Causal Relationship Between Gambling And Income

Although the development of human civilization is accelerating, the gambling is one of the of the oldest entertainment industries all over the world which does not change dating back to the ancient times. Taking the United States gambling history as an example, “In America, colonial legislatures authorized 157 lotteries from the 1740s through 1776 to assist governments and other institutions. The first legal casinos of the modern era opened in Nevada in 1931. The country’s first lottery, in New Hampshire, began in 1964.” (Schwartz 43) Whatever the gambling is legal or illegal, it exists in the society for such a long history. The gambling is an outstanding and magic entertainment approach to have a leisure time or reduce the pressure from the duty work and a fast profit model for the investors from the beginning to nowadays. The trend would be sustained or even developed faster and bigger in the future.

Gambling can be found in places such as casinos, local stores, and online. Over the years, gambling has found more homes. College campuses and college sports are among the various places in which gambling is taking place. College students and more specifically student-athletes are engaging in gambling for various reasons. According to (Huang, Jacobs, Derevensky, Gupta, & Paskus, 2007)“the top 3 reported reasons for student- athlete gambling were “for fun” (75.6%), “to win money” (53%), and “for excitement (52.1%).” College students are participating in all types of gambling most of them being legal. Results from (Huang, Jacobs, Derevensky, Gupta, & Paskus, 2007) study show that “in regards to the types of gambling behavior engaged in by

There are many reasons to link financial problems and crime to the large revenues of gambling. Financial losses are one of the extreme threats and costs to the gambler. This is because

Gambling has been a popular activity in the United States from the 1600’s to the present day United States. As gambling grows as a worldwide enterprise, it expands the United States with the opportunities it provides and the attention it consumes. Gambling as a whole benefits different recreational activities and events such as sports. Gambling also allows people visiting places like Las Vegas to enjoy playing poker with friends and even winning money after a game of poker or Slot Machine. Gambling allows many activities to be expanded to their full potential and offer people the full

After vigorous years of fighting for legalization, Nevada became the first state to legalize casino gambling in 1931, as referenced on Americangaming.org. Following Nevada’s legalization were New Jersey, South Dakota, Iowa, Delaware, Maryland, New York, Louisiana and more. Today, 18 states have commercial casinos, and a total of 30 states offer legalized gambling of any kind. Gambling has transformed over the years, branching out into various games and chances. Some games include slot machines, poker, roulette, blackjack, craps, and bingo. All games have some chance of winning money, however the odds can either be in, or out, of favor. As gambling increases in states nationwide, the exposure through advertisements and offering of free giveaways has caught the eyes of people young, old and in between. Over the past twenty years, gambling has increased by ten-times than before, while the amount of pathological gamblers has remained steady. Nevertheless, although this proves that gambling addiction has not increased over time, it does not defer from the fact that gambling is not a victimless

There are many different forms of gambling. Whether one is betting on a lottery ticket, a horse race, a sports game, or slot machines, to name a few, they are spending money with unfavourable odds of winning that money back. Many people cannot control when they walk away from gambling, as they will continue to bet in an attempt to win back the lost money. The issue is - for the most part - that the losses continue to increase. In Victoria, in the fiscal year of 2000-01, gamblers lost a total of $14.38 billion, including $2.36 billion on the leading cause of losses, poker machines (11). This can result in problem gambling. Based on different surveys in Canada, it is estimated that approximately 1 in 20 Canadians either have a gambling problem, or are at serious risk of obtaining one. 1 in 20 Canadians adds up to 760,800 problem gamblers (12). In the US, an estimated 3 million people are problem gamblers, and another 15 million are at risk of developing gambling problems (13). Problem gambling would not be as severe of an issue if it only harmed the gambler themselves, as it is their choice to gamble and displays a only a lack of self control. The issue is that people are indirectly affected by problem gambling. It can result in problems with personal relationships, neglect of ones family, bankruptcy, and stress related disorders such as depression, or insomnia (14). Problem gambling also has a positive correlation with crime. This means that the more problem gamblers there are, the more crimes are being committed. Statistics from a published survey show that only 3.3% of responsible, low frequency gamblers have been convicted of committing a crime, while a staggering 28.3% of problem gamblers have been convicted at least once (15). These numbers show that problem gamblers do not only harm themselves, but the consequences have a continuous ripple effect,

Middleton and Latif write about the government’s plans to establish casinos in the United Kingdom and that more thought should be put in to the potential health effects it may cause. Both define problem gambling and the effects on one’s physical, mental and social well-being.

