Blog 3

By: Ivan Sawchuk

After the first casino was built almost 400 years ago, the age-old debate between luck and skill has been in the minds of gamblers since (Prairie State Gaming, n.d.). While luck can be the determining factor and many wins and loses, skill can play a crucial role in increasing winning odds. Luck is the only thing you can count on in games of chance like roulette, slots and dice games, although there’s no ability to control the outcome it does create more thrill for the participant. Games like black jack and poker are both games that are mostly luck but some skill and strategy can help increase your earnings (Nikolic, 2024). For example in black jack, participants can use the strategy of counting cards to keep track of what cards have been played to help them determine what card is going to be dealt next (Blackjack Apprenticeship, 2024). The same can go for online sports betting as well, knowing who is going to perform on what days based on recent stats can help you determine what bets to place and when. The hard truth is that no matter how much skill and strategy, it can only change the odds, luck is what really matters and what will determine your winnings (Nikolic, 2024).  

 History of casino gaming around the world: Prairie State Gaming, Inc.. PrairieStateGaming. (n.d.). https://www.prairiestategaming.com/blog/history-of-casino-gaming#:~:text=The%20earliest%20casinos,had%20some%20very%20strict%20rules  

Nikolic, N. (2024, March 18).  Luck vs. strategy: What really matters at the casino?. HighStakesDB. https://highstakesdb.com/news/popular/luck-vs-strategy-what-really-matters-at-the-casino  How to count cards in blackjack and bring down the House. Blackjack Apprenticeship. (2024, January 28). https://www.blackjackapprenticeship.com/how-to-count-cards/

Blog 2

Online Gambling Scams and Fraud

By: Ivan Sawchuk

With over 25% of the global population using online gambling sites or apps to play slots, card games and bet on sporting events, it’s safe to say that there’s lots of people that are affected by online gambling frauds (Cameron, 2024). Online gambling fraud can be explained as any sneaky or abnormal activity related to any online gambling apps and sites. This can include stealing credit card information to fund gambling accounts, rigging the outcome of sporting events and casino games, stealing personal information, etc (Cameron, 2024). Since online gambling isn’t face to face it allows scammers to find loopholes in the gambling service taking money from the operator and the customers. Online gambling sites will also custom code their scripts in games like blackjack so their odds are higher of winning and more of the players’ money. 

Since COVID there’s been a spike in online gambling users with three times the amount of users in 2021 compared to 2018, that lead to the online gambling fraud rate to go up by 80% (Cameron, 2024). The online gambling and betting industry brought in over 500 billion dollars in 2023 and projections say it will keep going up from here (Cameron, 2024). This will ultimately result in more scammers and fraudulent activity that could ultimately affect the expansion of the industry. 

Sources:

Cameron, S. (2024, September 3). What is online gambling fraud, and how can it be prevented?. ComplyAdvantage. https://complyadvantage.com/insights/online-gambling-fraud/

Blog 1

Mental Health Impacts from Gambling

By: Ivan Sawchuk

Although gambling can be a way to make some money or be an activity you do with friends, it can cause many mental health impacts. This article will touch on how gambling causes anxiety, depression, addiction and how people can overcome these mental health challenges.  

Anxiety can be one of the first signs of mental health impacts through gambling. Many people resort to gambling as a way to relax and as a way to escape their everyday life. This constant thought of placing a bet can eventually cause gambling to work into their everyday life, resulting in more anxiety affecting the mental health of the gambler and the people around them. The urge to gamble can start to overwhelm the rest of their life and ultimately lead to addiction and depression. 

Like a drug gambling can be an escape for people to feel good. The feel good neurotransmitter in the brain called dopamine is released when you win making you feel really good about yourself and happy. The thing is that, once that initial rush of dopamine is over you feel down and sad almost like you need that rush again and the only way to get that rush again is to gamble, resulting in a constant cycle leading to addiction. This addiction can start leading to signs of depression such as losing money more often and ruining personal relationships.  

Overcoming addiction and/or depression from gambling is never an easy task, but there are some strategies to help make it easier. Knowing why you gamble and how you feel while gambling can give a better understanding of the addiction and a way to stop. There’s always social support groups and doctors to help as well if the addiction or depression gets really bad.  

In conclusion, as fun as gambling can be there unfortunately some downsides to it that doesn’t just involve you losing money. These mental health impacts can end up being pretty serious if not treated right.