The madness of gambling addicts.

[macson]

A Shanghai man was sentenced to prison for kidnapping his own granddaughter so he could maintain his gambling addiction with the ransom money.

The kidnapping — orchestrated by a 65-year-old man identified only by his surname, Yuan — was first reported by the Shanghai Law and Rule Journal. The legal news outlet didn't specify when the incident occurred but wrote on April 18 that Yuan had just started serving his prison sentence.

Yuan kicked off his plan by picking up his four-year-old granddaughter from her kindergarten and taking her out to eat and shop without her mother's knowledge, the Journal reported.

[1] https://www.insider.com/shanghai-man-kidnapped-his-own-granddaughter-for-72000-report-2023-4
[2] https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/grandpa-in-china-kidnaps-own-granddaughter-demands-ransom-so-he-can-continue-gambling

many gambling addicts have lost their minds because their desire to continue gambling overpowers their common sense, hence the importance of "gambling responsibly"

There are three licensing objectives which support the whole basis of gambling regulation:

- that crime should be kept out of gambling
- it should be conducted in a fair and open way
- children and other vulnerable persons should be protected from harm or exploitation from gambling.

[1] https://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/licensees-and-businesses/guide/social-responsibility

[lizarder]

many gambling addicts have lost their minds because their desire to continue gambling overpowers their common sense, hence the importance of "gambling responsibly"

Ironically when there are people who cannot control addiction in gambling, this is just a small example of many gamblers that ended worse and there are some who end their lives because they are in debt when gambling. Gambling is responsible when you are not addicted and when it cannot be controlled, in my opinion it is difficult to be responsible for gambling choices.

The problem is how you put gambling, if done only for fun in spare time is not a problem. But when gambling is done as a substitute for permanent work, this will be far more problematic and it is very difficult to control, the decision is in each of us and as much as possible avoid addiction in gambling.

[yahoo62278]

He was being innovative and showing initiative in figuring out how to continue to gamble. Give the guy some credit lol.  Maybe the guys back was against the wall and he owed a lot of money to a loan shark? Something was not reported as to what made this guy go as far as he did and try to harm his own family.

[rhomelmabini]

many gambling addicts have lost their minds because their desire to continue gambling overpowers their common sense, hence the importance of "gambling responsibly"

Well, they aren't called addicts for nothing. If there's no money to gamble and there's an urge to their mind, for sure they'll gonna take the risks just to satisfy their wants. Do you think it's psychological or an emotional need that gambling addicts tend to do this risks?

[l3pox]

many gambling addicts have lost their minds because their desire to continue gambling overpowers their common sense, hence the importance of "gambling responsibly"

Ironically when there are people who cannot control addiction in gambling, this is just a small example of many gamblers that ended worse and there are some who end their lives because they are in debt when gambling. Gambling is responsible when you are not addicted and when it cannot be controlled, in my opinion it is difficult to be responsible for gambling choices.

The problem is how you put gambling, if done only for fun in spare time is not a problem. But when gambling is done as a substitute for permanent work, this will be far more problematic and it is very difficult to control, the decision is in each of us and as much as possible avoid addiction in gambling.

Dopamine plays a big role in making or breaking the experience. it's responsible for the thrill and enjoyment we get from gambling, but it can also lead to addiction and f*ck up someone's life.

it's crucial to approach gambling responsibly and with caution.
Keep in mind that gambling should be viewed as some stuff you do for fun, not a way to avoid responsibilities or even as source of your bread and butter

[jrrsparkles]

Generally those elder people will act more responsible in their life but there is exception in everything and this poor guy tried something probably inspired from a story somewhere and try to replicate the same but at the end it backfired. Since you mentioned there is not much enough details reported by news so we can't really conclude that is the reality or not but at the end of the day the person committed violence is paying back now in prison probably for the rest of his life.

