When it comes to gambling money, there are endless possibilities, from going to a casino or the racetrack to just watching a game at home and making bets with friends. We now have apps where you can just bet a certain amount of money for a player to make a certain number of baskets or hit balls, or something else. When someone has a gambling addiction, they don’t affect themselves but also the ones who love them. They could bet all their rent money or food money on the chances that the player will make the next basket, and it’s even worse when they are winning a couple times in a row, so they have that confidence that does more harm than good.
Addiction is bad in any form, whether it comes from gambling, drinking, drugs, or less harmful ways like video games(guilty!) or caffeine, it can affect those around you. You can end up losing loved ones, like a wife or husband, because you gambled away rent money or food money, causing homelessness or hunger, especially if there are small children involved.
I understand the appeal, especially if you hit a winning streak, but I’ve seen what it could do in various TV shows, and I would never risk it, as I wouldn’t know who to even bet on. Making it illegal, of course, is not going to stop the ones who still want to do it. What could help is somehow keeping an eye on a loved one who does gamble, such as an alert when they open the app or download one. Of course, there are the horse bets that wouldn’t be able to be controlled as well, unless the police got involved. You also can’t stop just two friends from making a bet unless one of them didn’t agree to it.
Either way, it will probably not be something the government can control so it sadly would probably just keep happening. That’s why there is Gamblers Anonymous and other places like that. Addiction is hard, but if you can learn from it, you’ll come out as a winner.
