Why Gambling Is Bad For You

  1. Why Is Gambling Good
  2. Why Gambling Is Wrong

Gambling has often been associated with addiction and crime throughout history. This has left mainstream society with the impression that gambling only leads to bad things.

But the truth is that this activity isn’t all bad. In fact, there are some distinct benefits you can gain from gambling.

The most obvious perk is entertainment, because people play casino games and the lottery for fun. Gambling provides unique thrills that few other hobbies can match.

Why shopping is a bad hobby (and what to do instead) 'I know I should shop less, but it's my favourite thing to do!' Buying less, becoming a more conscious consumer, shopping for quality not quantity: All of that is hard enough as it is in the age of social media and fast fashion.

Of course, many people are aware of gambling’s entertainment side. But research shows us that there are other benefits that not everybody knows about.

I’m going to discuss some research-backed reasons why gambling is good for you. I’ll also cover several other benefits that it provides.

  1. Illegal gambling is clearly a more harmful pastime than legal wagering. At least under the watchful eye of state regulation, casinos can be made fair and safe for the player, as well as bring in plenty of taxes, create local jobs and income for the state. This all adds up to a big boost to the economy.
  2. Gambling is bad for society as it brings out the worst elements of humanity. Gambling is bad for society as a whole and should be unlawful because of the negative impact it places on individuals and family units.

1- Gambling Improves Your Health

Nobody thinks that playing a blackjack hand or rolling craps dice will have any positive impact on your health. After all, you’re barely burning any calories through these activities.

But research reveals that gambling does have a positive effect on your health

Through a study appearing in the American Journal of Psychiatry, Yale researchers showed a positive correlation between recreational gambling and improved health.

Rani Desai, an associate professor of psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine, and her colleagues conducted interviews with 2,417 adults on their health and gambling habits.

She and her team compared the health of people who gamble versus those who don’t. The team measured health by levels of past or current alcohol use, substance abuse, depression, mental health treatment, general health, incarceration, and bankruptcy.

What Desai ultimately found is that gamblers have fewer instances of bad health indicators in comparison to non-gamblers.

“Although the underlying reasons remain hypothetical, proposed reasons included the increased activity, socialization, and cognitive stimulation that are related to engaging in gambling,” Desai noted.

“Such a mechanism would be consistent with the literature on healthy aging, which indicates that more socially and cognitively active elders are, in general, healthier.”

Desai and her team didn’t determine a reason why gambling leads to better health. She said that the study results could indicate that healthier people enjoy gambling.

Why Is Gambling Good

Either way, it’s clear that gambling doesn’t always induce the stress that’s commonly portrayed in movies and TV shows.

2- Gambling Makes You Happier

Dr. Mark R. Dixon, a professor and coordinator of the Behavior Analysis and Therapy Program at Southern Illinois University, conducted research on gambling’s effect on people’s happiness. And the results, which appeared in the Research in Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, show that this hobby gives people more joy.

Dixon’s team had nursing home residents engage in different forms of gambling. They then used a 4-component analysis to measure happiness against the baseline.

The team discovered that the participants’ happiness levels increased when gambling versus the baseline. The baseline measurements, which included everything from sitting alone to watching television, had zero levels of happiness.

Gambling

Those participating in the study played blackjack and 5-card stud poker. And the researchers determined with certainty that players got enjoyment out of both games.

Note:

One catch is that the participants weren’t betting real money.

But at the very least, Dixon’s research reveals that casino games themselves give people satisfaction.

3- You Learn Skills and Apply Them

Most people don’t look at gambling as a learning experience. But it actually is when considering the goals and strategy involved.

You must learn how to play any new casino game that you try. And some of these come with complex strategy that must mastered.

Blackjack is one game where you need to know a combination of rules and strategy. Here’s a quick synopsis of the rules that players need to learn.

