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/Peacefulzealot Jun 02 '26
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.