Are Responsible Gamblers Still Misunderstood?

[Ziskinberg]

Stop wasting your precious time in gambling if you want to live a peaceful life.......

How do you respond to people who say this or think this way about gambling?

I know most of us here are gamblers, but what if one day someone close to you says this, maybe your family or friends. And let’s say you are a gambler who has not faced any serious problem from gambling, and you believe you are a responsible gambler.

Would you try to educate them and explain that not all gamblers are addicted or irresponsible? Or would you just ignore it because they already have a fixed mindset about gambling?

For me, I think it depends on the person. If they are just concerned about me, I would probably explain my side calmly. I would tell them that I understand why they think that way, because gambling has ruined many people’s lives. But at the same time, not everyone who gambles is destroying their life.

Some people gamble for fun, with limits, and without using money meant for important things. But if the person is already closed-minded and only wants to judge, then maybe there is no need to argue. Sometimes it is better to let your actions prove that you are still in control.

[Oshosondy]

I will tell the person that he is right, but I will further it with saying that I am only doing it for fun and that I always advise people to do it for fun and not a way of making money. Gambling addiction is not good, I do not want anyone to be in such situation, so I will see what the person said to be true, but we have exceptions.

[Asiska02]

Would you try to educate them and explain that not all gamblers are addicted or irresponsible? Or would you just ignore it because they already have a fixed mindset about gambling?

For me, I think it depends on the person. If they are just concerned about me, I would probably explain my side calmly. I would tell them that I understand why they think that way, because gambling has ruined many people’s lives. But at the same time, not everyone who gambles is destroying their life.

Some people gamble for fun, with limits, and without using money meant for important things. But if the person is already closed-minded and only wants to judge, then maybe there is no need to argue. Sometimes it is better to let your actions prove that you are still in control.

Not everyone deserves an explanation not even your family or close relations sometimes is deservedly to explain somethings to. As you said, let your actions speak for itself and not waste your time trying to explain to someone about gambling responsibly when they already have a narration in their minds that gambling is bad and you’ll never have a peaceful life with it.

Those who gamble irresponsibly have contributed to how bad gambling is been viewed, it is not even an area of concern that requires and explanation for some to feel that one can be gambling and still have a peaceful lifestyle. Gambling still remain a game of luck and if you’re not ready to risk what you can afford to lose, it’s better you stay off gambling.

[Odusko]

I will tell the person that he is right, but I will further it with saying that I am only doing it for fun and that I always advise people to do it for fun and not a way of making money. Gambling addiction is not good, I do not want anyone to be in such situation, so I will see what the person said to be true, but we have exceptions.

Fun should be subjective and based on the individual. I understand your point about gambling addiction, but gambling for fun can only be reasonable if you win some money. I dare to say that if we were not gambling for winnings, no one would be gambling today. First, we need to stop painting gambling as evil, but gambling addiction, just like every other addiction, is bad and should be avoided as much as possible.

[Sanitough]

I think there's no point of explaining if you met a person who has this kind of mindset. It's better to just keep your personal reason on your own, and ignore what the other person is saying. After all, you don't gamble using their funds, but you are gambling from your hard-earned money. And people like them are not open from the gamblers point of view, as they clearly hate gambling no matter how we explicitly give our own views and stance why we are still gambling.

What I see here is that responsible gamblers are not misunderstood, they just hate the idea of gambling in the first place. And we can't please the people around, most especially those who are not gamblers in the making.

[Sonia_123]

Stop wasting your precious time in gambling if you want to live a peaceful life.......

How do you respond to people who say this or think this way about gambling?

I know most of us here are gamblers, but what if one day someone close to you says this, maybe your family or friends. And let’s say you are a gambler who has not faced any serious problem from gambling, and you believe you are a responsible gambler.

Would you try to educate them and explain that not all gamblers are addicted or irresponsible? Or would you just ignore it because they already have a fixed mindset about gambling?

For me, I think it depends on the person. If they are just concerned about me, I would probably explain my side calmly. I would tell them that I understand why they think that way, because gambling has ruined many people’s lives. But at the same time, not everyone who gambles is destroying their life.

Some people gamble for fun, with limits, and without using money meant for important things. But if the person is already closed-minded and only wants to judge, then maybe there is no need to argue. Sometimes it is better to let your actions prove that you are still in control.

There is no arm in explanation, as a gambler you will keep explaining even if their mindsets are fixed, it might just be a  different opinion from that of others because the addicts got addicted on various reasons so they might not be properly guided and understand, we learn every day, being an addict does not just start that very day but it's a gradual process and the addicts are not always aware of what they have become.

