a small business and their business plan didn't seem all that great to me. I suppose that's generally going to mean at least a six-figure loss, but at the end of the day, it's more about the loss of labor, pride, and self-worth. For the standard W-2 guy, I have a tough time figuring out why they don't just not spend more than they make.

Really, that's true of any sum of money. Gambling is fine and losing a decent bit can be a funny story, but betting money you can't afford to lose just means you're a degenerate loser.

Where I disagree, or maybe I'm just making a different point, is that at a large enough sum of money the story becomes interesting to me. Obviously the gambler that loses a fortune is more degenerate than the gambler that loses a small amount, but I'm more interested in the story of how it happened. Take the film The Donut King, where (spoilers for a documentary) the Cambodian refugee protagonist comes to America penniless, builds an empire of donut shops, makes millions, only to gamble it all away in Vegas, leaving his family destitute. That's obviously worse in every way than losing $5k on online slots, but it's interesting, it's a great topic for a documentary (Highly recommend the movie, actually, the guy lived at least three fascinating stories in one).

Oh, sure, I'm not saying that degenerate losers are necessarily boring.

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