It was a better world when the people who wanted to disappear into debauchery and degradation had to put in the work of destroying their lives. There was a romanticism to it. Betting your last dollar in a seedy casino with a strange friend you know intimately and not at all - used to take effort.
It was low and degenerate- but there was a certain grimy humanity that Altman captures perfectly. George Segal in particular is a revelation.
Putting this vice in our pockets and making it a simulation gave us none of the thrill or consequences of the type of bender they go on here.
George Segal’s look at the end of the film as they collect their “winnings” tells you it’s true value. Making it easier to get that low - with none of the lifetime memories is just one more decadent marker of the age.