Yeah I know pretty much how much I have taken books for, and if every 'wise guy' is taking more then there really must be a lot of fish out there pumping money into these books hand over fist. The rhetoric just doesnt calculate when you factor in common sense.
it is like saying "we sell TVs at a loss to people who get in before we raise prices" What? So that means when you raise prices more than enough people buy overpriced TVs to make up for the losses you took from the smart people?
When even the worst gamblers are going to win close almost half the time. To believe the fairy tales one has to believe they would have to lose almost every bet they actually paid too much for and won only on the bets where any idiot could have cashed.
Sure people go broke, but how much does that entail? 5k? At the most? and even that is a lot for a hundred dollar bettor who loses his head over the course of a season. Sure some guys are really degenerate and they might lose 5 figures. But if they have to post it up that isnt likely going to happen all that often, and even less now with so many policies in place. But at 5 and 10K a person that is A LOT of people to add up just to my figure over the 5 or 6 years I bet through the greek, that doesnt count what I took out of Pinnacle which was about 4 or 5 times as much. Or Canbet, or Matchbook, or any of the other books I used. Only one that might apply to is SIA where I won the customary 15 grand or so, I think I got out with almost 18, before I was shown the door. That I can believe losers help pay off. But 15K is not even a figure worth discussing.
The whole thing was exposed once people started requesting big pay outs, it was shown beyond a reasonable doubt 90% of the joints around didnt have a pot to piss in and were a big pyramid scheme. It was all well and good when no one wanted money, but once a few people did the whole thing collapsed. Today it is even better, with most books having a 2500 max pay out per day, yet they supposedly offer big limits if you phone in. LMAO guys have that in their ash tray.
Credit shops I am not so sure about these days. But I am sure books have all the pertinent information available to get their money if a guy thinks he can stiff them. The ones that didnt, and we have seen them on these forums take their chances.
as for the main topic of the thread. It might not really be going down hill but a lot fewer people here than used to be. Not saying that is good or bad, but other than these few topics involving Ed and fezzik the actual gambling talk was at a pretty shitty quality. At least on this board.