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Board Economics
Re: US Americans can now donate towards reducing national debt via Venmo
by
Fortify
on 25/07/2025, 19:32:44 UTC
The Trump administration offers new way for Americans to donate their funds towards reducing the national debt.
Such program existed from before and a few millions have been donated in the last 25 years. But the debt is up to the trillions.

This is a new sign of desperation, using a bill splitting/quick money tip app for the government to accept donations...
If only any administration would be so decisive against inflation too it would be amazing. Instead we only see such things when the government wants help and not when the people need help most.

A few million is a drop in the ocean when it comes to trillions of dollars worth of debt and almost insignificant when it comes to paying it off. These sort of gimmicks look good and will probably be harnessed by some Republican politician to milk the goodwill, but the people handing their hard earned money over are chumps quite frankly. If they taxed the billionaires and stopped giving them even more tax breaks like through the recent Trump mega-bill, then it would have way more impact than begging for donations from the poorest. On top of all of this they have created tariffs, which is just a tax on Americans, which could be directed and have much more impact on bringing down the debt pile. This is basically just a way for Venmo to get free advertising.
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Board Gambling discussion
Re: Be careful with nostalgia
by
Fortify
on 25/07/2025, 18:27:46 UTC
Sometimes an old athlete may want to come back for some special match. Some bettors might still bet on him despite of old age and lack of recent experiences in the sport. That is because of what we call nostalgia. They might recall the past memories or past performances of the athlete that may not necessarily reflect the recent performance of the athlete. So be careful when betting because you might just be nostalgic.

You don't have to worry for the athlete in this situation, they are most likely being paid a very generous sum because their historical reputation is drawing in the audience. They will be paid regardless of all the betting that takes place around the event. As someone placing the bet, you should be aware that a previously top athlete is most likely going to bed far behind a top new young competitor. Regardless of what we might wish or hope for - when people get older they lose a lot of the strength they had in younger years and that reflects the outcome of the competition that is being setup. It is mush nore likely the young and upcoming talent is going to defeat the champion from decades ago, so place bets with that in mind.
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Topic
Board Economics
Re: What Does "Being Rich" Even Mean Anymore?
by
Fortify
on 25/07/2025, 17:06:12 UTC
I used to think being rich was simple: big salary, nice car, maybe some Bitcoin. But as I grow up, I am not sure anymore

In some countries, the numbers are enormous (such as Singapore, Switzerland), and yet everyday life is stressful: long working hours, high rent, and a lack of free time. Meanwhile, other countries such as Norway and Germany are working on making life easier to ordinary citizens: less work, more leisure time, healthier, more trust

I see more and more people (including me and my friends) wondering: Is all the money worth anything when you are tired, stressed, or anxious about the future? In others, youths are unable to secure decent employment and resort to crypto to stay alive, such as in Nigeria. In Guyana, new oil money is helping some, but only if it is managed well

So I ask you:
- Has your life changed with the "growth" of your country?
- Do you feel more secure, or less?
- If you could choose, would you want more money, more time, or more trust in people?

I don't think being rich ever meant those things, or at least they only did to the most shallow minded. Being rich to me means having "fuck you" money. You won't need to be super rich with millions in the bank, you simply need to have enough that you could walk away from any job without ever needing to give it a other thought. If your manager pushes you over the limit and asks for something completely unreasonable, if you had $300k invested and turning $30k a year and that was enough for you to comfortably retire until the end of time - that is freedom you can access. Not to say that quitting should be taken lightly, but if you have the option to never work again, it is a choice that you make to stay instead of a decision that is dictated to you as you need to pay bills.
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Board Gambling discussion
Re: Is it still gambling if you're sure you're going to win?
by
Fortify
on 25/07/2025, 15:26:56 UTC
There are event you can predict on that even though it's not 💯 guaranteed that you're going to win,  a level of certainty makes you think that you're surely going to win.

