Don’t Gamble. That’s my very simple message, don’t gamble. I realize that I have strong feelings about gaming and this writing will mostly fall on deaf ears, but our state and our country are addicted to gambling.
My favorite quote about the Powerball is you have only a slightly better chance of winning if you buy a ticket. People say it’s not hurting anyone to have a dream of winning big money, but really there is a cost.
When I was teaching, I worked weekends delivering for Sears. There was a guy I worked with who had just had a baby. He and his wife didn’t have a pot to pee in, yet they were spending $100 a month on lottery tickets. At that time the largest lottery payout was $5,000. I asked the biggest amount they had won – once they won $100. I said, if you put $100 in the bank every month, I guarantee that you’ll have a $1,000 winner at the end of the year. But the pull of $5,000 outweighed the guarantee of $1,000.
Gambling is set up for you to lose. The BEST gamblers in the world win around 53-55% of the time. Sorry, but virtually all gamblers are not the best gamblers in the world.
Gambling attraction is powerful. If you think back to Psychology 101, the most controlling reinforcement is intermittent reinforcement – that’s gambling. Video lottery machines draw people in with lights, sound, and intermittent reinforcement. Sports gambling entices people to go for odds and mostly ensures losses. Often when gamblers lose, they double down on the next bet and then they lose twice as much. The Lottery tickets and Powerball are dreams of big money but it’s designed for you to “donate” half to all of your investment.
But the money goes to help schools and roads. Does it? South Dakota is now headed back to the bottom of the list of funding for public schools in the U.S. Have you driven on our roads lately? The money goes to very wealthy companies. Like billions and billions of dollars to these wealthy companies. There is so much good that could be done in this world with these funds, feeding wealthy gaming companies is not one of them.
When video lottery was beginning, a state legislator talked to a group and I attended. I asked what the state was going to do about the gambling addictions they were creating. He said, “Yes, we need to consider that.” Which means they hadn’t considered that – and now our state is addicted to gambling. Our state legislature is considering sports gambling. Of course they’ll approve it, because the states around us have sports gaming and we’re addicted to gambling.
If you have to gamble, buy a raffle ticket from a school or nonprofit. And if you win, donate half or all of it back. At least these funds help real people and organizations.
Quietly, we have a slew of addicted people who have lost their jobs, life savings, marriages, families, and we live in a state and country that doesn’t care. We have gambling on Native Reservations, in casinos, in gas stations, in grocery stores, pretty much everywhere. Gambling addiction is as powerful as drug addiction and we ignore people who can’t afford formula, but are gambling. Who are elderly and spending their life earnings on gaming and no one knows. People who have lost everything to gambling and are hidden to us. Online gambling allows people to lose in the privacy of their homes. There is a cost to gambling. Do we really want to cast people aside so big companies can earn more and more and more?
Every time I see a sports gambling ad on the TV with the offer of free money, I know we’re creating more and more addictions. When I see people buying lottery cards, I know many are spending money they don’t have. When I see the signs advertising gaming places, the attraction is powerful, even though the losses will far outweigh the winnings.
Just Don’t Do It. Don’t Gamble.