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I know it is for making a big win but there is more too it. People lose their arses and will go in debt on credit cards to gamble more. I just read that the Wisconsin Council on Gambling Problems claims that the average gambling debt from those that go there for help is over $40,000. That's a lot of dough. So there must be something in a persons character that impels them to gamble. Why do some people get hooked on it and others don't have any desire to gamble, me being one of them that has no desire.
Personally, I gamble because the highs of winning is intoxicating plus a ton of money to buy cars & other high priced items is thrilling. I bet thousands of dollars on a single game and have won 5 figures multiple times... but I have also gone broke and have had to cash my paychecks and also done cash advances to keep gambling.
I agree gambling is a sickness because whenever I have money, the first thing I do is drive to Vegas to bet. Only time I stop gambling is when I am literally penniless and have nothing to bet with until my next paycheck. I'm sure the fact that I have OCD exasperates it which is why I am glad I don't smoke, drink or do drugs because I have no doubt I'd go hardcore with them too. Gambling just happens to be my addiction of choice.
I love to gamble. For me i think that i am "addicted to hope" and to a lesser extent, "addicted to my thoughts."
(e.g., "Wouldn't it be nice if i won X$??" "What would i do w "X$?" "I would feel very luck/special/etc if i won X!")
I also note that i "self medicate" this way by trying to play/win when i'm depressed. But then of course if i lose, i become much more depressed!
This "addicted to hope" is why i think there is much more gambling among those w lower incomes than higher. I've only seen one study about a small group of church goers in a country (i forgot which one) who gambled more and it was hypothesized it was because they "had more faith."
Unfortunately, there is very little research on gambling addiction. You can't make a pill for it so who would sponsor the research? Wynn, MGM and Harrahs? LOL!!
As some others have said, there is also a social aspect, much like drinking in a bar. Whenever i am in AC or Vegas on Christmas or Thanksgiving i see many "future gamblers of America" walking around w their parents!
Gambling isnt the problem, its the LOSING that's the problem.
As far as why people gamble, its ego. All these gamblers who continue to bet think they're sharp, they think they can win because they're smarter than the average bear. When they make a bet on something, whether its a horse or a football game or even the lottery, and they WIN, they think they won because they were smart. It doesn't dawn on them that they might have won because of sheer randomness, so they win that bet early on in their life and convince themselves that they won because they were smart and made a smart decision......once you know you won because of intelligence, you just keep betting knowing that it will "turn around some day".
Winning your first wager and not really knowing why can be a bad thing. If you got lucky or it was random that you won, you need to know that...not convince yourself that your higher form of intelligence was the reason you won.
Gambling triggers the same centers in the brain related to rewards, same way as other addictions. It seems a softer addiction (it's not drugs or ETOH) and no one gets hurt, but it is just as injurious. Anything that takes you away from a normal life and puts a negative spin on living can't be all that good. True gambling addiction (and some sub-threshold varieties) affects a small percent of the population. No one likes the idea a machine is smarter than them and makes them lose. But for the gambler, the repercussions are equal to what happens when an addict does cocaine.
There is research on this topic.
Addictive Behaviors:
"The chapter also includes gambling disorder as the sole condition in a new category on behavioral addictions. DSM-IV listed pathological gambling but in a different chapter. This new term and its location in the new manual reflect research findings that gambling disorder is similar to substance-related disorders in clinical expression, brain origin, comorbidity, physiology, and treatment."
From: http://www.dsm5.org/Documents/Substa...ct%20Sheet.pdf
Gambling and the thought of winning creates a huge adrenaline rush that sends your dopamine levels sky high. Once that reward is satiated, dopamine levels drop and the person is constantly chasing after that high. Sorta like Internet addictions where people need stimuli to constantly replenish itself.
Gambling isnt the problem, its the LOSING that's the problem.
As far as why people gamble, its ego. All these gamblers who continue to bet think they're sharp, they think they can win because they're smarter than the average bear. When they make a bet on something, whether its a horse or a football game or even the lottery, and they WIN, they think they won because they were smart. It doesn't dawn on them that they might have won because of sheer randomness, so they win that bet early on in their life and convince themselves that they won because they were smart and made a smart decision......once you know you won because of intelligence, you just keep betting knowing that it will "turn around some day".
Winning your first wager and not really knowing why can be a bad thing. If you got lucky or it was random that you won, you need to know that...not convince yourself that your higher form of intelligence was the reason you won.
But many gamblers, especially women, bet on "games of chance." Luck is the key. No knowledge needed. So i don't think ego always comes into it.
When you talk about sports bets, stocks and poker, then sure, that is a factor.
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