Gambling and Casino

Gambling is still being frowned upon by many people these days. They scorn at people seemingly wasting away their money at a card game or the slot machines. Many counties and cities still ban it or put huge taxes on it.

They may be right. There are just too many examples to cite on the bad sides of gambling. There are many gambling syndicates and underground networks in the world. They sue gambling revenues to fund their other illegal activities – drugs, illegal arms trade and robbery. So many people have gone bankrupt because of gambling and indeed, many lives have been destroyed.

But these same people do not hate stock trading, or speculative buying of properties – buying a house and selling it when the market price goes up. These are also forms of gambling, people spend money and hope it will return big, but they are more or less accepted by mainstream society. Perhaps it’s the glitz of gambling. The call of the casinos, the martinis at the card table, the women popping in the sides of the high rollers, the sheer uncertainty of gambling that makes in un-palatable for the common folk.

The psychology of gambling is still a complex puzzle. Naysayers say it's a pathological sickness to be cured only with drugs and therapy. Others say it is a form of catharsis, a psychological release of pent-up energy, just like in playing sports or even having sex. Just like any hobby, substance or behavior too much is always harmful and gambling is not an exception. To the professional and in control, gambling is a form of relaxation enough to unwind a stressed mind and enough to remain in control on what is at stake.

However, it cannot be denied that gambling has brought the life back into once sleepy towns and revived economies, livelihood and the life of millions of people.

Consider the two of the most popular gambling cities in the world – Las Vegas and Macau. Yes, they were hundreds of years behind the French Riviera, Monte Carlo or Iberian counterparts. These days, with the economic powers shifting back to the East and aided by American dollars, the city by the desert and the once remote Portuguese outpost is fast becoming the centers of gambling of the world.

Imagine the two cities alone. Las Vegas was just a stop over for soldiers coming in after World War 2 as they travel home to the East. Macau was also a stopover for Portuguese junks, which lorded over the trade route from the Spice Islands to Europe and soon became a resting place for Brits from Hong Kong.

However, in just a few decades, these cities have become giants. Las Vegas alone raised more than $6 billion in revenues in 2008. These revenues mean work, livelihood and business. And the race is still on as big player race to build the biggest, grandest and glitziest casinos of them all.