A friend drove with me to a casino yesterday for lunch (on a voucher) and to watch me use my $660 of free play. We left the casino with our stomachs full and I had $605 which I cashed out from the free play.

On the ride home we discussed these various free play offers. My friend is not a gambler. When I mentioned to him that I sometimes get daily offers worth $140 of free play he said "you wouldn't drive here for that, would you?" And I responded "not if it is just $140 of free play. But if I was guaranteed to win $100 after expenses for gas and driving then yes I would make the drive."

We then got into a discussion about the value of money and time.

One of the things I pointed out is that many people in America spend eight hours a day plus commuting to earn $100 before or after taxes.

And if I had nothing else to do, I would gladly spend a total of about 4 hours in a car for an enjoyable ride to spend 15 minutes in a casino if I were GUARANTEED to walk out with $100.

The operative concern here is that I had nothing else to do. Obviously work comes first as does family, scheduled events, doctors visits, even chores like grocery shopping or running to the dry cleaner.

But is there anything objectionable for spending idle time (recreation time) getting in the car for a nice drive to use $140 of free play if you were GUARANTEED to walk out with $100 ??

(What I am saying here is that it makes no sense to drive to a casino and spend gas, wear and tear on the car, etc NOT to walk out with some money.)

I raise this because in another thread Rob wrote:

Originally Posted by Rob.Singer View Post
the only thing that matters is if you walked with your profit.
And one of the things I mentioned to my friend (who criticized me for getting excited over the prospect of winning $100) is that winning $100 from a casino is actually worth more than $100 for someone who is familiar with casino gambling.