This is difficult for some individuals to understand because gambling, like drinking, seems like a decision of will. But pathological gambling is a brain disease that is chemically and genetically driven, just as addictive as crack cocaine in certain individuals. Gambling is big business in America earning the gaming industry 50.9 billion dollars in net revenue annually. Gambling is very attractive, particularly to people who need money. The Illinois Lottery did a study to see who gambles, and found people who made less than ten thousand dollars a year gamble six times more often than those who earn over fifty thousand dollars a year.
People know they can win millions by risking a dollar.
A recent program on the Discovery Channel stated that gambling is so attractive, that when the powerball is high, ninety percent of eligible adults buy a ticket. There is no other commodity where the percentages are this high. The real odds of winning a state lottery are approximately fourteen million to one, the same odds as being hit by lightening seven times while waiting in the lottery line. Seventy years ago it was illegal to gamble anywhere in the United States. Our parents grew up thinking that gambling was morally wrong, but our children are growing up thinking that gambling is as easy as going to McDonald's.