Gambling has a specific economic definition, referring to wagering money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods. Economics is the social science that studies the production distribution, and consumption of goods and services. A definition is a statement of the meaning of a Word or Phrase. Money is anything that is generally accepted as Payment for Goods and services and repayment of Debts. A personal and cultural value is a Relative ethic value, an assumption upon which implementation can be extrapolated Typically, the outcome of the wager is evident within a short period of time.
The term gaming[1] in this context typically refers to instances in which the activity has been specifically permitted by law. The two words are not mutually exclusive; i. e. , a “gaming” company offers (legal) “gambling” activities to the public. [2] (This distinction is not universally observed in the English-speaking world, however. For instance, in the UK, the regulator of gambling activities is called the Gambling Commission (not the Gaming Commission. [3])
Contents |
Legal aspects
Both the Catholic and Jewish traditions traditionally set aside days for gambling,[4] although religious authorities generally disapprove of gambling to some extent. Catholic is an Adjective derived from the Greek adjective '' / 'katholikos' meaning "whole" or "complete". PLEASE TAKE NOTE************ Gambling can have adverse social consequences. In Economics social cost is defined as the sum of private and external costs For these social and religious reasons, most legal jurisdictions limit gambling. Some Islamic nations prohibit gambling; most other countries regulate it. This article is for the legal term For regulation of genes see Regulation of gene expression. [5]
Many jurisdictions, local as well as national, either ban or heavily control (by licensing) gambling. Such regulation generally leads to gambling tourism and illegal gambling. Tourism is Travel for Recreational or Leisure purposes The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people who "travel The involvement of governments, through regulation and taxation, has led to a close connection between many governments and gaming organizations, where legal gambling provides significant government revenue, such as in Monaco or Macau. For other uses see Monaco (disambiguation Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco ( French: Principauté de Monaco; Monégasque For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Macau topics.
Under US federal law, gambling is legal in the United States, and states are free to regulate or prohibit the practice. Gambling, often referred to as "gaming" had 2005 gross revenues of $84 The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Gambling has been legal in Nevada since 1931, forming the backbone of the state's economy, Las Vegas is perhaps the best known gambling destination in the world. Nevada ( is a state located in the western region of the United States of America. The Las Vegas metropolitan area includes the Las Vegas Valley a 600-square-mile (1600 km² basin and surrounding areas that is part of Clark County in southern In 1976, gambling was legalized in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and in 1990, it was legalized in Tunica, Mississippi; both of those cities have developed extensive casino and resort areas since then. New Jersey ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. Mississippi ( is a state located in the Deep South of the United States Since a favorable US Supreme Court decision in 1987, many Native American tribes have built their own casinos on tribal lands as a way to provide revenue for the tribe. The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest judicial body in the United States and leads the federal judiciary. Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples from the regions of North America now encompassed by the continental United States Indian Gaming enterprises comprise Gambling businesses operated on Indian reservations or tribal land which have limited Sovereignty and therefore the ability Because the tribes are considered sovereign nations, they are often exempt from state laws banning gambling, and are instead regulated under federal law. The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act ( et seq) is a 1988 United States federal law which establishes the Jurisdictional framework that presently governs Additionally almost all states have legalized gambling in the form of a lottery. A lottery is a form of Gambling which involves the drawing of lots for a prize
Because contracts of insurance have many features in common with wagers, insurance contracts are often distinguished under law as agreements in which either party has an interest in the "bet-upon" outcome beyond the specific financial terms. Insurance, in Law and Economics, is a form of Risk management primarily used to hedge against the Risk of a contingent loss E. g. : a “bet” with an insurer on whether one's house will burn down is not gambling, but rather insurance — as the homeowner has an obvious interest in the continued existence of his/her home independent of the purely financial aspects of the "bet" (i. e. , the insurance policy).
There is generally legislation requiring that the odds in gaming devices are statistically random, to prevent manufacturers from making some high-payoff results impossible. A numeric sequence is said to be statistically random when it contains no recognizable patterns or regularities sequences such as the results of an ideal die roll, or the digits Since these high-payoffs have very low probability, a house bias can quite easily be missed unless checking the odds carefully. Probability is the likelihood or chance that something is the case or will happen [6]
Gambling variables
There are three variables common to all forms of gambling:
- How much is being wagered, the initial stake (in money or material goods).
