Getting rich... casino style

First I need to say that gambling is NOT the way to make your money grow. Even professional gamblers have there problems. My freshman year roommate's dad was a professional gambler. During high school, his dad came home one day and told him he wasn't going to college. Then after a big college basketball game a few weeks later, his dad told him he could go anywhere he wanted. This is not the way to live in my opinion. Casinos are set up to take your money. Don't be fooled.

Now that that is out of the way, I enjoy gambling. I took a statistics class in college that spent about 4 or 5 weeks on roulette. Although the course told me that the game was set up so you would lose, all I could think about was playing it. My first attempt in Vegas did not go that well. Luckily I only spent $20. But a few weeks ago I went gambling again and I did a lot better.

Although making my money go up 200% was awesome, it took a lot of risk, and there was never a guarantee. My personal preference is large sums on the outside. It may not be that exciting, but when I'm turning my $40 into $200 while everyone else on the table is turning their $40 into $5 or $10, obviously I'm having a better time. Playing the inside is just hoping you pick the correct number. I've tried that, and you can get lucky and make your high payout.. but 35 to 1 on $1 is only $35. Playing the outside is looking at the big picture. You're playing the same game, but since you have to play a certain amount, you're putting more on a larger group. You always have better odds betting on 12 than on 1.

What does this have to do with personal finance? Well, you have to take risks to make money. You just have to be prepared for the consequences. Most investments are risks. There is never a guarantee that you will make money, except with interest bearing accounts. Keeping the value of your money isn't exciting. Watching your wealth slowly grow can be a bit exciting at times, and just enough to maybe keep you doing it (as you should). But overall betting $60 on th first 12 is the most exciting. As excitement goes up, potential for gain and loss also goes up. But you have to have some fun sometimes.. just do it intelligently.