Why Gamble

If the definition of gambling involves handing hard earned money over to somebody else in the expectation that less or none will be handed back but in the hope that more will be handed over, why on earth would anybody want to do this thing?

And lots of people gamble. According to the Gambling Commission,

The latest British gambling Prevalence Study, published in 2000, suggested that almost three quarters (72%) of the population took part in some sort of gambling activity within the past year. Excluding the National Lottery 46% of people participated in gambling activities.

And it has been going on for a long time. People rolled dice in 'Ancient Times' and even The Bible mentions the casting of the lots.

Gamcare suggest that the reasons why people gamble (apart from the unlikely hope of winning more than their 'stake') includes

• the adrenalin rush of risk taking
• escapism to a glitzy world that 'stimulate and arouse our senses'.
• advertised as 'sexy', 'glamorous' or 'fashionable'
• provides 'social' benefits as is widely participated in

My humble addition to this would be that many people seem to believe that they can 'beat the system'. Here's an example advertisement taken at random from a search engine:

Proven gambling systems and roulette strategy the casinos don't want you to know. Tips to beat the casino on your next betting trip. Guaranteed.

Too good to be true? The gambling industry has a turnover over £42 billion per year - over £115 million a day according to GamCare. My guess is that the gambling industry really does know what they are doing and that automatically means the punters don't.

Here I feel I must add my own personal bit of gambling evidence. A close relative of mine gambled away a considerable amount of equity and eventually his house on horse racing and other gambling and my mother (now deceased) sent thousands or pounds to direct mail operators who unsolicited said she had won £1,000,000 or some other large sum and all she had to do was send some money to collect her winnings.

I and the rest of my family put enormous effort into trying to persuade these close relatives against these activities - all to no avail.

Both these people had successful lives in other ways and were manifestly not unintelligent people. Why then did they succumb so heavily to these illogical risks that led them to lose so much?

Related Links:

Why Gamble, gambling
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