Comment on Edward Parsley's post on Gambling

"Gambling addiction isn't like a substance addiction, you can't tell someone just by looking at them."

http://eddies-ph1000.blogspot.com/2007/03/gambling.html

I can agree with the above statement. Compared to some of the other topics discussed during this module, Gambling is one of the most difficult to identify. I agree that Gambling is not as bad as other vices to your immediate health, such as alcohol and drugs, but they can be equally as destructive to your image and relationships.

Gambling has the potential to make you; win money and live a potential life of luxury; or break you; bankruptcy and the destruction of relationships. Gambling is a knife-edge and the risks are there for a reason. Gambling in small doses, like the National Lottery, are relatively harmless to the average person and household. Regular gambling on horse-racing and other sports, for high-stakes, can be bad especially when normal people become addicted to winning. If they lose, then it can ruin someones life especially when it could involve stealing from family and friends to fund the habit.

That is the worse aspect of gambling: the addiction of winning. Bookmakers and Casinos should be more vigilant against addictive gamblers and help them; not take more money from them. The idea that the U.K. requires Super Casinos is laughable: Do we not have enough casinos and bookmakers already?

All it can do is make vulnerable people's lives a misery and make a very lucky few rich. The people who win in the end of the day are the small minority of people who run the casinos and make a very tidy profit from it all...