Gambling's Attraction
Many people could read this and find some answers to questions surrounding gambling's attraction that will shed some light on why it is the way it is. There is definitely a strong attraction to gambling for many people but it manifests in different ways for different people.
This article takes a look at this curiosity and attempts to explain why the attraction exists for so many people where it does not for so many more. We'll also take a look at some of the differences in how it attracts different people differently.
The Commonly Held Belief
It has for a long time been the commonly held belief that people gamble chiefly because they are looking for an easy way to get a lot of money for a small outlay. This may be true of those that play state or national lotteries or who place small bets on large multipliers such as multiple sports results which carry extremely long odds.
But it doesn't explain why many more people gamble on events that carry much shorter odds, such as casino games like roulette with its different ways to place evens bets or horse races where odds on the "favorite" can be a lot shorter than evens.
The Thrill of Gambling
Many believe that the general appeal of gambling is not so much the monetary gains involved as the emotional thrill of risking a bet on the outcome of an event. This has a lot of weight to it as emotions are powerful driving factors in people.
Different people are driven in varying levels by different emotions. So a person that is highly excited by the emotions associated with taking big risks could similarly be very attracted to gambling for the sake of gambling more so than for the chance of monetary gain.
The Psychological Reward
On a different level, a person who is attracted to the psychological as well as physical reward associated with winning a bet would experience a strong attraction to gamble (especially money). Taking action for the desire of reward drives most people, which is easy to see as it is the reward of a paycheck that causes most people to go to work!
But when that concept is transferred to placing a bet in order to be in with a chance of a reward in the form of winnings, even though the circumstances are different, the basic driving force is still in place. With a sizeable reward up for grabs, it's reasonable that a certain kind of person would be prepared to risk a proportional wager in order to satisfy that need.
Participation
There is also a feeling among many bettors that "you have to be in it to win it", or in other words, you have to have a bet riding on an event if you want to be in with a chance of winning. That is quite evident, incidentally in the millions of weekly lottery players.
There is sometimes a feeling of camaraderie when gamblers get together to place bets on events such as horse races. That goes some way to explaining why there is always a good turnout for regular race meetings.
The same atmosphere can be experiences in a sports betting shop (or bookmaker) and even a casino. Next time you visit a brick and mortar casino, note the excitement that is generated around a busy craps table and you'll get an understanding of how powerful the collective energy of a group of gamblers in a high state of excitement can be.
Peer Pressure
Another side to this phenomenon is how a person can become wrapped up in the culture of gambling for no other reason than that their friends all "do it" and they don't want to feel left out. This happens in other walks of life, especially when it happens that an honest, law abiding kid gets roped into gang culture and before long starts doing unlawful and dishonest things just to remain a part of the gang.
Peer pressure can be a powerful directive for people who crave that feeling of belonging to a group and will join in whatever the group does in order to satisfy that need. A non-gambler can rapidly become intrigued by the activity and then embrace it albeit with reservations when exposed to it often as in the case of associating with a group of gamblers.
Calculated Betting
Some people feel the need to risk their money and throw it wildly at wagers without giving them too much thought, while others are more calculating. The latter kind of bettors are much more likely to get a thrill from the build-up to placing the bet that comes from prior research into many aspects of the event they intend betting on.
This includes racing fans who will spend hours studying the latest "form" of horses and their riders to ensure they have the best knowledge pertaining to the race and are much more able to make educated predictions on its outcome. These bettors generally fare better than their more carefree counterparts but are still subject to the element of chance.
Others still will try to buck the system by trying out certain types of sports betting system designed to increase their chances of winning by using someone else's knowledge and applying their predictions in a series of faces or other sporting events to maximize their winning chances. They derive their thrill from doing something that is considered "bad" or "unsporting" by purists because they are using unconventional methods to stand a better chance of winning.
So we can see that there are several underlying reasons why certain people become attracted to the activity of gambling. While it doesn't answer all the questions, it allows us to at least gain an understanding as to why there is this attraction to the activity and what drives a person to gamble for entertainment, excitement or to fill a need.
