The hidden effects of games of chance

By Luqman Gberno, Elimar Villamizar and Santiago Arango •

Last year marked another consecutive year of record profits for the American gambling industry, with sports betting posting $10.9 billion in revenue alone, according to USA Today. The gambling houses are cracking open their coffers to land sponsorships with high rollers like Kevin Hart, Lebron James and John Cena. The casinos are on a hot streak, but who loses when they win big?

Sohan Masters, exercise science major, said losing is part of the gambling experience.

“I think a way to have a healthy relationship [with gambling] is to always expect to lose. Like, just bring 100 bucks and say, ‘OK I’m willing to lose it,’” Masters said.

Masters said he is by no means a regular gambler, but even he can see the danger in it.

“Over the summer, I gambled for the first time in my life. It was really addicting. It took a lot of power for me to not stay there for too long,” Masters said.

Compulsive gambling is a mental disorder recognized by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders and has increasingly impacted the lives of young people.

“Compulsive gambling is akin to compulsive drinking or drug use. It triggers something within them, part of their genetic makeup and their environmental experiences,” Ralph Cash, full-time faculty in the Department of Clinical and School Psychology, said.

Cash explains that most compulsive gamblers are young people, with the habit often starting in their teenage years or early twenties. A period when young people make the step into adulthood and face its challenges for the first time.

This compulsion does not exist in a vacuum. Cash suggests that gambling goes hand in hand with other disorders.

“People who have gambling disorders might also have other kinds of behavior disorders, mostly related to compulsions, like obsessive-compulsive disorder. People with OCD might also develop gambling disorder, and vice versa,” Cash said.

People with conditions like OCD can be the most vulnerable to addiction in this regard.

“Once it starts, it tends to last a very long time in a person’s lifetime, usually destroying significant parts of their life, such as relationships, jobs and educational status,” Cash said.