One of my viewers, Aaron (from Texas), recently came to me with a great point: “Why do people think gamblers can’t be responsible with it?” This is a fantastic question. So many people out there judge without having any idea what they’re talking about. “Gambling is a total waste of money,” some people say. “Gambling hurts everyone around you,” others claim. “There are NO BENEFITS to gambling,” they shout.
We’ll, I’m about to shut them all up once and for all:
First, the idea of something being a ‘waste of money’ is completely subjective. Shouldn’t every person get to decide how to spend their own money? What’s a ‘waste’ to you might be important to me, and vice versa. Maybe you collect My Little Ponies. Or maybe you like to tour roller coaster parks. Or perhaps you’re into expensive Vegan restaurants. All of those things are a complete waste of money…to me. But if they’re valuable to you, I’m not gonna knock you for ‘em. So please, jerks, don’t knock me for something that I find value in: playing slot machines.
Could gambling hurt people around you? Sure, of course – anything taken to an extreme can lead to addiction, and that can devastate the people around you. But when people bet within their limits and budgets (which the vast majority of gamblers do), then nobody gets hurt. (Actually, many people get helped.) That’s what I do too. You may have seen this video of me losing $100,000 in 10 minutes. And the ignorant will see that and say, “What an idiot! That probably ruined his family!” But, being ignorant, they have no idea that I’m wealthy – very wealthy – and that a loss like that doesn’t negatively impact my family one iota. So really, they should shut their mouths.
And you know who else should zip it? Those preachy whiners who keep telling everyone that there’s nothing good about gambling. First of all, when done responsibly, gambling is fun. And fun goes a long way towards a person’s health and happiness. Are those nosy complainers really against fun? Probably. But I can also tell you this: Gambling done right can help you manage risk assessment better. When I spend money on slots, just like in business, I’m always analyzing the odds, and the risk (of putting money into that machine) versus the reward (the payout I could get but most likely won’t, plus the enjoyment it will bring me, even though I’ll most likely lose; bonuses are still tons of fun).
So if you’re a responsible gambler, and some of your so-called friends keep telling how ‘bad’ you are for doing it, you don’t have to tell them to shut it. Instead, just send them a link to this blog post; I’ve just done it for you.