By Samantha Williams
If you dig deep into the history of gambling you’ll find that it all started with lotteries – the number game where winning was pure chance. It is a common tendency for human beings to be self-centered in everything as to think what is in it for me? Irrespective of territorial limitations, genre divisions, ethnic variations, racial differences etc. all the people of this world are having unison in one thing, that is to promote their well being, feel happiness when good things come their way and sorrow when bad things occur.
So the very concept of conducting lotteries hinges on this self-belief that winning of the first prize is only theirs. A large collection from the masses with small individual contributions makes the prizes hefty and attractive. The unique feature of betting on lottery tickets is that no one bothers about the loss, which is only too small to cause worry, and looks forward to the next opportunity of raffle dates and buys more tickets to widen the net for capturing the fortune. As lottery is a mass game engaging a large number of anonymous people this caught up like wild fire right from the start, centuries back. As of today, even Governments are running lotteries, both offline and online towards raising funds for their welfare expenses. This game of pure chance, making one individual winner to thrive at the expense of thousands of others will go on for ever. There can not be any serious gambler for lotteries as this suits any one and every one.
The other gambling games of numbers – roulette; Bingo; slot machines; blackjack; dice and the like – have the same thing in common, where there is no mental skill or playing ability called for. It is pure chance of Lady Luck smiling on you to win fabulous prizes on all these gambling varieties. The wager is totally blind, notwithstanding all the hypes and hoopla, numerology, superstitions, omens, this and that. All players of these games online are no different from those millions playing in the gambling dens of the real world. What makes many people to be engrossed on these gambling games again and again is their fervent hope that one day or the other they will win a bounty. Here also the craze is not by preference but by habit only without exception.
The real challenge is faced by the gamblers worldwide is in games of mental skill and calculative ability to better the others in competition. For example in horse racing (prior-fixing not included) the race goers will be studying even the minute details of the horses in each race, their track record; previous performances; distances run earlier; weights carried; jockeys driven etc. and even the details of the father and mother of the horse to determine the pedigree. In addition they make all the calculations for arriving at a winning combination of numbers for Jackpots; Thanala; Win; Forecast and so on. This needs a lot of brain work and those who make these calculations right stand a very good chance of winning. Another fine example is Cards playing – Poker and others where you have to be very shrewd in playing with full concentration and mental strain to defeat others in the fray. Understandably, it is these gambling games that are preferred by many people for gambling both offline and online.
