Human beings have spent large amounts of money trying to beat the laws of probability for centuries. More than thirty countries currently have legalized gambling in the form of national lotteries or private casinos. In the last ten years this addictive pastime has been generating millions more via the internet.
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So how do you become a successful gambler? – back in 1873, engineer Joseph Jaggers won $300,000 dollars in three days at the casino in Monte Carlo by noticing that the mechanical faults in their roulette wheels made certain numbers come up more often than others. More recently, an Australian wrote a software programme to help him spot winners on the horses in Hong Kong and has supposedly won $150 million over the last 20 years.
What’s the biggest lottery jackpot ever? – the record is currently $350 million, won by two people in the USA in May 2000. This, of course, is peanuts. It costs $444 million a year just to keep an aircraft carrier in the water…The biggest single win on a national lottery was $314.9 million in the Powerball game in 2002 by a man who had already made a fortune in the sewer business. Another American won $39.7 million from a slot machine in a Las Vegas casino in 2003 after putting in about $100 worth of coins. The lucky man had actually only gone to watch a basketball match.
Why do lotteries exist? – often to make money for the state. The Chinese had a lottery over 2000 years ago to raise money to build the Great Wall. King James I of England set one up to finance the new colony of Virginia in America in the 17th century. The British Museum in London was also built this way.
Which city earns the most from gambling? – Las Vegas, of course. Before gaming was legalized there in the 1930s it was a small desert town; today it has 35 million visitors and earns seven and a half thousand million dollars from its casinos every year. What do they do with the profits? Build hotels, it seems – the world’s biggest is the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino with 5,005 rooms. In fact somebody estimated it would take one person 329 years to sleep in every hotel room in Vegas.
What’s the least successful bet? – politician and fraudster Horatio Bottomley went to Belgium in 1914 and bought all six horses in a race. He also paid the jockeys to cross the finishing line in a particular order. Then he put huge amounts of money on all the horses. Unfortunately, the race meeting was by the sea and a mist came in and covered the entire course. The jockeys couldn’t see each other and the judges couldn’t make out who had won. Bottomley lost a fortune.
What’s the longest-running bet? There was a ten-year bet between writer Paul Ehrlich and businessman Julian Simon that the price of certain metals would be higher in 1990 than in 1980. Ehrlich lost when copper, chrome, nickel, tin and tungsten dropped in price. Simon was trying to make the point that the world is not heading for catastrophe and that we are not using up the world’s resources as Ehrlich had predicted. He refused, however, to agree to a second bet that in the following ten years there would be an increase in greenhouse gases and AIDS victims and a decrease in tropical rainforests, agricultural land and human sperm counts.
What’s the strangest bet ever made? Here’s one which started a hundred years ago in a London club, presumably after a certain amount of alcohol had been taken. An American businessman bet a British investor $100,000 that it was not possible to walk around the world without being recognised. A certain Harry Bensley agreed to take up the challenge. He had to wear an iron mask for the whole trip and pay his way by selling pictures of himself. While travelling, he also had to find a woman who would marry him, to push a pram and carry only one change of underwear! He set off from London in January 1908 and was arrested a few miles down the road for selling postcards without a licence. He supposedly got most of the way round the world and was in Italy on his way home in 1914 when the First World War broke out and he had to call the whole thing off.
Do you think that gambling should be legal or illegal? What do you think of this article? Send us your opinions.
Bao Tan writes “Gambling is a double-edged sword. Developing or reducing it depends on each nation's situation. Some people play for fun and in that case gambling is a recreation and helps you to relax after business. But once you have become an addict, the consequences could be immeasurable. I have heard of many family breakups, murders, and other crimes which were caused by gambling. It's unfair if you become a millionaire, or even a billionaire in just a moment by gambling without working, while others have to work so hard. I've never found anybody who became rich by gambling because in fact the majority of them lost all they ever owned before. My friends always joke: "Working helps you to be master and gambling "helps" you to be a beggar".
