I Have a Gambling Problem

2235 Words5 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: gambling and its effect

I Have a Gambling Problem

Professor’s comment: This student’s essay is well researched, strongly analytical, and seriously personal. But the essay did not begin as a personal essay—far from it— from major rewriting emerged this fascinating and very effective essay, in which social and personal analysis intertwine.

Hi, my name is ______ and this is my first GamAnon meeting. I am nineteen years old, and I started gambling in junior high, $5 bets with friends. In high school, craps and deuces were the craze. The teachers had no idea. Then I started playing the lottery, hoping to hit the jackpot. Age never really mattered since the vendor never asked to see ID. In my first year of college, I started wagering on sporting events through an online sports book. It was completely legal, even though I was only 18 years old. I have always loved sports and having money on a game made it even more fun, more exciting. At first, it was only $25 or $50 a game, but then things got out of control: I was laying hundreds of dollars on single games. It wasn’t fun anymore. My bank account dwindled from four figures to two. My GPA was half my high school 4.0+. I knew I had a problem, but I just couldn’t stop, no matter how hard I tried. That’s why I’m here today. I need help.

I never thought that a friendly wager could lead to such self-destructive behavior. Luckily, I recognized that I had a gambling problem and sought help, unlike the millions of other pathological gamblers who allow their problems to worsen, some eventually becoming involved with drugs, alcohol, and crime (Lesieur 43). Annually, Americans legally wager over five hundred billion dollars—more than they spend on groceries—and illegally bet hundreds of billions more (Ren...

... middle of paper ...

...ychological Reports 67 (1990): 907-912.

Griffiths, Mark. Adolescent Gambling. New York: Routledge, 1995.

Koughan, Martin. “Easy Money.” Mother Jones. July 1997: 32-37.

Layden, Tim. “Bettor Education.” Sports Illustrated. April 3, 1995: 68-83.

Lesieur, Henry R. “Compulsive Gambling.” Society. May 1992: 43-50.

McGowan, Richard. State Lotteries and Legalized Gambling. Westport: Quorum, 1994.

McGraw, Dan. “The National Bet: Laying an Illegal Wager Has Never Been Easier.” U.S. News and World Report. April 7, 1997: 50-56.

Reno, Paul. “The Diceman Cometh.” Policy Review 76 (1996): 40-46.

Sandel, Michael J. “Bad Bet.” New Republic 216 (1997): 27.

Simon, Paul. “The Destructive Side of Gambling Mania.” St. Louis Journalism Review 26 (1995): 8-11.

Snyder, R.J. “Gambling Swindles and Victims.” Journal of Gambling Behavior 2 (1986): 50-57.

Show More
Related

  • Critical Analysis of the Arguements Presented in Against the Odds, and Against the Common Good by Gloria Jiménez

    784 Words  | 2 Pages

    As a whole, Jiménez did a fine job providing evidence and support for the claims in the essay, “Against the Odds and Against the Common Good”. Although, the position to stop operating the lottery business is not reasonable, her point to persuade the citizens not to fall under peer pressure of the slogans will probably not convince many readers. Despite the fact that I did not find many weaknesses in her essay, Jiménez did not persuade me not to purchase a lottery ticket. It may be gambling, but sometimes a person has to take risks and expect consequences to get what he or she wants. What person does not have hopes for easy money?

    Read More

  • Gambling: Changing Lives

    1682 Words  | 4 Pages

    Gambling... Who does not like to gamble? People play lotteries, bet on sport games or try their luck on slot machines with a thought to win some amount of money. In fact, this excitement for gambling can be seen even from early ages; for example, ancient Egyptians used to play dice in 2000 BC or the first casinos opened their doors to customers during the Greeco-Roman period ( Whittaker and Cushman 1 ). Nowadays casino industry is a large business in the United States that brings high revenues and offers various entertainment that attracts people from different areas. So just recently residents and visitors of Worcester, Wicomico and surrounding counties got a great opportunity to try themselves in a new Ocean Downs casino that came into operation couple months ago. Ocean Downs casino is an excellent benefit to the community that helps to improve the economic and social status of the county and also serves as a great entertainment for the adult population.

