Casino gambling fun, not a financial plan
$5,000 Welcome Bonus
Make no mistake, Bristol Casino wants your money. It’s a business and businesses want your money. The difference is that Bristol Casino will give you a chance — albeit a razor thin one — not only to keep your money, but to actually multiply it.
If you want to get rich, go somewhere else, though. The odds are astronomically against you. If you’re near your last dollar and see Bristol Casino as your only hope to pay the bills, forget about it.
Your chances of hitting the big jackpot at a casino are miserable, on average just 1-in-262,133. Each game you play at a casino has a statistical probability against you winning. Slot machines are some of the worst, ranging from 1-in-5,000 to a 1-in-34 million chance of winning the top prize.
Casinos can be a fun, exciting form of entertainment ... if you exercise restraint. You make an expensive mistake if you think that’s where you go to make money.
They are flash and excitement with bells and flashing lights and lots of color to woo the senses. And did you know that all of that, combined with carpet patterns and colors, as well as the layout, is designed not just to lure you in, but to keep you in? There’s a science to effective (i.e. profitable) casino design.
You make an expensive mistake if you think that’s where you go to make money.
According to various online sources, most gambling is now confined to casinos and gambling is becoming the new American pastime. Americans spent a record $53 billion on gambling last year. Between casinos and gaming apps, revenue increased 21% from the previous record set in 2019.
As we’ve reported, Tennessee and Virginia lottery sales also are booming. Over the past five years, ticket sales in Sullivan County have grown by $8 million and in Hawkins County by $3.7 million.
Over the years, most folks understand how to play the lottery. When you have a few extra bucks, buy a handful of tickets and have a bit of fun trying to win a dollar or two. You might do that. Then, you trade them in for new tickets and eventually the money’s gone.
The same’s true at Bristol Casino. Don’t go unless you’ve set aside money you’re willing to lose in exchange for entertainment. Playing Blackjack with five-dollar chips is a lot of fun while it lasts. When it’s over, maybe grab something to eat, and call it a day. Don’t pull out more money for another run at it. You had your fun; walk away.
Some folks will win at the casino. Some win playing lottery tickets. Some even have the fortitude to take their winnings and leave while they’re ahead. But they are the exception.
Bristol Casino represents a significant investment in Northeast Tennessee/Southwest Virginia and it will pay off for this region as a catalyst for even more investment, particularly restaurants and hotels, and in new revenue for government services. When the full project is complete in two more years, odds are that significant growth and development will accompany or follow.
Enjoy this new entertainment venue, but view it as just that: entertainment. The odds are highly stacked against you of it being your financial savior.
