Gambling

2 Pages 617 Words

Gambling
One of the many definitions of the word monster is: a threatening force. Having some personal knowledge of the subject, today I will talk to you about gambling.
It used to be that if you wanted to gamble, there were very few places it could be done. It was either you bet on horses at the neighborhood OTB, hopped on the bus to Atlantic City, New Jersey, or flew out to Las Vegas. In 2004, it is the complete opposite. It seems that most Native American reservations have casinos on them, as the casinos are the major revenue resource for the reservation. The Mississippi River Delta seems to be overflowing with gambling boats. On these floating casinos, one can play slots, blackjack, or any variety of games. There is also the Internet for people who want to gamble from the confines of their own home.
Along with the many opportunities for gambling come many opportunities for addiction. One of the many definitions of addict is as: To cause to become compulsively and physiologically dependent on a habit-forming substance. Compulsive gamblers must place bets as frequently as possible. They are convinced that the big payoff is just around the corner. Before they know it, they have lost thousands and thousands of dollars. Like alcohol or drug addiction, compulsive gambling is considered an illness.
According to Dr. Robert L. Custer of the Illinois Institute for Addiction Recovery, the progression of gambling addiction has three phrases, which are the winning phase, the losing phase, and the desperation phase. The winning phase is exactly that. The gambler has accumulated some winnings and starts feeling good, so they increase their bets, because they think “Hey I can’t lose.” This leads them right into the losing phase. The losing phase is when they start reflecting on their past wins, and how they can get more money to continue their gambling. They often gamble alone and lie to their families to disgu...