[coin-investor]

Gambling causes depression and depression leads to committing crime, in the heydays of online cockfighting here in our country, people are committing crimes even to their families, just so they can play online cock fighting.
Gambling is like a drug if you cannot handle the way you take it, you will be miserable.
Imagine committing a crime against your family because you know that your family will forgive you because they want to preserve their family's unity.

[coolcoinz]

The guy clearly is insane, but he's not the only one out there. There's a famous case of a guy who murdered his whole family, including 2 little girls, because he wanted to be free and start a new life.
Gambling can be one of the triggers, but it's not the most popular one.

Bottom line, there's a lot of insane people out there and many will kill you for your phone or whatever money you have in your pocket. Don't blame their actions on gambling. If they are insane they will steal and kill for whatever reason, gambling just happens to be there when they flip. Stay safe out there!

[Die_empty]

Well, they aren't called addicts for nothing. If there's no money to gamble and there's an urge to their mind, for sure they'll gonna take the risks just to satisfy their wants. Do you think it's psychological or an emotional need that gambling addicts tend to do these risks?

Just like other forms of addiction, gambling addicts can do anything to satisfy their strong desire. I have seen people in some casinos that gamble with all their belongings until they go home with just underwear. But kidnapping his grandchild is going to the extreme. I think he needs to go through some psychiatric tests to check if he is really mentally sound. There might also be other reasons why he decided to commit such a crime. Greed can also contribute to it. Maybe he wants to stake big so that he can win big. It might also be possible that he is indebted to someone and he needs to pay. He should face the consequences of his action but he needs to go through rehabilitation.

[Oshosondy]

He was being innovative and showing initiative in figuring out how to continue to gamble. Give the guy some credit lol. 

I can never give such a person credit. Someone that gambling matters to than the happiness of his family. I hope other addicted people can learn from this, that gambling can not give them anything but than to be losing more and more if addicted. Our elders should be good examples and role models.

[Yatsan]

Well, they aren't called addicts for nothing. If there's no money to gamble and there's an urge to their mind, for sure they'll gonna take the risks just to satisfy their wants. Do you think it's psychological or an emotional need that gambling addicts tend to do these risks?

Just like other forms of addiction, gambling addicts can do anything to satisfy their strong desire. I have seen people in some casinos that gamble with all their belongings until they go home with just underwear. But kidnapping his grandchild is going to the extreme. I think he needs to go through some psychiatric tests to check if he is really mentally sound. There might also be other reasons why he decided to commit such a crime. Greed can also contribute to it. Maybe he wants to stake big so that he can win big. It might also be possible that he is indebted to someone and he needs to pay. He should face the consequences of his action but he needs to go through rehabilitation.

Going thorugh such extent would really reauire professional help. Addiction itself should be consulted to professional especially if daily living is harmfully being affected. Problem is, an addict won't be aware of the state of addiction he/she is into. It is a subconscious response to a drive. Gambling is an addictive activity and the best way is to be preventive, espwcially for the new ones. Everyone wants to be rich and that is an understandable intent in this industry. But keep in mind that in every winner there are thousands or millions of people who have lost too much. And this should be an enough warning to everyone who are having the dame desire.

[uneng]

I guess he must have tried asking for money from the grandchild's parents, but they have probably denied it due to the addiction behavior of the man from past events, so he created a plan to take money from them in a forced way. It was a clever step from the man, but without any doubts that is a very sick movement from him to pretend a serious situation to receive extra money. Shame on him.

[madnessteat]

There will always be fools in the world capable of unthinkable things. In my opinion a fool will always find a problem, be it gambling, alcohol, debt, unrequited love, drug addiction, etc., even where there is none, so I would not focus much attention on this story, as there can be any number of reasons for this action. This man clearly has problems with his head and needs serious help from specialists.

[swogerino]

That is some truly criminal act and I am sorry but I have known a lot of gambling addicts that have done several sort of things,like spent the money they had from work to buy things,like accountants and finance people who then were fired but I have never seen until now someone kidnapping his own granddaughter for keeping his burning desire alive,a lot of people do some nasty shit but this is out of my reach.