The downside of that feeling is that you might become over confident to use a big amount in the game since you're to a large extent certain that you're going to win.

Can we still say we are gambling if the event is something we are at least 90% sure that we are going to win?

Be careful taking this point of view as betting is absolute. It's not like owning a stock, where you can buy at $100 and watch it slide down to $90, but you can then cash out if you decide the risk is not for you. If you place a $100 bet on something like 1.1x multiplier, which the bookmaker has priced with the idea that it's got a good chance to win, then you make only 10% profit but if you lose it'll wipe your bet out entirely. For me, that possibility of a 10% increase is still extremely high risk. I've actually lost three bets in very quick succession that were priced around 1.03x, so even those bets that look extremely safe can fall through and cause you a big downside. A 90% chance of winning does not sound so good in that context.
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Board Gambling discussion
Re: What is your point of no return?
by
Fortify
on 25/07/2025, 09:09:33 UTC
It really depends on the mood I'm in on the day and what I'm playing. If I feel like playing the casino for a bit I might decide how much of my wallet is going in before I stop (maybe 50%) and might decide to stop if I ever get above the starting point from a big win. I definitely think trying to double your money in one session is greedy and destined to fail, so better to avoid that. With sports betting I'll do something similar and maybe spread around a quarter of my balance on a few different bets that look enticing (on horse racing) or one big better on lower value odds like NBA. Superstition doesn't really play any part, but if the mood starts to swing downwards then that is probably a good time to quit.
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Board Economics
Re: the best books you've read on money and investing
by
Fortify
on 24/07/2025, 19:55:38 UTC
What are some of the best books you read on the subject of money, investing and economics?

for me the first two that I'd recommend at an entry level are

"The psychology of money" by Morgan Housel
and "the richest man in babylon" by George s. Clason

both are really good to get the concepts and principles on investing and how to deal better with money

but there are many other good ones
what are some you'd recommend?

All the books written by Peter Lynch for a start. Then I'd recommend watching all the Youtube video captures of Warren Buffett at the Berkshire Hathaway annual general meetings as he shares some epic advice for anyone who wants to learn about investing. He's arguably the worlds greatest investor and one of the richest people on the planet, but you can glean a lot from the way he operates by watching those meetings. There's a lot of fluff out there, by people who have not really had all that much success but know how to share general advice - be wary who you use as your idols. Things like "the richest man in Babylon" give you some basic tips and moral pointers but don't really help you navigate the world as it exists today.
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Board Gambling discussion
Re: What is been professional like to you?
by
Fortify
on 24/07/2025, 18:33:06 UTC
Is been responsible with gambling all it takes to be a professional gambler or someone needs to win in the process many times already to be considered a professional gambler?

I have always win less, no reason to lie but I get curious when I see gambling related posts online about people pointing to some gamblers calling them professional and the only vital point of this all is because they won many times in their own way.

What is a been qualified as a professional gambler in your own world? The winning part or the responsible part of trying to avoid addiction is all.

In my mind a "professional" is someone who is able to make a career out of the activity and there are few sectors in gambling where this is possible. Firstly you must be able to make a consistent income over a period of many months, possibly even years, before you can assess that you have entered the pro league. Otherwise you are merely another average person who bets and is lucky to reach break even. A professional needs to assess their quality of play and should be keeping records, at least at the early stages, which allow them to determine whether this is profitable or not. They'll be using gambling as equivalent to a salary, so it needs to pay a livable sum of money and hopefully a bit of "cream" on top. Poker is one place that someone can win through intelligence and sports betting potentially offers an opportunity but you're taking money from a bookmaker who is liable to shut down your account over the long run, if you're able to beat their odds regularly.
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Board Gambling
Re: YEET.com | 🔥$5k BTCTalk Leaderboard🔥 | Casino & Sportsbook | Airdrop
by
Fortify
on 24/07/2025, 15:28:06 UTC
Be careful with roycilik Smiley he may look silence but he has experiences in wagering contest in other casino (where he had banned already Wink )
Yeah, I'm aware of his capability. And he has already started to dominate in the leaderboard. Are you still keeping yourself away from gambling? Or will you join the contest later?


