Mansi Aggarwal asked:


The coming age has brought with it numerous new pathological addictions, one of them being addiction to gambling. Pathological gambling was conferred with the status of a disease by the American Psychiatric Association back in 1980s. Robert L. Custer, M.D., is a pioneer in this field of problem gambling.

People who fall prey to this addiction are usually those who secure an income by means of blackjack, poker or other gambling activities. They are professional players who visit casinos not for fun sake, but to employ their skills and earn.

Based on their way of playing and the driving force behind it, gamblers can be categorized. For example, while professional gamblers are skillful and good in their game a casual gamblers plays merely for recreation.

The symptoms of gambling addiction are usually hard to identify. Since this disease is different from other substance related addictions like drug or alcohol abuse, the indications of this sickness are subtle. The nearest possible way in which the symptoms of this addiction can be stated is through the “Custer three Phase Model”. According tot his model, the gambling addiction can be characterized by three phases: the wining phase, the losing phase and the desperation phase.

In the wining stage, the compulsive gambler is ecstatic and overexcited with this earnings and is unwilling to quit gambling. Therefore, the addict usually increases his intensity of gambling . However, losing being the other half of gambling, his wining streak is short-lived. Nonetheless, recurrent losses do not deter him as he wants to win again and get his money back. Addicted gamblers suffer from financial stress, loss of sleep, and mental fatigue in this phase. They face problems at the family front. The patient also tends to borrow huge amounts or avail some money making schemes. As the gambler continues to face loss on every alternate day, he finds it difficult to stay away from gambling. Compulsive gamblers may resort to any means to raise funds for their obsession. They become desperate, with their debts becoming unmanageable. Loss of jobs, fight with friends and family, committing crimes or suicidal tendencies define this phase.

The question as to why does one gamble, can not be answered in definitive terms. One of the dominant reasons is the mental health of the gambler. For some people gambling serves as a n escape route from their lives. A compulsive gambler plays for kicks. He is just unable to stay away from it. Many researchers also blame the easy accessibility to casinos. The government and its lottery fund is also widely condemned.

Treatment programs and centers exist to treat this disease. Regular therapy and counseling is an effective and a widely used technique to cure this disease. Various support groups have also cropped up, where the addicts share their experiences and strengthen each others desire to quit gambling. Some groups that fund such programs include casinos and state lotteries. Some casinos lay stress on responsible gambling and have taken steps to make the people aware about his addiction.

However the first step, before undertaking nay treatment would be to acknowledge this disease. With very slight symptoms and effects this addiction is difficult to catch and acknowledge. Hence it helps to be aware to act wisely.

Gallen Ho asked:


The gambling business has always been a big business with high turnover of millions of money involved. In the United Kingdom, the annual turnover, or the amount wagered, on gambling activities is estimated to be in the region of 42 billion. Base on research, in 1998, the expenditure was around 7.3 billion.

At present, online gambling addiction has become a very common problem for many people of different ages. The presence of over 1700 gambling websites on the Internet, through interactive television and mobile phones, have caused a significant increase in online gambling addictions. In other words, the convenience of gambling at home and the ease of setting up a gambling account, have given online gambling an extremely seductive and attractive nature.

Generally, gambling habits that begins as a recreation will eventually turn into a harmful gambling addiction. Gambling can be for leisure and entertainment, however, where money is involved, greed will be formed. And addiction often derived from the root of greed.

When you have online gambling addiction, you will eventually be numb to your feelings, putting you in your own world and preventing you from being authentic and honest with yourself.

The symptoms of online gambling addiction?

Low cash flow Loss of interest Less contact with the outside world Loss of motivation Absence in work Anti-social Dishonest Debts Begging for loans

How To Stop Online Gambling Addiction?

Online Gambling addiction is widely common in the world today. Many has tried but failed in quitting the addiction. It has been made so easy to access into the Internet today that convenience has made quitting extremely difficult for gamblers. Self help books aren’t great quitting tools as well because they take a one-size-fits-all approach and words on a page aren’t taking you anywhere. One of the effective approaches is by prohibiting the ease of access to gambling online. It can be done by installing an effective web filter, so that you can block out betting websites from your computer. Apart from this method, there is a new method through audio programs. This allows user to quit gambling progressively and it has been proven effective through tests.

One of the effective approaches is by prohibiting the ease of access to gambling online. It can be done by installing an effective web filter, so that you can block out betting websites from your computer. Apart from this method, there is a new method through audio programs. This allows user to quit gambling progressively and it has been proven effective through tests.

