
Gambling (Part III)
Gambling varies
by country, with some countries such as Korea or Russia being
literally overrun with slot machines and gambling. It has led to a
decline in their culture, and suicide and bankruptcy rates are on the
rise.
In the United
States, gambling is allowed in some form in all but two states.
Thirty-eight of the fifty states allow lotteries; and some of the
states participate in progressive lotteries as well. Many states allow
gambling on Indian reservations, even if they don’t allow it anywhere
else in the state.
California
for example, gambling is illegal unless you are on an Indian
Reservation, or if you are playing the lottery. It used to be that if
you wanted to play a slot machine, you had to be on a reservation or
in Las
Vegas or
Atlantic City, but this is no longer the case. Many pari-mutuels, such
as the ones in Florida, are now allowing slot machine gambling on
their grounds.
Canada
has seen its fair share of gambling as well, with their gambling rates
going up $9 billion a year since 1992. They also however, have a very
high suicide rate, with roughly 360 per year directly related to
gambling. Britain takes a much easier route, and allows betting
offices, slot machines, as well as gambling in homes or clubs.
However, most gamblers in Britain never win, but they don’t care –
they say they do it for the fun of it. Australia has more than twenty
percent of the world’s slot machines, and eight out of ten of them
gamble. Their statistics are scary as well, with 330,000 Australians
reporting gambling problems. One in ten of them have contemplated
suicide at some point.
What we are
trying to get across here, is that gambling is fun. Slot machines are
fun, but please play responsibly. Know how long you can go for, and
definitely know how much you can afford to lose. Don’t take money with
you that you can’t lose.
slot machine, slot
machine, slot machine, slot machine
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