Gambling and crime Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Gambling and crime - Essay Example The gambling industry entices people to try gambling in order to get them hooked and become addicted and the industry knows full well the consequences of an addiction. A former lawyer of John Ascuagas â€Å"Nugget† embezzled $3 million for his gambling habit and in another case, the accountant of a doctors clinic stole some $2.3 million from her employer to feed her habit of buying lottery tickets, as much $6,000 per day. She had pleaded guilty and was charged with a second-degree grand larceny. As it becomes an addiction, some decent, reasonable, respectable and rational people are really tempted to steal money and also commit other far more serious crimes like murder for their gambling addictions. Gambling involves taking the odds or probability of a certain outcome to be occurring. Gambling can take many forms such as horse racing, card games, table games, slot machines, dog racing, sports betting (boxing, basketball, soccer, etc.) and even on the Internet. Some forms of gambling are considered tame or mild in nature such as sweepstakes, lotteries and bingo games because the bet amounts are not very large although prizes can get very big. There are warning signs of a gambling addiction and people should be made aware of them. Planning a future action is a healthy attitude. This is the same principle involved when businessmen and investors go into business in order to earn money. This speculative attitude generates investments and jobs such as in the form of insurance contracts (fire, auto, marine, flood, etc.), life annuities and the modern and very complex forms of contracts like financial derivatives and stock options. The futures market in agricultural commodities is a very good example of gambling based on speculation but minimizing the risks involved. However, this paper will explore and discuss the troubling issues associated with types of gambling in the strict sense of the word. This paper looks at the problems generated by the uncontrolled urge