The Silent Cost of Gambling: Time, focus, and Opportunities

[AbuBhakar]

Depending on the gambler's context, the biggest silent cost to be paid is their own health, both mental and physical. Unfortunately, many people become ill because their expectations are not met, as many believe they will get rich, that winning is easy, that gambling can be a source of income, and in the end, they face reality. I gamble, but I am aware of why I do it, I don't have any unrealistic expectations, I've won, I've lost, and I move on with my life.

It could also be that they are very depressed because of the huge losses they have suffered. In addition to that, the belongings and property that were sold because of excessive gambling, others can no longer afford it, so they end up doing bad things because of their excessive greed, which they have acquired due to excessive exposure to gambling.

I am curious about the time that's been spent on gambling as a gambler, are people spending hours on gambling? Because it will get boring if you spent too much time on gambling. Or maybe it is just me?

I don't spend more than half an hour on gambling and I am done, I will wait for another day before I gamble again, also gambling is supposed to take place on your free times or breaks from your job, I don't gamble at work unless I have free times to do that, most of the time I only gambles when I get home resting on my bed. Gambling is not a time stealing event, you are the one who is gambling irresponsibly.

There are people who spend even a whole day playing because they enjoy it so much, and maybe they don't have anything else to do, so they focus on that. Even with physical gambling, I know many who spend the whole day just playing .

Not everyone has the discipline, some who are addicted have nothing else to do in life.

[Pablo-wood]

A responsible gambler won't bother about the time they spent playing a few games. They already have everything planned out and have drawn their schedule based on how often they play. If a gambler succeed in managing their time they have also succeeded in managing their focus, the trap of betting more, opportunities that would have been lost. Time management in everything solves the bulk of our problems, the more of our time we have within our control the better we make good value out of it, so in the case of a gambler the more the limit their stakes and control their urge for more bets.

[bubilas]

When many gamblers look back  they actually do not recall the money as much as they recall the time and mental  effort lost that could have been used to achieve something worthwhile.

What do you think is the most overlooked expense of gambling?

Gamblers also have to remember their loved ones. Yes, they often regret wasting money, time, and energy on this hobby. But what about their relatives? Often, when problem gamblers have spent all their money, they start asking their relatives for more and more, perhaps trying to take it all back. If they don't give it to them, sometimes even hardcore gamblers search their relatives' apartments for the money. There are even horrific cases.

For example, I recently read an interview about a man who stole about $20,000 from his mother, leaving only $1. She considered it humiliating, but it turned out the ATM simply didn't accept the dollar.

[junder]

When we decide to do something then there is something we sacrifice and of course time is something we sacrifice in every thing we do including gambling. But with money not all things have to sacrifice money. Gambling that is done for a short time, for example we set the longest or maximum time limit at one hour, maybe that's not a problem, but when gambling is done for too long it can be a problem. And with the thought of one more bet it can trigger a bigger loss. We must have the awareness not to overdo it in gambling, with a clear goal is to avoid unwanted things, namely losses from various angles.

[Die_empty]

When we decide to do something then there is something we sacrifice and of course time is something we sacrifice in every thing we do including gambling. But with money not all things have to sacrifice money. Gambling that is done for a short time, for example we set the longest or maximum time limit at one hour, maybe that's not a problem, but when gambling is done for too long it can be a problem. And with the thought of one more bet it can trigger a bigger loss. We must have the awareness not to overdo it in gambling, with a clear goal is to avoid unwanted things, namely losses from various angles.

To avoid the temptation of gambling during work hours, I have restricted my gambling to weekends or late at night. I am grateful that most sports games I place bets on are more active during weekends. So I always have the time to place bets, watch games, and monitor my bets. Holidays are also another great opportunity to spend as much time as possible on gambling. The awareness that time is another important resource would help us to invest it in profitable events. You can recover money, but time cannot be regained.

[davis196]

I agree with you, that every gambler spends his time while gambling, not just his money, but most gamblers are playing gambling games in their free time. I don't gamble at night, but I know that many gamblers are gambling at night, which counts as gambling in their free time.
I do believe that most gamblers have a nine-to-five job and they can't gamble while being at work. Everyone decides what to do with his time and money. Some people have the motivation to learn new skills and improve themselves, while others have no motivation for self-improvement and simply want to spend some time and money and have some fun. There are a hundred ways to waste your time and money, gambling is one of them.

[Yaunfitda]

I agree with you, that every gambler spends his time while gambling, not just his money, but most gamblers are playing gambling games in their free time. I don't gamble at night, but I know that many gamblers are gambling at night, which counts as gambling in their free time.
I do believe that most gamblers have a nine-to-five job and they can't gamble while being at work. Everyone decides what to do with his time and money. Some people have the motivation to learn new skills and improve themselves, while others have no motivation for self-improvement and simply want to spend some time and money and have some fun. There are a hundred ways to waste your time and money, gambling is one of them.

