How much of your income do you spend on gambling?

Me and my wife have been talking about this lately, I want to take a sizable amount with me on our next vegas trip (about 10% of my annual take-home income)

How does this compare to other people here? Is this being wreckless? (we do vegas once or twice a year)

 

Just checked my 2015 W/L statement. About 1% of gross pay. I was probably ready to risk closer to 4%.

 

Most I've probably risked in a year is about 3%. And that was budgeted daily. Biggest annual loss was about 1.5%, and most of the loss that year came at a local casino, not Vegas.

 

income is only half the picture.

the bigger picture is how much you have in the bank.

if you're living paycheck to paycheck, that's obviously a lot different than someone with tons of savings.

 

Never really thought about it like this. My max bankroll loss would be 4-5%.

Usually, I lose 1/2 my bankroll and seems this works out to be about 2%.

I usually do not take from my general funds, so this percentage is not relevant to me.

60 days before a Vegas departure, I start selling off junk assets, working OT, and skipping local fun nights out.

I

 

That's depends on a lot of variables. Our bankroll is 6% of our take-home pay, but I don't use a percentage to determine our bankroll. It's more about what we are comfortable with possibly losing. We're at a point in life where our incomes have grown and our expenses have shrunk. We lost just over $3k on our last trip, still had fun but would have rather been on the plus side. On the other hand we spent over $4k on one Disney World trip when our son was younger, still had fun.

I just think it's very important you both agree on the amount and life not be ruined if you lose it all.

What can you lose and still feel ok with it?

 

I budget 10% of my yearly income for gambling. (by year end I typically finish around 4-5% lost)
That includes local visits and holidays like Las Vegas.

That being said Gambling is 98% of my entertainment factor as I don't really drink, rarely go to concerts, sporting events, movies, or other things that cost money.
I have sizable savings, $0 debt and very low cost of life as well.

So 10% seems normal to me but if my living expenses started to climb I would scale back my gambling budget to accommodate


It really is more about what you feel comfortable loosing and not impacting your normal lifestyle then a hard percentage

 

10-15% is what I risk, in 2014 I only lost about 3k though, and came out about that much over on 2015. In some ways, being single with no kids adds a lot to discretionary income . In care anyone cares, I make just a bit over 40k, so with just me, I do ok and have plenty to risk gambling. Looking back , my biggest expense is air travel when it comes to vegas.

Edit: I should have mentioned 10-15% per trip. I usually have 5-7k cash to do whatever with, sometimes I end up with more, other times not. Biggest single trip loss was probably 2.5k (ouch)

 

It is less than the discretionary income we have sitting around each month.

 

Income? Like 8-10% a year
But Vegas is my only hobby/vacation of any significant expense

 

0% hehehe

 

Hahahahahaha

 

I make about 4 three day trips a year and take about 1% of my gross income each time. Don't. owe any money on anything and have sufficient assets to live off comfortably but income each month exceeds expenses. Gambling is truly entertainment to me. I don't like to lose but would not miss the loss.

 

This is a great financial situation, congratulations for having it.
However, do you ever feel something is missing from gambling because you wouldn't miss the loss, and therefore aren't experiencing the thrill of "true risk" because a loss WOULD be missed? I'm not advocating that you bet bigger. I'm just thinking back to my student days when I used to risk all of my meager net worth every time I gambled, and how much of a rush that was, compared to now, when I wager much more, but nowhere near all of my net worth.

 

There are times PT when I lose and it hurts and I get the rush... but I can get a rush on a $2 horse bet as well. I suppose I like the win and hate the loss... no matter what I wager.

 

PT, I can see how that could be. however, I am sort of like wanker in that regard. I grew up spending frugally but enjoy the thrill of winning. Winning is kind of like pulling a
high G turn on an opponent and putting myself in proper position for a kill. A primal sense of satisfaction when I win even if it's only a couple of hundred bucks. I also feel like kicking myself at times for losing because I do dumb things.

 

Totally. That is why I find horse racing so intoxicating... being right and wrong is what drives me.

I get excited on slot wins or vp wins or any other non skill based casino game [not saying knowing rules of vp or bj is not skillful or not a skill but different than hold em or handicapping]

I take those losses less hard than in racing. I have been a swearing idiot over a $4 exacta loss when the horse I was considering came in... but not with standard casino games.

 

With the proliferation of gaming pretty much nationwide, this isn't that big of a statement, BUT... I've lived in Nevada since 1982 (24) and have never really spent that much on gambling. I make a very decent income, but I just hate to lose... I hate to lose more than I like to win. I've seen plenty of people who I employed go and cash their pay-check at a casino on Friday and ask for an advance on Monday, cause they blew all or most of it. I've know friends who get really large commission checks monthly, quarterly or whatever go a bender and lose it all.
Now that doesn't mean I'm opposed in any way to gambling... to each his or her own. I do love being in a casino when someone hits something of note (I prefer it even more if it's me or my spouse!) and the excitement they exude, but I just never found it that enticing. I also acknowledge the difference between entertainment gaming (which I sometimes do) and gambling.

 

1% of your gross income? As I stated in a thread I started a while back there is no way I would even go to vegas with 1%. I also think that's great you can go with 1%. I use/take 3x my monthly! Lol. For me it's not what my income each year is but what I have in savings, cash and maybe what's on paper. That would be 2% ish give or take each trip.
Also want to say, looks like most who posted here so far use only half of their BR give out take. To me a Vegas BR is what you are willing to lose. Not stopping half way. Imo only.
I too can't stand losing. It's not just about the money. That's why my last trip was mid September. I finished the year 5-3-0. Up very low 5 figures. For me it's a game. Just want to try and beat vegas. Luckily I did!

 

+1. I also hate to lose more than I enjoy a win. My savings are significantly larger than my BR so my three or so trips to LV per year really doesn't put a lot of financial pressure on me.

Pay Triple raises an interesting hypothesis. I've gambled with scared money before, where if I lost it all I would have been in deep shit, and I really got zero enjoyment out of it, even the wins. With my financial situation now I could lose my entire trip BR and it would definitely be a bummer but it wouldn't be the end of the world.

I honestly get just a big of a thrill if I chalk up a win betting $15 a hand or $100 a hand. For me it is all about winning; I LOVE to win but I HATE to lose more.

Great thread.........