The New Crack Cocaine…
If you have recently watched any sporting event, you have probably noticed the recent influx of commercials for online sports betting.
Actually, it is impossible to escape them!
Chances are you have been exposed to an ad for Caesar’s Sportsbook, BetMGM, Fubo Sportsbook, Wynnbet, BetfredSports, Bet Rivers, Unibet, Fanduel Sportsbook , or Draft Kings Sportsbook.
I am labelling this phenomenon… the new crack cocaine!
Just a Taste…
Just like a drug dealer who gives you the first hit of crack, heroin, or methamphetamine absolutely free, you get to try your first bet at the BETMGM website, risk free up to $1000. What does that mean?
All you have to do is create an account on their website, deposit $10, browse through their plethora of all the things you can bet on, and then place a bet. It is that easy.
Now let me give you an example: let’s say you place a bet for $1000 on your favorite team. Towards the end of the game your team falls behind and fails to cover the spread. Well guess what? They tell you your payout is in jeopardy, but your online bet never was.
Why? Because it is risk-free!
Meaning, if you lose your first bet, they will forgive the wager you made, but, if your team makes a comeback and wins, you win! You can’t lose!
Is it Risk-Free Forever?
So the first question you have to ask yourself is, “How long does this risk-free betting last? Is it forever?
No, it’s just for your first bet, just like your first hit of heroin, the first one is free, the next one and everyone thereafter is going to cost you.
And just like drugs, eventually it could cost you your life!
But don’t you worry, if you opt into their club, you will receive more free bets ($10) each Monday! As long as you keep betting a minimum of $50.00 every week. Just enough to keep you coming back!
But So and So Said…
So what do Usain Bolt, Charles Barkley, Mike Tyson, Andrew Luck, Paris Hilton, Ben Affleck, Shaquille O’Neill, Patton Oswalt, Martin Lawrence, Jamie Foxx, and Jennifer Lopez’s (a.k.a. J. Lo’s Mom) all have in common?
All of them are promoting this online gambling drug either directly or by appearing in their ads. So then it has to be good for you, right?
Not by a long-shot (pun-intended)!
This parallels the long-standing belief that celebrities always know what’s better for us than we know for ourselves. Think back to all the celebrity endorsements for smoking during the 1950’s & 60’s which was paid for by the tobacco companies.
Alcohol, Opioids, & Gambling.
Scientific research tells us that addictions like alcohol, drugs, and tobacco are no different than gambling.
The 5th Edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-5) now includes gambling disorders in the chapter on Substance-Related Disorders and Addictive Disorders.
The reason gambling has been reclassified, is because there is scientific evidence showing the similarities to the experiences and biology of what happens with gambling and other more recognized substances that get abused.
In other words, the same addictive rewiring of the brain that happens with opioids, alcohol, and hallucinogens’ happens with gambling!
So What Can You Do?
Well first of all, if you or someone you know has a gambling issue, I highly suggest you reach out and get some help! Here is a place to start.
Second – WAKE UP to the fact that the world (institutions, mega-businesses, the media, government, etc. ) prefers you be asleep and unconscious.
Why? Because when you are asleep and unconscious about where you spend your time, money, and energy, they make billions and billions of dollars.
Time to Wake Up!
To say the last 2 years have been unprecedented in our lifetime would be an understatement. Most of us were not prepared for the Covid-19 pandemic and all of the changes we needed to make in order to survive.
As a result of the pandemic, addiction is on the rise bringing along with it, its own epidemic of drug-related overdose’s and deaths. Additionally, the U.N. health agency’s report suggests that the greatest deterioration in mental health took place in the worst hit areas by Covid-19. Resulting in a 25% increase in depression and anxiety, especially for the elderly and younger populations.
If you add into this mess, the peddling of fear by the media, it is easy to see how one can lose hope!
Don’t Gamble Away Your Hope
Now might be a good time to pay attention to where you are spending your time, energy, and money. That might be a good sign as to whether or not have fallen asleep or are awake.
Maybe, just maybe, it is time to ask yourself if you are truly living the life that you want? Or are you simply settling for the life you have grown comfortable with over the last two years?
Hope is defined as wanting something to happen or to be true.
My hope for you, is that after reading this article, you wake up to the truth of just how precious you and your one-and-only life are…
So much so…that you never, ever, ever think of wasting it by being asleep or gambling it away!