  • Players receive two face-up cards
  • Dealer receives one upcard and one face-down card (North American rules)
  • Player can hit, stand, double down, or split (with a pair)
  • Player wins if their score is closer to 21 than the dealer’s score
  • The bet is a push if both hands tie
  • Dealer or player will “bust out” if they go over a score of 21
  • Player or dealer have a “natural blackjack” if their first two cards equal 21
  • Player receives a 3:2 or 6:5 pay-out on their original bet with a natural blackjack
  • Player isn’t supposed to touch their cards (live blackjack)

Learning the rules is only the first part of blackjack because you should also study strategy to improve your chances of winning. And you can use either a blackjack strategy chart or online trainer to better your skills.

Blackjack isn’t the only skill-based casino game, though. Let ‘Em Ride, Mississippi Stud, Poker, sports betting, three-card poker, and video poker all give skilled players a better chance to win.

Poker is the ultimate casino challenge because you’re competing against human opponents. Unlike a house-banked game that’s played against the casino, optimal strategy changes based on whom you’re playing against.

An Example

A simple example is if you’re playing heads-up against somebody who goes all-in on every hand.

Perhaps you normally like to play a small hand range and will fold the majority of your cards. But this instance calls on you to play a wider hand range to take advantage of bad decisions that your wild opponent is making.

Studying gambling strategy and working through various situations are skills that go beyond the casino tables.

4- Gambling Promotes the Use of Math

Most people don’t like the thought of doing math. But improving your math skills can be fun when including an entertaining casino game.

Most forms of gambling involve mathematics to some degree. This can be as simple as deciding how much your slots bet will be worth to working out detailed poker odds.

Here’s a simple math situation that involves playing slot machines.

  • You’re playing a slot machine with 50 paylines
  • You can change your coin size from $0.01 to $1
  • You don’t want to bet any more than $1 per spin
  • A $0.01 coin size means you’ll be risking $0.50 per spin
  • A $0.02 coin size means you’ll be risking $1 per spin

Here’s a more complex example involving poker pot odds, where you use math to decide whether a drawing hand is worth calling.

  • A pot is worth $70
  • Your opponent bets $10
  • The total pot is now $80
  • You must call $10 to stay in the hand
  • Divide 10 by 80 to find out what percentage you’re paying
  • Your pot odds are 12.5%

The next step is to figure out hand equity and “outs,” or the number of cards that will complete your drawing hand.

  • You have an open-ended straight draw (i.e., 5-6-7-8)
  • 8 cards will complete your straight (four 4s and 9s)
  • This gives you 8 outs
  • A common hand equity formula is: [outs x 2] +1 = equity
  • [8 x 2] + 1 = 17
  • Your hand equity is 17%
  • You should call, because your 17% hand equity is higher than your 12.5% pot odds

You can choose casino games based on the degree of math that you’re comfortable using.

You obviously don’t want to play poker if you’re not into complicated math. This is where simpler games like baccarat, craps, roulette, and slot machines come in handy.

Regardless of how easy or simple the game may be, the point is that you’ll use math sometimes and not even realize it. And this is a good way to subconsciously boost your mathematical abilities for other areas of life.

5- A Good Way to Relax and Socialize

Earlier I mentioned how the most obvious gambling benefit is entertainment. After all, these games wouldn’t be so popular if they weren’t any fun.

Other benefits along these lines include relaxation and socialization.

Some people enjoy using a portion of their disposable income to blow off steam in the casino. They find that the challenge of blackjack or poker is a nice escape from their everyday life.

Others get thrills out of chasing big payouts, such as a progressive slots jackpot or blackjack side payouts. These give you the opportunity to pay a small amount to play for a large sum of money.

The social aspect can happen through a number of casino games, including baccarat, craps, poker, sports betting, and slot machines.

Note:

Craps is one of the best casino games with regard to socialization. The reason why is because many players bet on the shooter winning (pass line and come bets), rather than wagering with the house (don’t pass line and don’t come).

This majority of players who bet together also share wins and lament losses with each other. The end result is an exciting atmosphere that can’t be matched in the casino.

