Men v Women

[Cardinal Sin]

Britain loves gambling. Everyone on this board likes gambling in some form. But can someone answer me the following:

Women love to toddle off to the bingo and buy expensive bingo books, play cash and prize bingo and put their money in Bar X-type machines which require as little thought as farting.

Men, on the other hand, like their AWPs, SWPs, horse-racing and football, not to mention casino betting such as blackjack and poker. All these require at least a modicum of knowledge, and some people (mostly guys) regularly make money in their chosen discipline.

I realise I'm using broad stereotypes, but why is it that men prefer "skill-based" gambling, whereas Dorises go for the "no skill required" variety?. Is it because men are smarter than women? Or do birds realise that since they're probably going to lose anyway, they might as well do it in the company of other birds?

[blackmogu]

women are the worst for rowing fruits.. not in pubs particularly, but in casinos, and bingo halls, 99/100 times, it will be a woman rowing that big JP fruit. I think they like to feel special when they win big, regardless of the cost. When I was hitting Galas hard for the rios, i'd get to know the regulars, and they'd get to dislike me, because of my magnets affecting the reels etc.. and they never failed once to let me know if they beat me to a JP (with a smug grin), even if it cost them 1000+. You really have to wonder at peoples intelligence levels sometimes.

[MILTON]

Men, on the other hand, like their AWPs, SWPs, horse-racing and football, not to mention casino betting such as blackjack and poker. All these require at least a modicum of knowledge, and some people (mostly guys) regularly make money in their chosen discipline.

And even when women do play the quizzers, they go for Spot the Difference, Solitaire or Celebrity Snap!

Is it because men are smarter than women?

*tries to whistle while looking to the skies*

[jeffvickers]

Have you also noticed, if you do see 2 women playing an AWP, they tend to be a lesbian couple

[Scott]

Have you also noticed, if you do see 2 women playing an AWP, they tend to be a lesbian couple

yep!

[theoak]

I read a psychological analysis of this once, apparently it is the thought behind why people continue to gamble espite losing in the long run; men believe they can 'beat the machine' ie: out smart it; hence going for games that require some thought.

Women are more inclined to believe they have an unseen 'power' (probably better called 'luck') that will enable them to beat the machines and thus would go for the machines that they see as requiring the highest amount of percieved luck.

[jeffvickers]

Have you also noticed, if you do see 2 women playing an AWP, they tend to be a lesbian couple

yep!

And they will play till their money has gone!

[Scott]

had too wait for a couple on a p5 the other day, they done every coin on them, then had a score from the cash point in the pub and done that in about 3 minutes too, they did'nt look pleased.

[Cardinal Sin]

[quote="theoak"]I read a psychological analysis of this once, apparently it is the thought behind why people continue to gamble espite losing in the long run]

I read an article by a Prof Wiseman about the psychology of luck. He basically wanted to find out why some people are lucky - whilst others aren't. It isn't, as you might expect, "just down to luck".

He interviewed a number of subjects (half who perceived themselves as lucky, the other half unlucky) and tried to find a common trait of lucky and unlucky people. One of the major factors seemed to be the number of people that the subjects knew. The people who had more acquaintances generally felt themselves to be luckier.... this is certainly true for me. I got a new job the other day by virtue of the fact that I found out about it from a friend of a friend.

You can read the article here: http://www.richardwiseman.com/research/ ... yluck.html

Related to AWPs, would most people here consider themselves lucky or unlucky? As someone who reads most of the posts, I would say the general consensus would be unlucky. Could this be because playing fruit machines is generally a pretty solitary experience? Or am I just talking complete and utter bollocks?

[QuizMaster]

Most people in my experience tend to consider themselves unlucky. This is down to 2 major factors:

1. Bad luck is far more memorable than good luck. Everybody remembers the last minute goal that lost them a football accumulator but few remember the last minute goal that won them one.

2. When people are fortunate, they perceive that is down to their prudent decision making (i.e in the above case it is because they were shrewd in picking certain teams to win. Bad luck tends to encourage an attitude of 'the world is against me'

Nowhere is this more evident than in Poker - everybody has a bad beat story they can recount. Few can recall a 'good beat' story - yet statistically you will have the same amount of both

Ask yourself this: How many car crashes/accidents have you had?

Then ask yourself how many times you have had a near miss/last minute braking or seen a motorway smash.

I would wager that you remember more of the former than the latter.

[theoak]

I disagree with that really, I think quite the opposite really, gambling RELIES on poeple 'remembering the good times and forgetting the bad'. people play on because the machine 'did this once' failing to remember the 78 times it didnt do it.

[Dunhamzzz]

Good analogy quizmaster.

Good play on AWPs, which a lot of the time is down to luck, you would actually call it "skill*, as you had some control over it, and everyone likes to feel that if they know waht they're donig, it was their own actions which brought it on.

However, bad play by an awp (ie its not spinning you the right numbers/reel setups etc) you would consider bad luck and not exactly anything bad on your part because there was nothing you could do about it, however there wasn't exactly much you could do in the first example

[Cardinal Sin]

I disagree with that really, I think quite the opposite really, gambling RELIES on poeple 'remembering the good times and forgetting the bad'. people play on because the machine 'did this once' failing to remember the 78 times it didnt do it.

Yes, but to be honest, I think most of us are gamblers because the very first time we played a machine, we were lucky.

[Matt Vinyl]

Interesting thread, and I think the Cardinal, for his sins (bad joke) hit the nail on the head there with that last post. I'd guess that the majority of us on here can remember our very first 'win' on a machine, but not perhaps our first loss...

My first win was on a £10JP 'Cash Bowl' (ACE). I worked in a Beefeater restaraunt, and had just finished my shift and had made £5 in tips (I was only laying tables at this time, so a fiver was good enough for me!) I'd seen the flashing light machine in the bar area for months now, and often heard coinage seemingly falling out the bottom of it. So I popped a pound in, my chum from behind the bar literally 'appeared' beside me, pressed a few buttons and won me £8. The start of a topsy-turvy 10 years so far!

Anyway, I digress...

[Dunhamzzz]

Mine was an IM on Barmy Army in a bookies with Crosby, YOU BASTARD CROZ