@OP and 'Little Mouse', I have a big concern here. If anyone change this settings (unmarked), then his name disappears from the leaderboard.



And the user appears in the leaderboard again when the user changes it back. This type of setting is really concerning for the leaderboard contest. How would it be if someone do the wager by hiding himself from the leaderboard, then change the settings to appear on the leaderboard at the last moment? It would be unfair if we don't know the wagering amount of all other participants.

This is a very important thing to point out but Yeet cannot win here. In the interests of transparency, on the leaderboard, it is absolutely fair to expect every position to have a username against it. While these could be faked and are unprovable to an average user - if we take them on face value we have an idea of the user who took a winning position. If you wish to be anonymous then you take this sacrifice in terms of staying off the leaderboard, it's not fair on all other users to have (anonymous) taking u a bunch of slots on the top players list. If you really want to be anonymous then you should be signing up with an obscure and random username to achieve the same effect. It feels like this is the correct approach by Yeet.
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Topic
Board Economics
Re: What Does "Being Rich" Even Mean Anymore?
by
Fortify
on 24/07/2025, 05:52:09 UTC
I used to think being rich was simple: big salary, nice car, maybe some Bitcoin. But as I grow up, I am not sure anymore

In some countries, the numbers are enormous (such as Singapore, Switzerland), and yet everyday life is stressful: long working hours, high rent, and a lack of free time. Meanwhile, other countries such as Norway and Germany are working on making life easier to ordinary citizens: less work, more leisure time, healthier, more trust

I see more and more people (including me and my friends) wondering: Is all the money worth anything when you are tired, stressed, or anxious about the future? In others, youths are unable to secure decent employment and resort to crypto to stay alive, such as in Nigeria. In Guyana, new oil money is helping some, but only if it is managed well

So I ask you:
- Has your life changed with the "growth" of your country?
- Do you feel more secure, or less?
- If you could choose, would you want more money, more time, or more trust in people?

There are definitely different grades to being rich, which also vary with life expectations. If you have a million euros invested and returning 50k a year as "salary", it's quite possible to live fairly comfortably in many European countries. However if you are a high flying executive that has built a career and created expensive tastes, then that kind of money will not stretch very far. The majority of people would be very lucky to hit that kind of wealth though and take a lifetime to put it together. For the average person having a paid off house will reduce the stress in their life and give them freedom to do a lot with their remaining income.
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Topic
Board Gambling discussion
Re: What is the cost of your mistakes?
by
Fortify
on 23/07/2025, 20:13:44 UTC
I assume that people come to the gambling industry as inexperienced people. And in the process of their activities, they gradually learn from their mistakes. Unfortunately, some of these mistakes are dramatic and cause us quite serious psychological trauma. As a rule, this is due to gross errors and stupid persistent beliefs that push us to the edge of the financial abyss.

First of all, this is risk management and money management. The second is probably unsystematic play. Let me make a reservation that I do not mean casinos, as well as people playing "for fun". I mean sports betting.
So, how much did your mistakes cost? Did they cause you a serious psychological blow? What were your mistakes, did you learn from these mistakes and do you apply this knowledge in practice now? Were these mistakes simply painful, dramatic or catastrophic?

