Gambling
Facts and
Statistics
2008 Statistics
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Gambling has grown ten fold since 1975
37 states now have lotteries
15 million have an addiction
2/3 of the adults placed bets this year
Casinos made 30 Billion while lotteries made
17 billion last year
households under $10,000 placed three
times as much on lotteries as $50,000
households
2008 Statistics
Gambling among young people is on the increase: 42
percent of 14-year-olds, 49 percent of 15-year-olds, 63
percent of 16-year-olds, 76 percent of 18-year-olds.
There are now approximately 260 casinos on Indian
reservations (in 31 states and with $6.7 billion in annual
revenue)
Internet gambling has nearly doubled every year since 1997
– in 2001 it exceed $2 billion
The average rate of divorce for problem gamblers is nearly
double that of non-gamblers
The suicide rate for pathological gamblers is twenty times
higher than for non-gamblers (one in five attempts
suicide)
Fact or Myth
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People can predict a flip of a coin
Myth- 50%
There are systems to predict lottery
numbers
Myth- 1- 13,983,816
Only a small number of teenagers
gamble
Myth – 2 out of 3 gamble and it’s rising
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Teens don’t develop gambling problems
Myth- 8-15 % in study in Canada had
addiction problems
Gambling is exciting and adds to the fun
Myth- Very little excitement in losing
your money. Most are anxious, unhappy,
worried or upset.
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People can generally win their money
back if they have a losing streak
Myth- How long would a Casino stay in
business if this was true- Most try but
lose more
Winning the lottery would put you on
easy street
Myth- Your problems only start
What is it to gamble?
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A simple definition of gambling is: "To
play at any game of chance for
stakes…to stake or risk money, or
anything of value, on the outcome of
something
involving
chance…bet;
wager…any matter or things involving
risk or hazardous uncertainty" (Random
House College Dictionary, pg. 542).
Gambling is all about “greed”
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Some may argue that gambling is not motivated by greed.
There is any easy way to prove otherwise.
If gambling is not motivated by greed just take the money
out of it and see how many people participate.
Let people buy brightly colored cards to scrape of the
coverings to reveal numbers underneath, not for money,
but just to see if they can match the right number.
Let people drop quarters and dollars in slot machines just
to watch the bright symbols run around and see if they can
line up three jackpots. But no money. How long would the
casinos stay open?
Gambling is about greed. It is about a "love of
money." It is about covetousness.
Gambling violates God's legitimate
laws of obtaining money.
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There is the law of labor (Gen. 3: 19,
Eph. 4: 28).
The law of exchange (Matt. 25: 9).
The law of love (gift, Eph. 4: 28,
John. 3: 16).
Material things are to be used for the
glory of God, not squandered away in
gambling (Lk. 16: 9, Eph. 4: 28).
Gambling involves
covetousness.
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Epithumeo,
one
verb
translated
covetousness in the New Testament, is a
compound word consisting of epi, upon and
thumos, passion. Hence, to fix passion upon.
Epithumeo vividly describes much of the
mind-set which often surrounds the gambling
climate. (Rom. 13: 9). Greed and avarice
characterize gambling from the tossing of
dice for gain in a dark alley to the multimillion dollar well lighted gambling palace.
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Rom 13:9-10 For the commandments,
"You shall not commit adultery," "You
shall not murder," "You shall not steal,"
"You shall not bear false witness," "You
shall not covet," and if there is any other
commandment, are all summed up in this
saying, namely, "You shall love your
neighbor as yourself." 10 Love does no
harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the
fulfillment of the law.
Gambling is wrong because
of its fruit.
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Jesus said, "Wherefore by their fruits ye
shall know them" (Matt. 7: 20).
J. Edgar Hoover said, "Gambling is a
vicious evil, it corrupts our youth and
blights the lives of adults. It becomes the
spring-board for other crimes embezzlement, robbery, even murder."
We have become a society of greedy,
lazy & self-centered people
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1 Tim 6:10 For the love of money is a root
of all kinds of evil, for which some have
strayed from the faith in their greediness,
and pierced themselves through with many
sorrows.
Luke 11:39 Then the Lord said to him, "Now
you Pharisees make the outside of the cup
and dish clean, but your inward part is full of
greed and wickedness
The lazy man is a sad lot
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Prov 26:15-16 The lazy man buries his
hand in the bowl; It wearies him to
bring it back to his mouth. 16 The lazy
man is wiser in his own eyes
Matt 25:26 "But his lord answered and
said to him, 'You wicked and lazy
servant,
Abstain from the very
Appearance of Evil !
It’s God’s Law !