When I was younger I think I was quite rebellious and definitely didn’t follow everybody’s else’s path. I had a habit of doing my own thing.
In my early twenties I got into gambling and chasing the dream of a big win. On many occasions I’d lose a weeks wages in just an hour or two. Fortunately I grew out of it and gambling was just a phase in my life. Thankfully I never ran any debts up, but I’ve often wondered if I would have got into serious debt with how easy it is to gamble online today. Whether it be bingo on your laptop or an app on your phone for horses, football etc.
I mean all the major bookmakers have apps for your mobile so betting has become so easy and you can place a bet anywhere anytime much to easy.
Absolutely anybody can open an account without any checks being made. I was told by a friend of mine that his son opened an account to bet on last years World Cup and he is just fifteen years old. He simply lied about his age.
So I think had I been gambling as a teenager today I would probably have run up huge debts because it is so easy to gamble.
When are those in power going to step in and put restrictions on how you gamble online and make sure people only gamble what they can afford.
More checks need to be made to make sure that people opening accounts have funds to afford gambling and are old enough to be gambling. Nowadays if you want to buy a house with a mortgage the checks are ridiculous.
I completely understand the appeal of gambling. It really is chasing the big win initially, but of course if you don’t get the big win and let’s be honest 99% of people don’t win big you then start chasing your losses which is the biggest problem. Most of us can’t call it quits, accept what we’ve lost and stop.
The nature of gambling is that when we win we believe that we can carry on winning, but the reality is that you start loosing again.
Gambling like many things such as drinking and smoking are addictive and should you have an addictive personality it will start to control you.
We are quick to warn our children of the dangers of drugs, drinking and smoking, but never warn them of the perils of gambling because it can so easily make your life a misery. Financial problems caused by gambling will without doubt make your life and those around you very unhappy.
There is only one winner and that is the bookie.
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3 Comments
Susan
April 8, 2015 at 6:27 am
I enjoyed your post. I never thought about teaching my kids the addiction of gambling. Thank you
I would love if you took a look at my blog
Abigaildaybyday.blogspot.ca
Catriona Stephen
April 10, 2015 at 7:02 am
Interesting post. I have too much of an addictive nature (you should see how far I've got on Candy Crush) so I've decided to never even try gambling in any form. It's way too easy to gamble, a lot of people I know have played on the apps on nights out and ended up spending a fortune!
Emily
April 12, 2015 at 7:46 pm
I think it's important to teach children the importance of being sensible with money and give them advice and guidance about gambling. Thanks for linking up to the #BinkyLinky