You might think gambling only happens at the Casino, but these days we might see gambling in other places too ... like sporting events, and even around the house in some of our video games we play, with on-line sports betting and other on-line games.
Gambling is ... when we bet money, or something of value on an activity, but we don't know if we will win or lose. Like if you bet your favourite belonging, or a little bit of money on a school sports game or a dare with your friends so that you might have a chance to win something greater, then that's gambling.
Some types of gambling you may have heard of:
- sports betting/fantasy sports
- paying for a chance to get good Skins in video games
- paying for loot boxes
- casino games like slot machines and poker, or online casino games
- cards, dice, bingo, horseracing
- Lottery games like 6/49 and scratch tickets, arcade games, fair games, claw machines
- Any game that involves $, chance and risk
Gambling always has risk!
It's best to realize you always lose more than you win. Why is that?
"The Odds" are how many chances there are to lose for every chance there is to win. The Odds are always better that the game will win over the player. If a raffle has 100 tickets and you enter one ticket, then The Odds are 99 to 1. That means 99 chances you will not have the winning ticket, and only 1 chance you will.
Here's some Odds to think about which show how poor the chances of winning really are ...
- Lotto 6/49 jackpot: 1 in 14 Million
- McDonald’s Monopoly jackpot: 1 in 273 Million
- Your odds of getting injured on a toilet or finding a Four-Leaf clover are waaaaay better at only 1 in 10,000
The House Advantage: It means the only sure thing is that over time, the player will always lose.
Gaming and gambling company's are in business to make money from the people that play the games, so they build in a guarantee that they will. This game advantage is called The House Advantage.
No matter what game you choose to play, they make sure The Odds are always in their favour, so in the long run they always win, and the player will always lose more over time if they keep playing.
So when people gamble they should always expect to lose and that way more likely to put less money at risk.
But gaming isn't gambling ... is it?
You're right, it's not exactly the same. The main difference between the two is that for most gaming, the outcome is achieved by skill, not chance. For gambling the opposite is true.
BUT online gaming and gambling can have a lot of similarities these days. Ever hear of Loot Boxes or Player Packs? You can pay for these items using in-game currency or real money too, but you don't know what you'll get ... which really is a lot like gambling. And some gamers use their "Skins" as an item of value to make bets with too.
Online gaming has some risks too, like if you play too much and it gets in the way of school work, doing the things you used to love to do, or you stop spending time with your friends and family. Keep a time limit in mind when you game, just like people who gamble should do.