Tag: gambling

Chicken, part III – and oversharing [01/13/2011]

[I was working on this at 10:51 AM on a Thursday.  I have no idea why I was doing so much analysis over a $2 differential and then take a hard left turn into talking about why I can’t gamble.  It was apparently in relation to these two posts kinda about playing chicken with merchandise?]

The price for Doctor Who Series 5 has dropped to $34.58.  That’s basically another $2 off because I’m procrastinating.  Just click on the other sellers, then pick the top one.

So, do I wait for an EVEN LOWER PRICE?  Do I pull the trigger now???  What if the price starts to go up???

This must be what gambling feels like.

I can’t gamble.  Well, I CAN, but I don’t.  Generally don’t.  Look, that’s not the point.

Here’s the point – I find it extremely stressful.

Here’s why – the moment I put my money on the table I’m actually DOWN.  That’s not my money, that’s a wager, or, in slightly more neutral terms – an investment or a potential.  The important point, though, is that it’s not mine any more.  I’m actually out that money and I’ve received a little bit of chance in exchange.

Given that the odds are always in favor of the house, I have to be lucky to break even.  That means not only do I have an “investment” in lieu of my money, but chances are better than even I’m about to lose my money!

Now, under most circumstances the amount of my wager has no bearing the chances of success.  I realize that higher denomination slot machines are supposed to have better “returns,” but those differences are relatively slight.

Drafts Zero - The Lost Blog Posts
  1. Misnamer [11/28/2010]
  2. The Lost Blog Posts
  3. Plastruder! [Draft 12/25/2009]
  4. UNTITLED [Draft 12/25/2009]
  5. Preparing to print [Draft 12/27/2009]
  6. More prints [Draft 01/04/2010]
  7. Prototype Pricing [Draft 01/19/2010]
  8. MakerBot tuning [Draft 01/20/2010]
  9. Plastic Screw Anchor [Draft 02/02/2010]
  10. Magic [Draft 02/03/2010]
  11. How are you printing with PLA? [Draft 02/16/2010]
  12. Rebuilding my extruder [Draft 02/16/2010]
  13. MY robot [Draft 02/18/2010]
  14. more things i learned [Draft 02/20/2010]
  15. First commissioned piece! [Draft 02/22/2010]
  16. MakerBot: Toy or Tool? [02/25/2010]
  17. Idea for Skeinforge settings… [Draft 03/27/2010]
  18. RepRap and MakerBot alternatives [Draft 04/05/2010]
  19. RepRap Parts for Sale [Draft 04/07/2010]
  20. Where is the Othercutter? [Draft 06/08/2015]
  21. Mendel Parts – Printed, Cast, CNC’d, Lasercut or Injection Molded? [Draft 04/12/2010]
  22. MakerBot Operator’s Manual [06/04/20210]
  23. MakerBot on CBS! [07/07/2010]
  24. New Print: Soft-Pawed Albino Stoat of South Wales Cookie Cutter [07/07/2010]
  25. House calls [07/11/2010]
  26. Digital assistant? [08/05/2010]
  27. MakerBot + Junk = Stuff! [08/06/2010]
  28. Design choices in RepRap, Goals of RepRap [08/14/2010]
  29. Upgrades and obsolescence [08/25/2010]
  30. Dear Anonymous [08/25/2010]
  31. The ultimate in customer service [08/26/2010]
  32. Open Source Makes You Smarter [08/27/2010]
  33. Getting my Plastruder MK5 running [09/06/2010]
  34. Weird new kind of spam [09/19/2010]
  35. An open letter to Ms. Word [10/18/2010]
  36. Printing with PLA again! [10/18/2010]
  37. Halloween costume too [10/27/2010]
  38. Dream jobs [10/29/2010]
  39. The nuances of time travel [10/31/2010]
  40. Printed Pink Panther Person [11/22/2010]
  41. Skein them all and let ‘Bot sort them all out [11/24/2010]
  42. The Patents for disc shooters [12/10/2010]
  43. Princess Bride with Lightsabers [12/13/2010]
  44. Dilbert comic [12/13/2010]
  45. Ultimachine PLA review [12/15/2010]
  46. Mendel to the power of 101 [12/21/2010]
  47. Potential improvements for Leonardo Voltron [12/27/20210]
  48. You can keep your filthy money [12/28/2010]
  49. I watched Primer the other night [12/30/2010]
  50. 10 Printing Predictions for 2011 [01/03/2011]
  51. I’d rather be making [01/04/2011]
  52. Best use for the MakerBot Unicorn? [01/04/2011]
  53. There’s just something profoundly meta and wrong with this. [01/05/2011]
  54. MK4 plastruder parts for sale [01/10/2011]
  55. Phone conferences… [01/10/2011]
  56. ADD? [01/12/2011]
  57. Chicken, part III – and oversharing [01/13/2011]
  58. Plastruder re-build [01/17/2011]

Why I am not a gambler

SMBC Comic
SMBC Comic

See, I’m not a gambler.  For any amount that I’d feel comfortable wagering, it would literally just be easier and take less time for to work a few extra hours.  I recognize that if you’re an actual mathematician you could basically assure yourself of coming out ahead, but I’m just not interested in investing the time of time and resources to assuring myself of a successful gambling attempt.  Again, it would be easier and less time consuming to just work a few extra hours rather than figuring out how to game a system.

In any case, anyone who enjoys gambling would probably tell you it’s the uncertainty, the rush, the thrill of gambling that they enjoy.  If you offered them a way to increase their odds through strict mathematical approaches, they’d probably reject it.  I am not able to enjoy it at all.  I find gambling very stressful.  The moment you put your money on the table, you’re already down and you’re hoping to break even or come out ahead from that point forward.

This is the long way of saying that you’ve got to love entrepreneurial spirit of the guys who’ve figured out how to game the Massachusetts lottery system…

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