The cards are dealt.  I look down at my hand and notice the full house I’ve been dealt with.  Is he bluffing?  Should I stay or push the chips all-in?  All of these questions plague my mind as my heart races in anticipation.  One right move and I’m staring at unimaginable wealth.  Choose wrong and I’m poverty stricken with no way to provide for my family.  These are some of the questions a gambler may ask their self.  The real question a gambler should be asking is if this is worth it.  Gambling effects families, communities, and nations; but not in a positive way.  It is a choice that will eventually come back to haunt the gambler or his family.  Gambling may have a few bright points such as winning a couple bucks.  These winnings; however, don’t make up for the money spent on trying to “Hit the big one.”  All forms of gambling should be illegal because it increases crime rates, doesn’t create enough jobs to be considered helpful, and only provides a small fraction of money for public works.  

            First of all, gambling is a term used to describe risking money or valuables on a game of chance.  There are seven types of gamblers; Social, Professional, Criminal, Escape, Action, Compulsive, and Pathological (Wilson, pg.1).  Social gamblers are the gamblers who do not have problems and are the least likely to become addicted.  While pathological gamblers are the problem gamblers, they are in danger of hurting themselves or loved ones (Wilson, pg.1).  There are many different types of gambling.  The most common types are Casino, Internet, Sports, and Bingo gambling (Kathy, pg.1).  These types of gambling combine to control the minds of people all over the world.  Gambling is considered an addiction the same as smoking and drinking. 

            There is evidence of gambling since before 1500 B.C. in Egypt.  Most cultures supported the idea of gambling.  One of the most important decisions of territory was decided by gambling.  The king of Norway and the king of Sweden around the year 1,000 wanted a non-violent way to decide on the owning of a piece of land.  They rolled a pair of dice and one of the kings came away with the property for their country.  The kings left on good terms (The, pg.1).  In the beginning gambling looked like a perfect solution to problems, but even in gambling’s history we can find problems.  In the Middle Ages gambling was banned in England by King Henry VIII (The, pg.1).  Soldiers would not do their duties because they spent all their time gambling.  They stopped working on skills needed for war and drills to gamble.  Problems have existed in gambling throughout its history and still exist in the present. 

            America has dramatically changed its moral and economical views on gambling.  In the 1950’s Americans looked at gambling in the same category as drug dealing.  In 1993, for the first time Americans made more trips to casinos then they did Major League ballparks, some 92 million trips (Winters, pg.17).  Gambling in America is now considered a pastime.  This doesn’t make it right.  Hawaii and Utah are the only two states in American that doesn’t allow some form of legalized gambling.  The first state lottery was established in 1964 by New Hampshire, thirty-seven states now have a lottery.  In 1991 Iowa produced the first riverboat gambling operation.  With the opening of these gambling institutions there has also been an increase in the people who have entered gambling addiction centers.  An example of this is in the Netherlands where in 1986 there were 400 people who visited one center for help.  With an increase in gaming facilities that number rose to 6,000 by 1992 (Winters, pg.21).  America banned gambling in the late 1800s and brought it back in 1931 by Nevada (American, pg.1).  In 1996 the National Center for Responsible Gaming was created because of the high increase in pathological gamblers.

            People have been gambling for centuries.  Losing money, winning money, it makes no difference; they keep coming back.  The question we have is why.  What draws gamblers back to the games, casinos, and racetracks year after year, day after day?  There is not just one reason there is many.  One reason people gamble is simply because they are feeling lucky.  Luck is something a person cannot judge it’s a feeling, an emotion that overtakes the body.  People get this feeling and they decide to press their luck.  Another reason for gambling is because of the thrill.  Gamblers may feel bored or need some excitement in their life, so they like the thrill of emotions in the casino or gambling hall (888, pg.1).  Other big reasons casinos stay full is because some people like to relax, have fun, or meet friends.  These ideas seem enjoyable; the truth is that gambling looks good on the outside, but casinos are set up this way to give people a relaxed feeling.  After relaxing the person then it becomes easy to make big bucks, if you’re the casino.

            The odds are an important part of gambling.  Some gamblers make it their profession to beat the system.  They try to outsmart the machines and casinos.  These are called Professional gamblers.  Professional gamblers use gambling as a job to make money (Wilson, pg.1).  No matter what type of gambler someone is the odds are important to know.  The problem is that the odds aren’t on the gamblers side.  Millions of people play the lottery everyday, but a few amount of them know the chances of winning.  Lottery players spend countless amounts of money on lottery tickets throughout their life.  This money could be spent on a variety of things to help better our economy and provide for families.  This being said, the chances of winning the lottery are 1 in 15,890,700 (WebMath, pg.1). 

            The first reason gambling should be illegal is because it increases crime rates.  Crime is a growing problem in the world.  At first legal gambling was praised by communities.  The communities saw gambling as a way to increase employment rates and tax bases (Knowlton, pg.1).  They increased the number of casinos which instead of helping, increased crime.  Crime looked to be decreasing when they first entered the communities, but shortly after serious crimes started to rise.  “The rates of serious crime, including aggravated assaults, rose markedly in the gambling counties about three years after casinos opened.” said Professor David Mustard (Knowlton, pg.1).  The crimes come from gambler who lose their money and have to have more.  They’ll do anything to get it back which puts society in danger. 

            A strong argument for pro-gambling organizations is the jobs created by gambling.  These organizations say that the millions of jobs produced have helped people, but at what harm?  When asked if the jobs created from gambling were really a good idea, Earl L. Grinois a Professor of economics at Baylor University said that its flaws cost more than three times the benefit.  “Gambling leads to increased crime, to suicides and to people ruining their lives when they get caught up in it.” said the Professor (Flynn, pg.1).  The jobs created are not worth the damage gambling causes.  Bankruptcy rates were 11.2% higher in gambling counties (Flynn, pg.1).  This means the production of jobs from gambling are hurting the economy more then helping. 

            The jobs produced by gambling don’t add up to much.  Many of the jobs produced are set up to give back to the casinos.  A lot of the workers put their money back into the casinos after their payday which is a reason for the bankruptcy rise for gambling counties.  Most of the jobs are low paying and have not increased job rates any higher.  Most casino jobs pay a very low wage and are only part time.  The workers usually do not get vacations or health insurance.  This doesn’t help families or the community.

            The final reason gambling should remain illegal is because only a small fraction of money goes to public work projects.  Lottery revenues make huge amounts of money year after year, but where is the money in the communities?  The answer is not easy too find because most of the money from these multi-billion gambling organizations are not going to help the people.  “Legalized gambling is never large enough to solve any social problems.” says Nelson Rose, a gambling-law professor (Winters, pg.18).  An example of the low state earning is in Atlantic City where they earn only six percent of its revenues through gambling (Winters, pg.19).  Gambling is giving the people back only a small percent of money.  This is another reason gambling only takes from our communities.

            In conclusion, I do believe gambling should be illegal.  Gambling has a negative effect on society, and should be outlawed.  First of all, gambling increases crime rates.  This makes communities unsafe and puts non gamblers in danger.  Next, gambling doesn’t create enough jobs.  The jobs created do not boost the employment rates.  Finally, gambling is not a good source of tax money.  The money from gambling is not enough to give back to communities in a reliable way.  Gambling affects more lives then one; it affects the lives of a nation.  So, push em all-in or fold?  Neither is the right play.  The best move is to walk away.