Seven, Seven, Seven. Ding, Ding, Ding. Jackpot.
For Eddie Parra, a biology major at Cal State Long Beach, this would be a dream come true. He began gambling in Mexico at the age of 17. Now 21, he visits casinos at least two times a month. Parra and his mother share the same passion for gambling.
“I go to Morongo Casino with my mom two times a month,” Parra said. “She is addicted to gambling.”
When it comes to transportation, his mom has it covered. Parra’s mother makes extra money filling up charter buses that go to casinos.
“I don’t see anything wrong with gambling,” Parra said. “It’s exciting, thinking you can hit the jackpot.”
Whether the jackpot is in his future, no one knows. The most he has won playing slot machines is $600.
The days of spending hours upon hours at casinos are no longer appealing to Parra. He said “gambling marathons” get tiring.
These marathons are also a thing of the past for economics major Danny Nguyen, but not by choice. Nguyen played on Full Tilt Poker, one of the biggest online poker sites. A couple of months ago several poker sites shut down because of fraud.
After the massive shutdown, Nguyen said the Internet had nothing to offer.
“I was bored online,” he said. “I thought there was nothing else to do online. I feel like I should start on another website.”
Now Nguyen plays blackjack and occasionally bets on sports at the Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles or at Morongo Casino Resort. He wants the lifestyle that comes with the game.
“I’ve been to one of the pro’s houses,” he said. “When you see how nice they live, you want it. What you don’t see is the negative side, how much they lose.”
Nguyen did not lose thousands of dollars when the site closed down — he caught up on much needed sleep.
“The lack of sleep was a distraction from school,” he said. “I felt like I was addicted. I would play eight hours a day almost every day. Sometimes I would play during school but I never missed school … or poker.”
David Valdivia, an economics major, prefers casinos to online poker. He started gambling at 18.
“I have always liked winning, and when money got involved it was more exciting,” he said.
Valdivia said having a “more precise definition of the math” gives him an advantage.
His game of choice is Texas Hold ‘Em poker. In this game, each player gets two facedown cards and a series of five face-up cards are dealt out, called community cards. The community cards are not dealt out all at once. First come three cards called the flop, followed by one card called the turn and lastly comes the river card.
This game consists of luck and strategy. Players have the option to fold their cards, raise or check.
“You have to know the probability and the expected value,” Valdivia said. “After you’ve been in the game for a while, you have a general understanding of what the other player has.”
The most Valdivia has won in a tournament is $1,600.
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