[Cantsay]

There is a reason why he has that mindset, and it would not be wise to start trying to make him see that not all gamblers are addicted to gambling or face some sort of problem that is related to gambling.

They have seen that gambling can cause some problems and have seen real-life examples of people with such problems, so why convince them otherwise? It is not as if they are lying or trying to spread FUD, it is simply the reality of gambling they saw. It's the same as talking to a previous addict of gambling, that gambling isn't bad because there are people who have been involved in it but never got addicted to it, to you that might be okay, but to them it is not.

[Sandra_hakeem]

Stop wasting your precious time in gambling if you want to live a peaceful life.......

How do you respond to people who say this or think this way about gambling?

I know most of us here are gamblers, but what if one day someone close to you says this, maybe your family or friends. And let’s say you are a gambler who has not faced any serious problem from gambling, and you believe you are a responsible gambler.
Would you try to educate them and explain that not all gamblers are addicted or irresponsible? Or would you just ignore it because they already have a fixed mindset about gambling?

If I got a steady income, I'd simply answer them with my bank statement without saying a word. Any reasonable person would back off immediately--- that's a sign that I'm good and that if anything goes wrong later, I stand to face it alone. Anyway, that's typically not my behavior... Nevertheless, I think people should be able to do their thing without an intervention from an external force.

Some people gamble for fun, with limits, and without using money meant for important things. But if the person is already closed-minded and only wants to judge, then maybe there is no need to argue. Sometimes it is better to let your actions prove that you are still in control

Or watch your habits at the same time because they wouldn't complain if it's not already getting out of what's normal for you.

[Orpichukwu]

I have been in a situation where someone boldly told me I'm only deceiving myself to be saying that I'm responsible when it comes to gambling and that I'm actually losing it gradually; I just nodded my head as if I agreed to his statement and moved on. I'm not ready to try to talk some sense into someone who is already buried in their own obsession with everything that has to do with gambling. There are only a few situations where I will want to get things cleared, but in most cases I remain silent and walk away.

[stadus]

I would give the same treatment. I mean, if they already made a conclusion that gambling destroys lives, then there is no need to explain too much, let them think what they want. Besides, our time here on earth is limited, we don’t need to keep explaining ourselves unless we are being put in jail or something serious like that. On that matter, it is just how they think and it does not really matter.

We continue gambling and just prove through our actions that we are still living a normal life despite gambling, end of story.

[Davidvictorson]

There is a quote that I like so much and I will respond to the topic using the quote. It goes thus I am paraphrasing , to those who understand an explanation is enough and to those who do not understand, no explanation is enough.
If you are gambling responsibly, you owe no one any explanation or should you be concerned about being misunderstood unless the money for gambling is not yours and that will not be classified as responsible gambling.

[PX-Z]

Stop wasting your precious time in gambling if you want to live a peaceful life.......
How do you respond to people who say this or think this way about gambling?

I'd say, stop minding people's business if you want peace lol.

I know most of us here are gamblers, but what if one day someone close to you says this, maybe your family or friends. And let’s say you are a gambler who has not faced any serious problem from gambling, and you believe you are a responsible gambler.

Would you try to educate them and explain that not all gamblers are addicted or irresponsible? Or would you just ignore it because they already have a fixed mindset about gambling?

That's fair enough, and i don't think someone will comment or give an advice like that when in the first place you haven't get any trouble in gambling or problems that make anyone knows about it. Even if they said so, i'll just reply that no worries, i'm responsible gambler. Educating someone like that about gambling and addiction sounds like contradictory to what you as a gambler so i won't say it.

[Questat]

Even if we are not in gambling, that won't still guarantee a peaceful life. So for me, if gambling still makes me happy and is not compromising my own peace, then there's no reason to stop gambling. I'll just respond to the person by saying, I am gambling for good reasons, not for bad outcomes, so there's nothing to worry, I will stop gambling when its no longer not beneficial for me.

Or better yet, do not tell your reason at all. They already have their own negative views about gambling, and unless they don't want to change it, they will never see our reasons valid and reasonable.

[danadc]

Those people who talk like OP says, well, you have to leave them alone. They don't understand what gambling is. For them, gambling is just an addiction for those who play it, not something that's fun or a way to make money. When I play, I want to win because I make money, but if I lose, I can't do anything but accept it. That's how gambling is; you can't simply win all the time.