Barry Lycka asked:


There are more and more gambling opportunities in the world than in the past. With the advancements in technology there have been more opportunities on the internet in forms of online casinos, or gambling rings. Gambling addiction starts with the individual. There are many who will say that it is not their fault they became addicted, but they are only searching for a scapegoat. Gambling addiction is defined as the inability to restrain yourself from gambling causing you to reap the consequences personally and sometimes professionally. However, there is treatment for such a cause. Some treatments to help with gambling addiction are:  

1. Gamblers Anonymous- This is a program that is similar to Alcoholics Anonymous. It is a twelve-step program and is free to obtain recovery from the gambling addiction. The program allows you to rely on a “higher power”. With the extra help, the gamblers anonymous course helps gambling addiction victims conquer their addiction in a healthy manner.  

2. Treatment Centers- For those who are unable to stick to the gamblers anonymous program, there are treatment centers that isolate you from the initial threat of gambling. In the treatment centers, you can get rid of your addiction in a less conventional way. With the different methods that treatment centers offer will allow you to see the addiction side of your problem.  

3. Environment Withdrawal- The final method in the gambling addiction treatment is without treatment centers and gamblers anonymous. This is through withdrawing yourself from the temptation of gambling. When you do this treatment, it is hard on you. Quitting at once is not always the best method to take. There are times which this is the last resort.  

Gambling addiction is not to be taken lightly. It is an addiction that can cause dire consequences that are not always easily mended or not even at all. When you have an addiction, you need to remember to have a support team that is there to help you along the way. Surrounding yourself with people who support your addiction is never the best idea for you. Have people who know how to stay away from that certain type of addiction and introduce other alleys for you to do. When you overcome your addiction, you can feel better about yourself. Overcoming anything not only makes you feel good about yourself, it also boosts the way you view others. Get down to the problem of the gambling addiction and find the right treatment that works for you. In doing so, you will not lose those who you feel close to.  

Frank Benjamin asked:


Shortly after the advent of the internet, the question of the legality of online gambling followed. Until the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act that was attached to the Safe Port Act and signed into law October 2006, the government had done little to stop it. However, the UIGEA is a far cry from eradicating an institution that is more accepted and popular then ever, and one that so many enjoy.

We can all see proof that the perception of gambling is shifting towards tolerance through the increasing number of states that have laws allowing slot parlors and casinos. Other states are working on new legislation to allow card games to make up for lost revenue as neighboring states finally open slot parlors. Poker is now televised as a sport on multiple channels throughout the year.

“Judged by the dollars spent, gambling is now more popular in America than baseball, the movies, and Disneyland-combined,” said Timothy L. O’Brien in his 1998 book “Bad Bet.” Gambling has actually been part of life in America ever since the colonial days. As long as the game was regarded suitable for gentlemen, gambling was considered a proper diversion from life.

The Virginia Company of London was the first to use a lottery to raise money for its venture in the New World. Later all 13 colonies were running lotteries, usually more than one. Colonist felt obligated to play, like buying your son’s raffle tickets. Some of these lotteries assisted in the establishment of several of America’s oldest and most prestigious universities such as Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, Dartmouth and William and Mary.

From riverboats to saloons during the gold rush, gambling thrived as entertainment as well as a way for the establishments’ owners to earn an income in the Wild West. Gambling has similar aspects one could easily associate with those laying the outline of our country on the frontier: risk, opportunity and essence of adventure.

The rise of professional sports during the 1900s, along with the popularity of college football and basketball, increased the popularity of sports wagering in the United States. Today football (NFL and NCAA), basketball (NBA and NCAA) and Major League Baseball all have major television contracts. These contracts assisted in the transformation of the sports wagering industry into a one hundred million dollar a year business. Now the NCAA and some members of congress would like to make wagering on all amateur sports illegal no matter the state.

Their supporters say it is necessary to protect the student athletes and the integrity of the games. To validate their position on gambling, the NCAA released part of a study called the National Study on Collegiate Sports Wagering and Associated Health Risk on Wednesday May 12, 2004. The study surveyed 21,000 college student athletes nationwide. According to the NCAA’s study, 35% of male student athletes and 10% of female athletes had wagered on college sports in the previous year. It goes on to state that gambling money has influence the outcome of collegiate games.

According to the survey, 2.3% college athletes were asked to manipulate games, 1.1% of football players have accepted money for a sub par performance, and 1.4% actually acknowledged that they altered their play on the field to affect the outcome of a game.

In 2004, Bill Saum, director of agent, gambling and amateurism activities for the NCAA, was waving this survey as proof for the need to make wagering on college sports a thing of the past. Saum was not alone. In two separate bills to be introduced in 2003, Sen. John McClain, R-Ari, and Rep. Lindsay Graham, R-S.C., tried to make it law by amending the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992. All involved believed it was needed to protect the athletes and the integrity of college sports.

