Problem Gambling Effecting Local Economy

Political leaders are approving gambling establishment developments in hope to raise needed revenue with out consequence to their constituents. Political leaders are aware that a significant number of people already have a problem gambling and the likelihood of more people developing an addiction is likely to increase. It’s unfortunate but these same leaders refuse to do anything about it since the increased revenues from the gambling establishments helped to fund many state needed programs.

Political leaders look at the short run, because they are continually being tested to see what they can do for their voters. These leaders are not elected for life and usually serve for two years unless they are elected again. Once they are up for re-election they tell the voters this is what they have accomplished during their term. It’s unfortunate but these gambling establishments slowly deplete the economy. By the time all the negative affects are felt either the political leader is no longer in office, up for re-election with all new promises or another source of revenue is found. This political game continues until enough people put pressure on their leaders. Problem gambling is a silent addiction and very few people are willing to admit they have a compulsive gambling addiction, lost all their money to gambling, stole from their employer so they could gambling and or are embarrassed to let their love ones know they had a problem. Once again the political leader win and their voters and the local economy lose.

People are gambling excessively. A gambling establishment could not expand at the rate they are growing if people weren’t losing their money. These same people cut their spending at their local shopping centers, personal entertainment like movies and cut spending for everyday staples. I met one mother who stopped buying milk. She figured she could save twenty dollars a month and this would give her more resources to gamble. Now that she stopped she can’t believe that she could do such a thing to her family.

The gambling establishments created an empire. They opened gift shops, entertainment concert halls, gas stations and unique restaurant inside their entertainment complex. They give every patron a tracking card that earns them points only valid at their gambling complex while they gamble. They then use these points to eat, entertainment, hotel and or purchase gifts. This past holiday a significant number of people saved some of their points to buy family gifts. Once again the gambling establishments win and the local businesses and shopping centers lose.

Not everyone has a gambling addiction, but a good majority of people enjoy recreational gambling. It’s unfortunate but even a casual gambler gambles more then they expected. These casual gamblers people also will have to cut back their spending for a short time. They may not go out to their local diner because they cn eat for free at the gambling establishment. In all these situations, the local economy suffers. People who live with in fifty miles of a gambling establishment are more like to be negatively affected.

It’s time to find a solution to this growing epidemic. Political leaders need to step up to the plate and stop the abduction of the people. Recently their have been a significant number of commercials dealing with gambling addiction. Everybody applauded this first attempt to deal with gambling addictions. Unfortunately it appears the leaders are too late. An acre of land on fire can not be distinguished with a cup of water.

The only solution to stopping the problem gambling is to regulate the gambling establishments and or consider closing them down until a solution is found. No matter which direction the political leaders choose they need to pick up their pace.

Mr. Howard Keith has an extensive background in dealing with compulsive gamblers, relatives and friends of gamblers and teenage gamblers. Mr. Keith believes there are many alternatives to aid in the recovery of a gambling addiction verses a twelve step program. A large percentage of his emails were from compulsive gamblers looking for an alternative to Gamblers Anonymous and twelve step programs. Gamblers Anonymous also helps a significant number of people each year but there is a large percentage that they are unable to reach. For more information on gambling addiction and stop gambling you can check out

Compulsive Gamblers Offered Help on Gambling Sites?

There is a lot of information offered online about treatment to stop gambling, advice for gamblers that want to quit, gamblers anonymous, stop gambling forums, etc. Ironically, you will find many articles that offer advice to people who want to quit gambling on actual gambling and betting websites.

Unfortunately, this is nothing more than a cynical use of Internet marketing techniques to attract relevant traffic to gambling sites. The casinos know that if someone is addicted to gambling and he lands on their website, he is more likely to gamble on their site than other visitors. Further, when someone is looking for a solution to their gambling problem, they are weak and vulnerable. They are seeking help because they are desperate, but at the same time, all it might take for them to start gambling at that moment is a trigger – like landing on a site where they can gamble.

Don’t be fooled. It’s not that the gambling sites are interested in helping problem gamblers that end up there. It’s precisely the opposite – they are looking to attract people at their most vulnerable moment. Here is how it works:

1. Internet gambling website owners understand how the Internet works. They also understand how the Internet is an irresistible temptation for problem gamblers. And once they get a problem gambler on their site, they know there is a good chance he will stay and play (and lose).

2. The Internet is probably the first place the average problem gambler seeks help for his problem. They conduct searches for “gamblers anonymous”, “treatment for problem gambling”, “help for gambling problem”, etc. Some may even be looking specifically to block gambling sites. Even gambling filters are offered on many betting sites. The very websites that created the problem — casinos, poker games, blackjack, bingo and numerous other forms of betting online — want to be there to welcome problem gamblers. So they supply the content that a compulsive gambler is searching for.

3. These sites don’t actually create advice and tips for problem gamblers. They scrape articles from databases and add deliver content created by others. It is sophisticated and it is unethical. But it is not illegal. Countless gamblers, who have made a decision to work towards recovery, are surprised to find themselves on yet another gambling site facing temptation.

