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www.gamblinghelper.com “The only way to make money in a casino is to own one.” – -Steve Wynn, owner of The Mirage, Bellagio, Wynn Resort and Hotel Casino. “99.9% of the public, including myself, have two chances One is slim and the other is none-and slim is out of town.” –Lefty Ronsenthal, played by Robert De Niro in Casino. www.gamblinghelper.com
www.gamblinghelper.com The American Psychiatric Association issued a health advisory (January 16, 2001) about Internet gambling. The advisory, from the committee on Treatment Services for Addicted Patients, notes that there has been tremendous growth of gambling opportunities in the last several years. This includes Internet gambling aimed at children and teenagers. Children can link to gambling sites from other game sites, and are lured by free gifts and discounts. Internet gambling can be more dangerous than other forms of gambling since there are few – if any – regulations as to fairness, and most of the operators are outside the US. These operations are not regulated by state or federal statutes, so there is no control over the types of games available or the ages of the participants. Hackers can manipulate the games, and can gain access to credit card numbers and funds. As of 2000, there were more than 1300 online gambling sites with revenues in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Research has shown a correlation between the availability of legal gambling in a state, and the proportion of the state’s population who report gambling addiction or lesser problems. In all states, the rates of gambling problems are highest in high school and college-aged young adults. According to the advisory, about 10% to 15% of young people surveyed in the US and Canada report having experienced one or more problems related to gambling. This includes an estimated 1% to 6% who may …
www.gamblinghelper.com Problem gambling (ludomania) is an urge to gamble despite harmful negative consequences or a desire to stop. The term is preferred to compulsive gambling among many professionals, as few people described by the term experience true compulsions in the clinical sense of the word. Problem gambling often is defined by whether harm is experienced by the gambler or others, rather than by the gambler’s behavior. Severe problem gambling may be diagnosed as clinical pathological gambling if the gambler meets certain criteria. Although the term gambling addiction is common in the recovery movement[1] pathological gambling is considered to be an impulse control disorder and is therefore not considered by the American Psychological Association to be an addiction. http
www.gamblinghelper.com Casinos aren’t the only places you’ll find compulsive gambling. Carnival games, scratch tickets and even a community raffle can offer a fix to people mesmerized by games of chance. What for many is one of a host of pastimes has turned from a recreation into a pathological behaviour. Gambling — in the technical definition — is present throughout society. Investments, usually valued according to their calculated “risk,” and other economic speculations involve placing money in support of companies, organizations and ideas. Gaming, such as what occurs in a casino or a bingo hall, is not unlike what takes place on the stock exchange floor. Most people are able to gamble without risking a psychological addiction. Just as many people can have a glass or two of wine with dinner, so can they buy a lottery ticket, visit a racetrack, or spend an evening playing bingo in the local hall. For others, the tickets, visits and evenings spent wagering are like a money pit into which they end up tossing their entire life’s security. http
www.gamblinghelper.com Is Hold’em Poker Holding You Hostage? If you are concerned about your gambling or someone else’s gambling, we can help. If you or your family or friends have any questions or concerns, give us a call. Poker is not a sport. It may be a game with some strategy, but no matter how much you practice you cannot predict the outcome. sport (noun) 1. An activity involving physical exertion and skill that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often undertaken competitively. poker (noun). 1. Any of various card games played by two or more players who bet on the value of their hands. • On the flop, you have a 1 in 424 chance of getting a three of a kind. • On the turn, you have a 1 in 95 chance of getting two pair (but not a full house). • If playing against 5 other opponents there are more than 9.7 trillion possible hand combinations that could come up. http
www.gamblinghelper.com Online poker currently stands as a multi-billion dollar business with more than 300 different websites. About two million people, seventy to eighty percent of whom are from the US access a poker website every day, and more than seventy million dollars are gambled in Internet-based poker rooms every hour. Furthermore, the increased fame of televised poker games and poker strategy books made this type of online game even more popular. Besides, online players become motivated after hearing stories about average people winning lots of money on the Internet. In effect, a steadily increasing number of people are discovering the extreme rush brought by the online game and are including it in their daily activities. Although online poker is fun, safe, and convenient for most people, it can cause severe consequences to the lives of many others. A certain problem now looming from Internet-based poker is the danger of being addicted to it. Despite of their being relatively new, the addictive nature of poker games online has already made an impact in many lives, particularly those of younger people, and the crisis continues to worsen. Some of the more alarming effects of online poker addiction can be seen in stories of employees losing their jobs and people committing suicide because of this type of online game. In addition, there are cases of students failing and dropping out of their classes and spending their entire tuition on online poker. Moreover, some …
