Effects of Gambling on the Brain

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BF5SzIN63w8

A BBC video... but if just the sight and sound of a roulette wheel triggers you,
don't click onto the link.

I found this quite enlightening except I don't believe at all
that 99% of people gamble responsibly. No way! I bet very responsibly
for years and years and years, but eventually it hooked me. I suspect I'm the rule
rather than not the exception, but perhaps I'm wrong.

I've come to believe that gambling for money is never responsible. It's accepted by society but there is no rational reason to risk money you've worked for because of some bells and whistles.

Now a gentleman's bet or a sports bet where the loser has to wear the winner's favorite team's jersey is different altogether. Anything that makes you believe that you will become rich one day is very bad for you.

buster1969 wrote:I've come to believe that gambling for money is never responsible.

I wholeheartedly agree. The industry promotes "responsible gambling." Yeah. Right. An oxymoron.

Even the person who spends $10 a week on scratch-offs could be doing something with that money to help themselves or their family. And plus, that person spending $10 a week on scratch-offs may one day win a tidy sum, and the addiction gets stronger. My neighbor won $5,000 on a $2 bet, and then he became even more addicted, spending more money. All the while his kids had hand-me-down coats that didn't fit. (Pretty sure he was spending more than $10 a week, from what I noticed. Yet wasn't keeping up with his bills.)

Gambling is promoted as "entertainment." It isn't entertainment. It's something else.