Here are some examples of how people socialize when playing casino games.

  • A group of friends sitting down to the baccarat table with each other
  • Somebody playing live dealer blackjack on their smartphone and having a conversation with the dealer
  • A few poker players chatting about an off-topic subject while playing
  • Friends making online sports bets and watching the game together
  • A couple of buddies visiting the casino and playing on slot machines next to each other

Why Gambling Is Wrong

These scenarios represent some of the many ways that gambling can be turned into a social affair amongst friends or even strangers.

6- Money Management

Yet one more way that gambling benefits you is the practice of using money management, a.k.a. bankroll management.

Important:

We all have to manage finances, the bills, and handle other expenses. Gambling will help you out in these matters because you need to properly measure risk against your funds.

The first thing that you need to determine regarding bankroll management is how much money you can afford to risk. Players need to be completely comfortable with the thought that they could lose everything if luck doesn’t go their way.

The best way to figure this out is by determining your monthly/weekly income versus monthly/weekly expenses. Here’s an example.

  • You make $3,000 per month after taxes
  • You have $2,000 in expenses
  • This gives you up to $1,000 in disposable income
  • You choose to use $400 per month on gambling

The next step is to figure out what game you’re playing and tailor your bankroll management plan to this. Here’s an example using slot machines.

  • The average slots player loses around 300 bets per hour
  • You have $300 and would like to stretch this out for a few hours
  • 300 bets x 4 hours = 1,200 bets
  • 300 / 1,200 = 0.25
  • You want to choose a game that allows you to bet $0.25 or less per hour

Unfortunately, some gamblers bypass bankroll management and are surprised when their funds run out. But with just a few minutes of math, you can avoid this and better control your bankroll.

In the broader perspective, you’ll also improve your money management skills and apply these to handling your regular finances.

Conclusion

Attitudes towards gambling have slowly changed over the years. But a good portion of the general population still thinks that this is a bad habit for people to develop.

Most of this negativity revolves around gambling addiction, but the truth is that less than 2% of gamblers are considered the compulsive variety.

This means that the other 98%+ actually receive a variety of benefits from their hobby.

Research shows that some of the biggest benefits include improving your happiness and overall health. Other perks involve learning skills, improving math skills, socialization, and practicing money management.

My personal favorite gambling benefits include learning strategy and boosting my mathematical abilities. But you may enjoy one or more of the other aspects better.

Whatever the case may be, though, you’re likely to get some positive aspects out of gambling.

In my last column I identified 16 good poker habits to adopt. Here is a list of 13 bad habits to avoid in order to help improve your game.

1. Prematurely getting ready to fold

Many players get into the habit of lifting up their cards in anticipation of folding before it is their turn to act. While you do not want to unnecessarily delay action, since the act of folding takes all of a micro-second there is no need for preparation. Showing early that you are readying to fold signals that you are weak to players who have not yet acted.

While that may not matter to you in that particular hand — after all, you're folding — it could come back to bite you in future hands when your failure to act in this manner may prevent players with borderline hands from entering the pot. Seeing you aren't about to fold, they may figure you are strong and fold themselves, thereby depriving you of their money.

2. Looking to the right when you know you're going to fold

You do not want to reveal what you are going to do by showing any physical reaction to your cards, not until everyone who has yet to act before you has done so.

Looking to the right so you can immediately find out when it is your turn to fold is just giving your opponents free information — not just about your weak hand, but about future strong hands when you fail to look.

3. Counting chips in anticipation of betting

This is truly a 'newbie' mistake — getting ready to put in a bet when you have a good hand by getting the chips ready early. There's no need to do this. You can and should delay the quick action of the game by waiting until it is your turn to act before you count out any chips you're going to use to call or raise a bet.

4. Slow playing strong flops

Beginning and intermediate players often do this automatically. They try to get 'clever' by habitually playing their very strong hands slowly. When they hit a set on the flop, for example, they automatically refuse to betray the strength of their hand, only checking or calling a bet.

