Gambling Controversies in the United Kingdom
Gambling is legal in most cities and states but not everywhere. Some cities do not allow gambling on their publicly owned property. In other places it is legal but not regulated. How do you know if it is legal or not? You can’t. But here are some things to look for in a casino.
– Is there a chance that the outcome will have a large effect on whether or not it is allowed to be gambling? Maybe in retrospect, state and city leaders would have been better served by holding the Convention Center over and allowing public events instead of laying all their cash into a gambling casino that pays no taxes, pays nothing in return for the use of its property, yet pays thousands in annual salaries to those who manage it. Or perhaps they would have had more luck if they had chosen another outcome…say, to build a bridge instead of building a casino. There is also the question if people really lose money when they gamble; if the house always beat the odds, then why do they keep playing.
Gambling is often characterized by the presence of “bookmakers.” These are the guys who make your bets with a certain statistical certainty that you won’t be able to beat the bookmakers. The problem with this sort of gambling is that the house always wins…the exact amount that you put up. In order to stay in business, the bookmakers adjust the odds so that your “bets” will eventually pay out at the casino. The problem with this is that by making your bets with such certainty, you become attached to losing them. The result is gambling addiction – the urge to keep betting despite the steadily increasing odds against you.
The other form of gambling is the more indirect form, such as online gambling and lotteries. Online gambling refers to the web based gambling that a lot of Americans engage in – betting on a variety of online games from poker and bingo to roulette and blackjack. Online gambling is popular because it allows gamblers from all over the world to play a game or a number of games, for small stakes. This reduces the costs involved, making online gambling a very attractive option. Americans are finding that they can make money by gambling online as well, as evidenced by the huge growth of internet casinos.
Real money betting, on the other hand, refers to betting on sporting events, like horse racing, tennis, or football. In this setting, the outcome is determined solely by chance. Gambling in this setting is considered illegal, but some states have tolerated it, especially where the outcomes are important to society (like, say, the outcome of elections). Gambling in this setting is also illegal, but is very rarely prosecuted.
Many people associate betting with gaming sites. While some gaming sites do offer wagering, these are usually for small winnings and usually only involve single person games. Gambling as a whole is, however, not legal in the United States. Instead, the laws generally apply to internet gaming activities more so than to land-based gambling.
The United Kingdom government has not issued any official licensing to any online gambling site or casino. Because the government does not view gambling as a public good, there are no restrictions on how online gambling operators should operate their businesses. Gambling is very similar to the way that consumers go into shopping: Some choose a great bazaar or casino to visit; others choose a local supermarket or shopping mall. Because no official laws regulate the industry, there are no official limits on the amount of money that people can spend or take out of their bank accounts, nor are there any legal consequences for taking out too much money in a single transaction.
Opponents of gambling generally regard it as an unnecessary activity, unnecessary to human life and generally wicked. They also feel that those who gamble are generally unable to control their urges and often lose large sums of money before they even realize what they have done. The UK gambling laws are being debated in parliament right now and there are even some MPs who feel that gambling should be banned altogether. These MP’s believe that gambling should be banned because gambling is harmful to the youth and is responsible for many violent and criminal acts that are committed in Britain today.
