Casinos, Gambling, and Their Impacts

Casinos, Gambling, and their Impacts

In a recent trip to Reno, Nevada for a basketball game we had the opportunity to gamble for those of us that are of age. This was not my first time gambling; however, it made me wonder a little more about how casinos operate, but more specifically how they affect individuals and the community. There are many casinos in the Chicago area, where I am from. The reason this trip made me wonder more about casinos more is that I witnessed someone win three-hundred dollars, and then lose two-hundred of those. In the attempt to regain back some money he had lost he ended up losing all of it. After losing he was contemplating on risking his last fifteen dollars to regain some money. So I asked myself, how much is someone is willing to risk in an attempt to gamble his or her money back? I have won more often than not at the casino, but when I have lost I have felt this same urge to try gamble back some money, although I have not acted on it. This made me ponder more about the effects the casinos have on people on an individual basis and the community it is in.

The commencement of my research on this topic began with my first-hand observations and experiences. On this same trip, one of my teammates learned to gamble at the tables for the first time. He only started with about seven dollars and walked off with over one hundred and fifty. After winning that much money he wanted to keep on gambling the whole time we were there. The next day we gambled again, and again he won another fifty dollars. I was curious to see how he would react to losing at a casino so we went to another casino once we returned from that trip. Here he ended up losing just thirty dollars. At first, he wanted to recover the money he had lost, but then thought it through and walked away instead. This did not end his desire to go to back casinos, but only wanted to call it quits for the day. He continues to go to the casino at times even after his loss. Here it is...