I'd say that it's never wasted money as long as you learned something from it. The greatest entrepreneurs and business people will tell you that they had the tenacity to try many different things over time in order to figure out what worked, then when they had something, they gradually lost less as they refined it into something profitable. It's difficult with sports betting though, because you have an opponent (the bookmaker) who is constantly evolving to counter your plays, as that is what makes a profit for them. Painful blows can be the most beneficial as they can sear in a memory that you are less likely to forget, but be careful not to overstretch yourself as that is likely to lead to burn out and prevent you ever wanting to participate again.
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Board Economics
Re: The Ultimate Scarcity
by
Fortify
on 23/07/2025, 19:06:57 UTC
The most important and valuable resource in the world is time. It is limited and non-refundable. You can never take back the time you lost. Time spent productively is valuable. Every second, every minute, every hour dedicated to something that could improve your status whether that is physically, mentally or financially... expect something good to come out of something you made time for. You have to choose wisely where to spend your time because making this choice, you will be trading an opportunity for another. If you decided to spend this time lounging around instead of dedicating your time to improving yourself then you are losing the chance to be a better version of yourself.

Time spent on a specific work will or should result in a good or decent amount of money in exchange.

It's the balancing act that every single person traverses in life - how to earn as much as possible while having a fulfilling life. I think that some people tip the scale too hard towards frugality, hoarding up their funds until they are in old age and struggle to do many of the exciting things that they planned to do. Others overspend so much they get deep into debt, they may benefit from lots of little happiness inducing perks like takeaways or fancy clothes, but ultimately end up being unable to retire at a reasonable age because they have nothing to sustain them. I find that being clever with money, trying to get all the bargains you can but spending freely on experiences is the best way - with minimal amounts spent on the materialistic rubbish that is bombarding us every day.
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Board Gambling discussion
Re: Underground Gambling
by
Fortify
on 23/07/2025, 17:53:42 UTC
And also when I was growing up watching movies locally, there will always this plot twist that there is a illegal gambling den and it will be raided by the hero of the movie and then those running it says it is being protected by high officials of the government.

And so have you heard of it like in your country?

I also dig one story about it here:

Quote
Eugene Trincher ran a high-stakes illegal poker game in New York City from 2010 through April 2013. At these games, the pots frequently reached tens of thousands of dollars or more. The operators of these poker games, including Eugene Trincher, collected percentages of the pots known as "rakes." Each of the poker games employed at least five or more people to assist with the operation of the poker games, payments of debts, and collection of debts.

Or have you played in this kind of underground gambling den before?

Underground gambling only tends to exist in countries where it is illegal or heavily regulated. Keeping in mind that it's usually illegal, you're only going to get introduced via friends who trust you and generally you'll have to put up a fair amount of money to enter. Besides that, these places will be very discreet and have security vetting you before you're able to get anywhere near the action. The more upscale places will be very professionally organised and have the higher rollers in there, but are invite only. People just love betting and will find a way to do it, the only difficult bit is making sure nobody leaks any information about the operation - this usually happens when someone is bargaining for a deal on some other crime they might have committed.
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Board Gambling discussion
Re: Why some countries gamble more than the others?
by
Fortify
on 23/07/2025, 05:56:23 UTC
1. Support from the government.
Countries who gamble a lot has solid laws protecting their players so gamblers in those countries can just freely gamble as much as they want without having to worry about their rights. This doesn't mean that the countries have very free and loose rules but it just means that they have clear frameworks. Some other countries have some limitations but since their rules are clear, many still gamble.

2. Bigger paychecks.
Not all rich people are gamblers but they certainly have more chances to gamble if they wanted to. According to data, the higher the income is in some countries the more people gamble in that country. Since the average citizen is earning a lot, even if they spend quite a significant amount of money in gambling this will still not cause financial doom.

Is it fair to assume that a better economy and a solid framework will make people gamble more but be addicted less? This is the source, by the way.

