undefined
… anyway, @evan polled on something of my interest.
¹I worked previously for FSF & SFLC. I wasn't paid enough to make ends meet in Boston-area/NYC-area (respectively).
Only way I could make ends meet was to play #poker on weekends
It was a *grueling* way to make a living: only job where you show up $3k in your pocket, work the whole day, & leave with $1k in your pocket (on a given day, of course).
I made roughly $25/hr playing poker, but games were easier then for various reasons.
(6/6)
… I do sometimes buy lottery tickets.
e.g., rn #Powerball cash-payout ($826.4 mil) exceeds odds of winning (1 in ≈584mil — note ½ the odds b/c a ticket costs $2). That's a farce b/c odds don't factor in chance of a split btw winners (ie, N people *can* buy the exact same numbers), but while usually a $2 ticket is worth ≤ $1, my back-of-envelope calculation is rn a $2 ticket is “worth” ≈ $1.40 in expected value, so I take the gamble b/c of the NGO donations I could do with that money … (5/6)
… ultimately, @silvermoon82 is totally right that gambling does impact the same brain centers that some substances do & addiction is common.
If you're a pro #poker player or otherwise make a surplus in the gambling industry (which, BTW, includes Wall Street), *you are* the same as a heroin dealer (or, at least, a liquor store owner). I admit I occasionally still play #poker when I'm traveling & have an evening free, but doing it as my primary source of income sounds disgusting to me now … (4/6)
… for me, I eventually got disgusted that, as a pro poker player, I was the “house” for folks who didn't understand math. I was once¹ in a #poker game at Foxwoods casino (in CT, when I lived in MA) circa 2004.
A guy won a pot & he said “Now I have enough to get the diapers.” We all asked him what he meant, & he said: “my wife sent me out to by diapers 3 hrs ago, & I came here instead.” I thought he was lying at the time, but after he lost all his money & left, I realized maybe he wasn't.…(3/6)
…many pro #poker players become investment bankers b/c the principles are the same. Wall Street is, indeed, a casino, where the wealthy have a “house edge”.
Any form of gambling — Wall Street, running a casino, or playing poker — one needs chumps (called “fish” in poker) to show up & play the game w/ no concept that others in the game have an edge over them. The sardonic _Hunger Games_ quote is apt, becuase if you're not from District 1/2, the odds are, of course, *never* in your favor…(2/6)
IMO, @tshirtman's point is key: “investments” are, in fact,gambling.
AFAIK, I'm the only #FOSS geek to spend time¹ as a part-time pro #poker player, so (hopefully clueful) rant follows:
Most who've never gambled for a living don't yet grok (to quote _Hunger Games_) “when the odds are forever in your favor” vs. (what we call) “bad bets”.
Pro gamblers seek games where they're “the favorite”. Lotteries & (most) casino games have a “house edge” & are “bad bets”…(1/6)
@evan Ok, I'm now starting to wonder if #EvanPoll s are designed primarily to just to test ActivityPub polling federation. Is this really a question you wanna see what your followers think (and it's surely obvious how it'll come out, no?) 
Just in case the poll ends up being super serious re: Apple policy, cf this from today:
This reminds me of years ago, @evan posted to status.net (paraphrased): “Hey, everybody, you do realize that our plan to fund each other on a crowd-funding sites for all our work is actually *not* going to work, right?”.
In seriousness, It's fascinating that the key code that $DJT/TMTG added to Mastodon was a standard ad platform.
But I really don't think we need more “Influencers” though, do you?
The fediverse *does not* need a GRWM video of me shaving my head — sponsored by $RAZOR_BRAND!