“For the Love of the Game” is a very familiar phrase among my comrades, and is usually associated to the ‘certified investors’ group. They deal only with numbers and probabilities, critically analyze the rise and fall in odds as against the returns and lapses in their investments.
Yes, few of you cannot get the picture here but I am actually referring to gambling, typically sports betting. Gambling or sports betting is widely not uncommon across the world but in Africa and specifically Ghana, it is certainly a multi-billion dollar industry.
Most people could refer to betting as the greatest addiction in the world. It is basically meant to be an easy and fun way of making money. Unfortunately, it does not always appear to be that simple and always fun.
Ever wondered how the betting game has become easily and well recognized by almost every person in Ghana, particularly the youth? Ever thought of how immense the addiction is for the young guys? Now let me walk you through my thoughts.
These gambling addictions I believe are very deep rooted as path of the growth. Most young adults did become very acquainted at a very tender age, notably with people living around slum neighborhoods. It began with football games where bets were staked and the winner of the match taking all the money.
Other games include the ‘Rubber Band Game’, where children have a number of rubber bands each, throw it for a band to fall on top of the other. This is done continuously until one loses all his bands. Sometimes a bet is staked and the winner takes all the money as well.
The game of card were the most common among every hood and even grew with children to adult. I mean all these games in their original form were meant to be fun and it obviously hurts when you lose; so imagine the pain when you lose money altogether.
Now in the contemporary world, there has been advancement in almost every aspect of our lives including sports and fun comes online betting. It started usually with betting shops and houses, where bettors flooded in to stake on their teams. With most people, it seemed to be a full-time job, because they were almost found there 24/7. It is amazing how so many ladies have also gotten involved with this in recent times.
For the past years, there has been so many disturbing news associated with gambling in Ghana. Most depression cases are actually said to be as a result of excessive gambling.
There are obviously amazing wins in the game. A student just won over a million cedis and has decided to further his education abroad. However, the bad news surfaces around mostly. We recently heard of a King who committed suicide after losing a huge sum of money to betting. We’ve had students use their school fees to bet on games and ended up losing. Well, tough times call for tough measures so can you blame them?
The reason bettors are advised to bet responsibly is to avoid most of these scenarios. Literally, live within your means, because you cannot stake more than you have. It is unwise for a salary worker to spend all of his income on gambling.
Yes, it is all for the love and excitement of the game, but these times it does not appear to be love. It is more of slavery and torture, just addiction. If the love is that deep and you cannot come out of it, please always bet responsibly!
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