The house always wins
Gambling should be a game for those with surplus cash to spend on a seemingly innocent pastime, but in the Namibian context, money for essential items like food ends up in the coffers of illegal gambling dens.
Gamblers, who spend hundreds and even thousands during one sitting, have families at home who are often not considered.
It was therefore unsurprising when tourism minister Pohamba Shifeta revealed the shocking extent to which illegal gambling machines and gambling dens have proliferated in Namibia. According to Shifeta there are 2 600 unlicensed and illegal gambling houses in Namibia and approximately 20 000 illegal gambling machines countrywide.
Compare this to the 260 licence holders, which includes six casinos and 254 gambling houses, while a total of 2 845 gambling machines are registered in the country.
Shifeta last week tabled the Gaming and Entertainment Control Bill in the National Assembly that proposes to regulate the gaming industry. Gambling addiction is also known as pathological gambling, compulsive gambling or gambling disorder. If you're a compulsive gambler, you apparently can't control the impulse to gamble, even when it has negative consequences for you or your loved ones. Contrary to popular belief, the act of gambling is not restricted to slot machines, cards and casinos. Purchasing a lottery ticket, entering a raffle or making a bet with a friend are also forms of gambling.
In the past, the psychiatric community generally regarded pathological gambling as more of a compulsion than an addiction - a behaviour primarily motivated by the need to relieve anxiety rather than a craving for intense pleasure. However, a few decades ago, pathological gambling was officially classified as an impulse-control disorder - a fuzzy label for a group of somewhat related illnesses that at the time included kleptomania, pyromania and trichotillomania (hair pulling). 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. The odds are never in your favour, as gambling is a successful industry because the house always wins.
In Namibia, and everywhere else, gambling is simply an extension of the poverty trap.
Gamblers, who spend hundreds and even thousands during one sitting, have families at home who are often not considered.
It was therefore unsurprising when tourism minister Pohamba Shifeta revealed the shocking extent to which illegal gambling machines and gambling dens have proliferated in Namibia. According to Shifeta there are 2 600 unlicensed and illegal gambling houses in Namibia and approximately 20 000 illegal gambling machines countrywide.
Compare this to the 260 licence holders, which includes six casinos and 254 gambling houses, while a total of 2 845 gambling machines are registered in the country.
Shifeta last week tabled the Gaming and Entertainment Control Bill in the National Assembly that proposes to regulate the gaming industry. Gambling addiction is also known as pathological gambling, compulsive gambling or gambling disorder. If you're a compulsive gambler, you apparently can't control the impulse to gamble, even when it has negative consequences for you or your loved ones. Contrary to popular belief, the act of gambling is not restricted to slot machines, cards and casinos. Purchasing a lottery ticket, entering a raffle or making a bet with a friend are also forms of gambling.
In the past, the psychiatric community generally regarded pathological gambling as more of a compulsion than an addiction - a behaviour primarily motivated by the need to relieve anxiety rather than a craving for intense pleasure. However, a few decades ago, pathological gambling was officially classified as an impulse-control disorder - a fuzzy label for a group of somewhat related illnesses that at the time included kleptomania, pyromania and trichotillomania (hair pulling). 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. The odds are never in your favour, as gambling is a successful industry because the house always wins.
In Namibia, and everywhere else, gambling is simply an extension of the poverty trap.
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Namibian Sun
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