“The world is like a reverse casino. In a casino, if you gamble long enough, you're certainly going to lose. But in the real world, where the only thing you're gambling is, say, your time or your embarrassment, then the more stuff you do, the more you give luck a chance to find you.”
--Scott Adams
By Alex P. Vidal
ONE of the most famous gambling icons in the Philippines is an Ilonggo businessman who owns several businesses in Iloilo, Negros, and Cebu.
Even before the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) was institutionalized, Filipinos were already agog over different types gambling, he once insisted.
“Gambling can become a form of genuine entertainment if professionalized and regulated,” quipped the Ilonggo businessmen, who helped build one of the most modern cockpit stadiums in Asia.
He will probably agree with us that with or without the gaming operations of the PCSO, Filipinos will continue to engage in gambling--in whatever means.
In fact, we can live without PCSO and “lotto”, but we can’t live without gambling, which has become one of our most favorite past times and vices since time immemorial.
PCSO operations, which have been ordered suspended by President Duterte, are limited to numbers game.
There are certain gambling activities in the Philippines that are more popular or “addictive” than others which even the broad social and economic theories failed to explain why.
Filipinos engage in gambling primarily for economic reasons.
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Most Pinoy gambling addicts always want a quick-fix solution to poverty; they believe that if they get luckier their basic economic needs will be answered; their financial woes will be given immediate solution.
From sabung or cockfighting, to card games and jueteng, Filipino gamblers don’t have holidays.
If they don’t have cash for gambling, they borrow and steal, if necessary.
Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Oscar Albayalde was only stating the obvious when he declared recently that he saw a possible resurgence of jueteng and other illegal numbers games now that the PCSO gaming operations have been halted.
Several surveys of gambling have shown that there are a broad range motivational factors that are central to gambling, and that attitudes towards gambling are positively related to availability and cultural acceptability.
Dr. Mark D. Griffiths of Psychology Today says variations in gambling preferences are thought to result from both differences in accessibility and motivation. Older people tend to choose activities that minimize the need for complex decision-making or concentration (e.g., bingo, slot machines), whereas gender differences have been attributed to a number of factors, including variations in sex-role socialization, cultural differences and theories of motivation.
Variations in motivation are also frequently observed among people who participate in the same gambling activity.
For example, Griffiths explains, slot machine players may gamble to win money, for enjoyment and excitement, to socialize and to escape negative feelings. Some people gamble for one reason only, whereas others gamble for a variety of reasons. A further complexity is that people's motivations for gambling have a strong temporal dimension; that is, they do not remain stable over time.
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As people progress from social to regular and finally to excessive gambling, there are often significant changes in their reasons for gambling.
Whereas a person might have initially gambled to obtain enjoyment, excitement and socialisation, the progression to problem gambling is almost always accompanied by an increased preoccupation with winning money and chasing losses, adds Griffiths.
“Gambling is clearly a multifaceted rather than unitary phenomenon. Consequently, many factors may come into play in various ways and at different levels of analysis (e.g., biological, social or psychological),” he emphasizes.
"Theories may be complementary rather than mutually exclusive, which suggests that limitations of individual theories might be overcome through the combination of ideas from different perspectives.
“This has often been discussed before in terms of recommendations for an eclectic approach to gambling or a distinction between proximal and distal influences upon gambling.
“However, for the most part, such discussions have been descriptive rather than analytical, and so far, few attempts have been made to explain why an adherence to singular perspectives is untenable.”
(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo).
“Oh, it's not really gambling when you never lose.”
--Jennifer Aniston
By Alex P. Vidal
NEW YORK CITY -- For $15 each, Roselyn and Nelia can travel to Foxwoods Resort Casino, a world class hotel and casino complex in Ledyard, Connecticut, every Tuesday on board a Sky Liner bus operated by a Chinese company.
The bus leaves the Flushing in Queens at 10 o’clock in the morning and goes back to New York City at 5:30 in the afternoon for its scheduled return trip.
Roselyn, 39, of Iloilo City and Nelia, 41, of Sampaloc, Manila, both caregivers in Brooklyn and Long Island, respectively, join the more than 30 other mostly senior passengers and retirees in the leisurely two hours and 45 minutes land trip.
When the bus arrives in Foxwoods Resort Casino, each of them get three free coupons as they disembark: one for a buffet worth $20, and two for the “betting” respectively worth $20 and $25.
They must place their own cash (converted into chips) equivalent to the $20 and $25 coupons if they decide to bet in the table games.
If both coupons win, they get an instant $90. If the coupons lose, they instantly lose $45.
They have the option though to use only the buffet coupon and keep for souvenir the betting coupons.
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When Roselyn and Nelia first came here in July last year, they were only among the many ordinary casino visitors tantalized by the complex’s mammoth structure which includes six casinos and a resort that covers an area of 9,000,000 square feet.