This is one reason a gambling filter installed on your computer, to block gambling sites, can be so helpful. One of the problems gamblers face is the simple temptation. Seeing a computer can be a trigger. But if access to gambling websites is blocked, it is is possible to protect the addict from this 24/7 temptation. And certainly, they should be protected from landing on gambling sites when they are innocently seeking help!

101 Gambling Facts Before You Shell Out a Dime

As a popular form of entertainment, gambling has a rich history, and every player has the potential to become a winner in the blink of an eye. There is nothing else quite like the rush of adrenaline that can accompany the gambling experience! The gaming industry has grown exponentially for the past two decades, and the lure of gambling has drawn more and more people to the casinos as well as racetracks and Internet gambling web sites. Gambling is a fascinating pastime in many respects, and the list below will introduce you to some of the historical, statistical, and humorous tips and trivia that make this pastime special.

Did You Know?

1. At least 65,000,000 people in the United States play poker on a regular basis.
2. Playing cards as we know them today are still greatly influenced by the French, even though playing cards were invented in China. According to French lore, the cards with Spades represent royalty. Diamonds represent Merchants, Clubs represent Peasants, and Hearts represent the Clergy.
3. Former United States President Richard M. Nixon used money he had won playing poker in the Navy during World War 2 to finance his run for Congress in 1946. He must have been a good player, for it is never inexpensive to get involved in politics!
4. 87% of the people who visited Las Vegas during the year 1996 gambled.
5. Surveys reveal that 38% of the people who live in the United States have visited Las Vegas, typically to gamble.
6. The game called craps usually has some of the best bets in the casino.
7. Poker tournaments that take place on the Internet and on television have caused the Texas Hold’em variation of poker to have an enormous surge in popularity.
8. There is one slot machine in Las Vegas, Nevada, for every 8 people who live there. In 2005, the estimated population for the Las Vegas Valley is 2 million people. That’s a LOT of slot machines!

Gambling Bits and Pieces

9. Blackjack, or 21 as some people call it, continues to be the most popular table game in both online and offline casinos. It is also the game with the best odds.
10. You will see many versions of video poker in a casino, but every one of them is based upon the game of Five Card Draw.
11. In the English gambling dens during the 18th century, one employee had the unfortunate job of dice swallower. That’s right – dice swallower! He was to swallow the dice if and when a police officer raided the den.
12. If played correctly, video poker can offer some of the best odds in the casino.
13. The first slot machine in the world was invented by a Mr. Charles Fey in the year 1899. He was an automobile mechanic who wanted his customers to have something to amuse them while they waited for their cars.
14. Groucho Marx, one of the Marx Brothers, loved to play poker. He kept his poker money on him at all times, carrying it in a ‘grouch bag”. This is how he got the nickname of Groucho.
15. There are only two states in the United States that do not offer legalized gambling. These are Hawaii and Utah.
16. 57% of people in the United States bought a lottery ticket in the last 12 months. This fact, which was discovered by a Gallup Poll audit on gambling, proves that the lottery is the most popular form of gambling in the United States.
17. 68% of the folks in Las Vegas who gamble play the slot machines.

Fun and Interesting Facts

18. 24% of those living in the USA admit that they have participated in illegal gambling.
19. When studying the percentages of people who visit Las Vegas, it was discovered that the largest percentage group, 22%, was made up of senior citizens, those who are 65 and older.
20. One of the largest slot machine payouts ever recorded took place in Las Vegas back in 1998. A woman who had spent around $300 at a casino that day hit a $27.6 million dollar jackpot! No wonder slot machines are so popular!
21. Most historians have come to the conclusion that the legendary and colorful figure of the Wild West known as Wild Bill Hickock was not a very good poker player.
22. In the United States, it is not possible to take out a patent on any kind of gambling machine.
23. The card game of Texas Hold ‘Em was played for the very first time in a Texas city known as Robstown. This happened in the early 1900s. Texas Hold ‘Em was brought to Texas from Las Vegas by a small group of Texas gamblers.
24. Back in the 1970s, the average age of the people who enjoyed casino gambling ranged from 30 to 55. Nowadays, that age ranges from 17 all the way up to 70.
25. 80% of a survey group said that all gambling should be legal, and that casinos are perfectly okay.
26. A word of warning – You are not allowed to use your cell phone at a gaming table. This is generally true in all casinos. Of course, if you are playing at an online gaming table, you can do what you wish.
27. The largest casino in the world is located on the outskirts of Hartford, Connecticut in the United States. It is called the Foxwoods Casino.
28. Las Vegas has two nicknames – Las Vegas and Lost Wages.
29. Slot machines range from penny slots all the way up to those that range from $50 to $500 for each spin! These high-priced slots are usually located in what is called the ‘High Roller’ room or rooms of a casino. As a general rule, you will not see too many of these machines.

