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Britain Comes to Terms with Gambling

Since the early 1960's, the British government has licensed and legalized betting offices and gambling devices, such as slot machines. Britain has also taken a tolerant position regarding the games of chance in homes or private clubs ("Gambling," Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia 2005).

National Centre's British Gambling Survey reports that 72% of Britain's population, about 33 million adults, participated in some form of gambling activity within a one-year period ending in July 2004, and about two-thirds (65%) had bought a National Lottery ticket. Lottery, however, is only the third most popular form of gambling in Britain, ranking below horse racing and slot machines.

3 out of 4 British gamblers rarely ever win, despite Britain's passion for waging bets. The reason that most give for gambling is "fun and pleasure." The highest percentage of foreign visitors to Las Vegas comes from Britain.

With time, Gambling has become increasingly popular, virtually spreading all over the world like a disease among young and old, rich and poor, ignorant and educated. It's everywhere, from high-stakes casinos and government-run lotteries to penny ante bingo matches, raffles and office pools.

From the beginning of human history to the modern age, gambling is quickly becoming a virtual epidemic, as technology expands and the character of individuals and nations declines.

As ever-larger percentages of individuals in wealthy, developed countries capitulate to the temptation of this habit, even those below the poverty line in these prosperous nations enjoy a standard of living that is higher than the majority in the developing world. Nonetheless, many of them still seek easy ways to increase their incomes, and gambling, legal or not, has long been one of the most popular methods of pursuing this goal. The growth of gambling in these nations has exceeded overall population growth and recently gathered statistics bring the expanding scope of the problem into focus.

 

Sunday, January 07 , 2007
Victor Copeland