In Vietnam gambling is considered as an illegal activity so it is forbidden. Strict judgment is waiting for anyone who is caught. I know legal gambling has been popular all over the world and the benefits are not small. But no matter how useful it is, I strongly recommend every body should keep as far away from gambling as possible because there still a lot of kinds of recreation for you to select which are as interesting as gamble.
Tunggul from Indonesia writes “People can do many things to get money, by working hard day to day. On the other hand, there are some people who want to be rich in a short time without do anything. They choose gambling as the way out. It can succeed or fail. I think gambling is a very bad way to get money. It causes people to lose their working spirit. They think they can get money by sitting on the round table, with smoke and drink. Gambling is a criminal activity that's followed by other kinds of crime like cheating, threatening, and maybe murdering like I saw in the movies. I really don't know how it would work, but if I had power as a country leader, I would strictly prohibit the practice of gambling for our future.”
Maria writes “My uncle was a gambling addict. He used to spend a lot of money on a kind of Happy Lottery that is managed by illegal groups. He even borrowed money from an underground bank, but couldn't return it on time. In the end, all his family were dragged in by him to pay his debt off, otherwise, the gang would have killed him. It was a terrible story but true. There are lots of people who like to gamble, believing their chance of winning is big. But, obviously, the chance of losing is bigger.
I think winning at gambling depends on how lucky you are that day. If you think you aren't, keep your money in your pocket or donate it to charity!
Everyone has dreamt about winning money, and I am no exception. If I won, I would buy a great house for my parents, help my sister to study veterinary medicine overseas, and save the rest.”
Eric Sanz writes “I really do not disagree with gambling but I don't do it. I’ve done it a couple of times but never won anything. I think gambling is a waste of time and money. You spend a lot of money and the probabilities of winning are small. I think gambling is made for people who want to get rich overnight. Here in Mexico the only thing that is legal is the lottery. There are no casinos. So I don't disagree but I don't like it.”
Wei Cui writes “I have never tried any type of gambling, but I know there are certain types in my country such as the Welfare lottery and football pools and they are legal. Despite the cheap price for each ticket, I don’t understand why so many people are crazy about it, for anyone should know that only a tiny minority among them can be lucky. Some people think that is just a game for relaxing, but most of them hope they could be a millionaire from one day to another. Although I haven’t bet on anything, if I won a lot of money, I would spend some on travelling, give some to charity or environmental organisations and save the rest.”
Phan Thi Nam Mai writes “An interesting, informative and witty article! It kept me reading with intense excitement and occasional gasps of awe. Not only does the article provide a wealth of facts and figures, but it also provokes brand new thoughts and perceptions about gambling.
The article has provided an opportunity for anti-gambling readers to view the positive side of the risk-takers’ world. For example, as the article states, gambling is a financial tool for the state to develop and flourish. Another bonus of gambling is that it takes many different interesting forms and involves a diversity of people from businessmen to politicians. The examples of the least successful, longest-running and strangest bets made are very interesting indeed.
The article seems to adopt a neutral tone, not outwardly condemning gambling nor being over-praising about this controversial issue. However, certain points have alluded that gambling is after all just a mere game of trickery and lies. Fortunes either lost or gained in gambling are unreasonable and should not be encouraged. Come to think of it, this message is more than just sensible. Should we always consider the flashy surface and forget about the inner-lying flaws?”
Should gambling be legal or illegal?
by Phan Thi Nam Mai
Gambling has existed in our society as a controversial issue for ages. When it comes to the question of being legal or illegal, it certainly has to do with the law. When gambling is legalised, an exact definition of gambling must be offered by the law. However, the flaw of the law is that it is unable to recognize and satisfy all aspects of the issue. In the context of gambling, the question remains: “How much the law would be able to deal with the diversity of the gambling systems and the complication of the gamblers’ society?”. Can the law weigh both the pros and cons of gambling most fairly?
Gambling, why legal? – If we take a good look at the way different societies have developed through time, gambling has been a popular leisure activity in many cultures for a very long time. It has grown with those societies so much that it has become a part of their cultures. Consequently, it has or will become legal in these societies.
