Betting/Gambling.

as it is the day of the Grand National and there are bound to have been many bets placed, legally and illegally, i wondering about peoples opinions on gambling/betting and its consequences.
for example,
people can get rich
people can become addicted
it can cause major family/relationship problems
and can even lead to crime.
it is also considered a sin.

so if anyone has anything to say...

NB i did a search. nothing came up. but if this is a dup, lock away.

"Gambling:
wagering money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods."

Future Boy:

I, personally, think it's all a huge waste of time and money.

I second that.

Every once and a while, betting small amounts of money, that's fine. It's a bit of fun and adds spice to a game.
But, too many people bet large sums of money which they can't afford, which they often end up losing.

It's like drinking, the person get's away from their humdrum life and forget's all about their life's problems and places bet's with a whole heap of cash. A lot of people had reservations when the National Lottery came to be in the UK, a lot of people were worried about people being addicted to the game, and there probably are some who are addicted; I'm not meaning a person who buys a ticket worth £1 is an addict, that's just a little bit of fun, like having a wee drinky on a Saturday or Friday night.

But if it was looked into it, people would probably find that the gambler's, like the alcoholics became addicted to it because there real life had a lot of cracks in it.

Though I really don't see the point in it; I have for the past 2 years put a small bet on the Grand National, like £2 or something, but I've never really been that bothered about it.

Betting small amount is good as long as you dont get carried away. I get carried away i lose a lot of money on certain times. You should just know when to quit and when your being to greedy if you started with a dollar and made 200 dont keep doing it. The trick is if you go to vegas you take some money put it in an envelope and put half the money in the car or hotel room. Then you put lets say three days 100 dollars a day have three envelopes with 100 dollars and once your out your out but dont open the envelope just one a day. And win you win put a small chunk in the money that gos home thats in the car or hotel. Did that make sense?

Nickel/Penny/Quarter slots? Go for it, blow your change.

Hundreds of dollars? Donate to the animal shelter.

I have no problem with it generally, although I don't condone it. But I've observed in my family (everyone from my mom's side is a gambler to a certain degree), it's a form relaxation, fun. Lose, win, it's supposed to be fun. That is, until the gambler wins big once, and become addicted to the feeling of getting a lot of money, and becomes addicted to gambling to the point they are blind to the side effects of gambling. For every one win, you are bound to lose 10 times as that if you go on obsessively.

Betting and gambling can become an addiction. My family is wrought with family members ruining themselves/family name with obsessive and dangerous gambling. The addiction always seem to start with one win, and the thought, ‘hey, this next bet/gamble can be the next one…this could be it’, but it never does.

I guess my final point is, it’s not bad, it’s something fun, but ultimately obsessive gambling is bad. But then again, anything to the extreme and obsessive are never really good either. Agh, my thoughts are jumbled. x_x