I spent a month in Vegas years ago working on a project at CENTEL of Nevada. I stayed in the Golden Nugget on the old strip. I had a lot of time to kill in the evenings. I walked around a lot, observed and played some. I found one place that had nickel slots and served Coors in a bottle for players. I usually went there after work and bought one roll of nickels and could nurse them until I had finished my 3-4 beer happy hour. I even won a bucket or two full of nickels.
Mostly, I observed. I saw a lot of really sad souls gambling every penny they could panhandle. When I read “professional gambler”, I see these people. I don’t even think winning can make a real gambler happy over a long period of time. It’s quite depressing in reality.
I think there a small number of “professional” gamblers who are math geniuses and also have complete control of their emotions. That rare type can be successful at it. Though personally, I’m convinced that you pretty much have to be on the Spectrum to make it work, because any emotion is crippling.
The vast majority of people get addicted to the rush of it. Artie Lange tells a funny story about watching football with a friend who got bored. He asked the friend, “how much do you have in your bank account.” The friend said, “$1000.00.” Artie says, “Bet $1100 on the game. It will be more exciting than the Super Bowl.”
That’s gambling addiction in a nutshell. You want the rush that comes with the possibility of losing everything.