GAMBLING - ADDICTION OR CHOICE (Part 2)
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In this sequel to Part 1, I intend to explore what I believe are obvious reasons why people choose to gamble. Part 3 will deal with reasons why people refrain from gambling, with Part 4 concluding the series by suggesting solutions for those inextricably entangled in this act and for whom the way out has proven to be a maze. I hope the ideas I asseverate here prove helpful in one way or the other.
Two weeks ago I commenced a debate on whether gambling is an addiction or a choice. I have had quite a mixed response from my audience. This is indeed unsurprising as the topic generally polarises opinion. Some have clearly argued that gambling is an addiction whilst others have taken the view that gambling is a choice. In one interesting response to my article, a reader firmly asserted that gambling is a gainful venture. Does that explain why, on a daily basis, the bookmakers here in the UK seem to have the same patrons? Are they employed in the profession of gambling? Or, are these people addicts who cannot help themselves and have lost the will to stay away from gambling?
I am of the view that gambling is not an accident in any form or shape. There are issues that precipitate the choice of gambling. Such factors act as an impetus in driving people on as well as sustaining and nurturing the passion for the act. In this piece I shall explore some of the obvious reasons why people gamble.
Reason One - Economic hardship
Poverty has always been a cardinal factor in recruiting gamblers. This does not preclude the fact that rich people also gamble. People with pennies appear to pursue the fabled golden ‘fleece’ promised by gambling. On a visit to a betting shop in an enquiry for this article, I actually learnt that there were people there who would rather gamble with their family’s last penny than use it to feed the family.
This recession has further exacerbated the problem of gambling. People have lost their jobs and must do anything to survive. The relatively small cash outlays needed, seems to make this a very good option for many. The bookmakers are getting fuller by the day. People harbour the slimmest hope that gambling would provide a way out in hard times like these.
Reason Two - Get rich quick mentality
Avarice is one of the main weaknesses of humans, and this is evinced vividly by the desire to gamble. The lure of gambling is that, it promises the unthinkable in a too-good-to-be-true time period. A promise of a fantasy lifestyle makes it such an inviting avenue to contemplate. When people think about the potential to transform their lives in a twinkle of an eye, they lose their sense of judgement and fall prey to the claws of gambling. The subtle trap from all kinds and forms of gambling appear to strike its tentacles through the consciousness of well reasoning men thereby sending them on the long, often illusive chase of get-rich-quick money. Unfortunately for some, they will never find a way back save for divine intervention.
Reason Three - Indolence
Let us face the fact; some people do not cherish the virtues of hardwork and diligence. For such people, the concept of assiduousness is a hard one to grasp and implement. They appear to falsely believe that it is a value to be cultivated by all others, save themselves. Being in a languor state is second nature to them. They are always thinking about shortcuts to get what they want instead of following clearly established paths. Rather than spend quality time doing something productive, they would willingly spend the whole day at the bookmakers. Such people want the good life yet are not ready to put in the hardwork required.
Reason Four - Heredity
I am inclined to believe that you have at least come across a family where almost every member gambles. It is almost a family culture that has been passed down the generations. They appear to have passed down truth mixed with myths to posterity. Their legacy is that they are gamblers. For someone born into such a family, a prophet is not required to discern by precognition that gambling is the only natural course to follow.
Reason Five - Sport
Gambling has been taken up by some as they perceive it as a kind of sport. Increasingly, various types of gambling are springing up disguised more and more as a form of sport. I am in a quandary as to whether or not it is portrayed as such to increase its appeal and consequently reduce the guilt attached to it.
Reason Six - Fitting in
In a number of work places, there are all kinds of syndicates. People who are not even prepared to gamble face subtle pressure to ‘fit in’. They are inveigled day in and day out to join the office syndicate. Sooner rather than later, the thought of other staff members netting a windfall and leaving their jobs or retiring early, seriously occurs to them. Their resolve ends up being innocuously chipped away and they finally fall for this option.
Reason Seven – Socialisation/Hobby
Some people I met at my visit to the bookmakers to further ascent my understanding of the subject of gambling actually claimed that they gamble as a pastime. To my disbelief, I was told one of such patronisers is a pastor. It was a place where they met to socialise and talk about issues of interest to them.
Reason Eight - Addictive tendencies
There are people who for one reason or the other have addictive tendencies. If they are not hooked unto substance abuse, then it would be something else. Most people in such a category do not need anyone to recruit them to gambling. They pursue that option willy-nilly, all by themselves.