    Read More

  • Pros And Cons Of Gambling In Texas

    709 Words  | 2 Pages

    Expanding gambling can increase gambling addiction. Compulsive gambling addiction is a social issue that is related to gambling. In the past, compulsive gambling was thought of as an issue or behavior for adults. However, “today’s youth are the first generation to grow up in a society where gambling is legal, easily accessible, and in most cases government supported” (Monaghan & Derevensky 537). Gambling is often advertised in the media as a quick and easy way to “get rich” and is rarely seen

    Read More

  • Analysis of Against the Odds and Against the Common Good

    1742 Words  | 4 Pages

    The following two paragraphs are a summary of Gloria Jimenez's essay Against the Odds and Against the Common Good. States should neither allow nor encourage state-run lotteries. There are five major arguments that people use to defend lotteries. One is that most lotteries are run honestly, but if gambling is harmful to society it is irrelevant to argue if they are honest or not. The second is that lotteries create jobs, but there are only a small handful of jobs that would be eliminated if lotteries were put out of business. Another argument that would support keeping lotteries is that, other than gambling addicts, people freely choose to buy lottery tickets. This is true, however, there are misleading advertisements that may cause people to buy tickets under false pretenses.

    Read More

  • The Burdens of Illegal Immigrants and Illegal Immigration

    1044 Words  | 3 Pages

    Kuttner, Robert. "Illegal Immigration: Would a National ID Card Help?" Business Week August 26, 1991.

    Read More

  • The Challange of Love in Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare

    856 Words  | 2 Pages

    All in all, Shakespeare’s writing depicts the complexities in situations regarding love; each scene of the play brings forth tension and obstacles for each lover, but the use of personification and metaphor, especially with Theseus’ extended metaphor, shows the theme of love’s difficulty to exemplify the ability to overcome obstacles.

    Read More

  • Gambling and its Effects

    638 Words  | 2 Pages

    The adrenaline-rushing feeling of gambling offers people the idea that opportunity lies within their hands. Unfortunately, there are far too many consequences to gambling to even begin to count. To win you must play, and to win big you must play big. As more gamblers can recall their losses rather than their winnings, gamblers are often dealt with poor hands and must play the risky game to stay alive. Even though gambling has so many faults, some still fall under its corruptions because of gambling’s deceiving fallacies.

    Read More

  • Gambling Addiction

    859 Words  | 2 Pages

    "Gamblers Anonymous: Q and A." Gamblers Anonymous Official Home Page. Web. 12 May 2011. .

    Read More

  • King Hamlet's Ambiguous Ghost

    2020 Words  | 5 Pages

    Shakespeare, William. "Hamlet." The Norton Introduction to Literature. Eds. Alison Booth, and Kelly J. Mays. Tenth. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company, 2011. 1024-1129. Print.

    Read More

  • Should Gambling Be Legalized?

    3928 Words  | 8 Pages

    With so much money at stake, the average gambler does not stand a chance. against this big business. The casinos go to every length to analyze what makes a gambler bet, stay longer, and lose as much money as possible. Gamblers who come to casinos with the intention of winning money are habitually disappointed in the snare. As casino crime lord, Meyer Lansky's universal.