I think most gamblers knows that already, that we can't bring back time once we involved ourselves in gambling. However, I will assume though that gamblers are not that losing time as they could have been gambling when he or she has the time. Maybe except for gambling addicts, they don't care about time. But for us who just play occasionally, we might go to land base casinos or play online when we have extra time in our hand. As those kind of gamblers usually knows their priority in life. So before they can devote their time on gambling, they could have been doing other things that is more important for them and for their family.

[nimogsm]

A responsible gambler won't bother about the time they spent playing a few games. They already have everything planned out and have drawn their schedule based on how often they play. If a gambler succeed in managing their time they have also succeeded in managing their focus, the trap of betting more, opportunities that would have been lost. Time management in everything solves the bulk of our problems, the more of our time we have within our control the better we make good value out of it, so in the case of a gambler the more the limit their stakes and control their urge for more bets.

Time combined with a budget for the game will be the best solution. For example, if a player has allocated half an hour for games but has lost everything, they should end the game. Or, if they have played for half an hour but their budget has run out, they should also end the game rather than adding more funds to play for another 10 minutes. Discipline comes with experience and the ability to handle all of the above aspects.

[Dr.Bitcoin_Strange]

Gambling is actually energy, time and even money consuming in nature, gambling is costly so any one coming into gambling should be able to manage themselves because gambling steals your time resources and drains your energy without you knowing. Because there are people who are taken away by gambling activities that they don't even realize themselves that, they have other things to do. Gambling can mayone to lose focus because for those gambling addiction all that they are thinking is just making it big in gambling.

People that doesn't pay attention or self reflect on their gambling behavior are the ones likely to get drained by gambling because they chose to be adamant about their reckless gambling behavior, but take yourself for example, if you promise yourself not to be compulsive and you also promise not to take gambling very serious as a source of income, it will be difficult for you to lose so much of your resources in gambling. You will also be very time conscious.

[MainIbem]

Gambling is actually energy, time and even money consuming in nature, gambling is costly so any one coming into gambling should be able to manage themselves because gambling steals your time resources and drains your energy without you knowing. Because there are people who are taken away by gambling activities that they don't even realize themselves that, they have other things to do. Gambling can mayone to lose focus because for those gambling addiction all that they are thinking is just making it big in gambling.

People that doesn't pay attention or self reflect on their gambling behavior are the ones likely to get drained by gambling because they chose to be adamant about their reckless gambling behavior, but take yourself for example, if you promise yourself not to be compulsive and you also promise not to take gambling very serious as a source of income, it will be difficult for you to lose so much of your resources in gambling. You will also be very time conscious.

In other words, gamblers should learn to manage their gambling habit, in the sense that they should know when to gamble and amount suitable for it from their discretionary, as for energy, whether you gamble responsible or not, you must put in energy to do so it very necessary, what's no necessary is spending too much time doing it and spending recklessly while doing it, which is why money and time management is very important when it comes to gambling risk management.

[Hanadawa]

-snip-

It could also be that they are very depressed because of the huge losses they have suffered. In addition to that, the belongings and property that were sold because of excessive gambling, others can no longer afford it, so they end up doing bad things because of their excessive greed, which they have acquired due to excessive exposure to gambling.

Gambling often leads to major problems, and worst of all, it can waste your time, focus, and opportunities on things that don't benefit your life at all. I'm not talking about a few, but most of the gamblers I know around my neighborhood gamble all-in, risking everything they own. They think they'll hit the jackpot soon and be able to buy back everything. But in reality, they lose everything, wasting their time and focus.

-snip-

There are people who spend even a whole day playing because they enjoy it so much, and maybe they don't have anything else to do, so they focus on that. Even with physical gambling, I know many who spend the whole day just playing .
Not everyone has the discipline, some who are addicted have nothing else to do in life.

I can even say that only a few gamblers are highly disciplined and able to manage their time and money. In fact, I haven't found any of them among the gamblers I know in real life. While not all of them are ruined by gambling, it still leaves them with stagnant lives and no accomplishments. They work, earn a salary, provide for their wives and children, and then gamble for the rest. They can gamble all night long after work. It may seem like they're relaxing, but in reality, they're stressed out by losing, go to sleep, and then wake up in the morning to go back to work. I believe that even though such people aren't ruined by gambling, their lives will continue to be poor because they refuse to learn how to earn more money.

