That's clever and so true, it is like funneling your money into a coal chamber. Such a waste you can throw everything at it and never win your odds are so small even id you add everthing you eve made in your entire life time not even that amount will give you a decent chance. I don't know why some gamblers would consider gambling entertainment I think they fooling themselves and just use "entertainment expense" as an excuse to justify their losses to themselves. Really they just want to win like there rest of us.
Haha, yeah It's like burning your money except the money is not destroyed, the house keeps it. Oh, and it's a lot more fun to lose money gambling than it is to toss it into a fire (or so I assume).
But you don't need a lot of money to have a "decent chance", that's part of why people (myself included) gamble... it's the allure of winning big with a small bet. Will you win big with a small bet? Probably not, but it's certainly possible, it's happened before and will happen again. People do hit it big on the gambling sites.
So here's one more thing to remember... the house wins over the LONG TERM, the odds always average out in the house's favor. So if you play for the short term it is possible to win big but if you keep playing, odds (and math) say that you will end up with less than you started.
As for the "entertainment expense", I agree with you and disagree at the same time. Sure, lots of people use excuses to justify gambling losses, but if you're using excuses when losing, step back and stop for a while... there's likely a bigger issue.
For the casual weekend gambler, the cost/loss is just another "night out". We'd spend the same amount of money going to dinner and a movie as going out gambling. Sometimes we'll pick a movie, sometimes gambling. Sure, we want to win but the main purpose here is getting out and doing something when you're bored. So yeah, some people use excuses but some actually do gamble just because it's fun and different.
Futurebit640... yes, I agree, the house doesn't always win. When people win big, it is the house that loses. And yes, greed plays a factor here because most people who win big turn around and gamble MORE and lose their winnings... so even when the house loses, they still win because most people will keep playing and lose what they won. It is very difficult to cash out and walk away with a big win, those who can do that are winners in more way than one.