Gambling is Not Fun in the Long Run — Opinion

Some view gambling as fun entertainment and an easy way to make money. I strongly disagree.

I dislike even small bets for fun. Many years ago I placed a few small friendly bets with two friends, one when I was in high school in southeastern Kentucky and another during my college years at the University of Kentucky. But I stopped even doing that.

Those small friendly bets led to minor disputes that could potentially have become bigger ones. From my point of view, in both cases of my friendly betting, after each of us paid off on a few small bets, minor disputes arose when the friend decided that our bet was “only in fun” after he lost more money than he won and was reluctant to pay. I agreed to forget about the bets, and we stopped betting with each other. I remain friends with both individuals — but I no longer place any friendly bets – and haven’t in about 30 years (I am now 53).

Furthermore, at least with our small friendly bets, there was no “overhead”, so one of us won exactly what the other lost. But with organized gambling at slot machines, betting at horse racetracks, or gambling by purchasing lottery tickets, there is “overhead,” which is the term I use to refer to the amount of money the operator of the slot machines, racetracks, lottery, etc., keeps for various purposes rather than paying out to winners. In other words, people lose more than they win.

Even if all the money was paid to the winners of bets, the only way someone can win at gambling is for someone else to lose. That does not seem good to me. No useful product or service is produced by gambling in my opinion that makes it worthwhile. And the minority of people who become compulsive gamblers are a huge drain on society.

I guess some people gamble just for entertainment. And even persons buying losing lottery tickets may be happy in some way during the time between when they buy their tickets and the time they learn the results of the drawing — happily visualizing their potential winnings and how the money could positively impact them.

But I can think of more enjoyable things to spend my earnings on than gambling. It seems especially sad that so many state governments in the United States are in the business of running lotteries, encouraging people to buy tickets. And most of the people I know who buy the tickets here in Lexington, Kentucky are the lower income people who could likely better use the money for other things – including food, rent, utilities, and health care.

Years ago when Kentucky created a state lottery, many claimed it would eliminate the state’s budget problems. It hasn’t. Now Kentucky’s governor and many others are calling for expanded gambling in the form of casinos, as noted in a WHAS11.com* piece and numerous other media sources.

At least when casino gambling, betting on horse races, and other forms of gambling are limited to a few areas, the people who fly or drive to them are often more likely to be relatively wealthy people who (I hope) usually gamble for entertainment – and if they lose large sums of money likely don’t go without basic necessities like food. I find it sad that legalized gambling is becoming much more widespread in various forms.

Yes, I say no to expanded gambling — as well as the existing forms of it!

Source/Reference:

*Joe Arnold; “Beshear cites new poll in push for expanded gambling”; WHAS11.com; December 27, 2011, 5:42 p.m.; website accessed December 31, 2011.

Note: This article was last modified on January 1, 2012 and is partially adapted from other comments, letters, and articles the author has written on the subject of gambling.


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