Friday, November 24, 2006

Gambling on football on Thanksgiving Day is almost as traditional as eating
turkey and yams. Thanksgiving Day sees more betting action on singular games
than any other day of the regular football season, and it also kicks off the
general happy and joyful mood that pushes the high season of gambling in the
United States.
Thanksgiving is also the day when people give thanks for living in a country
where freedom is cherished, and Ameicans seem to love to head to their local
casino to celebrate that sense of freedom. It is college students' time to
take a break from their studies and many of those students head to Las Vegas
or Atlantic City to release and relieve some of their schoolbook stress.
Other students head home to find that while they were gone slot parlors were
approved and new casinos were open up, such as in Hollwood, Florida and
Pennsylvania. "I feel so good this time of the year, everyone feels so good
and is in such a good mood," says Frank Taylor, a Hard Rock casino visitor
in Hollywood. "Thanksgiving Day is for the family," Frank said, "but the
rest of the weekend is for partying." Thanksgiving also kicks off the season
of spending money. People enjoy buying gifts for others to celebrate their
religious beliefs and in that same sense of giving they head to the casino
to try to find some loose slots. Even online casinos see a rise in bets and
total wagers through the end of the year. "This is typically our busiest
time of the year," says one Internet casino manager. "I don't know why
people love to gamble during the holidays... but it is something real and it
happens every year." However, gambling during the holidays could be more of
a problem for addicted gamblers than at other times of the year. Nancy
Petry, Ph.D professor of psychiatry and director of the Gambling Research
and Treatment Center at UConn Health Center agrees that problem gamblers
face a harder time during the holidays.

"Family-related stress can send problem gamblers to the casinos for an
escape during the holiday," Petry said. "Many people gamble because they are
lonely, bored or stressed. These moods can be more common during the holiday
season."

Petry is quick to point out that you should never bet more than you feel
comfortable losing, never wager with borrowed money, and she suggests that a
problem gambler find something else to do besides gamble during the
holidays.

Whatever your reason for gambling may be, be sure to be responsible to
yourself and to your close ones, and remember that gambling is only a form
of entertainment and should never be taken more seriously than such.