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3.2: No Gambling

Definitions of gambling:

verb. to play games of chance to win money or prizes;
to bet on the outcome of an event;
to act with the expectation of;
n. a risky act or venture.

Forms of gambling:

Card games like blackjack and poker.
Races (horses, dogs, etc.)
Dice games like roulette or crap.
Lotteries and raffles.
Bingo.
Sports wagers.
Poker machines.

Researchers estimate that US citizens spend $32 billion a year on gambling.

Previously wary governments and religious groups are now among the biggest profit makers, promoters, and proprietors of legal gaming.

How gambling is spiritually damaging

A gambler thinks that by luck or chance combined with his manipulation of the material energy, he can win more wealth and thus enjoy more sense gratification. He thinks he can get something for nothing. He thinks, "I can beat the odds and win some new pleasure. I just have to hit the right number, pull the right card, spin the right digit." In this way, he discounts the natural laws of God.

The term "chance" in gambling is a denial of God's control and the law of karma. The gambler thinks that there is a loophole somewhere in the system or no system at all. He believes himself independent and thinks that there are no laws governing pleasure. He thinks he can abrogate the will of the Supreme.

Consider this…

Within the category of gambling, Srila Prabhupada often included mental speculation, sports, or entertainment like cinema or theatre. Why do you think he included all of these activities? (By "mental speculation," Prabhupada meant concoctions that deviate from the conclusions of the scriptures).

Negative or debilitating effects of gambling

The gambling industry takes advantage of people's weaknesses. It preys on those who can afford it the least - persons with low incomes.
Well over a million compulsive gamblers live in America alone and the number is predicted to shortly rise over three million.¬ They used to build treatment centers for heroin addicts. Now they are building them for the compulsive gamblers.
The increase in gambling represents a decline in moral values and the work ethic. "Gambling's get-rich-quick appeal appears to mock capitalism's core values: Disciplined work habits, thrift, prudence, adherence to routine and the relationship between effort and reward," concludes the Twentieth Century Fund, a New York research group, in a study of legalized betting.
Crime and cheating are often linked to gambling, especially in the form of bribery and game fixing.
Everyone gambles to win and may go to great lengths to win - even farther than most of us know.
Gambling breeds an attitude of contempt for human life. Example: In the intensive care unit of Sunrise Hospital in Las Vegas, employees were betting on how long critically ill patients would live. Some of the employees were overly anxious about their bets, and would tamper with the oxygen supplies or other life support systems of heavily wagered patients. One nurse in particular, who styled herself, "The angel of Death," allegedly turned off equipment on at least six critically ill patients.
Compulsive gamblers can destroy their families and sometimes even end their lives with suicide. One expert's description of compulsive gamblers: "They run into enormous financial difficulties borrowing or even stealing from others, including their families. Heavy debt is a constant fact of life for compulsive gamblers. They sleep poorly, and are indifferent towards eating and affection. They may drink a good deal, and they're tense and irritable. They even consider suicide. But they always think about the next bet."
Gambling can be a more powerful addiction than drugs.
Gambling cultivates greed, attachment, possessiveness, and an obsession with money.

Examples of corruption linked to gambling

Four Boston College basketball players have been sentenced to up to 20 years in prison for taking bribes to reduce their team's score so that gamblers could beat the point spreads.
Baltimore Colts quarterback Art Schilchter went to the FBI after losing $389,000 to illegal bookmakers by betting on games.
A police report prompted the New York Times to editorialize that the casinos "are providing easy credit to gangsters and letting compulsive gamblers destroy themselves."
Two officials of the Pennsylvania lottery were convicted of perjury and theft by injecting liquid weight into numbered table tennis balls so that only two of the 10 could be blown up to a plastic tube by a machine that selected the winning number.
One survey of police enforcement of gambling laws found that 80% of the police believe that profits from illegal gambling are used to finance other illegal activities such as loan-sharking and drug distribution. In half of the sample cities, local independent criminal organizations were said to control gambling operations.
Sports bookies are often cited as the main source of bribes to police, prosecutors, and local politicians. In his New Complete Guide to gambling, John Scarne reports: "No other form of illegal gambling .. enjoys such effective police and political protection as illegal bookmaking." Police prosecutors reply that gambling has low priority because the public doesn't consider it a serious offense and as few as 2 percent of police officer's cases result in prosecution.