[WalterBright]

Yah, failure to understand statistics is a big risk financially.

I remember a rich man interviewed on TV who said he got his start making money in high school by running gambling games. He understood statistics while the other kids did not, and although the game was fair, he cleaned up regularly.

Take a walk through a Vegas casino, and you'll see legions of people who do not understand statistics and pay a heavy price for that.

[pirocks]

> you'll see legions of people who do not understand statistics and pay a heavy price for that.

At the risk of stating the obvious, and not adding to the conversation, I think we all know that people putting their life savings into slot machines aren't doing so because they don't understand expected value. They may or may not understand that they are going to lose all their money, but they are gambling because they are addicted/have some kind of mental health problem. Knowledge of statistics doesn't really affect things for problem gambling.

As for those putting modest amounts of money into gambling, most of them will tell you that card games/etc. are fun, and are therefore worth it.

[WalterBright]

Many of these people claim to have a "system" which will enable them to win. I've talked with some of them. None of them I've spoken to had money. Coincidence?

Watch people at the slots. Do they look like they're having fun? Not to me.

Personally, I've gambled a few times. Lost money. I don't like losing money, it is not entertaining to me in the slightest.

Tell me about people who play the lottery, picking their "lucky numbers". It's sad.

[pirocks]

> Many of these people claim to have a "system" which will enable them to win. I've talked with some of them. None of them I've spoken to had money. Coincidence?

The original thread was about how statistics education will not cause people of gambling. Of course people almost always lose money gambling, except for very rare exceptions, but that doesn't really have anything to do with my point that people spending meaningful amounts of money on gambling are addicted. Addicts aren't going to just tell you that they gamble, because they are addicted(maybe some will but not in general).

> Personally, I've gambled a few times. Lost money. I don't like losing money, it is not entertaining to me in the slightest.

Some people could probably say the same thing about video games, but nobody disputes that some people enjoy video games.

[mhh__]

Blackjack can be beaten (i.e. Ed Thorpe)

Or are these "systems" for slots?

[WalterBright]

I read Thorpe's book. Vegas changed they way they operated to defeat it.