I have been a gambling addict until 2020-2021 myself but I have greatly recovered since then and I never look back.Even in my deepest form of addiction I never did such acts and no acts at all because I knew I was in the wrong.

[ethereumhunter]

I'm not surprised that gambling addiction can lead to crime, even in his own family. Maybe many crimes like that have not been revealed and are related to gambling addiction because those who commit crimes need money as ransom.

Gambling addiction can cause them to lose their minds so they can do things they never thought they would. They may even create scenarios as if they are victims and not perpetrators. We have to pay attention to this and at least we have to be responsible gamblers so that we can avoid gambling addiction.

[Cling18]

I've also heard from a local news last month about a gambling addict who killed his own mother just because she refused to give him money to gamble. That son was too heartless and was eaten by his urge to gamble. We can't blame gambling alone for being addictive because the fault is already on gamblers. Gambling should be enjoyed and it shouldn't be a reason for us to commit crimes. If gambling is already giving us reasons to make mistakes or even commit a sin then it's time for us to quit.
As much as possible, we should seek professional help in the early stage of gambling addiction.

[acroman08]

many gambling addicts have lost their minds because their desire to continue gambling overpowers their common sense, hence the importance of "gambling responsibly"

some of them even sold their child because of gambling. last year there was news in my country where a mother sold her infant child for 45k pesos($800+) so she could pay her gambling debt. luckily the child was rescued after the father of the child reported the incident to the authorities. it's disgusting how gambling addiction can cloud your judgement that it can make you put your child's safety in jeopardy.

[pawanjain]

This is just another example of how gambling can ruin one's life. The old man has to serve his days in prison whereas he could have enjoyed those days with his family.
If only he would not have become so addicted to gambling he would have even saved a decent amount of money to live a peaceful life.
When people don't control their gambling habits their peace is taken away from their life and that is really a big deal.

[Rruchi man]

many gambling addicts have lost their minds because their desire to continue gambling overpowers their common sense, hence the importance of "gambling responsibly"

Addictions in general have a way of affecting a person's reasoning and decision making. Any addict can go an extra mile just to ensure they can keep doing what they like.

In the case of this Old man, it is as far as kidnapping his own granddaughter, in some other people's case, it is as little as deciding to neglect food and bills just so there can be money to gamble with.

As gamblers, this is the stage we should avoid getting to. You owe it to yourself to put yourself in check so your gambling does not get out of hand.

[Fortify]

A Shanghai man was sentenced to prison for kidnapping his own granddaughter so he could maintain his gambling addiction with the ransom money.

The kidnapping — orchestrated by a 65-year-old man identified only by his surname, Yuan — was first reported by the Shanghai Law and Rule Journal. The legal news outlet didn't specify when the incident occurred but wrote on April 18 that Yuan had just started serving his prison sentence.

Yuan kicked off his plan by picking up his four-year-old granddaughter from her kindergarten and taking her out to eat and shop without her mother's knowledge, the Journal reported.

many gambling addicts have lost their minds because their desire to continue gambling overpowers their common sense, hence the importance of "gambling responsibly"

There are three licensing objectives which support the whole basis of gambling regulation:

- that crime should be kept out of gambling
- it should be conducted in a fair and open way
- children and other vulnerable persons should be protected from harm or exploitation from gambling.

This is not just limited to gambling addicts and is much rarer in such people. These sorts of devastating and horrendous crimes happen on a much regular basis when it comes to things like drug users. Not that it excuses it in any way and we should always be striving towards making sure no addicts are created if possible, or they're given the tools to self exclude if they get so lost in the addiction. This sort of person is in the league of murderers, that in normal neighborhoods are extremely rare and only achieve media notoriety because it happens so infrequently. You need to be careful of blowing this out of all proportion because it will stray on to the front pages as it is so far from normal.