OK, I worked in casinos from 1977 until 1998.

At first, it's fun, but it's nothing like the public thinks it is. People think, "Wow, you get paid to play" and that isn't even close to the real thing.  

You learn a lot about people, you see them at their best, and at their worst, too often at their worst, losing money really brings out the Jekyll and Hyde in people.

Most people do not play to win, they just play to play (they're called "stayers, not players", came to stay, not to play).

I'll expound on all this later, but for right now want to say that anyone who plays, loses money, and then plays because they want their money back had no business playing in the first place.

I saw a whole lot of people blow paychecks chasing hot rolls of dice or streaks on a 21 table that never came. When video poker came out, it was like a money vacuum, literally. In fact a counselor in Vegas called video poker electronic morphine and the electronic crack cocaine of the 1990's.

Casino employees are among some of the worst degenerate (out of control) gamblers.  Depending on what hotel they're working in some of them are making excellent money, only to feed it back to the hotel, or another, after work.

People I worked with who were trying to win a Royal flush used to wonder why I'd drive to Californa to play the lottery. I'd tell them that the lottery does indeed change people's lives, and I hadn't seen any of them hit a royal flush and change theirs.

tbc....