"You cannot beat a roulette table unless you steal money from it”.                                 Albert Einstein

Is it Gambling?

It is easy to recognize things like playing slot machines or poker as gambling, but there are other things that you wouldn’t necessarily think of as gambling.  For instance:

• Casino games.
• Board games.
• Many online games.
• Bingo.
• Sweepstakes, i.e. Publisher’s Clearinghouse.
• Raffles
• Stock trading, especially day trading.
• Horse racing.
• Sports betting (i.e. the weekly golf game)
• Office pools.
• Many sporting activities such as rodeo, softball, golf, bungee jumping etc. can be considered gambling.
• Buying and selling collectibles.
• Lying
• Speeding.
• Not wearing a seat belt.
• Cheating on taxes.
• Having an affair.
• Buying and selling real estate.
• Writing hot checks.
• Running a red or yellow light.
• Embezzling money.
• Stealing.

Lying is a form of gambling. The person who tells a lie is gambling that he doesn’t get caught. The speeder is gambling that he doesn’t pass a police car.  The person who is writing a hot check is gambling that he can beat the check to the bank. The bungee jumper is gambling that he doesn’t splat face first into the ground.

Any activity that has an element of chance can be considered gambling. Pathological gamblers need to avoid anything that may encourage the taking of a risk hoping of a certain outcome.  While we engage in activities that are risky every day and it can be argued that life itself is a gamble, in order for the pathological gambler to truly overcome his problem, the gambler has to recognize the patterns of risk taking that cause problems and make a concerted effort to avoid the activities that he is engaging in just for the element of risk that is associated with it. The family also has to understand and recognize the activates that are motivated by the element of risk taking and not encourage the gambler to participate in activities that might interfere with the gambler’s attempts to change his behaviors.

copyright 2007

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