This last week has seen both John Daly and Charles Barkley speak publicly about their gambling losses.  John Daly has a new book that details his history of gambling.  In the book, Daly claims to have lost somewhere between 50 and 60 million dollars.  Barkley then came out and said that Daly’s figure is way too high.  How does he know this you ask, because Barkley himself has lost around $10 million.

Daly’s book has a number of stories where he has problems with not only gambling, but drinking, smoking, and other addictive activities.  However, ESPN reports seem to be much more focused on the gambling addiction.  Then there is Charles Barkley.  Charles says something crazy every week, but
then he says something about losing money to gambling, and ESPN runs it on Sportscenter every half hour.

ESPN is doing everything possible to be viewed as a positive source for information.  My question is, why do they focus on gambling?  Someone comes out and says that they lost millions of dollars to a gambling habit and it is a big story.  People shake their head at that person as if he is a lost soul who doesn’t know what’s right.  Then you hear the popular phrase, “gambling is an addictive habit”.  Guess what, everything is an addictive habit!

Maybe the act of gambling isn’t what is wrong.  Maybe the problem is the person who has no self control in any aspect of their life.  Because of media coverage, like that on Daly and Barkley, gambling is viewed as an evil habit that is impossible to stop once you get sucked into it. What does this say for our confidence in a person’s ability to control themselves?

By no means am I here to promote gambling or encourage people to gamble. It is a serious act that should only be done by someone who can demonstrate self discipline.  However, I just don’t see why it is so frowned upon by our society. There are tons of addictive habits out there.  This doesn’t necessarily mean that those things are bad, it just means that they are only for people who can control themselves and keep some control in their life.

Instead of these stories giving a bad name for gambling, perhaps they should be aimed more at the person with the problem.  I would bet (no pun intended) that Daly and Barkley would be the first to tell you that they are the problem, not gambling.  It’s not a coincidence that people with gambling problems often have a number of other problems in their life.

Again, I’m not telling you to go out there and empty your wallets on the next “big” game.  I’m just saying that people should blame the person instead of the act.  People act like gambling has a hold of them.  No, they had no hold on themselves, so anything that they do has a hold on them.  Daly and Barkley would completely take responsibility for their actions, yet the media uses these stories as more ammo against the evil world of gambling.

Is gambling addictive?  Very.  Is it dangerous?  It certainly can be, but it is no different than other addictions.  People who can’t control their drinking shouldn’t drink.  People who can’t control their smoking shouldn’t smoke.  And people who can’t control their gambling…shouldn’t gamble.


John Addler would love to hear your comments
He can be reached at  john.addler@atomicsportsmedia.com