Gambling with your [family's] future

Part 2!

All right, my first post was about the effects of gambling on one person. Now, it's going to be about gambling and it's effect on families.

Relating back to my Macau trip, my dad actually won some cash, and I got a cut from it (I was pretty happy of course). But in terms of other families, they're usually not as lucky. I heard from my parents that sometimes people spend all their available money just to go into a casino and try to make easy cash, as they have probably seen advertisements about how great the winnings and odds are... but their hard earned cash are most likely all gambled away. My dad tells me these people are losers, I understand his opinion, but I actually pity some of them, especially if they have children) These people are probably desparate for money, shunned by the government for being financial leeches (especially of the financial crisis taking place nowadays --> refer to Samuel Chan's blog for more information on this issue), and if they have children, wouldn't the risks be even bigger if they lost? I mean, have they ever thought of the consequences of losing? How would they be able to maintain their family if all their cash is down the sink?!

When I think of this situation, I see a man walking out of the casino with hands in his pockets and head looking down. His wife is clutching their child and tears stream down her face. They have spent everything. There is nothing left to gamble, nor is there any left to pay the final notice for the apartment rent. You may call my imagination extreme, but I have seen government-sponsored TV programs that also show similar images. In some cases, the families still have money for rent, food etc. But sometimes, the parents get into arguments over the topic of gambling too much, which eventually results in them splitting up.

There are 2 ways for this to happen.
A) Either of the parents neglect their family because they spend all their time gambling (for example, the TV commercial shows the mother only gambles, and the child is reduced to eating cup noodles every meal, therefore the father takes the child and leaves)

B) Because of the gambling family member's poor attitude, such as increased violence and drinking due to constant losses, the other parent decides they have had enough and leaves

However, gambling is NOT restricted to casinos only. If you think about it, there are many forms of gambling that does not involve dice, cards or chips. Those include horse racing, mark-six, betting on sports team etc. (many of them make up the majority of the gambling in Hong Kong)
Figures from the Hong Kong Jockey Club show that for the 2005 to 2006 season, the horse racing betting turnover amounts to 60 billion (HKD) while the amount for football betting is 31.2 billion. Betting turnover for the Mark Six equals to 6.3 billion. It is estimated that Hong Kong people spent over 12 billion on football betting during the 2006 World Cup.

Look at those numbers... If HK people saved half of that money to build up a "nest egg", wouldn't they have saved a nice little sum by now? That money could be used by families so that their child can go to school or have a decent place to live. It's not fair to the child that they have to suffer for their parents' addiction / ignorance, so why aren't people doing much about this issue?
The government has shown propaganda that gambling is like throwing money in the ocean, yet people still gamble till they go broke. Why is that?

Perhaps it is the human nature in some people to take risks (and suffer massive losses) at the expense of the lives of others.

Here's a survey with recommendations for gambling by CUHK
It's pretty good advice too, and the facts seem pretty accurate (my dad bought my first mark six ticket when I was 9, I got 3 numbers!)

To sum things up, gambling is NOT the way to earn money. It is only meant to be an occasional form of entertainment and nothing more. And if you HAVE to gamble, please consider the consequences, especially if you have a family.

Gambling with [your] Future

Blarg! First Post !

Anyway, as some of you may know, I have recently been to Macau, and stayed at the Venetian (yes, yes, the really big one, but this isn't a critique on hotels). As I walked through the Venetian, I notice the insanely large sections of the hotel dedicated for gambling. In case you were wondering how I got in, I am 17, but the security didn't even bother to check my ID. I saw rows upon rows of slot machines, black jack tables, poker tables, and stuff as bizarre as "Carribean POkER ! PLAY & WIN". And if the scene wasn't overwhelming already, add a couple hundred mainland China customers to the pallette. It was horrifying to say the least. Some of them would pick their nose while playing poker, some would smoke and put their legs up the slot machines.

All of them were trying their luck to make a quick buck (that rhymes!), and the purpose behind casinos quickly donned upon me.

Casinos were built for the sole purpose of generating more revenue for the firm, hotel etc; whoever designed the casino is a genius. These so-called "entertainment devices" are usually rigged so that the player has a winning chance of close to nil. And since people are usually desperate for easy money, the keep trying and trying their chances.
For example, take a guy I saw at the slot machines. His number of actions include:
1) Push button
2) Stare at screen and see if anything was won
3) Fail? Then insert more money and repeat steps 1-2
4) Win? Play some more and repeat steps 1-2

His actions were so mechanical, it seemed like the slot machine was like keeping him in a trance, and to be honest, I think the casino has mind controlling devices built into these things. The crazy thing about the slot machine is that it only costs about a buck to play, and the amount of money you gain if you hit jackpot is about a million times higher than the cost of play. This idea hooks the player in, because they think that: "Oh, it's just ONE more dollar, I got lots more where that came from." And sooner or later, they go home empty handed with one thought: "I can't quit now... after all the times that I tried to win. I'm going to come back tomorow and WIN!" The vicious cycle just keeps going on and on.


One thing is for sure though... I never want to play slots, even if my life depended on it.