@HappyBoy
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Sports bet
There is a pestilence raging out there in our present world. Every single day new one arises but we all watch with our hands folded doing nothing. We watch our youths waste away hoping to hit the jackpot every day. We have been asked not to call it Gambling. Sports bet they say it is. But does calling a lion a dog change its nature? Betting is now something legal all over the country. Sports betting in particular has taken over the streets in the country. Football being the most popular sport in the country have the highest share of the attention. The English premier league, La Liga Santander, Ligue 1 and other European leagues are played weekly bar international breaks and end of the season breaks. It’s now common to see ex-internationals sign contracts with these bet companies and advertise for them. According to an article published on TheGuardian. ***An average Nigerian spends close to $15 per day on online betting***. This is ¼ of the minimum monthly wage of workers in the country. We can’t deny that these industries bring in a lot of revenue for the government hence the reason why they’ve turn blind eye to it. However, the teens and youths are the one’s facing the consequences of this activity. https://guardian.ng/features/impact-of-online-gambling-in-the-nigerian-economy/ I tried talking to some friends that are into it and these were the points they gave to back up their actions **It’s a quick way of making money:** To many youths, sports bet is a saving grace to them. It’s a quick run-to whenever they need money. And what is bad in making money from what you love? **It provides jobs**: On almost every street there is a betting shop with 2 to 3 workers. They believe the bet shops are the “Youth empowerment” schemes the Government promised during the election campaigns. **Requires little capital**: One can bet with as low as N100, which in dollar should be 20 cents. With just N100 Naira you can turn a millionaire overnight and if you are a big risk-taker, invest your school fee or sell any of your properties- according to him (my friend) you are on your way to being the next Bezos. More reasons were given to justify their actions but the ones above are those I could remember from the conversations. Trust me when I say I’ve seen friends get ruined from betting. Someone who had his future all planned ad we all thought he’d be the next big thing from the block turned into someone no one want to be acquainted with. **Nothing good comes easy**: There is nothing like quick money. Money that comes quickly goes quickly. Elon Musk didn’t turn billionaire overnight, neither did Jeff Gamble with $100 to become who he is today. We need to learn how to patiently work our ways to the top. Everything starts from the bottom before going to the top. It’s only the grave that is dug from the top to the bottom. lol **Providing job for 2-3 at the expense of 100** So many lives are destroyed from gambling. A video went viral after the UCL final match between Chelsea and Man City last year. A man was wailing and shouting “Guardiola why?” because he placed a bet with his house document, but City lost the final. So many people commit suicide after going into debt from gambling. Students wager their allowances and even fees just to make money quickly. The advantage of being patient and hardworking is now lost to us. When we see someone striving to succeed we call him a fool. We youths are so impatient that even the weekly league games seem far off. This makes virtual gaming rampant. I wonder how people stake their money over something they have little influence over. They watch intently as horses, dogs and cars race down the track. Before you know it, their money is gone and they resort to selling or staking their properties. **To counter the third point I gave a simple scenario to him** On a football weekend, an average Nigerian youth spend an average of $4 on betting. Let say with midweek matches (UCL and few league games) he spends $2. That makes it $6 per week. He repeats this from January to march ($6 x4 =$24: for 3 months will be 3x$24=$72). finally, luck shines on him in the 4th month. His prediction of arsenal winning a match finally clicks. He got $15 from the $4 he staked. He celebrates and spread the news of how sporty bet has saved him. Forgetting that prior to his win he has spent $72. as if that isn’t enough, half of the $15 won was spent on booking another game. You are getting back out of what you gave out and the circle continues. DANGER ASSOCIATED WITH GAMBLING **It can lead to argent poverty**: You gamble because you want a quick way to wealth but you end up being a pauper. Gambling is an addiction hard to stop. After spending all you have, you wager with your properties and might even resort to stealing to fund your gambling lifestyle. **At the risk of losing friends and family**: Friends and family will run away from you if you’re the type that gambles. They fear losing their money to you or their reputation. You lose people’s trust because you are reliable to steal from them. **Prone to committing suicide:** People who gamble are prone to depression and thoughts of committing suicide is always lurking around. **You hate yourself**: You hate yourself for doing what you know is bad and hurting you. But you can’t just stop it. WAY OUT - Disassociate yourself from friends that gamble - Seek help - Get something doing: Remember an idle hand is the devils workshop. - when the urge to go back to the table comes think of those that are affected by your actions. - Pray Conclusion I hope the Government find a way to Curb this menace. Though it's a fast growing industry that contributes to the Economic growth of the country, the impact it has on the teens and youths is devastating. Our parents and religion institutions should also talk to our kids. The danger associated with Gambling is far more than the gain in it. Thanks for Reading!💰💚💰
32 comments
This as become an addiction in the life of millions of youth and government keep supporting creating more bet companies almost every day because of the tax they get from the tax company.
