Gambling
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Gambling
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. Typically, the outcome of the wager is evident
within a short period of time.
The term gaming 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. (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).
Legal aspects
Both the Catholic and Jewish traditions traditionally set
aside days for gambling, although religious authorities generally disapprove of
gambling to some extent.
Gambling can have adverse social consequences. For
these social and religious reasons, most legal jurisdictions limit gambling.
Some Islamic nations prohibit gambling; most other countries regulate it.
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. 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.
Under US federal law, gambling is legal in the United States, and states are
free to regulate or prohibit the practice. 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. 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. 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. Because the tribes are considered sovereign
nations, they are often exempt from state laws banning gambling, and are instead
regulated under federal law. Additionally almost all states have legalized
gambling in the form of a lottery.
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. 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. Since these high-payoffs have very low probability, a house
bias can quite easily be missed unless checking the odds carefully.
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.
* Blackjack
* Pai Gow Poker and Tiles
* Poker
* Spanish 21
* 3-card poker
* Baccarat (punto banco)
* Caribbean Stud Poker
* Casino war
* Craps
* Fan-Tan
* Faro
* Let it ride
* Pachinko
* Pyramid Poker
* 4-card poker
* Red Dog
* Sic Bo
* Texas Hold'em Bonus Poker
* Roulette
Electronic gaming
* Slot machine
* Video poker
Other gambling
* Sports betting
* Arbitrage betting
* Keno
* Bingo
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 scratch cards, and
Mahjong.
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.
Fixed-odds gambling
Fixed-odds gambling and Pari-mutuel betting frequently occur at many types of
sporting events. 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. Interactive prediction markets also offer trading on
these outcomes, with "shares" of results trading on an open market.
Pari-mutuel betting
One of the most widespread forms of gambling involves betting on horse or
greyhound racing. Wagering may take place through pari-mutuel pools, or
bookmakers may take bets personally. Pari-mutuel 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. For example, millions of Britons play the football pools every week.
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. Arbitrage
betting is a combination of the ancient art of arbitrage trading and gambling,
which has been made possible the large numbers of bookmakers in the marketplace,
creating occasional opportunities for arbitrage.
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.
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. 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.
* Kelly – the optimum level to bet to maximize your future median bank level.
* Martingale – A system based on staking enough each time to recover losses from
previous bet's until one wins.
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.)
* Insurance is a method of shifting risk from one party to another. 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. Examples of investments include stocks, bonds and
real estate. 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. Reinforcement schedules may also
make gamblers persist in gambling even after repeated losses.
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. He also associates gambling and the idea of "getting rich
quick", suggesting that Russians may have a particular affinity for gambling.
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.
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