When I turned on the television last afternoon, there was this advertisement of my favourite sportsperson, promoting an online gambling website. Although the ads didn’t appeal to me, I also wanted to know more about the online gambling industry, which is easily one of the most lucrative businesses in recent years. There is a need more to gambling than just it being infamous. There are a lot of flipsides to this industry and we hear a lot of news about it time and again, but people do flock to them invariably. Why is it so addictive that it makes one want to come back every time? Read on to know how it all started and reason out its addictive nature.
How it all Started
The first-ever gambling we would have probably heard of is the game of dice held between the Kauravas and the Pandavas in the Mahabharata, or probably earlier too. From then till now, gambling has always been a part of society, irrespective of the illegality and immorality in it. There are thousands of casinos around the globe and people never cease to populate them too. But ever since the late 90s when online gambling games gained a sudden surge, the number of gambling websites in the US went from 15 to 200 within a year! With revenues skyrocketing already, new variations of such websites opened up – poker rooms, multiplayer, bingo, lotteries, mobile gambling and so on.
How Online Gambling lay the Trap
- It is available 24/7 and is accessible via your PC, laptop or smartphone. All you need is just a steady network and viola; you are already inside a virtual Casino. Convenience + comfort + ease of internet = Your anonymity during the entire time is also “ensured”. Smart move!
- As gambling doesn’t involve hard cash, you really lose control of how much goes out and how less actually comes in. Also, the lure of giving the thrill of victory and the pseudo transparency of using game-bots satisfy uninformed people.
- The clever techniques used by these websites to appeal to gamblers work in such a way that it triggers competitiveness, curiosity and motivation. They also used compelling psychological waves to keep them coming back for more.
- Online gambling real money addiction can easily become toxic and result in issues like misunderstandings, debts, unemployment and psychological disorders.
The success of online gambling lies in various factors like accessibility, anonymity and the undetected nature. Add a dash of seductive manipulation and a pinch of intelligent algorithms- you have a perfect recipe for disaster and it is going to make you come back until it strains you dry without wealth, and health too. Mind you, online gambling is here to stay!