Yes, the Government is only concerned with the tax
The most shocking part is that kids are allowed to bet and it's stated on the rules and regulations above 18+ But those gambling shops don't care since they are making money out of them. Those kids spend their their feeding money and after which they had lost, they would find another way to get money and come and play again and if you try telling them to stop most of their response is “is it your money"
True brother, nowadays our youth is involved in this act in fact they had considered this as a business and you better know how bad is this addiction. Just like bch.games I have seen many people are now addicted to this and lost their money even but still, they are now not able to leave this addiction. Government should take a step to these clubs, association, etc.
It start with just a trial ,then it turns into addiction. I sincerely hope the Government do something about it too.
You have really said it all bro. Sportsbetting has what it takes to destroy every youth and i have a confession to make bro. My confession is that i also play gambling as well both with My phone and My pc but i will stop cos i have lost more than i have gained
Good decision Sammy. I hope you stick to it.
Sure, i'll do well to stick by it
Addiction to gambling is rampant even here in our place. Kids know how to gamble too because there are a lot of online betting platforms that are accessible for them and this is not a good sign of them having a bright future. I like all the ways you wrote there about how to remove oneself from the gambling addiction
Gambling will always create problems and issues in a community and in the family. We have seen families get broken, properties getting lost, worst is when youths lose their future because of it.
It's painful too see all these happening and the Government aren't doing anything.
That is really a waste... I hope youths will wake up soon and not get addicted to that kind of life.
One of the drawbacks of sport betting is the addition that comes with it. The fact that it needs very little capital supports that. They know it is easier to spend money in bits rather than at once so they designed it that way. $1 multiplied by 365 days is $365, that is alot of money to waste. so they structure it in a way that the users will feel comfortable spending their money
Gambling is definitely a vice to society and it's shocking the growing rate of gambling addicts there is. It is almost scary how susceptible one is to it.
That's why you won't see these betting shops in rich men environment, they know that is only the poor that are in a heist to make money overnight
Hmmm. That's ttue. I stayed at magodo for months and i can't remember seeing one. Recently , i was at ikoyi, same thing. The poor are the ones looming for short cut to success
Years back I visited my uncle in GRA and a friend of mine sent me a game to play, I scouted the whole area I didn't see a single beat shop, that's when I realized it..
They know that sport bet it's a way to gain money from the poor who are desperate to make money overnight, that's why you won't see bet shop in rich neighborhood.
Gambling is so rampant here in our area. In the middle of this pandemic, you will see people riskimg their health just to gamble. .
It's a menace battling the whole world now
Still remember the movie Squid game? It was all about gambling and debt that cause people to risk their own lives for the sake of money.. Better prioritize saving than spending. The needs, not the wants.
Exactly! Most of the players were gamblers. In fact they got their interest piqued by gambling with them and taking a slap to the face as stake😂
There are many countries where it is completely legal to do so. In mine, it is totally forbidden to do so. This destroys families, and it is a very difficult vice to eradicate.
You're from which country if i may ask
I am cuban. 🙂
Wow! It's a pleasure to meet you.
The pleasure is mine dear friend!
Betting is addictive. I have seen persons that are addicted to it and they lost everything while trying to hit the jackpot. The funny thing with betting is that you will think you're winning but you're actually losing. Just like what you said in the scenario you gave, they will use a total of N50k to play bet from January to November, and then finally win N10k by December and they will think they won. The funny thing is they will still use that 10k they won to play bet
Exactly!😂 They don't think at all.
I can honestly say, there's nothing good about sport betting
The most dangerous thing about gambling is *winning*. Once you hit good money, you’ll go back for more ‘coz “wow, that was fun!” Then, you’ll lose those winnings. Then, you keep on gambling to win it back and unfortunately many other losses...
What betting has caused to many homes or families can't be described at all. It has destroyed them all to the point that they can't rise any longer