Gambling

After talking about the components of Caillois, which determine the random  or skill nature of the games, today we will see what is meant by gambling.

The origins of gambling

Gambling finds its etymology from the Arabic az-zahr, which means nut [Treccani]. By definition it is considered a ludic activity “in which the purpose of profit occurs and in which the winning or the loss is predominantly random, having the ability a negligible importance”[Ibidem].

There are numerous and various types of gambling. The oldest are the game of Craps, but archaeological finds have found forms of gambling that recall magical rituals. The gambling games available today are nothing more than an evolved form of prehistoric games [Tani, Ilari, 2016].

Gambling today

The latest ones are made with automatic devices such as slot machines, or electronic, from computers to smartphones. The development of the Internet and digital technologies has enabled the competent institutions to apply a form of legalization of gambling. It does so according to the monitoring and control principle that the same technologies are able to offer. That’s the reason why online poker is legalized, while live poker is allowed only in Casinos.

Gambling has always been deeply rooted in human nature and doesn’t seem to be exclusive to a particular era, social state or culture [Savron et al., 2001].

Gambling addiction 

The main limit of gambling is that it can give rise to addiction, compulsive and even pathological approach. It’s the condition that makes you chronically incapable of resisting the impulse to play. This pathology may, in some cases generate very negative consequences on the person who’s victim of it, and also in on his family and his professional activities. Gambling is very widespread today [Savron et al., 2001] to be considered a real social emergency [Tani and Ilari, 2016].

Go to the next article not to lose the thread of the discussion on the Skill Poker Index, or go to the first article of the series to resume it.

Pietro Semeraro 

Transl. by Margherita Basile