Chances

Losing money is not something I find fun. Years ago my (late) wife, Peggy, and I would—on very rare occasions-visit a casino. By prior agreement, we’d each lose our allotted 25 dollars. I’d get a Bloody Mary and we’d walk around a bit and then head out for some shopping at a nearby (Michigan City, Indiana) outlet mall grabbing a lunch along the way.

In a classic Peggy maneuver, she was once at a conference in Las Vegas when, on the way back to her hotel, she dropped a quarter in a slot machine, pulled the lever and 300 dollars came spilling out. Peggy put the winnings in her purse and went on to bed. Sensible she was.

The Financial Times of London had a story recently which stated the odds of winning the American Mega Millions jackpot. It’s one in 300 million. The story went on to say that that “If Americans comprehended their one in 300 million chance of winning the Mega Millions jackpot, they would never walk to the shoppes to buy a ticket as statistically they would be run over and killed almost a million times before winning.”

At work I’ve used hypnosis successfully to help some people give up their problem gambling. While quitting smoking was a bit of a challenge for me a few decades back, my risk averse temperament is enough to have kept me from any problem with games of chance. Boredom sets in after about 20 minutes in a casino. Images of Jack Benny’s comic frugality start playing in my memory.

Sometimes a gambler will have considerable luck. You’ve probably heard the story of FedEx CEO Fred Smith who, with his company facing a financial crunch, made a stop in Las Vegas and won 27-thousand dollars playing Blackjack, which helped his young company keep going.

I know of a fellow whose girlfriend won 7 million in lottery winnings. Together they bought a Lincoln Continental, and a truck. The rest was burned through in short order mostly at casinos. Had they invested that conservatively, it would have provided them 350-thousand in annual revenue forever.

Here in Indiana the Hoosier Lottery generates around 1.7 billion dollars annually from ticket sales. Convenience stores do a brisk business.

Caution advised.