I'll tell 3 stories.
First a good one from when I was a kid.
One summer a "traveling carnival" came to my city. They've also had a slot machine.
I've studied it for maybe a week. Then, when I basically figured it out, I started playing. I had my strategy and I've got some winnings every day. Of course, the winnings were always spent at the electric cars in the same place
, but it was a great summer that one.
Now a bad one from my 1st year as a student.
I've first seen the "alba-neagra" game. I don't know how to translate the name. It's a clear scam. It's a game with 3 cups and a small object. It may be the game OP wrote about.
The "owner" gang always wins, that's how they spread out the money between them. The object/penny sometimes is in one of the 3 shuffled cups, sometimes is even out.
It's a game you can't win. I've lost my money I've got from my parents for an entire month. I didn't get other money that month and it was quite a tough lesson.
And the last one, on a happier note.
I already had my first job. Then I knew what's gambling about: spend nicely some time.
I had to wait for a train about 1-2h. No smartphone to read/surf back then. So I've put some money into one of those poker machines. It was fun. I didn't feel the time flying. At the end, when they've announced my train, I asked to withdraw. I had exactly the initial amount of money there