[giammangiato]

Time has the greatest cost, you don't get time refunds, it has an unmeasurable value.
This is why I prefer betting more than other types of games that require time, which is why I have set time and money limits.
No one gives me time back, we will always receive mental frustrations in other environments (for example at work), it is obvious that casinos try in every way to keep the user connected to spend money and time, the more time they spend on the platform in play the more chances of earning.
When I talk about my or my experiences with gambling, I don't do it because I'm perfect, but based on my past and my personal reflections, I decided to continue playing but with criterion, without harming anyone and trying to have fun. If I can then earn some money, I'm obviously happy. Otherwise, I take it for what it is: a game.

[Dunamisx]

Everything we do could implies a cost on us, which may come in a positive or negative way, but as gamblers, we must be able to identify on what we want and make sure that they really work to the best of our own interest, if we are more conscious of the time spent on gambling and every other opportunities received at the cause of playing it, which will make us not to lose focus.

[freedomgo]

if we are more conscious of the time spent on gambling and every other opportunities received at the cause of playing it, which will make us not to lose focus.

It’s not really necessary that spending more time gambling means you lose more money. There are games where you don’t need much time at all, but you can still lose a lot, and that’s sports betting. That’s my game.

Usually my bets are bigger, and yes, I do lose money sometimes, but I’m still enjoying it. Maybe I save time, but the money is still gone anyway.
In the end, the key is not getting addicted. We’ll be fine even if we lose.

[Judith87403]

The expense that is most overlooked is mental bandwidth. Loss of money is obvious, yet quietly gambling has cloud your thoughts even in those moments you are not playing. The steady playback of outcomes, making plans for the next bet, and going after what ifs drains one of focus and energy that is meant to go into work, learning, or maybe relationships. Over the time, this mental noise has reduced creativity, patience, and clear making of decision. Of course, you can show up physically, yet mentally you have been split. Such loss compounds quicker than money as it affects every other thing you do. If people turns back and look, it is mostly the years of living distracted, that hurts them the most, it isn't the balance sheet.

[Wakate]

Everything we do could implies a cost on us, which may come in a positive or negative way, but as gamblers, we must be able to identify on what we want and make sure that they really work to the best of our own interest, if we are more conscious of the time spent on gambling and every other opportunities received at the cause of playing it, which will make us not to lose focus.

Every gambler has the power in their hands to make decisions that will favour them and the way they are gambling.
You cannot be gambling and be expecting huge outcome from your bets when you are using tiny bankroll to stake on football games that are many in a slip. Imagine looking for ways to bet on 25 matches using $2 to win $100k. This can be ridiculous!

[Muba20]

The statements are not unreasonable, if someone wastes most of their time on gambling, then it is natural that it will have a negative impact on their life. Now if the gambler does not want to be a victim of such a situation, then he must conduct responsible gambling on his own. No one is ever asked to spend a lot of time or money on gambling, but the gambler himself can sometimes get greedy or sometimes get addicted to gambling in the hope of winning big and because of that, the gambler can waste most of his life or valuable time. The gambler must focus on what is the goal of his life. Gambling can be a place of temporary happiness.

[Oluwa-btc]

Every of our moves must be guided in gambling, if we don't want to lose time, focus and opportunities while playing, this makes it an important decision that we must take to ensure things are working good and in perfect shape, because when we fail in all these, there's no doubt that they are going to affect us from how we are going to enjoy gambling at a long term, while the cost could cause some tough and difficult situations on us.

A saying goes "time is money."Whoever lets gambling consumes it's time should sign up for a therapy session immediately.Gambling unconsciously doesn't just waste your time,it leaves s you drained,mentally exhausted with no idea on what to do next.While you gamble,use your time with awareness knowing that it won't come twice.Meanwhile, I believe one can gamble without appearing as time wasters.

[NurseHub]

This depends on the individual gambling; as a responsible gambler, gambling won't take more from you except the money part. Gambling is more of entertainment for me, and I only do it when I am free. I don't gamble with the time meant for something important. When I am ready to gamble, I stake my bet and let it play while checking on the progress with time. It's irresponsible gamblers who stay in gambling app almost all day and those who have made gambling a lifestyle while dwelling in betting centers all day that fall into these categories.

[ovcijisir]

~
Even when you are not actively placing bets,  gambling is always on the back of people's minds. You think about how you could have won, you will lose and still think about how you could have played the game differently, you are always calculating your next move, this cycle of thinking creates a constant buzz in your head and takes your focus away. You will not be focus at work and doing schoolwork becomes a lot tougher, Over time, this mental exhaustion can be more damaging than the financial loss itself.
~

Thanks for this post, some of these things that you mentioned are spot-on.  I do not spend much time at casinos but nevertheless I noticed some of behaviours that you described on myself. Sometimes I cought myself worying about some bets hours after they were made and even though the money I put in was very small. People usually count only the money, but you nicely pointed out that there are many other valuable things that can be lost too.

Your post certainly made me thinking and I also recommend everyone to take a look your topic.