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GAMBLING AND SPENDING MONEY

“There are two great pleasures in gambling: that of winning and that of losing.”

—French proverb

Taking Chances

Gambling, or “gaming” as the popular American industry prefers to call games of chance for money, evokes strong emotions. Take some chances in your interview.

1. Where, if anywhere, do you gamble? For chips? For money?

2. Is gambling legal in your native country?

3. What is the most popular gambling game in your country?

4. Are there any gambling restrictions? What are they? Why?

5. Are there lotteries? Who runs the lotteries?

6. What are some of the pleasures of gambling? Perils?

7. Have you been to Las Vegas? Atlantic City?

8. What were some of your impressions of Las Vegas?

9. Did you gamble in Las Vegas? Which casinos did you like? Why?

10. What is your favorite gambling game? Do you like to play poker? Blackjack? Slots?

11. How would you describe your feeling while gambling?

12. Did your money winnings ever pile up?

13. If you won a big jackpot, say $50,000, what would you buy?

14. Do you have a favorite gambling partner? Why?

15. Do you prefer to gamble during the day or night? Why?

16. Did you win, lose, or break even in Las Vegas? How much?

17. Do you ever gamble on sports? Which ones? Do you usually win, lose, or break even?

18. Do you think gambling has increased or decreased in the last 10 years?

19. Do you think gambling will increase in the next year? Why?

Vocabulary

Read each word aloud. Choose the words that have a positive meaning, and then choose the words that have a negative meaning for you.

thrifty | frugal | impulsive | splurge | bet | jackpot

casino | risk | compulsive | addict | remorse | debt

Sayings

Can you think of some other proverbs that apply to gambling?

Gambling is the son of avarice and the father of despair. —French

Don’t throw good money after bad. —English

Where there is money, there is danger. —Japanese

There is no better gambling than not to gamble. —German

Put your money where your mouth is. —American

The best throw with the dice is to throw them away. —t-shirt sold in Las Vegas

The unexpected always happens. —Latin

The Conversation Continues

1. What are some common reasons that people go into debt?

2. Can you think of three good uses of credit?

3. What are five bad reasons to pile up debt?

4. Do you think gambling should be legal? Why?

5. What do you think is the secret of gambling’s appeal across the centuries?

6. Do you think gambling can be an addiction? How?

7. Have you ever known anyone with a gambling problem? What happened?

8. What are some signs that someone might have a gambling problem?

9. What are some signs of a successful gambler?

10. What are some safe bets in cards? What are some long shots in cards?

11. What are some risks that you’ve taken in your life?

12. Do you consider moving to America a smart bet?

13. Do you think life is a gamble? How?

Discussing Quotations

With your conversation partner(s) or on your own, read the following quotations out loud. Do you agree? Do you disagree? Why? Explain your reasons.

1. “Every gain must have a loss.”

—Francis Bacon (1561-1626), English philosopher

2. “The gambling known as business looks with austere disfavor upon the business known as gambling.”

—Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914), American writer

3. “Gambling: the sure way of getting nothing for something.”

—Wilson Mizner (1876-1933), American dramatist

4. “No wife can endure a gambling husband-unless he is a steady winner.”

—Lord Thomas Robert Dewar (1864-1930), British whiskey distiller

5. “Women’s total instinct for gambling is satisfied by marriage.”

—Gloria Steinem (1935-), American feminist and writer

6. “There is no gambling like politics.”

—Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881), British prime minister and novelist

7. “Luck is not chance, it’s toil. Fortune’s expensive smile is earned.”

—Emily Dickinson (1830-1886), American poet

8. “One must have the courage to dare.”

—Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821-1881), Russian novelist and compulsive gambler

9. “The urge to gamble is so universal and its practice so pleasurable that I assume it must be evil.”

—Heywood Braun (1888-1939), sports journalist

10. “I love blackjack, but I’m not addicted to gambling. I’m addicted to sitting in a semi-circle.”

—Mitch Hedberg (1968-2005), American comedian

11. “He was subject to a kind of disease, which at that time, they called lack of money.”

—Francois Rabelais (1493-1553), French writer and physician

12. “Gambling promises the poor what property performs for the rich-something for nothing.”

—George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950), Irish playwright

13. “Life is a gamble with terrible odds. If it were a bet, you would not take it.”

—Tom Stoppard (1937-), British playwright

14. “God does not play dice with the universe.”

—Albert Einstein (1879-1955), physicist

15. “I’ve got a 15-year-old son and a 10-year-old daughter, and if they were going to do one of the following things: be an alcoholic; be a drug offender; beat their wife or husband; or gamble, I hope they would gamble.”

—Pete Rose (1941-), baseball player

On Your Own

Imagine that you just won $5,000 at a casino. Write a short postcard, email, or note to a friend or relative describing what you will do in the next 24 hours.