- The predictability of the event.
- In mechanical or electronic gambling such as lotteries, slot machines and bingo, the results are random and unpredictable; no amount of skill or knowledge (assuming machinery is functioning as intended) can give an advantage in predictability to anyone.
- However, for sports events such as horse racing and soccer matches there is some predictability to the outcome; thus a person with greater knowledge and/or skill will have an advantage over others.
- The odds agreed between the two (or more) parties to the wager; where there is a house or a bookmaker, the odds are (quite legally) arranged in favor of the house.
The expected value, positive or negative, is a mathematical calculation using these three variables. The amount wagered determines the scale of an individual wager (bet); the odds and the amount wagered determine the payout if successful; the predictability determines the frequency of success. Finally the frequency of success times the payout minus the amount wagered equals the "expected value" The skill of a gambler lies in understanding and maneuvering the three variables so that the "actual value" is positive over a series of wagers.
Types of gambling
Casino games
While almost any game can be played for money, and any game typically played for money can also be played just for fun, some games are generally offered in a casino setting. A casino is in the modern sense of the word a facility that houses and accommodates certain types of Gambling activities
Table games
Electronic gaming
Other gambling
Non-casino gambling games
Gambling games that take place outside of casinos include Bingo (as played in the US and UK), dead pool, lotteries, pull-tab games and scratchcards, and Mahjong. Bingo is a Game of chance in which randomly selected numbers are drawn and players match those numbers to those appearing on 5x5 matrices which are printed or electronically A dead pool also known as a death pool, death watch or ghoul pool, is a Game of Prediction which involves guessing when someone will A lottery is a form of Gambling which involves the drawing of lots for a prize A pull-tab is a Gambling ticket that is used in a pull-tab game to raise money for government agencies or for licensed charitable Nonprofit A scratchcard (also called a scratch off, scratch ticket, scratcher, scratchie, scratch-it, scratch game, scratch-and-win Mahjong (also called mah-jongg by the American association Traditional Chinese 麻將 Pinyin: májiàng is a Game for four players that originated in
Other non-casino gambling games include:
- Card games, such as Liar's poker, Bridge, Basset, Lansquenet, Piquet, Put, Teen patti
- Coin-tossing games such as Head and Tail, Two-up*
- Confidence tricks such as Three-card Monte or the Shell game
- Carnival Games such as The Razzle or Hanky Pank
- Dice-based games, such as Backgammon, Liar's dice, Passe-dix, Hazard, Threes, Pig, or Mexico
*Although coin tossing isn't usually played in a casino, it has been known to be an official gambling game in some Australian casinos[7]
Fixed-odds gambling
Fixed-odds gambling and Parimutuel betting frequently occur at many types of sporting events. A card game is any Game using Playing cards either traditional or game-specific For the book by Michael Lewis see Liar's Poker. Liar's poker is a bar game that combines statistical reasoning with bluffing and is played Contract bridge, usually known simply as bridge, is a trick-taking Card game of skill and chance (the relative proportions depending Alternate uses see List of dog breeds for several dog breeds known as Bassets including the familiar Basset Hound. Lansquenet (derived from the German Landsknecht ('servant of the land or country' applied to a Mercenary soldier is a Card game. Piquet is a trick-taking Card game for two players Pronounced "pee-kay" in France it is usually pronounced "picket" in English speaking countries Example of a put option on a stock Buy a Put A Buyer thinks price of a stock will decrease For the film see Teen Patti (film Teen Patti ("Three Cards" in English is a Gambling Card game that originated in India main - title Coin keywords numismatics coin review Heads or Tails is a coin-tossing Game. Most Coins have a side where the imprint of a person such as a current or former Head of state, is impressed Two-up is a traditional Australian Gambling game involving a designated 'Spinner' throwing two coins into the air A confidence trick or confidence game (also known as a bunko, con, flim flam, gaffle, grift, scam, scheme Three-card Monte, also known as the Three-card marney, Three-card trick, Three-card shuffle, Triplets, Follow the lady, This article deals with the con game For other meanings see Shell game (disambiguation. A carnival game is a Game of chance or skill that can be seen at a Traveling carnival, charity fund raiser Amusement park, or on a state and Razzle is a Game sometimes