Gambling Attitudes Need a Shift
Once upon a time I was embarrassed by what I did for a living. I didn’t feel
that working in gambling was something someone did for work in a polite society.
I knew that many friends of the family didn’t approve of gambling and so I would
hide my career choice from them, knowing they would find it seedy. I guess you
could say that working in gambling was my dirty secret, which was made even
worse by the fact that I love my work. And then I thought about it…
Why would someone have an issue with gambling? Gambling is simply another
form of entertainment. It doesn’t require a substance, nor does it require a
huge income. It’s not snobbish nor does it discriminate. If one looks at
gambling as a form of entertainment then gambling is as benign as going to a
movie. Of course, this isn’t how people who disapprove of gambling look at it.
These people only look at the negative, they only recognize the one to two
percent of all people who gamble which become addicted to gambling. The negative
seekers ignore the other ninety eight to ninety nine percent of the people who
don’t get addicted. The negative seekers are missing out on one of the most fun
things in life. Furthermore, they are missing out on the potential rewards.
I started thinking about all of this because of the recent holidays. We have
some friends who visit this time every year, and last year the wife made some
comments about my field. I had forgotten her comments until this year, when I
had asked her if she ever invested in the stock market. Sandy informed me that
she never invests in the stock market because she’s devastated if she even loses
one dollar. She told me that she works so hard for her money it kills her to
think that it might be lost. The funny thing is that her brother is a
stockbroker.
In my limited experience with people who dislike gambling I’ve found a
similarity. My friends and acquaintances that disapprove of gambling also avoid
the stock market. What a pity, since the stock market is doing pretty well right
now. My mutual fund account yielded eighteen percent last year. I will admit
that it’s a fairly high-risk fund, but I’m willing to take the risk in order to
get the potentially high yield. As I see it there isn’t a low risk stock
anymore, not after Enron. You never know if the company you thought was blue
chip is actually floating on air and just on the edge of crashing. When I’m
ready for a sure thing with a lower yield I’ll switch to US government savings
bonds.
Investing and gambling have a lot in common. The higher the risk the greater
the yield, it helps if you know your game well before you play, and people who
dislike one typically dislike the other.
One more thing about people who dislike gambling and feel it should be banned
– they are annoying. (My friend making the annual visit being the exception to
that rule, of course.) It takes a lot of nerve for someone to tell me how I
should be allowed to spend my money. If I wanted to spend it on dinner, donate
it to Cambodia, or play a game of blackjack it should be my prerogative. I
earned my money, hence it should be my decision how it should be spent, assuming
I’m not doing anything that hurts myself or anyone else. I can understand not
liking to gamble. If you don’t enjoy gambling then fair enough. Personally I
find the slot machines in Vegas about as much fun as clipping my toenails, but
that doesn’t mean that I want it to be illegal. (I’m specific about slots in
Vegas because I rather like video slots, especially Microgaming slots with a
good bonus round.)
I stopped being ashamed of working in gambling. Now I tell the critics about
the winners in the game. The players who spent $16 only to win over a million in
an internet casino and the grandmother who just won ten million dollars in a
land based casino by playing a nickel slot. I explain that most people who play
use their entertainment funds and are not addicted. Online gambling is a
fantastic thing, it is the essence of freedom. Players have a wide choice of
games to choose from, they are given the ability to try the games for free
before making a deposit (and don’t ever have to make a deposit if they don’t
want to), and players are given numerous promotions to take advantage of and
give them more money to play with.
Slots have some of the worst odds of all casino games. This holds true for
online casinos and land based casinos. However, the odds are better in an
internet casino than a land based one. The reason why the odds are so bad is
that the payout can be so good. You can double your money in blackjack, but you
can quadruple it several times over in slots. Your reward is equal to the risk.
My risk adverse friend doesn’t realize the risk she takes in her own life.
She married a man who wasn’t American and didn’t speak English, moved him to the
US, and had faith that he would do well and their marriage would work. For
someone who is so against gambling this story sounds like a gamble to me.
Fortunately for her he learned the language well enough and has done ok for
himself and his family, but it was still a gamble. Her gamble paid off.
We all gamble in life, whether we intend to or not. Gambling doesn’t have to
be done in an internet casino or the stock market and since that is the case,
why narrow yourself? The potential rewards are great, so instead of buying that
sweater or going out for desert (which you probably don’t need anyhow) go try
your luck on your favorite video slots or buy some stock. You could win big.
Posted on: April 24, 2006
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