Why do people gamble?

Gambling has always existed and for thousands of years, people of all societies have gambled. Gambling consists in activities that involve placing a bet. That may be initiated by the government with: lotteries, bingo, horse racing, sporting events, video-lotteries, or by casino with: roulette, black jack, poker, keno, slot machines, etc. Because gambling is readily available, that excites permanently people to attempt the chance to make easy profits.

For the majority of gamblers, gamble constitutes an entertaining activity. At the beginning of gambling people play occasionally, some of them to escape daily reality and others to try their luck with chance until they are no longer to be able to control their impulse and reach the dimension of an “addictive behavior.” It is shown that twice as many men as women have a gambling problem.

The emotions which gambling gets are very tenacious. Everyone likes to win and it is shown that winning remains more present in the memory than losses. The large majority of the gamblers who become addicted relate having experienced a phase of profits during their first experiments with gambling. This phase of winnings that the gambler interprets often wrongly as a proof that he is lucky with gambling, encourages him to go back gambling. However, as he devotes himself to an activity which does not necessitate any form of skill and whose hope of winnings is negative, he will only lose in the long term. So then he enters a phase of loss. During this phase, the gambler keeps hoping that his luck will turn again. Thus he persists in gambling. He thinks that the next time will be the good one. He cannot leave gambling in a losing phase. Often, the negative consequences of his excesses accumulate and the gambler can only find salvation and respite in gambling. Gambling is his problem, but he uses it as if it were a solution. There is also a certain pleasure in gambling and a feeling of power in which the gambler has the impression to manage destiny. But, it exists an element in life on which the human being doesn't have any capacity: chance.

All the more so since the economic goes down people are rather incited to try their luck in gambling, in the hope of winning easy money, instead of looking for job that they cannot find in the crisis situation. But they do not know after that they become a gambler addict and lose control of themselves over how much time and money they spend gambling. If one day they lose all their money, they still believe their luck will change and they are due to win. The feeling they cannot give up on all the time, money and emotion they have put into gambling. They cannot accept that they will never win back what they have lost.

So, why do we gamble? As we can read above, gambling is readily available and it constitutes an entertaining activity for people after daily troubles and also, in this time of recession, gambler can get chance to win money easily. For all these reasons, gambling problems are very difficult to live with and many gamblers try to quit gambling on their own. Later, they find that this is very difficult and, that their problem is growing and getting worse. Fortunately gamblers who get help can succeed in quitting gambling.


Jean

As I stated earlier, I am not a gambler. In fact whoever gambles will eventually loses all.  Thanks Jean for having put gambling addiction in black and white.  The only reason I wrote this article is entertainment, an invitation to come for the fun, not to be addicted to gambling.  Saying so, I will try to write more about all the knights and ladies of the round table and the fun with my adventures at the riverboad casino in Peoria.

All players have never confessed to being addicted to gambling until....

You might gamble in secret or lie about how much you gamble, feeling others won’t understand or that you will surprise them with a big win. Once you start gambling, can you walk away? Or are you compelled to gamble until you’ve spent your last dollar, upping your bets in a bid to win lost money back? A red flag is when you are getting more and more desperate to recoup your losses. You may gamble until you’ve spent your last dollar, and then move on to money you don’t have- money to pay bills, credit cards, or things for your children. You may feel pushed to borrow, sell or even steal things for gambling money. It’s a vicious cycle. You may sincerely believe that gambling more money is the only way to win lost money back. But it only puts you further and further in the hole.

Gamblers promise to quit, but cannot. They fear their love ones will find them out. It drives them deeper into hiding and further into debt and keeps hoping big win will end their problems. Once in a while they may win, which keep their hope alive until the losses come up again. If they quit now, they will feel like a loser and will have face all the problems gambling has cause.

They don’t expect gamble will affect and lead them go to such as: job loss, debt, bankruptcy, embezzlement, fraud, check forgery, eviction, forced home sale, crime, arrest, poor physical and mental health, suicide, alcohol, and drug abuse.

Problem gambling can strain your relationship, interfere with responsible at home and work. The best way we keep far away from gamble. Never try gamble because you never know one day you will be gambling addict. Denial keeps problem gambling going. If friends and family are worried, listen to them carefully. Take a hard look at how gambling is affecting your life. It’s not a sign of weakness to ask for help.


Believe me or not, it is the testimony of someone who meets every day distress in casinos !

Thanks for your concerns.  The secret is that you set your limit of losses or winning ahead.  Walk out when you reach the limit, winning or losing.  If you stay long, you lose for sure. Have fun and don't take my writings so seriously.   I have learned about the damage of gambling since my chilhood with Vietnamese proverb:
 
Cờ bạc là bác thằng bần
Quần áo bán hết cởi trần kêu than
 
Nguyên Đỗ