It sends us to both the gaming tables and the moon, the laboratory and the numbers man. It is part of what makes us human. My studies show that, contrary to popular belief, gambling is by and large beneficial to the gambler and increases rather than decreases his efficiency. This practice was most humane and was common in Nevada prisons as well as those of renaissance Italy until a few years ago. One ex-inmate of a Nevada prison told me that the altered state of consciousness produced by gambling was the only thing that kept him sane in the midst of the brutality, vermin, and bad food.
Many elderly persons are passionate gamblers.
What they seek is what most gamblers seek, involvement in the action. This is crucial to their sense of well-being in this society, which excludes them from the action of living and seeks to hide them away. Not only this, but while they play random games such as bingo and slot machines, they have an equal chance with the rest of the participants for perhaps the first time in their lives. While they play, they are wholly absorbed in the contest. A colleague of mine moved to Las Vegas primarily so that her aged mother could gamble.