This legislation, which would have been practically unenforceable, would have done nothing to eliminate the 1.1% of football players that reportedly accepted money. This law only penalizes the legit sportsbooks. Las Vegas sportsbooks are not the ones confronting these students. Obviously, these players were working with a bookie, sometime also a student, which in itself is illegal. No matter if Senator McClain or Representative Graham would have gathered enough support for one of their bills to pass successfully through congress, one would have still been able to call his local bookie or use an offshore sportsbook to place a bet.

Congress has tried many times through out America’s existence to criminalizing gambling through some form of prohibition. These attempts have never eliminated gambling. It only obliges it to flourish underground where it is estimated most of today’s sport wagering exists. These new bills will only encourage the same outcome.

Mansi Aggarwal asked:


Against the popular belief, gambling did not originate in the US. Most of the popular gambling games played in the American casinos have their origin in various foreign locales.

Heritage of gambling is somehow related to the Chinese culture. Chinese culture has been the home of numerous gambling games. Keno, a popular Chinese game is one of the original forms of the lottery games. Keno has evolved over thousands of years and is now played in played in various diluted versions in hundreds of casinos around the globe.

Another ancient Chinese game to have attained popularity has been Pai Gow. Pai Gow Pokr is the Americanized and hybridized version of the original game, it blends in the game of Pai Gow with certain elements of poker, to produce an interesting and simple game, loved by people around the globe and played in numerous casinos. However many critics, quite do not like the new version and banish it for being a too simplistic take on the otherwise “beautiful and complex” game from ancient Chinese culture.

China is not the only country to have contributed to the world of gambling, a number of European games have also made it to the league of popular games in the world of casinos. Games like Craps, Baccarat, Roulette and Black jack, all have roots in parts of Europe. Craps has its roots in the rich heritage of dice throwing games that have been around for a long time.

The game of blackjack also originated in the lap of Europe in Italy and France. While Baccarat catered mainly to the rich, Blackjack was popular amongst the masses. Till date Baccarat tables are reserved in the high roller areas of casinos, while the common people may get a taste of it at smaller tables called the Mini Baccarat tables.

Besides these games other popular betting sports include the spectator sports like thorough bred horse racing. It was developed into the modern sport in England during the 17oo’s. Later the game traveled to the US, with the early british settlers, however the traditions of the game remained relatively unchanged.

Another, relatively uncommon spectator sport is the game of Jai Alai The game because of its speed and relative brevity has become a unique gambling sport. Florida remains the center of the game.

Amongst the latest addition to the list of gambling concepts is internet gambling. Although the history of internet is not really long but even in the short period the relatively novel concept of online gambling market has served up a challenge to the traditional laws of communication in still unexplored ways.

Offshore online gaming casinos have mushroomed in recent years. Not only can the players play poker, blackjack online but also the game of slots can now be played online, in the line of video arcading.

Unhurried and uninterrupted betting is what gets the gamblers looking for a non threatening and private gaming experience to these sites.

However, offshore gambling has resulted in a maze of suggested legislations and arguments between people for and against gambling online. The major concern is
The lack of regulations for these online gambling sites, which but keep the land based casinos in line with the law.

Terry Ross asked:


Gambling is one of those increasingly common marriage problems that are often over looked despite over 50% of compulsive gamblers having been divorced. As with many bad habits, gambling has a real negative impact on family life with the habit often leading to serious financial problems as well as neglect of partners and children and sometimes proving to be a catalyst for abuse.

The National Gambling Impact Study Commission reported that more than 15 million Americans have a serious gambling problem often generated from boredom, a need for change, the adrenalin rush or as a result of marital or family conflicts. Gambling is becoming an ever increasing marriage problem and it’s a bad habit that has serious consequences with regard to family and personal life.

Very few people have any kind of understanding of the devastating impact that the gambling habit can have. Gambling is one bad habit that if it grabs a hold it takes over your entire life, wrecks you marriage, alienates your family, leaves you in financial ruin and destroys your life. Like alcohol abuse, gambling is often a root cause for domestic violence and child abuse. Gambling starts as just a bad habit, something that you do when you’ve got some spare time but it quickly worms its way into your routine and becomes and all encompassing and hard to break addiction that rules your life.

The escalating habit has been made worse with gambling becoming even more common as a result of the onset of internet gambling. There are now around 1,700 gambling websites all vying for business and just waiting to encourage more and more people into the regular gambling routine. Online gambling is a really bad habit to get into with the 24/7 access from the comfort of your own home, the loss of the sense of reality when gambling away money and the ease at which the gamblers can add more funds.

Research has shown that online gamblers are more likely have the most serious gambling habits / addictions and the families of those addicted suffering a greater intrusion into their everyday lives.