In my experience "bigger paychecks" is not necessarily true, as there are sites out there which accommodate for every currency or allow smaller denominations. Just look at poker rooms for a prime example, the lowest level many will go down to is $0.01/$0.02 blinds which allows people with even a couple dollars to potentially grind upwards. As a percentage of income, maybe that is a factor but at that point I'd also be looking at accessibility. Casinos probably make their most money from regulars, but if your internet/power goes down frequently or you need to work 12 hour days, then gambling can often be an after thought for the day - this breaks the cycle which generates the most profitable players for casinos.
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Board Economics
Merits 1 from 1 user
Re: France Wants People to Work More for Less
by
Fortify
on 22/07/2025, 20:45:00 UTC
⭐ Merited by Don Pedro Dinero (1)
That's one way to frame it, but it misses out some key facts around the setup in France. Firstly they have 11 national holidays which is already fairly high but employers are still free to provide their employees extra paid holidays to make up for the difference, if they can accept a little bit less profit. It's also quite common in France to do 35 hour weeks, which is below the average for most other countries and will impact productivity too. They're also lagging behind some other European nations in raising their retirement age, as it relates to state benefits. Altogether it's an effort to allow companies to have people working more days in the year which can help fund these other perks that exist. If the country starts to go bankrupt then many more citizens will ultimately suffer, so sometimes you have to put a little bit extra in to keep the good times flowing.
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Board Gambling discussion
Re: Which is more regrettable?
by
Fortify
on 22/07/2025, 19:11:06 UTC
Let's say when gambling, you follow a specific pattern. Let us use lottery for example. You bet on the same specific set of numbers. What would be more regrettable? Betting on the same set of numbers for the rest of your life and not winning or... changing up the set you bet on only for your old set to win?

Basically, would you rather bet on the same thing again and again then regret not exploring more or explore different kinds of bets then miss out on a win?

If you're the sort of person who locks in the same numbers for many games, over the course of years, then you might as well stick with them forever or you face this problem. It would be potentially quite damaging to you psychologically and have a long lasting effect that might cause you to become depressed. Thinking logically however, every single set of numbers has the same probability of coming out if the lottery is truly random and you have just as much chance of winning to the numbers you switched towards. This is not really about odds though and more about the traps that we set up for ourselves which could be hard to extract from. In this scenario, just stick with the original numbers and preserve your sanity - "special" numbers usually have some extra significance anyway.
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Topic
Board Economics
Re: Ensuring generational wealth
by
Fortify
on 22/07/2025, 16:16:32 UTC
I hear a lot of young people wishing they can build generational wealth for their kids. The kids of their kids and the kids of their kids' kids. But is it really up to us? We can build wealth now and leave all our assets to our kids but how can be sure they can protect the wealth and make it grow even more?

Honestly the best thing we can do is to teach our kids and hope that all the things we got to accomplish for them won't be put into waste. Build your portfolio now. Invest in assets that will be profitable in the long term so you can leave this to your kids.

When people think or talk about these things, at least in the sense of the 0.001% who have generational wealth - then they generally have hundreds of millions that would barely take a dent if it was invested reasonably well and did not have extremely reckless spending by one or two generations. These sort of sums generate millions, if not tens of millions a year in income, which if you spend below that amount means that the pile will only keep getting bigger as you hand it on to the next generation. However this sort of wealth is only ever going to be a reality for a few thousand people across the planet. Most people will never come close to this and could only dream to give their own kids enough to live comfortably and work hard to educate them on finance so hopefully there is enough to pass on to the next generation.
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Board Gambling discussion
Re: Casino welcome bonuses
by
Fortify
on 22/07/2025, 11:01:40 UTC
Curiosity have just gotten on some of these promotion features on some casino and that's because I actually tried one and the end result which I got wasn't what they promised so I had to ask.

So here's what got me thinking, is it possible that some of these promotional offers by casino are just a mirage to get gamblers all hyped up and active in their casino because I saw one of the casino with a first time offer of about 300+ plus return on first time deposit plus a free spins of about 100 on slots game of any choice you opened up as first time play which to me looks tempting and watering to try out and actually made the deposit and all to see that's it a whole different setting that played out with discount as vouchers for playing on specific amount for the 300% first deposit and then the free spin was rather something else.

