Cafe Witness

Sunday, July 09, 2006

Should the "Lottery Ticket Payout" Apply?

I've noticed a handful of people in the cafes I frequent playing online poker. I find it interesting that someone would prefer to gamble in public, surrounded by distractions, than to gamble at home, but I suppose they could say the same about me whenever I write or edit video here.

More interesting: I wonder if the cafe should be entitled to a percentage of the payout from any winnings? After all, if you buy a lottery ticket from a 7-11 and that ticket wins, are you not encouraged (or legally required) to pay out a percentage of that total to the store you bought the ticket from? I've never played, much less won, so I'm not sure of the specifics, but it seems to me that a roomful of people using a cafe's free wireless in exchange for a $2 cup of coffee could stand to make that cafe a LOT more if they were required to pay out 5% of their winnings...

Come to think of it, maybe your local cafe should be employing such a gambler full-time. It would certainly help offset the costs of unsold biscotti...

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