The concept of gambling has been around since the 1600’s when the original thirteen colonies had their own individual lotteries where people viewed gambling as a “civic responsibility” to play. These lotteries helped establish multiple universities such as Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and William and Mary. Gambling has been legal and then banned several times in three different eras; the first era in the 1600’s to mid-1800’s, the second in the late 1800’s to early 1900’s, and finally the mid 1900’s to present day where some types of gambling remain legal. Throughout multiple decades, people have constantly bickered back and forth stating their opinions on what defines gambling, and if it should be illegal or legal. More importantly, all types of gambling should be legalized in the United States since multiple types of gambling already exist and are considered legal, it’s improper to permit some and leave others out. Moreover, gambling stimulates the economy by bringing tourism to the area and creating jobs for those in need of one, as well as, making revenue from taxes, benefiting the state and local government.

“The state Department of Health and Mental Hygiene conducted a study before the first Maryland casino opened in 2010, and published it in 2011. They found that nearly 90 percent of Marylanders had gambled, and that 3.4 percent were either pathological gamblers or problem gamblers.” (Massimo) There has been numerous stories of addicted gamblers in debt, gamblers that have lost family and friends from their addictions. There was a man $400,000 in debt, his wife threw him out of the house and told him he could not see his kids again unless he gave up gambling. Also, another gambler went on a 48 hour binge without sleeping and barely eating. A woman faced a jail term for stealing $135,000 to feed her gambling

Gambling is seen as a psychological problem affecting millions of Americans across the country. It is estimated that 20 million Americans have or could develop gambling problems, and about half of these are young adults. Gambling is sometimes connected to spouse and child abuse, bankruptcy, mental breakdowns, substance abuse, theft, divorce, and suicide. It is estimated that people are twice as likely to be a problem or pathological gambler if a casino is within 50 miles of their home. Citizens will also experience alcohol-related problems, as the casinos will be permitted to sell or provide complimentary alcoholic beverages during all hours that they operate (Amend. 5, Sect. 10E).

There is evidence that there is a correlation between race and gambling, with African Americans and other ethnic races being at a higher risk for problem gambling (Sacco, Cunningham-Williams, Ostmann, & Spitznagel, 2008). Other factors including socio-economic status, household income and education level also appear to play a part in gambling, with lower income households, lower education levels and individuals with lower social-economic status also being at a higher risk of problem gambling (Sacco, Cunningham-Williams, Ostmann, & Spitznagel,

     Gambling addiction is an issue found in numerous areas where gambling is legal. People who are addicted to gambling, also know as problem gamblers, face many health risks including depression, suicidal thoughts, loss of sleep, loss of appetite, migraine and anxiety in addition to marriage breakdown, problems at work and bankruptcy (9). About 2 percent of adults are thought to be problem gamblers (1). In today’s society this costly addiction is not often considered to be a common problem among those who gamble. Only a small amount of states in the U.S. give enough attention toward this rising problem of people that are sometimes even willing to commit crimes just to aid their addiction. In the past our

Gambling in the words of McLean and Yoder (2005) "means risking something of value, usually money, on an event that has an unknown outcome." In the opinion of the authors, gambling can assume various forms including but not in any way limited to "casino games, betting on sporting events, playing bingo, buying raffle tickets, and playing lotteries" (McLean and Yoder, 2005). Over time, gambling has grown in popularity with the same being legalized in many jurisdictions across the world. However, those opposed to gambling and the legalization of the same continue to cite various reasons in an attempt to backup their assertions. One of the reasons cited by those opposed to gambling according to McLean and Yoder (2005) is that the costs of gambling easily outweigh the benefits associated with the same. This argument advances the idea that the interests of the society override those of an individual. Thus the

Who benefits from the gambling? No one does. When most people talk about gambling, beneficial effects rarely come up in the conversation. Despite the fact that more than 40% of people gamble each year, there must be a question about its benefits. The college population currently has the highest rate of compulsive gamblers. Today’s college students are the first generation of Americans to have grown up in a culture where legalized gambling was widespread and culturally acceptable. They have spent much of their lives exposed to advertising and other messages advocating gambling

Utilitarianism suggests that the act that results in the greatest amount of happiness for the greatest number of individuals is the option that we should choose. Whether gambling should be deemed as an ethical or unethical act depends entirely on the consequences and benefits gambling has on casinos, gamblers, and non-gamblers. If gambling results in the overall increase of a casino’s profit and the overall increase of a gambler’s profit and mental health, then the act of gambling would be considered ethical. However, if the act has more negative implications than positive, then the act of gambling would be unethical. For example, it would be unethical if the transaction between casinos and gamblers was rigged solely for the casino 's financial benefit while exploiting those who gamble there. The significant concern of this paper is not to point a finger at casinos and other gambling mediums as a means to blame them for the mental conditions of those who we’d consider as gambling addicts. Instead, the point of this paper is to acknowledge the effects of gambling and propose the importance of responsibility. I will present an unbiased view of gambling, paying close attention to the psychological effects and motives individuals have regarding gambling at casinos. Also, I will look at the positive results associated with having a successful casino business, so that allowing gambling is ethical from a utilitarian point of