I was excited about the start of the Tennessee Lottery.
Realizing I probably won’t win, I usually enjoy the occasional rush of the scratch-off ticket. Yet, with the games being weeks old, I haven’t yet made the plunge.
It’s not that I’m opposed to gambling. In fact, I enjoy the trip to the racetrack every now and then, though I can never seem to take home any winnings.
“You need to go into gambling knowing the odds are stacked against you,” a writer who covers horse racing said.
“In the lottery, the takeout can range from 50 percent to as much as 90 percent. That means for every $I wagered, only 50 cents to 10 cents actually gets paid back to the bet-tor. In horse racing, the take out is about 20 percent – still high, but at least you get live entertainment that lasts longer than scratching a ticket. Plus, if you do your home work, you can improve your odds.
“Casino gambling is the best bet for the casual person with discretionary income to spend because the takeout there ranges from 6 percent on a game like roulette to as little as 1/2 percent on something like craps,” he said. “Mathematically, you could gamble $10,000 on craps and expect to lose only $50. In the lottery the expectation would be about $5,000.”
For a lot of people, including myself, gambling at a casino or racetrack is just for fun.
But not everyone can control the habit.
Americans are losing their control on gambling. About 1 percent of American adults – nearly 3 million people – are compulsive gamblers, according to the National Council on Problem Gambling.
“Compulsive gamblers constantly think about past bets, planning the next ones, and all the while searching for the money to support their addiction,” according to the March issue of the Harvard Mental Health Letter.
Gambling addiction is “an impulse control disorder,” the American Psychiatric Association says. Commonly, addiction also includes depression and alcohol abuse.
To quote Tom Cochrane: “The secret is to know when to stop.”