This is a very bad habit to get into, as many times, if not most of the time, the better action is to be aggressive. Your aggression or passivity should be determined by the situation you are in, not your habit of play. You need to turn off the auto-pilot, and think through the most profitable line of play for each situation.

5. Talking when you hit your hand

There is often a strong internal release of energy when you hit strong hands. One behavior that frequently results as a manifestation of that energy release is to start talking. Many players — new, intermediate, and veterans alike — just can't seem to refrain from playful banter when they are feeling particularly good about their chances of winning.

Plug up this leak by stifling the urge to talk when you're very strong.

6. Glancing at chips on a strong flop

Many players instinctively look down at their chips when they hit a good hand on the flop. It's a classic tell that has made observant players millions.

Avoid this tell by consciously refraining from this eye movement after you look at the flop, no matter how it helps or hurts your hand.

7. Staring at the board on the flop

Much like the last tell, many players can't resist the temptation to continue to look at the flop when it misses their cards. Don't do that. Adopt the same practice of briefly looking at the flop and then looking somewhere else — again, no matter how it helps or hurts your hand.

8. Resting on elbows and slouching

These and other habits of movement and posture at the poker table can be extremely draining and can even be injurious over time. At the very least, the habit of leaning down on your elbows and collapsing your head and neck into your shoulders will drain energy and prematurely end what might be an otherwise long and profitable session.

Replace this bad habit by consciously allowing your head and torso to be more erect and your shoulders more relaxed.

9. Drinking alcohol

Alcohol diminishes your ability to think. Habitually drinking is absolutely detrimental to your game. Sure, having a beer or glass of wine from time to time might be fine, but know that drinking too much necessarily undermines your ability to win.

10. Playing interactive games at the table

I see many players focused not on the action at the table but on interactive games on their tablet (or phone). They do this constantly. While poker does get boring — especially when bad or inexperienced players take forever to act — having an engaging distraction that keeps your head out of the game can only hurt you.

Need something else to do? Have a static activity like a crossword puzzle or a book (on your tablet or phone if you want) that doesn't continue without you when you are attending to the poker game. Any other, ongoing game that will constantly draw you away from the poker game — because you can't resist the urge to continue with the other game's action — is anathema to solid play.

11. Smoking

Yes, I know it's really an addiction, not just a habit. Even so, I include it here because it has much the same effect as a habit. Players who would otherwise be engaged in the hand are frequently distracted when at the tables by their need to smoke, and (of course) often driven to leave the poker game, poker room, and building that houses the poker game in order to satisfy that need.

While regular, intentional breaks from the action do make sense, doing so out of a compulsion or addiction to smoking doesn't.

12. Sitting in the first seat you see

Get out of the habit of automatically and quickly getting into the first seat in the first game you see upon entering a poker room. You want the best seat in the best game. And if there are no good games, you may want to pass on a session entirely.

The difference between a seat in a good game and a seat in the first seat available could well be the difference between a winning and losing session. If you're in the habit of taking the first seat you see without scoping out the games, you're depriving yourself of one of the best opportunities to engage in profitable play.

13. Gambling

Ironic though it sounds, gambling is a terrible habit for many poker players that sucks from their pockets money that might otherwise be the profitable product of good poker play. By gambling I mean playing those casino games that are always negative EV for the player — like dice, roulette, Keno, blackjack, sports betting and horse racing for most players. (If you're a skilled blackjack player or a successful sports or horse handicapper, well, maybe that's an exception.)

Even so, if your head is in the latest horse race or sporting contest, you're probably not giving the requisite attention to the poker game you're in, costing you money in the process.

Ashley Adams has been playing poker for 50 years and writing about it since 2000. He is the author of hundreds of articles and two books, Winning 7-Card Stud (Kensington 2003) and Winning No-Limit Hold'em (Lighthouse 2012). He is also the host of poker radio show House of Cards. See www.houseofcardsradio.com for broadcast times, stations, and podcasts.

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