Nelia, a frequent visitor of casinos in Metro Manila before arriving in the United States in 2016, was impressed by the Foxwoods Resort’s more than 250 gaming tables for blackjack, craps, roulette, and poker, and more than 5,500 slot machines.
She was also astounded when she saw the state-of-the-art Hard Rock Cafe, among several restaurants within the casinos.
There are two hotel towers in Foxwoods with a total of 2,266 hotel rooms; and a two-story game arcade for children and teens.
The imposing Grand Pequot Tower was the original tower that opened in 1997. The second opened in 2008 as the MGM Grand and was rebranded the Fox Tower in 2013.
A retail complex known as Tanger Outlet Mall, opened in 2015 between the two hotel towers, has 85 stores for luxury goods, Nelia’s and Roselyn’s immediate destination when their coupons won.
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Things became different last quarter in 2017 when Roselyn and Nelia now became regular Foxwoods habitues.
Instead of their “regular” Tuesday trip, they departed for the place known as “the gambling mecca of the East Coast” three times a week.
They became addicted in the place and it seemed they didn’t realize it.
In one instance early this year, when their respective betting coupons did not win, they started to bet using the extra money they kept in their wallets.
The signs of a gambling problem, according to psychologists, are often the same as the signs of other addictions.
The common signs of addiction manifested in the two caregivers’ actuation include the following: their feeling of the need to be secretive about their gambling; having trouble controlling their gambling habits; gambling when they couldn’t afford to; and when their friends and co-workers have expressed concern about their gambling.
To compound their woes, Nelia and Roselyn lost not only $45 each when their coupons did not win, Nelia lost $350 and Roselyn $400 in one of their trips there in May 2018.
They incurred more losses in their most recent visits.
And there was no sign they were ready to quit.
Experts said gambling is one of the most insidious of human vices, as it presents the illusion of easy money yet can quickly lead to financial ruin.
Juliet, our favorite Filipina roulette operator, once warned us that “the odds are never in your favor whether it is poker, blackjack or anything else; gambling is a successful industry because the house always wins. Just imagine maghihirap kayo ng trabaho sa isang linggo tapos dito lang mapupunta ang pera.”
When Nelia and Roselyn were told about Juliet’s admonition, they had no reaction.
"Gambling can turn into a dangerous two-way street when you least expect it. Weird things happen suddenly, and your life can go all to pieces."
--Hunter S. Thompson
By Alex P. Vidal
NEW YORK CITY -- If he can only turn back the time, Francisco, 63, will kneel down in front of his wife, Cynthia, 65, and their two children, Resty, 24; and Analyn, 22, and beg that he be forgiven for destroying their family because of his addiction to gambling.
"But when we sold our house (in Los Angeles) after the divorce, that's when I realized I could not bring back my family together again," laments Francisco, who admitted his refusal to fight for his marriage and save it "was the biggest mistake I would carry in my grave."
Cynthia, a phycisian in L.A., filed for divorce in 2009 after being married to Francisco for 26 years.
She could not anymore tolerate Francisco's addiction to gambling, Francisco discloses.
His "excessive" and "uncontrolled" addiction to gambling was the cause of their constant quarrel.
Francisco's income and savings as hotel security guard had been swallowed by his cravings to regularly bet in the casino.
HOOKED
Francisco says he didn't realize he was already hooked to gambling even if he was losing $3,000 to $5,000 a week in an Industry City Casino in Los Angeles County.
"My addiction started after I won $5,000 in the poker game. I thought I could win again thus I became a regular casino habitue until I lost heavily and abused my credit cards," Francisco adds.
According to the National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG), problem gambling affects more than two percent of Americans.
Gambling addicts may reportedly feel an uncontrollable urge to buy lottery tickets, visit casinos, play slot machines, bet on sports, or gamble online.
The specific type and frequency of gambling behavior may vary, warns the NCPG. But in general, gambling addicts will be reportedly unable to control that behavior. NCPG says theywill continue gambling, even in the face of negative social, financial, or legal consequences.
MAJORITY
Study shows that the majority of people with gambling addictions are men. But this type of addiction can also reportedly affect women.
"My former wife was so affected with my uncontrollable gambling habits because we maintained two joint accounts in two banks," recalls Francisco, a former seaman.
When Francisco, born in Cagayan de Oro City in the Philippines, filed for bankrupcy in 2008, he left a staggering $109,000 debt.
"There was a time my pockets were empty after I lost heavily in the casino that I couldn't go home because I had no money left to buy a gasoline for my car," Francisco sobs. "I was tired, hungry and trembling."
To avoid "memories of my ugly past", Francisco relocated in Woodside, Queens here in 2010.
"I missed my family after seven years. I blame nobody but myself. If I did not become a gambling addict, I would still be having dinner with my family, something we did regularly before this unfortunate incident happened in my life," Francisco tearfully laments.
