Is there anything that’s a greater waste of money than gambling?
When I see those old ladies pumping money into the slots at Foxwoods or the crowds playing roulette at Mohegan Sun, I just feel sick.
But I think I feel even worse that gamblers are increasingly turning to online casinos such as this one that touts itself as the top poker room where they’re pissing away their money in the dark of their own rooms.
It’s a travesty, a sickness, and one that our government doesn’t do nearly enough to combat.
The West Hartford Blog 
And these “Gamblers” are being “diagnosed” with an “illness” just like drug addicts and alcoholics.
Makes me sick. It’s a choice, a bad choice, but a choice to gamble, and DEVELOP a gambling problem/addiction.
Ahem.. why do you feel you must feel that what I do for entertainment and relaxation at a casino is such a travesty! Some folks go out drinking, others attend fights or wrestling matches or go to ball games! Hey it is not for me but for those who enjoy it, more power to them.
Sure, some folks can’t handle alcohol or drugs or gambling or even overeating but to judge others… tsk tsk tsk
Is there anything that’s a greater waste of money than gambling?
-Spending $600 a night at a nice resort?
-Spending $250-$300 per couple to go to a broadway show?
-Spending several hundreds of dollars a game to watch college basketball or football, which is what those with the prime seats are spending?
-Spending $300 per couple for a nice dinner?
-Spending $5 for a cup of coffee?
-Spending $40 per couple for a movie, popcorn, and something to drink?
-Spending $425 to play a round of golf at Pebble Beach?
-Flying all the way to Scotland just to play golf when we have wonderful golf courses within a short drive?
-Buying a $12 hamburger?
-Paying hundreds for a good seat at a rock concert?
-Buying top of the line skis?
-Paying $400 for a driver?
-Paying for a manicure and a pedicure when you can do it yourself?
-Paying someone else to do your lawn work while being physically capable?
-Paying $500 for a bottle of wine?
-Buying an$80,000 car?
Entertainment is entertainment, we enjoy what we enjoy, and what turns one person on is silly to the next. I’ve done some of the things I listed above, I plan to do some of the others, and still others are of no interest because they would be a waste of money to me.
So no, gambling is no greater waste of money than any other form of entertainment or any other luxury.
And yes, some people have gambling problems, but I don’t lay the blame at the feet of the government.
By the same token don’t ask others to call it an “illness” and to help pay for the “recovery”
Well at fact now it won’t cost the gambler those
“Buying a $12 hamburger?
-Paying hundreds for a good seat at a rock concert?
-Buying top of the line skis?
-Paying $400 for a driver?
-Paying for a manicure and a pedicure when you can do it yourself?
-Paying someone else to do your lawn work while being physically capable?
-Paying $500 for a bottle of wine?
-Buying an$80,000 car?”
because now the gambling became easier online
and it will cost you just a computer and may be a cigerate box while playing poker or whatever you like
you can find some information about how to gamble online for free at http://algarag.com
Compulsive gambling is a real problem and the issue is very relevant here in Connecticut with two of the largest and most lucrative casinos in the world.
I knew a compulsive gambler who worked for the police department in Clinton. She spent thousands of dollars, maybe more, from her mother’s trust fund gambling at Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun. She would create false receipts and submit them to the Trust Officer responsible for her mom’s trust fund. Finally, her son told the bank what was happening and she was cut off. A short time later, she was the single beneficiary of a $2 million trust after her mom passed away. I wonder if there is any money remainging in that trust almost 5 years later.
I never understood the magnitude of compulsive gambiling until I met this woman. She lied when necessary and lost money that should have helped her children and grandchildren. People like this who live so close to Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun are sick, like a person addicated to drugs and alchohol. Should we as taxpayers help them, I’m not sure? I do know the casinos fund a Connecticut not for profit that addresses these issues.
Our children are exposed to gambling habits every time they see their parents buy a lotto ticket, betting on a sporting event, or playing poker.
I have heard from a trustee at Avon Old Farms School that the biggest problem among students there is not drinking beer and smoking pot but rather playing poker for money. Texas Hold’em is on television and kids know and admire the big name players.
Some people can handle their drinking while others can not. Some people visit Mohegan Sun once every five years while others blow their weekly paychecks. Gambling is a real disease, though.
Is this a spam blog post? The content of the post plus many of the comments sound like spam I get on my blog. WHDad, did you get hacked?
I think there truly are many who suffer from gambling addictions(among many other debilitating addictions such as drugs, alcohol, eating, shopping, pornography, etc.) that perhaps began as recreational fun and morphed into a habitual hell!
However, I’m not so sure it is reasonable to ask or expect the government to fix the problem. I believe these are issues of the heart and soul (and dare I say) the spirit of a person. I think there is certainly help out there, but government is limited in its ability to “save”.
I thought Conn. had an agreement with Foxwoods that they would not allow identified problem gamblers to continue to play and would ban them.
Looking at some past posts. It’s interesting to read about Blue Back Square. I’m a former WH resident now living in Florida. From the descriptions of this and talking to my Brother, it sounds very much like the development in Bethesda, MD in an area called Bethesda Row. Traffic is a problem there as well. Some day I’ll have to take a trip back to the hometown and see what all the fuss is about. I remember the neighbors of Westfarms raising a stink. IIRC, they bought the adjoining homes. It’s interesting to look at a Google satellite view of the area under construction and think back to the days of Grody Chevrolet and the old library and town hall and riding my bicycle down there from Bishops Corner. Is there an official Blue Black Square web site or any photos of the place online? Can’t find any via Google.
http://www.bluebacksquare.com/
I love gambling and I think that everyone has a right to gamble.
I agree Jerry, and hope you enjoy.
however, should you lose control I don’t think I should have to help bail you out.