Gambling affects the person doing it and anyone who is close to them. Through personal experience getting hooked on gambling is mainly from the action and thrill of everything associated with gambling. When gambling they are part of the action and not just watching people play a game for money.
If one is truly a pathological gambler, just like lying they cannot stop unless they are helped. When gambling it is very difficult to come to the realization that one is addicted. They simply do not want to believe this because all there fun must finally come to an end. If it does not they will be on track to mess up everything they have worked so hard to accomplish. When someone is addicted to something, the addiction stems out to not only harm him or her but also his or her friends and family. Gamblers hurt many more people then just there self with an addiction like gambling. Gamblers start borrowing money with the intention of paying it back when they win big. Being a winner sometimes happens but most of the time it will not and the gambler is stuck owing this person for a long time.
Gamblers especially enjoy the fact that they can win and winning anything makes anyone feel good. When one talk’s with anyone that does something that makes him or her feel good, they want to keep doing that specific thing no matter what it is.
As anyone can see the money has very little to do with gambling addiction. In fact most are addicted to the action gambling brings to them. Action is fun and people love to have fun. This is why places such as Las Vegas and Atlantic City exist.
“There are two types of gamblers the first of the two affect mostly men. They are referred to as action gamblers. In these cases gambling generally starts in the early teen years. The action gambler is usually very bright scoring high on IQ tests. They generally like games requiring skill such as black jack, poker, sports betting, and more recently, trading of stocks and bonds. Gambling
References: Diamond, J. (2001), Gambling Addiction http://www.topcondition.com/images/mymindfield/gambling_addiction.htm McGraw, R. (2005), Gambling Addiction Questions and Answers http://www.addictionrecov.org/qandagam.htm Morrison, J. (2002), Compulsive Gambling http://health.yahoo.com/centers/addiction/96407685 Zehr, R. (2005). Pathological gambling: An addiction embracing the nation. http://www.addictionrecov.org/aboutgam.htm