    Read More

  • Angie Bachmann's Article: The Power Of Addiction

    1482 Words  | 3 Pages

    Addiction is something that may seem inevitable but at the end it’s entirely the fault of a person who is addicted. In the article by Charles Duhigg ‘the power of habit’ Angie Bachmann got addicted to gambling, it was because of her fault as she kept accepting the offers from cassino and many other reasons.. Both knew what they were doing but still Angie let herself get into the situation, and the casino encouraged it. She was a well settled housewife, when everybody used to leave the house she was all alone. One fine day, while passing through the street she took a visit to casino just for a change. “She knew gambling could lead to trouble, so she set strict rules for herself. No more than one hour at the blackjack table per trip.” (pg 247,

    Read More

  • Essay On Organized Crime

    834 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...on bankers and Wall Street financiers have bankrolled and profited from casinos ruled by organized crime, and how a handful of enthusiastic journalists and law enforcement officers were ruined before they could expose the city’s secrets. The Money and The Power says in no doubtful terms that gambling is wasteful, that it's a enticing and destructive vice calculated to make middling people feel important in a setting of phony lavishness and excess. It says that our cultures has steadily accepted this turn of events to a certain extent than deal with it and end it. References Gledhill, Christine. "The Gangster/Crime Film." In Pam Cook, Ed. The Cinema Book: A Complete Guide to Understanding the Movies. NY: Pantheon Books, 1985: 85-92. Kaminsky, Stuart M. "The Individual Film: Little Caesar and the Gangster Film." American Film Genres. Pflaum Publishing, 1974: 13-32.

    Read More

  • Morality And Ethics: Ethical Issues Of Gambling

    1246 Words  | 3 Pages

    Gambling is described as the betting of money or property on the result of an event or game that is mainly random with the desire to win more money or gain additional property. The industry or sector created by the activity of legal gambling is referred to as gaming. Since inception, gambling and gaming has continued to develop to an extent that it worth more than $335 billion across the globe. Most of the revenues obtained in this industry are generated by casinos and lotteries. In the past few years, gambling and gaming have attracted significant concern and controversy, especially with regards to the morality of the practice and whether its financial benefits outweigh the damage. While proponents of gambling

    Read More

  • Gambling Addiction

    1128 Words  | 3 Pages

    Gambling addiction is an issue found in numerous areas where gambling is legal. People who are addicted to gambling, also know as problem gamblers, face many health risks including depression, suicidal thoughts, loss of sleep, loss of appetite, migraine and anxiety in addition to marriage breakdown, problems at work and bankruptcy (9). About 2 percent of adults are thought to be problem gamblers (1). In today’s society this costly addiction is not often considered to be a common problem among those who gamble. Only a small amount of states in the U.S. give enough attention toward this rising problem of people that are sometimes even willing to commit crimes just to aid their addiction. In the past our government has sought out a few solutions that help those who have developed an addiction and prevent a further increase in the number of people becoming addicted. Personally, my outlook on the problem is that it needs a better solution. I think that a higher funding to gambling addiction clinics, more ordinance and restriction laws, and more prevention and awareness programs should bee brought into consideration in order to lower the amount of people who become addict to gambling.

    Read More

  • Essay On IFRS

    1820 Words  | 4 Pages

    Small, medium enterprises (SMEs) are largest types business in the world, making up an estimated 99.7% of business. According to the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) there are nearly five million existing businesses in the UK as of 2013. SMEs are a key contributor towards economic growth in terms of creating more employment, stimulating innovation and promoting social unity. SMEs are responsible for 47% of private sector employment, yet despite such global present there is still no agreed definition of a SME (Storey 1994). Bolton (1971) attempted to define them through a statistical and economic analysis. Classifications which are based on criteria, such as number of employees or annual turnover, however, do not remain consistent across borders. Given their size, smaller companies tend to be more intent on survival rather than expansion and profit maximisation. Smaller sized firms have always felt that the current reporting framework for IFRS is tailored more for the needs of larger companies and that the heavy cost burden it imposes upon them may not be entirely justified. In response to these concerns, the IASB subsequently issued the IFRS for Small and Medium-sized Entities (IFRS for SMEs) in July 2009. This standard offers an alternative framework which can be adopted by entities in place of the already extant full set of IFRSs or local national requirement standards.(Holt 2010) This essay will critically evaluate the impact of the IFRS for SME’s and whether or not it stands as the most suitable framework available for SMEs to use.

    Read More

More about I Have a Gambling Problem

Open Document