Haha, so do I. 2D platformers/fighters and boxing games for me.
Pfft, card counting has been hobbled down to (almost) nothing with the new card-shuffling machines. Ironically, back when they had to shuffle by hand (when card-counting REALLY worked), I was a young dumb impulsive player who didn't even know Basic Strategy. Luckily I had a small window of time when it all came together before they did away with manual shuffling forever (NB. High-Rollers Blackjack tables have manual shuffling AND only one deck [I had EIGHT decks in the Hoi Polloi section to count, hence the white hairs and intense headaches]!!)
I know about the societal harms: I come from a line of degenerate gamblers (grandmother got so into pokies she did a No. 1 on her chair [involuntary or not, I did not dare ask], mother used to come to me to 'borrow' money to buy groceries after blowing all her money on pokies (not great for a kid on Austudy. Instead of buying textbooks, I used to go to the library to try to 'memorise' them) - hence never played a pokie in my life (also feeds into the 'self mastery' aspect you're talking about). Among many other reasons, I go to the casino now to (try to) prove that I can overcome my genetic flaws and to thumb my nose at the casino. Fool's Errand? Hah, probably, the jury's still out.
I'm so muddled up, like the Chicken or the Egg, I don't even remember which came first - the markets or the gambling - but there's a great passage from Darvas (man, I really have to stop procrastinating and unpack my books) in 'How I Made $2mn in the Stock Market' along the lines of:
"Why am I in the markets? Where else can you get the returns of gambling without the crippling odds of gambling? To be able to bet $100 on a horse and witness as it turns the furlong, if it's weakening - to be able to say to the bookie, "I cancel my bet, give me my $80 back". If it wins, you get your $100 back and $400 more"
GoldenEye 64 aye? Loved it (and the locational reactions of the baddies who were shot, nicely followed up in the original 'Medal of Honor' game, oh man, when they picked up the grenade to throw back at you but failed in a split-second, hilarious!). I was so crap at that game I never got through the Missile section [sad face]
Nup, not been following ISX nor any non-held stock, been sick as a dog for days - bone pain, swollen gums, the whole works - first sign of ambulatory wellness, got myself down to the city for some porky ramen goodness then another dose of piggy power, big pork chop at da gambling house.
Lookit the time, time to TILT → have a looksee over at some Uplifting News.