And of lately this particular promotion by the forum casino advertise here got me thinking too @playgram as they present 100% on first deposit of 30$ so wanted to know if it's limited to a particular slot or applies to all cause my usual slot game that favors me is fruit sweet bonanza 1000

There is definitely a "sweet spot" for these offers, at least in my country, where the biggest casinos generally dangle around $50-100 in free bets as the standard in order to entice new customers. They usually have few strings attached and if you happen to win from those free bets you can cash out immediately. They don't usually come in the form of deposit matching, but have criteria like you will unlock free bets up to the value of your first bet or a minimum wager amount. I view deposit matching bonuses with great suspicious, because they usually have onerous wagering requirements in order to unlock and are simply used to fool gamblers who don't already know better.
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Topic
Board Gambling discussion
Re: Have you been addicted to gambling in the past.
by
Fortify
on 22/07/2025, 06:01:52 UTC
This question is for those gamblers that were once addicted to gambling and was able to come out from addiction.

How did you go about it?

Was someone there to help you out or you took the bold step all alone?

How long did your addiction last?

What's your best advice to gamblers fighting with addiction?

I've been addicted to gaming before, playing the same one on a regular basis for at least a couple years, but managed to avoid the same thing with gambling. It came close with poker and trying to make money from it over the course of a couple weeks, but you have to be so sharp to walk away a winner. Even if you have a great session, you can potentially wipe out all your profits within a few hands and throw away hours worth of work. There is definitely an incentive for poker sites to write algorithms that reward the riskiest and worst players, because they create action and rake that earns the casino money. Luckily I pulled away and self excluded because the appeal is very strong.
Post
Topic
Board Economics
Re: Economic differences between older and younger generation
by
Fortify
on 21/07/2025, 20:28:39 UTC
Anyone noticed some differences between economic factors during the old times compared to now and how people react to these conditions?

Obviously inflation has made the prices these days a lot more expensive. Maybe this is why the older generation easily got to buy houses and properties. They also had very low to no student debts as well. One thing I noticed is that the older generation are more likely to stay in a work for a lifetime.

But the younger generation tend to go job hopping, switching from one job to the next until they find something perfect for them. The younger generation seems to prioritize a work life balance that is why a lot of them only work from home or work only as freelance.

Are there any characteristics from the older generation you would want the younger ones to learn so they can progress economically?

You're making some pretty strange comparisons that seem to ignore all the big changes that have happened in the world over the last few decades. The internet has brought people together like never before and allowed people on the other side of the world to do office/admin jobs for cheaper at an unprecedented scale. Everyone knows that the best way to increase your salary through your career is generally moving jobs, because companies allow the salaries to stagnate for long term employees. Everyone complains about house prices but you'd think that older generations got handed it on a silver platter the way it's described - nope, they paid off mortgages over 25 years just like the younger generations have to do today, with slightly different dynamics (lower interest rates but also lower wages). Pretty sure that older people tried to maintain a good "work life balance" as well, whatever that means, they went through many of the same or very similar events on their way towards retirement.
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Topic
Board Gambling
Re: YEET.com | 🔥$5k BTCTalk Leaderboard🔥 | Casino & Sportsbook | Airdrop
by
Fortify
on 21/07/2025, 19:46:02 UTC
we love the name, probably one of the best name you can have on a casino right now Smiley  also added it to both wagerx.io and newcryptocasinos.com

let me know if you release a token Wink

If I'm reading it right, there does seem to be YEET airdrops incoming, which I assume means that there is going to be a related casino coin available? It's definitely a cool name for a casino. Is there any kind of ETA on the sports betting side of the site, as I'd like to see what sort of odds you're offering and that's where I tend to spend the most money.

Interesting reading through your promo page, there seems to be a lot of focus around events at 1-2pm ET, have you thought about doing two separate ones at opposite sides of the day to make sure all users get a fair chance to participate, or are you mainly interested in users from one region only at the moment?