Moreover, as commonly known, gambling is a financial tool of the state to develop its wealth. In Macau and Las Vegas for example, since gambling was legalised, the towns boomed and progressed. Gambling brings in the revenue needed for economic growth. Hence, it becomes a state’s favourite piece of cake that is not easily given away. In this case, it is of course the state’s better choice to legalise gambling in the first place. Other states, i.e. Singapore, currently have the regulation of gambling under appeal so that it will become a tourist attraction. They also want to have a fair share of the tourism pie. If the whole world gambles, why don’t we?
Gambling, why illegal? – The economic pie may seem very appetizing at first; but gambling is still a menacing slow killer in society. Gambling is the act of betting one’s money or property on the probability of something. If a man wins the bet, the money he gains is not by his own effort. The worse situation arises when he becomes mastered by gambling. He will find that it is so easy to just throw a bet and the money falls into his hand. Consequently, gambling creates selfish money-makers in society, those who “master the rule of probability” or worse, just merely those who know how to cheat.
Legal gambling is not out of this category. Let’s consider the example of lotteries! When a state wants to earn some good money to develop its economy, it holds a lottery and asks its people to buy tickets. Do we buy the tickets because we want to contribute to the state’s economy or because we are attracted by the prize? Lotteries actually encourage people of the state to act very selfishly. Nowadays, even charity organizations use the form of charity tickets to raise funds. If the act of giving away to the needy involves thinking of gaining something for ourselves, what is the whole point of charity?
However, the selfishness factor is not the most important one that we should consider in legalisation or prohibition of gambling. What influences this decision is actually the social costs of gambling. A definition given by the Minnesota Department of Human Services in USA states: “A gambling problem is a serious behaviour disorder that can cause psychological, financial, emotional, marital or legal difficulties for the gambler, his or her family and friends.”. The recurrent problems are debts; domestic violence, self-depression and suicide when a gambler loses too much of his property into his bets. These consequences resemble those of other kinds of addiction, i.e. drug and alcohol addictions. Hence, problem gambling should be brought to the serious attention of the society.
Even regulated gambling would not prevent these problems from arising. Some casinos and other gambling centres have certain regulations which allow only particular groups of people to gain entry. Usually, those people are wealthy people, who have an income greater than specifically stated in the rules. However, no matter how rich or educated these people are, they are exposed to the same risks as those of lower classes. The richer they are, the more they will put into the bet and the more they will lose. Their obsession and anxiety will heighten as they continue to gamble. The millionaire might asl end up with nothing if he loses in the game.
Legalisation of gambling encourages this business to easily develop and become more widely accessible. The percentage of gambling population will continuously increase and the social values fall into a crevice. Should we trade the stability of our society for fast and risky economic rise? Prevention is always better than solution. If gambling is prohibited, the law will have the right to punish illegal gambling acts. The majority of the population will say “no” to gambling as deterred by the law. Hence, law is the best vaccination for the threatening disease.
Rebecca says “I think gambling should be legal. There are three reasons. Firstly, it can increase the tax of the government. Then, if we don’t legalise gambling, many illegal casino are encouraged to open. Thirdly, gambling can attract more tourists, like in Las Vegas, where millions of tourists visit every year. I do think gambling is only a way of relaxation even though some people say that it is an evil thing. You can see although there is no legal gambling in China, the Chinese are also crazy about gambling. So legalising gambling may be a good thing for both the government and the citizens.”
Güney writes “I agree with everything that people have commented here, but I want to add one thing: my uncle always gambles - it is his way of earning money. He loses many times but he wins sometimes. I think gambling is good and should be legalized - it is humans who make it harmful as always.
Wikipedia: gambling
GamCare: promoting responsible attitudes to gambling and working for the provision of proper care for those who have been harmed by gambling dependency.
Gamblers Anonymous: Questions & Answers
HowStuffWorks: how lotteries work
HowStuffWorks: how slot machines work
HowStuffWorks: how blackjack works
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