The number of casinos continues to grow at breakneck speed, but gambling addiction programs are not keeping pace. It is estimated that around 2 million adults meet the criteria for “pathological gambling”.
Gambling addiction affects men and women of all socioeconomic classes, according to figures from the National Problem Gambling Council.
Before 2005, Sandra Adell had never set foot in a casino. But when a friend of 59, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison asked her to accompany her to the Ho-Chunk Casino about 45 minutes from her house, she categorically refused to go there. As Adell went through the experience of gambling addiction, she does not wish to repeat the experience. Adell, confirms: she sat down at a machine, and when she gets up to stop playing, it’s because she doesn’t have a dime left to feed the one-armed bandit.
“ At this very moment, I realize that the casino has become my personal bank machine ,” adds Adell, author of a book she wrote in 2011 “Confessions of a Slot Machine Queen.”
By playing addictively. Adell quickly moved away from her social circle, forgoing meals with friends and Sunday times with family. Simply because she felt like she wanted to play and she didn’t have time for her family anymore. She couldn’t do without it. “ All I wanted to do was play in a casino,” she said, ‘[…] that was all I wanted to do .. […] ”
Gambling addiction can sink people into a person who only cares about their next bet. According to the National Council on Problem Gambling, an estimated 2 million adults in the United States meet the criteria for “problem gambling,” and 4-6 million people are considered “problem gamblers.” It is a dependency found between the middle classes.
Contrary to popular belief, the gap between the number of male and female compulsive gamblers is closing. We note, however, that the number of women is much more compulsive than men. It also responds to the consequences of the rising cost of living in the United States.
Betting behaviors vary by gender. Men are more likely to be “action gamblers,” meaning that they tend to bet in games that involve skill (eg, poker or blackjack), while women tend to bet on games that involve skill (eg, poker or blackjack). to be “backup players”, which means they are more drawn to machines that are based on luck. And when you decide to play, it’s because they just want to forget about life’s problems.
Recently, a Swiss casino was convicted of letting a man go bankrupt in a casino for letting an inveterate gambler go bankrupt at the game. The Swiss Federal Administrative Court fined the casino of 3 million Francs. Everything took place between the year 2005 and 2008 when a man, father at the head of a real estate company had gambled more than 25 million francs. Addicted and very attracted to gambling, he would have lost around 4 million francs. An investigation had been opened by the federal commission of gambling houses. The casino gambling authority then decided after analysis that the man was not responsible for what he did. Surveillance cameras proved that his addiction should be taken seriously and reflected a breach of trust by the gambling establishment. 3 million francs in fines were requested. The casino will have to pay in cash.