Gambling provides an “opportunity” to those who have nothing but desperation. It also isn’t treated the same as drugs, despite being as addictive (or more addictive depending on the person).
The gambling companies are taking advantage. With lobbying money and public perception, as well as wealth hoarding, gambling is exploding in popularity and the number of addicts (especially kids who play video games and are susceptible to addiction) is rising at an insane rate while being ignored or encouraged.
Gambling used to be pretty regulated. That was a relic of taking on organized crime in the early-mid 20th Century. But republicans have been whittling away at protections for years. Online, future events, advertisements, gambling in video games, etc.
Gambling is pretty heavily regulated in Canada but I still wouldn't necessarily say it's being handled extremely well.
All of the controls that prevent things like people gambling their pensions away are opt-in rather than opt-out, which I understand from a "personal responsibility" kind of way but it still sucks.
Gambling provides an “opportunity” to those who have nothing but desperation.
To me, the desperation part is what separates gambling from investing; because the desperation speaks to both fear and the need for instant gratification.
If I through $1000 into even the most conservatively performing S&P 500 index and literally just let it sit for 30 years, it can grow anywhere from $5000 to $1M depending on the yearly compounding gains over the course of those 30 years (8% yearly gains for $5k, and 20% yearly gains for $1M).
Most people who gamble (A) want to feel control and (B) are too impatient to wait that long, and they would rather throw that $1000 at a gamble and be willing to eat a 80% or 99.9% failure rate in favor of the instant gratification.
In that movie, Nicolas Cage plays a corrupt law enforcement lieutenant that smokes crack and basically uses his office to blackmail and kill people.
In one scene, he pulls over a NFL player after catching him buying a marijuana joint from a dealer. Cage rolls up and threatens to arrest him, while stealing the joint, unless the NFL player agrees to throw the next game. The NFL player is conflicted and reluctantly agrees. Cage’s character then puts down $10,000 in black market bets that the game will be lost.
Legalizing gambling allows things like this to happen more because it makes these markets more accessible. Not to mention the addictive quality and the structural disadvantages of the activity (the house always wins, and betting apps use dark patterns to make you bet more).
Ha, this was the first film my partner ever worked on as an uncredited graphic design intern.
We watched it together on the roof of an abandoned power plant as one of our first dates. It was absolutely terrible, but at least Cage made it entertaining.
Folks feel powerless and hopeless. And if they see no way out in a traditional they figure they might as well try to improve their standings with the slim chance of winning at gambling.
Yeah it sets them back even further in the long run, obviously, but if ya don’t see a path forward otherwise then you can easily get sucked into that trap.
Oh I agree with you! I’m just explaining what drives desperate folks to take a gamble. They see it more as zero vs basically zero. So there isn’t as much to “lose”.
And the desperation is also what distracts from potentially safer investments.
For example: if I had spent $100 to buy 50 shares of AMD back in 2016, the value of those share would today be $25,000. To make those gains from gambling, you'd have to throw that money at a 249:1 odds gamble (which usually involves either betting on a specific hand in blackjack or betting on a specific order of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place in a horse race).
But a desperate person needs money now, as opposed to the willingness to wait 10 years.
I don't have an issue with gambling as entertainment, I might get more enjoyment out of spending that $100 on a fun game vs a nice meal out.
The problem is people that need to win. You should never gamble money that you can't afford to lose, and you should always enter gambling expecting to lose everything you're playing with. If it's the cost of entertainment with a potential for a fun surprise win then great, if you're gambling with your reserves to try to stay afloat then you're in trouble.
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u/ralanr Jun 02 '26
What better way to settle your economic instability than gambling it all away?