[Cointikka]

These are those individuals who have never gambled and heard about everything wrong about Gambling and Gamblers. They forget that gambling is part of life and we gamble every time we go outside our house. I think it is better to ignore these guys rather than explain to them, as they will never understand it.

[Dave1]

It's crazy though that prior to the advent of online gambling. It's almost the whole neighborhood in my place was telling me that. Not just wasting your time, but my money as well as if I'm asking them doe to fuel my gambling habits of going to land base casinos.

And now it's a complete U-turn, those same people that are talking behind my back and I don't know if they are jealous or what, are the most addicted gamblers in my place because they have been playing online games for years now. As compare to myself that I don't play that much as I used to. LOL.

[Fivestar4everMVP]

For me, I think it depends on the person. If they are just concerned about me, I would probably explain my side calmly. I would tell them that I understand why they think that way, because gambling has ruined many people’s lives. But at the same time, not everyone who gambles is destroying their life.

Some people gamble for fun, with limits, and without using money meant for important things. But if the person is already closed-minded and only wants to judge, then maybe there is no need to argue. Sometimes it is better to let your actions prove that you are still in control.

We basically have the same opinion, me myself is an introvert who don't like talking or discussing with people about things that is absolutely not important, like for example, there are several times my wife have laid false accusations on me, and when I see that trying to explain to her is absolutely irrelevant, I simply keep quiet, leaving her to believe what ever she wants to believe.

With the way I gamble now, if someone comes around telling me to stop wasting my precious time on gambling if I want to enjoy peace in my life, just like you, whether I will respond or not respond will depend on who is telling me this, if its a person I've explained my stance on gambling to before, I probably won't respond, doesn't matter who he or she is to me.
But if the person telling me this is someone I've never explained anything to before, then their manner of approach will determine whether I respond to them or not.

[asriloni]

Stop wasting your precious time in gambling if you want to live a peaceful life.......

How do you respond to people who say this or think this way about gambling?

I'd rather try to ignore him. Different person, different way to live. There is a person can life peacefully even when he's gambling, while there's also someone who can't life peacefully when he was not gambling due to the different problem.

Just never fall to the others expectation because anyone has different needs.

[fullfitlarry]

For me, I think it depends on the person. If they are just concerned about me, I would probably explain my side calmly. I would tell them that I understand why they think that way, because gambling has ruined many people’s lives. But at the same time, not everyone who gambles is destroying their life.

Some people gamble for fun, with limits, and without using money meant for important things. But if the person is already closed-minded and only wants to judge, then maybe there is no need to argue. Sometimes it is better to let your actions prove that you are still in control.

Nah, I wouldn't spend a second of my life to those kind of people. I would not go to waste anything on them, if that's what they see on me, then I can't control them. Explaining to those kind of close minded people will not yield positive results, believed me.

So if we have the ignore button here, then IRL we should have one as well. And at the same time, don't let that distraction in your life. Just enjoy gambling, if you lose then take it as a man and then move on the next day.

[Hispo]

Stop wasting your precious time in gambling if you want to live a peaceful life.......

How do you respond to people who say this or think this way about gambling?

I know most of us here are gamblers, but what if one day someone close to you says this, maybe your family or friends. And let’s say you are a gambler who has not faced any serious problem from gambling, and you believe you are a responsible gambler.

Would you try to educate them and explain that not all gamblers are addicted or irresponsible? Or would you just ignore it because they already have a fixed mindset about gambling?

For me, I think it depends on the person. If they are just concerned about me, I would probably explain my side calmly. I would tell them that I understand why they think that way, because gambling has ruined many people’s lives. But at the same time, not everyone who gambles is destroying their life.

Some people gamble for fun, with limits, and without using money meant for important things. But if the person is already closed-minded and only wants to judge, then maybe there is no need to argue. Sometimes it is better to let your actions prove that you are still in control.

I think I would more inclined not to engage with that person, as they already had a very strong way of viewing the world of gambling, and I would be a water of time for my to try to change their opinion on gambling. Each one of those people have their own view of the world for a very good reason, in the same manner I believe it is possible to be a responsible gambler.

In the end, if someone within my family told me that, I would assure them I am okey and I am not getting broke because I am just a gambler.
Actually, I would invite that person to pay attention to me through all the year, so they can see how my behavior and finances do not seem to change, because I actually have control over my feelings and pocket.

We need to allow people to forge their own view of the world and also not try to convince them with one's words, but rather use our actions and results.