I Just Can't Lose!

[daddybo]

If you want a moral dilemma consider this. One of the ten commandments says, "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's goods." Who is your neighbor? Is the casino your neighbor? I think so. Isn't the very motive in playing blackjack greed? Maybe not the overpowering greed of wall street tycoons, but isn't it our desire to acquire money? Not many are doing it solely to see if they can win without regard to the profit aspect. We want money. It is someone else's money at the time. They display it in front of us at every table in the form of house chips. They want us to covet what they have. They want us to break the commandment. It may be a small thing, since both parties are consensual in the matter, but coveting is coveting. Maybe it would be better if we decided to be satisfied with what we have. Then, no life savings would be lost. No such tragedies would occur. Arguably, the world would be a better place.

Actually Aslan, the higher up the AP tree you go... it's only about money because that's the means by which the score is kept.. not greed at all. Just a very strong desire for results. (IMHO)

 

[Deathangl13]

One of the ten commandments says, "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's goods."

Then there'd be no economy.... :grin:

Isn't the very motive in playing blackjack greed? Maybe not the overpowering greed of wall street tycoons, but isn't it our desire to acquire money?

Greed is the precursor to ambition... ambition is the precursor to productivity... :devil:

 

[Deathangl13]

One of the ten commandments says, "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's goods."

I think it was "thy neighbors wife" wasn't it? And even that is a matter of opinion...

 

[aslan]

Actually Aslan, the higher up the AP tree you go... it's only about money because that's the means by which the score is kept.. not greed at all. Just a very strong desire for results. (IMHO)

And naturally the AP gives all the money won to charity. I can buy that. :laugh:

 

[daddybo]

And naturally the AP gives all the money won to charity. I can buy that. :laugh:

Your supposed to keep it? :laugh::laugh:

 

[sagefr0g]

If you want a moral dilemma consider this. One of the ten commandments says, "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's goods." Who is your neighbor? Is the casino your neighbor? I think so. Isn't the very motive in playing blackjack greed? Maybe not the overpowering greed of wall street tycoons, but isn't it our desire to acquire money? Not many are doing it solely to see if they can win without regard to the profit aspect. We want money. It is someone else's money at the time. They display it in front of us at every table in the form of house chips. They want us to covet what they have. They want us to break the commandment. It may be a small thing, since both parties are consensual in the matter, but coveting is coveting. Maybe it would be better if we decided to be satisfied with what we have. Then, no life savings would be lost. No such tragedies would occur. Arguably, the world would be a better place.

yeah i see your point.
and for me it probably was that way at first. i mean i gotta admitt i'm fascinated with casinos cause i see all that money flowing. i mean heck, i started out messing with casinos just a slock playing slots.
thing is for me now, it's more like the money, mine and the casinos is there, big deal. but it's the contest, who is gonna win that really nourishes my soul, much more so than the money. the money is just icing on the cake, lol. i like it and i want it, but really at this point, mainly i don't want to lose my money and mainly i want to beat the snot out of the house. if that happens, if i beat them at their game (and i could care less if it's by luck or skill), their money becomes my money, so i don't need to worry about coveting it. and i don't harbor any ill will against the house or the employees of the house. it's the higher ups that i want to get to, the ones that know darn well the sham they represent and offer up to the public. to beat that is just as good as money to me, or almost as good, lmao.

 

[aslan]

I think it was "thy neighbors wife" wasn't it? And even that is a matter of opinion...

That is the ninth commandment. The tenth commandment is, "Thou shalt not cover thy neighbor's goods." Of course it is talking about wanting to take his goods wrongfully, but the casino is offering its goods legally; all we have to do is overcome the house edge. lol But it also means that we should be content with what we have.

 

[aslan]

yeah i see your point.
and for me it probably was that way at first. i mean i gotta admitt i'm fascinated with casinos cause i see all that money flowing. i mean heck, i started out messing with casinos just a slock playing slots.
thing is for me now, it's more like the money, mine and the casinos is there, big deal. but it's the contest, who is gonna win that really nourishes my soul, much more so than the money. the money is just icing on the cake, lol. i like it and i want it, but really at this point, mainly i don't want to lose my money and mainly i want to beat the snot out of the house. if that happens, if i beat them at their game (and i could care less if it's by luck or skill), their money becomes my money, so i don't need to worry about coveting it. and i don't harbor any ill will against the house or the employees of the house. it's the higher ups that i want to get to, the ones that know darn well the sham they represent and offer up to the public. to beat that is just as good as money to me, or almost as good, lmao.

Methinks the simple frog I once knew is becoming a complicated, complex creature defying simple analysis. What ever happened to love thy neighbor?