Reason Nine - The high
In part 1, I talked about my close contact or observation of gambling in action. What I noticed was that there was some kind of magnetic force that appeared to draw people in and further sustained their focus. Some of those gambling seemed to be drawing a high from what they were doing. It felt like they were risk-loving and enjoyed the buzz from undertaking the act. The option of winning or losing looked like it was giving them some strange satisfaction. It appeared to sustain some thrill and excitement that looked unreal. Although it felt abstruse to me they seemed to be driven in one way or the other.
Reason Ten – Pervasion
Gone are the days when you had to leave your house to find some secluded location in order to gamble. The proliferation of gambling options on the internet and cable television means that gambling can even be carried out in your living room; in the warmth and secrecy of your home. It can be done away from public eyes whilst maintaining a very good public image. It is just too easy to gamble now. Everywhere you turn, an option stares you in the face. Additionally, the options on which one can gamble now appear endless and have been made to feel all-inclusive.
Reason Eleven – Lack of vision
For some people, life is all about taking chances. Gambling, a game of chance is therefore a palpable option to reaffirm this position. Their view of life appears to be either sustaining this choice or maintaining this addiction.
Reason Twelve - Lack of understanding
You would be surprised to find out that most people who gamble do not have a clue about the intricacies of gambling. They astonishingly hold fiction to be fact. Such fiction, misconstrued to be fact, ends up fanning the addiction for gambling. People confuse chance-based gambling and skill-based gambling and further forget that they both have an element of risk with a susceptibility of one losing. Such people continue to gamble in the false hope that they would win their money back; it’s an illusion!!! In one interesting discovery, I was informed of a gentleman who happens to wait by a fruit machine and only had a go after so many people had lost their money, with a distorted view that he would win all the lost money.
A number of gamblers subscribe to the myth that by using lucky numbers or wearing lucky clothes, it would make a difference to the outcome. They at times stake the same number over and over again and think that it will turn up, forgetting that one set of numbers can occur over and over again. There are those who also believe they are getting closer and closer to a win. To ensure they have this win they believe is theirs either as an illusion or a so-called destiny; they remain relentless and unyielding in their pursuit. Such people are prepared to do all they can to ensure they net that jackpot, forgetting or failing to pay attention to their odds (the likelihood of one thing happening, rather than another). They also fail to get a good grasp of the concept of house edge (the advantage a gambling operator has on every bet you make) and try in vain to ‘beat’ or outsmart the system.
Reason Thirteen – A crutch
Gambling serves as a crutch on which some people limp through life. There is such a pull about gambling that it can preoccupy the thoughts and actions of people. It is not strange therefore that some people use gambling as a crutch to get through their issues. What they forget though is that rather than solve their problems, they stand a risk of exacerbating their conditions.
Reason Fourteen - Glorification and acceptability
The pace at which people are turning to gambling is frightening. Society has made gambling appear just too comfortable and acceptable. There is hype about it and one is made to feel that they have to be in it to win it. The amount of air time given to a few who win is not proportional to what is given to highlight the addiction and negative effects that gambling has on society. Today, society appears to have made ‘advances’ not in a positive way but rather in a negative way. It hardly shuns gambling and rather ‘glorifies’ it. This to me is the most potent recruitment tool for gambling.
I challenge you to show me how many gambling companies have gone out of business. Rather, more and more spring up every day. Like the emperor’s new clothes, we need to wake up! For every millionaire that the gambling companies advertise that they have made, I challenge them that they have also made a million poor people and ruined a million lives. The glorification of gambling must stop now before it is too late!
As communicated above, in Part 3, I would explain obvious circumstances why people refrain either intentionally or unintentionally from gambling. Part 4, the concluding piece on this subject would suggest practical solutions to gambling. I hope that this unique effort proves helpful to my readers in one way or the other.
Credit: Dr. Frank Robert Silverson
Email: frsilverson@yahoo.com
Dr. Frank Robert Silverson is the author of articles like Gambling - Addiction or Choice (Parts 1-4), Contemplations of an extra-marital affair: a didactic (Parts 1-3), The Ultimate Leak, and Free Press or Foolishness. He is currently working on Pornography – The Silent Killer (Parts 1&2), Churches – Commerce or Compassion (Parts 1&2), and Politicians - Machiavellians or Messiahs (Parts 1&2) soon to be published.