presented on Carnival midways and historically in the casinos of Havana Cuba Dice games are games that use or incorporate a die as their sole or central component usually as a Random device. Backgammon is a Board game for two players in which the playing pieces are moved according to the roll of Dice. Liar's dice, or Liar dice, with roots originating in South America and popularized in early Spanish History Passe-dix, also called passage in English is a Game of chance using Dice. Hazard is an Old English game played with two Dice which was mentioned in Geoffrey Chaucer 's Canterbury Tales in the 14th century Threes (commonly called Tripps) is a Gambling game played with five Dice where the goal is to get the lowest score in any given round Pig is a simple folk jeopardy Dice game first described in print by John Scarne in 1945 (Scarne John Mexico is an elimination-style dice game, in which several players agree to play a set number of rounds Fixed-odds betting is a form of Wagering against Odds offered by a Parimutuel betting (from the French language: pari mutuel, mutual betting is a betting system in which all bets of a particular type are placed together in a pool In addition many bookmakers offer fixed odds on a number of non-sports related outcomes, for example the direction and extent of movement of various financial indices, the winner of television competitions such as Big Brother, election results,[8]. A bookmaker, bookie or turf accountant, is an organization or a person that takes bets and pays winnings depending upon results and depending on the nature A stock market index is a method of measuring a section of the Stock market. Television ( TV) is a widely used Telecommunication medium for sending ( Broadcasting) and receiving moving Images, either monochromatic Big Brother is a Reality television show where in each series a group of people live together in the Big Brother House isolated from the outside world but continuously Interactive prediction markets also offer trading on these outcomes, with "shares" of results trading on an open market. Prediction markets are speculative markets created for the purpose of making predictions
Parimutuel betting
One of the most widespread forms of gambling involves betting on horse or greyhound racing. Parimutuel betting (from the French language: pari mutuel, mutual betting is a betting system in which all bets of a particular type are placed together in a pool This article is about the sport For other uses see Horserace (drinking game or Horse race (politics. Wagering may take place through parimutuel pools, or bookmakers may take bets personally. Parimutuel betting (from the French language: pari mutuel, mutual betting is a betting system in which all bets of a particular type are placed together in a pool A bookmaker, bookie or turf accountant, is an organization or a person that takes bets and pays winnings depending upon results and depending on the nature Parimutuel wagers pay off at prices determined by support in the wagering pools, while bookmakers pay off either at the odds offered at the time of accepting the bet; or at the median odds offered by track bookmakers at the time the race started.
Sports betting
Betting on team sports has become an important service industry in many countries. Sports betting is the general activity of predicting Sports results by making a wager on the outcome of a sporting event For example, millions of Britons play the football pools every week. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located
Arbitrage betting
Arbitrage betting is a theoretically risk-free betting system in which every outcome of an event is bet upon so that a known profit will be made by the bettor upon completion of the event, regardless of the outcome. Betting arbitrage, surebets, sports arbitraging is a particular case of Arbitrage arising on betting markets due to either bookmakers' different Arbitrage betting is a combination of the ancient art of arbitrage trading and gambling, which has been made possible by the large numbers of bookmakers in the marketplace, creating occasional opportunities for arbitrage. In Economics and Finance, arbitrage is the practice of taking advantage of a price differential between two or more Markets striking a combination of matching
Other types of betting
One can also bet with another person that a statement is true or false, or that a specified event will happen (a "back bet") or will not happen (a "lay bet") within a specified time. This occurs in particular when two people have opposing but strongly-held views on truth or events. Not only do the parties hope to gain from the bet, they place the bet also to demonstrate their certainty about the issue. Some means of determining the issue at stake must exist. Sometimes the amount bet remains nominal, demonstrating the outcome as one of principle rather than of financial importance.