Gambling Facts and History

30. In 2007, more than $170 billion dollars was placed in bets in Las Vegas by gamblers. ‘The House’, or the casinos, won about $7 billion dollars of that money.
31. Online gaming is cool. Where else can you play video poker in your pajamas?
32. Casinos in Las Vegas are under no legal obligation to pay off any of their gambling debts.
33. The state of Nevada in the USA, home of Las Vegas, made gambling legal in the year 1931.

- During that same year, the Hoover Dam was being built by the US government.
- They didn’t want the men who were working on the dam to get involved with gambling, so an entire town, Boulder City, was built as a place for the dam workers to live.
- It was made illegal to gamble in Boulder City in the hopes that these workers would not squander the 50 cents an hour they were being paid.
- Today, Boulder City is the only city in the state of Nevada where it is illegal to gamble.

Fascinating Gambling Facts

34. To this day, the Italians and the French will still argue over who invented the game of Blackjack.
35. Millions of people are using the Internet to gamble 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
36. Those who play the slots online as well as offline will find that a majority of the time, they will win more often playing online.
37. In horseracing or any type of sports gambling, you need to win a percentage of about 52.4% of the bets you make in order to break even. This is because a commission is charged by the house on every bet.
38. There is no rhyme, rhythm, or pattern to playing the slots. It is almost impossible to predict when you are going to win.
39. When playing poker, the Dead Man’s Hand is Aces and Eights.
40. Most people who take a vacation to Las Vegas gamble for 4 hours a day, each day they are there.
41. Some say that the game of roulette was invented by a man called Blaise Pascal, a French mathematician and inventor. Others say he merely decided what order the numbers would go in.
42. And still others claim that the game of roulette came from China. Another group swears that roulette was invented by a group of Venetian monks! It appears that no one knows the real truth.
43. Even though a line of slot machines may look identical, every one of them looks different on the inside.
44. Dice are the oldest gaming tool available to use today.
45. Blackjack was banned in America back at the turn of the 19th century. Already a hugely popular game, it went underground as folks continued to play it illegally. The ban was lifted in 1939 as Nevada prepared to introduce Las Vegas to the world.
46. Craps is an American game, but was devised as a variation of a European game played in the 17th and 18th century that was known as ‘hazard’.
47. Legend has it that a fellow by the name of Francois Blanc made a bargain with Satan in order to find out the supposed ‘secrets’ of the roulette wheel. The basis of this legend is that when you add up all of the numbers on the wheel, you end up with the number 666, a number that has always represented the devil.
48. Slot machines are capable of revealing millions of possible combinations for every minute the game is played. This is because of the random number generator, or RNG, that is inside the machine.
49. Craps got its odd name from a nickname given to the French Creoles of New Orleans, Johnny Crapauds.
50. There are two types of dice, casino dice and ‘drugstore’ dice. Casino dice are precisely made by hand to insure that they are balanced and are a perfect cube. Drugstore dice are smaller than casino dice, and are made by machinery.

Why You Should Use Laravel PHP Framework

According to Google Trends, Laravel is the best-used framework. It is free, open source framework and has taken the web-world by storm. Laravel has been considered to be the best PHP framework and will allow you to build large and complex web applications. For this, you just need a text editor and PHP installation to get started. Laravel speeds up the development process, and gives very secure authentication tools, and lets dynamic use all around. It is not like those eCommerce or CMS frameworks, which will satisfy your specific needs. But, Laravel is an all-rounder. With the help of this framework, you can code, you can build perfectly working eCommerce or CMS Web application.

Security: It provides you a few but essential things which make your application secure. For example- ORM uses PDO and this prevents SQL injections. Laravel uses the salted hashed password that means it never saves the password in plain text in the database. For creating an encrypted password, it uses the script hashing algorithm.

Modular: The framework of laravel is designed on 20+ distinctive Object Oriented libraries, which are not present in any other PHP framework like CodeIgniter, CakePHP, Symfony, Zend Framework 2 and Phalcon. This allows you and developers to create responsive, useful and modular web apps.

Unit-Testing: Another reason why Laravel is extremely famous among designers and programmers. We know testing is a crucial thing for any application ahead, it’s available for end users. It provides facilities for Unit Testing and ensures that the new updates done by designers do not break anything in the application during the different tests.

Built-In Tools: This amazing PHP framework comes with plenty of built-in resources that are not available on other popular PHP frameworks. Some of these resources include routing, verification, caching and so on.

Supports MVC Architecture: Keep in mind that transparency between business logic and presentation in development is vital. Laravel is based on MVC (model-view-controller) Architecture and has lots of built-in-functions, MVC boosts performance and gives better documentation. This architecture helps in improving performance, the better documentation, and has many built-in functions.

To conclude, we can only say that Laravel is the best framework in the industry. It offers several benefits in the fast and easy development of web app and designs. This framework is really effective and promising and has created a large number of opportunities. When hiring a Laravel Development Company, must look at the past work of the company and check out the feedback of clients as well.

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