There are very few professions out there which thrive on a borderline obsession and addiction that there are classes and courses and even medication to cure. Gambling addiction affects those with a tendency to be excited by high risk behaviour. It’s a rush just like stimulants or extreme sports; the knowledge that if you win you will receive a celebratory rush of adrenaline. Not to mention the possibility for making someone’s annual salary in a single night.
It begs the question is it only addiction if you lose money? Are the men and women who gamble professionally, that feed their families with their winnings only absolved because they are managing to make enough money? If alcoholics won drinking competitions with financial reward, would that make their addiction okay?
The health risks of gambling as an addiction isn’t nearly as severe as other, more physical addictions. While the mind is doubtlessly altered, there are no immediate physical health risks. This is by no means to underestimate the severity of being addicted to something.
Professional Gamblers would argue, however, that they leave nothing up to chance and to make enough money gambling isn’t down to luck therefore isn’t really gambling at all. Mathematical equations and algorithms that would go over the regular head are factored in and bets are only taken when they have a level of certainty in some cases.
Of course, its all dependent on the type of game you are playing but knowing the rules inside and out can help. There are very few gamblers who take punts on games they are unfamiliar with and ‘professional gambler’ is often not a correct professional title. More often than not they are ‘professional poker players’ or ‘sports betters’.
Not your typical nine-to-five job in many senses but the chief way it differs from your regular job is the pay check. Often there are opportunities to progress and earn significantly more than usual. Often horses don’t come in or you’re dealt a bad hand and you have to suck it up. However the chance and the thrill of making good money fast is what makes people obsess over it and turn it into a profession.
Its complicated since the entire essence of gambling is risk and you require the sort of personality that enjoys the challenge of doing something without a safety net. That is what regular jobs offer: security. Think of this as a job where you only really earn commission and time and effort can inevitably come to nothing if you’re not careful.
However many professional gamblers would say this: it’s not gambling if you know you’re going to win.