Betting exchanges allow consumers to both back and lay at odds of their choice. The term betting exchange is used to describe a form of bookmaking in which the operator offsets its risk perfectly through technology such that the effect to the customer is that customers Similar in some ways to a stock exchange, a better may want to back a horse (hoping it will win) or lay a horse (hoping it will lose, effectively acting as bookmaker)
Staking systems
Many betting systems have been created in an attempt to "beat the bookie" but most still accept that no system can make an unprofitable bet profitable over time. A betting strategy or betting system is a structured approach to gambling, with a predefined set of actions for bet sizing and timing Widely-used systems include:
- Fixed stakes – a traditional system of staking the same amount on each selection.
- Fixed profits – the stakes vary based on the odds to ensure the same profit from each winning selection.
- Due-column betting – A variation on fixed profits betting in which the bettor sets a target profit and then calculates a bet size that will make this profit, adding any losses to the target.
- Card counting - Many systems exist for Blackjack to keep track of the ratio of ten values to all others; when this ratio is high the player has an advantage and should increase the amount of their bets. Card counting is a Card game strategy used to determine when a player has a probability advantage Blackjack (also known as Twenty-one, Vingt-et-un (French for Twenty-one or Pontoon) is the most widely played casino banking Keeping track of cards dealt confers an advantage in other games as well.
- Pot odds vs. In Poker, pot odds are the ratio of the current size of the pot to the cost of a contemplated call. true odds - In poker, the ratio of the size of the current pot to the bet a player is considering is called "pot odds", which can be compared to the "true odds" of a player completing a winning hand from the cards remaining to be dealt to determine whether to make the bet. Poker is a type of Card game in which players bet on the value of the card combination (" hand " in their possession by placing a bet into
- Kelly – the optimum level to bet to maximize your future median bank level. In Probability theory, the Kelly criterion, or Kelly strategy or Kelly formula, or Kelly bet, is a Formula used to determine to optimal
- Martingale – A system based on staking enough each time to recover losses from previous bet(s) until one wins. A separate article treats the topic of Martingale (probability theory.
Other uses of the term "gambling"
Many risk-return choices are sometimes referred to colloquially as "gambling. " Whether this terminology is acceptable is a matter of debate, but generally the following activities are not considered gambling:
- Emotional or physical risk-taking, where the risk-return ratio is not quantifiable (e. g. , skydiving, campaigning for political office, asking someone for a date, etc. Parachuting, also known as skydiving is where a person jumps from enough height so that he can deploy a fabric Parachute and land safely A political campaign is an organized effort which seeks to influence the decision making process within a specific group )
- Insurance is a method of shifting risk from one party to another. Insurance, in Law and Economics, is a form of Risk management primarily used to hedge against the Risk of a contingent loss Insurers use actuarial methods to calculate appropriate premiums, which could be considered similar to calculating gambling odds. However, insurers can set their premiums to obtain a long term positive expected return.
- Situations where the possible return is a secondary reason for the wager/purchase (e. g. buying a raffle ticket to support a charitable cause)
Investments are also usually not considered gambling, although some investments can involve significant risk. Charity gambling is the practice where typical Gambling 'games' such as bingo, Roulette, Lottery, Slot machines, etc Investment or investing is a term with several closely-related meanings in Business management, Finance and Economics, related to saving Examples of investments include stocks, bonds and real estate. Software for Fixed assets management and Stock control developed in 2004. In Finance, a bond is a Debt security, in which the authorized issuer owes the holders a debt and is obliged to repay the principal and Interest Real estate is a legal term (in some jurisdictions notably in the USA, United Kingdom Starting a business can also be considered a form of investment. Investments are generally not considered gambling when they meet the following criteria:
- Positive expected returns (at least in the long term)
- Economic utility
- Underlying value independent of the risk being undertaken
Some speculative investment activities are particularly risky, but are still usually considered separately from gambling:
- Securities derivatives, such as options or futures, where the value of the derivative is dependent on the value of the underlying asset at a specific point in time (typically the derivative's associated expiration date)