But the command really means to not want to take your neighbor's goods in a wrongful manner. In this case the casino is inviting to to take its goods All you have to do is overcome their measly little edge...sucker. lol I think the command also means we should be content with what we already have. So just give the incidental gains to charity. Dilemma solved. Or is it?

 

[sagefr0g]

Methinks the simple frog I once knew is becoming a complicated, complex creature defying simple analysis. What ever happened to love thy neighbor?
...

tough love is sometimes necessary.:devil::whip:
and fun.
and profitable.

 

[aslan]

Then there'd be no economy.... :grin:




Greed is the precursor to ambition... ambition is the precursor to productivity... :devil:

Gambling is win lose. The economy is win win. I contribute my skills and labor and receive compensation in return. Meanwhile, my skills and labors help contribute goods and services for the marketplace and both stockholders and consumers benefit. It is possible for all to thrive. Even competing businesses can claim a share of the overall pie. Desire for reward is not necessarily greed. Excessive desire is greed. Market failings are usually the result of excesses--ie, greed. Maybe, a simplistic way of putting it, but contains a kernel of truth I believe.

 

[Meistro]

There is no such thing as a market failure. Generally what are dubbed market failures are actually the failure of the state. Greed is a good thing, so long as it is not coupled with violence or coercion. You are right though - the economy is a positive sum game. Gambling is generally a negative sum game. Well poker is anyway. Blackjack might not be, it's just rigged against you.

 

[UK-21]

Greed is a good thing . . .

Is your real name Gordon Gecko ?

 

[aslan]

There is no such thing as a market failure. Generally what are dubbed market failures are actually the failure of the state. Greed is a good thing, so long as it is not coupled with violence or coercion. You are right though - the economy is a positive sum game. Gambling is generally a negative sum game. Well poker is anyway. Blackjack might not be, it's just rigged against you.

I understand the sense in which you are using the term greed, and I fully agree. I was using it in the sense of resulting in such excesses as bribing Congressmen to pass laws or create regulatory pressures that cause market excesses, such as, permitting mortgages without adequate consumer qualifications, or criminal acts, such as, falsely rating worthless derivatives as triple A. I guess you might say there is good greed, that is, profit maximization, and there is bad greed, that is, corrupting and criminal behavior. Enron is another good example of how greed can be a bad force in the marketplace, leading to "creative" accounting practices.

 

[Machinist]

Fine Line

Ooooohhh such a fine line we are walking on. Religion, politics, morals, LOL
I was raised with that Catholic up bringing , and also lived amongst the Mormons in Utah for 7 years. Both have come to the conclusion that a 10% tything (sp) will help you get to the promised land.. Well maybe not exactly that explanation of why the 10% , but all of ya all know what i am talking about. LOL
In my growing years my father paraded us, all 7 of us into church every Sunday, and as i got older i saw it definitely was a money making scheme. Networking at its finest.
All the business men, the movers and shakers, rubbing elbows together, each trying to use the other to make their living.:whip::whip: The Mormons the same type of deal, except they are structured much nicer to make the system work.
Never liked any of that stuff, after figuring out what was really going on. Hell i got a bill from the Church one day in the mail saying i hadn't given to the church what was normally accepted as normal?????? Huh, make sense????
Now i just help people in my own way, don't need no organized religion for that.
In conclusion if i have found a way to beat the SCUM BAGS at their own game then if i give 10% to a church i should be covered, right???
Just wondering on the, Satisfaction Part of Screwing a Casino, what kind of satisfaction do you all get from that compared to the money made? For me its about 50/50. At times its 100% for the screwing , getting over, part.
Now the greed part, well i don't have a dozen girlfriends, i don't throw parties, no jet airplane, just a farm boy that wants a farm to retire on and watch some cows grow.
Real nice interesting conversation going here all!!! Be carefull, cause this is one hell of a cocktail being brewed here.......politics, religion, casinos, money, greed

Take Care all

Machinist

 

[creeping panther]

Machinist

Ooooohhh such a fine line we are walking on. Religion, politics, morals, LOL
I was raised with that Catholic up bringing , and also lived amongst the Mormons in Utah for 7 years. Both have come to the conclusion that a 10% tything (sp) will help you get to the promised land.. Well maybe not exactly that explanation of why the 10% , but all of ya all know what i am talking about. LOL
In my growing years my father paraded us, all 7 of us into church every Sunday, and as i got older i saw it definitely was a money making scheme. Networking at its finest.
All the business men, the movers and shakers, rubbing elbows together, each trying to use the other to make their living.:whip::whip: The Mormons the same type of deal, except they are structured much nicer to make the system work.
Never liked any of that stuff, after figuring out what was really going on. Hell i got a bill from the Church one day in the mail saying i hadn't given to the church what was normally accepted as normal?????? Huh, make sense????
Now i just help people in my own way, don't need no organized religion for that.
In conclusion if i have found a way to beat the SCUM BAGS at their own game then if i give 10% to a church i should be covered, right???
Just wondering on the, Satisfaction Part of Screwing a Casino, what kind of satisfaction do you all get from that compared to the money made? For me its about 50/50. At times its 100% for the screwing , getting over, part.
Now the greed part, well i don't have a dozen girlfriends, i don't throw parties, no jet airplane, just a farm boy that wants a farm to retire on and watch some cows grow.
Real nice interesting conversation going here all!!! Be carefull, cause this is one hell of a cocktail being brewed here.......politics, religion, casinos, money, greed

Take Care all

Machinist

Very good and right on. or is that write on?????

CP

 

[Meistro]

I am glad we are mostly on the same page aslan, and perhaps it was unwise of me to be so confrontational in my post. I'm a bit of a loudmouth when it comes to my political beliefs

 

[Deathangl13]

I was raised with that Catholic up bringing , and also lived amongst the Mormons in Utah for 7 years. Both have come to the conclusion that a 10% tything (sp) will help you get to the promised land...

Catholics have no mandatory "tithing" as with Protestant religions. There are Parrish donations that are redistributed to the poor of the Parrish... Growing up, I remember the sisters bringing us all kinds of food donations in big boxes for years. While I am no longer a practicing Catholic, I learned a lot about this ancient religion as an apologist. My personal hang ups with religion have more to do with man, than Yeshua and their aligning themselves with government. Fundamentalist right wing politicians forcing their moral opinions on the people. Morals are a matter of opinion that shouldn't be imposed on otherwise harmless people.

 

[aslan]

Ooooohhh such a fine line we are walking on. Religion, politics, morals, LOL
I was raised with that Catholic up bringing , and also lived amongst the Mormons in Utah for 7 years. Both have come to the conclusion that a 10% tything (sp) will help you get to the promised land.. Well maybe not exactly that explanation of why the 10% , but all of ya all know what i am talking about. LOL
In my growing years my father paraded us, all 7 of us into church every Sunday, and as i got older i saw it definitely was a money making scheme. Networking at its finest.
All the business men, the movers and shakers, rubbing elbows together, each trying to use the other to make their living.:whip::whip: The Mormons the same type of deal, except they are structured much nicer to make the system work.
Never liked any of that stuff, after figuring out what was really going on. Hell i got a bill from the Church one day in the mail saying i hadn't given to the church what was normally accepted as normal?????? Huh, make sense????
Now i just help people in my own way, don't need no organized religion for that.
In conclusion if i have found a way to beat the SCUM BAGS at their own game then if i give 10% to a church i should be covered, right???
Just wondering on the, Satisfaction Part of Screwing a Casino, what kind of satisfaction do you all get from that compared to the money made? For me its about 50/50. At times its 100% for the screwing , getting over, part.
Now the greed part, well i don't have a dozen girlfriends, i don't throw parties, no jet airplane, just a farm boy that wants a farm to retire on and watch some cows grow.
Real nice interesting conversation going here all!!! Be carefull, cause this is one hell of a cocktail being brewed here.......politics, religion, casinos, money, greed

Take Care all

Machinist

I guess the spiritual was never where you heart was to begin with. Good for you for getting out and being true to yourself. Hang on to that money.

 

[Deathangl13]

All the business men, the movers and shakers, rubbing elbows together, each trying to use the other to make their living.

That is also what I mean by aligning themselves.... In any religion, Catholics included, the state and it's practices are considered the enemy. Be in the world, not of it. Yeshua did not align himself with "government" but instead rebelled against it. When Pilate said he had the power to set him free, Yeshua interrupted, "You have no power over me except that which is given from above..." He clearly didn't see them as any legitimate form of authority, and neither do I. I take it one step further by saying you have no power over me, except that which I give you.... At any point we are free to stand our ground. I am my own government, I am no citizen, I am no friend of this world....

Ghost


Just wondering on the, Satisfaction Part of Screwing a Casino, what kind of satisfaction do you all get from that compared to the money made? For me its about 50/50. At times its 100% for the screwing , getting over, part.
[/QUOTE]

 

[21gunsalute]

Catholics have no mandatory "tithing" as with Protestant religions. There are Parrish donations that are redistributed to the poor of the Parrish... Growing up, I remember the sisters bringing us all kinds of food donations in big boxes for years. While I am no longer a practicing Catholic, I learned a lot about this ancient religion as an apologist. My personal hang ups with religion have more to do with man, than Yeshua and their aligning themselves with government. Fundamentalist right wing politicians forcing their moral opinions on the people. Morals are a matter of opinion that shouldn't be imposed on otherwise harmless people.

I think you have that backwards. I know of no protestant denomination that requires tithing (although it is certainly suggested), but at least around here, the Catholic churches require you to tithe 15% to be a member.