Most people find it extremely difficult to stop gambling. Addiction to gambling can be compared to alcoholism, once you are addicted, quitting becomes almost impossible. There are underlying reasons as to why most gamblers find it difficult to quit the vice.
- Peer Influence
When you are committing a sin alone, there are some instincts that caution you against the vice. Since you aren’t seeing anyone committing the same, quitting becomes easy. But if you are in a group that commits a sin repeatedly, you don’t find anything strange with that. Peer pressure may push you into gambling again and again even after you make several attempts to quit.
- Desire to become rich
It’s only 1% of the rich people participate in gambling, the rest are for those in need of money on desperate scales. The major motivation is the low stake coupled with mouthwatering jackpots. There is a believe among the poor that the millions placed on jackpots will be theirs eventually. It’s for this reason that they play again and again to win the money. If these people had money, they will hardly participate in gambling.
- Media advertisements and promotions
When you want to quit forever, you find one media house presenting a winner of $1 million. The winner is introduced as an ordinary person like you. That information alone will make you not to give up on gambling. But if there is no information available concerning the winners, advertisements from betting firms on media and online, quitting gambling could become easier.
- Access to cheap mobile loans
Countries like Kenya have cheap mobile loans, it takes less than 2 hours for one to get a loan from the mushrooming mobile loan companies. Most people find it hard to quit because they can always get a stake through mobile loans.
- Affordable stake
If the minimum stake for each bet was set at $1000, few people would gamble. But the fact that people can bet with as little as $0.1 makes it difficult for most gamblers to quit.
- Rat race theory
There is a theory in gambling and any phenomenon involving wealth creation which forces people not to give up despite not experiencing the fruits. In gambling, the more a person loses the more he develops an appetite to chase for the money. Eventually, the player becomes the loser as the betting company becomes the ultimate winner.
- Idleness and hopelessness
Most people especially in Kenya are idle and hopeless. These people find joy in gambling. If they were in a 24-hour economy countries where everyone is busy, chances of gambling could be minimal.