- Foreign currency exchange (forex) transactions
- Prediction markets
Psychological aspects
Studies show that though many people participate in gambling as a form of recreation or even as a means to gain an income, gambling, like any behavior which involves variation in brain chemistry, can become a psychologically addictive and harmful behavior in some people. Speculation, in a financial context is making an investment that increases the overall risk in a portfolio Derivatives are Financial instruments whose values depend on the value of other underlying financial instruments Options are financial instruments that convey the right but not the obligation to engage in a future transaction on some Underlying security, or in a Futures The foreign exchange ( currency or forex or FX) market refers to the market for currencies. Prediction markets are speculative markets created for the purpose of making predictions Problem gambling (ludomania is an urge to gamble despite harmful negative consequences or a desire to stop Recreation or fun is the expenditure of time in a manner designed for therapeutic refreshment of one's Body or Mind. Neurochemistry is the branch of Neuroscience devoted to the study of Neurochemicals A neurochemical is an organic molecule that participates in neural activity The term " addiction " is used in many contexts to describe an obsession compulsion or excessive Physical dependence or psychological dependence such as Reinforcement schedules may also make gamblers persist in gambling even after repeated losses. In Operant conditioning, reinforcement is an immediate increase in the strength of a response following a change in environment
The Russian writer Dostoevsky (himself a problem gambler) portrays in his novella The Gambler the psychological implications of gambling and how gambling can affect gamblers. Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (Фёдор Миха́йлович Достое́вский, sometimes transliterated Dostoyevsky, Dostoievsky, The Gambler is a novel by Fyodor Dostoevsky about a young tutor in the employment of a formerly wealthy Russian General He also associates gambling and the idea of "getting rich quick", suggesting that Russians may have a particular affinity for gambling. A get-rich-quick scheme is a plan to acquire high rates of return for a small Investment. Dostoevsky shows the effect of betting money for the chance of gaining more in 19th-century Europe. The association between Russians and gambling has fed legends of the origins of Russian roulette. Russian roulette (Русская рулетка is a potentially lethal Game of chance in which participants place a single round in a Revolver, spin the
By country
- Gambling in Japan
- Gambling in Macau (PRC)
- Gambling in the United Kingdom
- Gambling in the United States
See also
- Online gambling
- Mobile gambling
- Casino
- Gambler's ruin
- Gambler's fallacy
- Gaming mathematics
- Comps (casino)
References
- ^ United Kingdom Office of Public Sector Information: Definition as Gaming
- ^ Gambling Law US
- ^ Home · Gambling Commission
- ^ Barlow, Rich (2007-12-02). Gambling in Japan is banned by the Criminal Code chapter 23 however there are several exceptions Gambling in Macau has been legal since the 1850s when the Portuguese government legalized the activity in the colony Gambling in the United Kingdom is regulated by the Gambling Commission on behalf of the government's Department for Culture Media and Sport (DCMS under the Gambling, often referred to as "gaming" had 2005 gross revenues of $84 Online gambling is a general term for Gambling using the Internet Mobile gambling refers to Gambling done on a remote wirelessly connected device A casino is in the modern sense of the word a facility that houses and accommodates certain types of Gambling activities The basic meaning of gambler's ruin is a gambler's loss of the last of his bank of gambling money and consequent inability to continue Gambling. The gambler's fallacy, also known as the Monte Carlo fallacy or the fallacy of the maturity of chances, is the false belief that if deviations from expected behaviour Gaming mathematics, also referred to as the mathematics of gambling is a collectionof Probability applications encountered in games of chance and can In the context of Casinos, comps are complimentary items given out by casinos to encourage players to gamble. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1409 - The University of Leipzig opens 1755 - The second Eddystone Lighthouse is destroyed by fire Gambling had role in religious history. The Boston Globe.
- ^ International Association of Gaming Regulators: Members
- ^ Nevada State Gaming Control Board: Technical Standards (Adopted)
- ^ Sky City - SkyCity Casino - Table Games - Two Up
- ^ ABC.net: US election betting backs Bush
External links
- Gambling sites at the Open Directory Project
- Gambling at the Yahoo! Directory
- Gaming Studies Research Center - at University of Nevada, Las Vegas
- Institute for the Study of Gambling and Commercial Gaming at the University of Nevada, Reno
Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic