Did Anyone Here Start Gambling While Still a Minor?

[Z_MBFM]

Who here started gambling when they were still a minor?

Already in my 40s now, and gambling is not really new to me since I was exposed to it when I was still a kid, maybe around 10 years old.

My grandfather had a small gambling place in our town, you know not a real casino, just a small local setup. Sometimes I was asked to watch the players and I would get a small commission whenever someone won. Because of that, I slowly became interested and eventually tried gambling myself.

I know gambling as a minor is risky, and I’m not saying minors should gamble. But in my case, being exposed early made me understand the risks, emotions, and self-control better.

Share ur story.

Yes, I did. You know that in our country, the gambling setup from place to place is just easy to do, and that's why, even with bystanders, we'd see the card games and other gambling games that we can find in every neighborhood. That's why my mind was already open when I was a minor and had known about gambling by then. No one gives that reminder not to get addicted because it's just all about the fun, real fun to be honest. But that young mind of mine was dealt to think that there's money in gambling and havent realized it too early that it should be done for fun.

Gambling is very easy to access but it has been a few years but before that it was not very easy to access gambling. In the last 5-7 years, a lot of new online casino platforms have been coming to the market. Even though gambling is illegal in my country, there are many local casinos active which are operated from other countries and some agents are hired from my country to complete the tasks of depositing and withdrawing money. And even though those agents are involved in legal complications, its impact is not decreasing. As time goes by, more and more people are getting addicted to gambling and minors are not exempted from this. I used to gamble a lot but I was an adult then. I never gambled while I was a minor but I have seen some of my friends gamble.

[Cryptoprincess101]

I know gambling as a minor is risky, and I’m not saying minors should gamble. But in my case, being exposed early made me understand the risks, emotions, and self-control better.

Maybe you are saying this because you are grown now but being that exposed at the age of 10 years, there might be some mistakes you have done in the past that you won't like to share with us but just because you are more aware of gambling and understood the risks associated with it made you to gamble more responsibly.

Being exposed to gambling at a very tender age is very wrong for one's parents to do that. It's not even as if you learnt about it from friends but from your own father. Let me just say that in your case, you were able to understand the dangers of gambling as a minor and maybe at that time you didn't have access to money for you to get a betting amount.

[nara1892]

I started gambling when I was 22 years old, and yes, that’s old enough for someone to be introduced to gambling because their mindset is likely mature enough by then. As for you, OP 10, that’s a very young age for someone to be introduced to gambling, but it also happened because you were in an environment closely tied to gambling since your grandfather ran a small casino business. I’d like to ask, have you ever experienced a downward spiral because of gambling, or has living alongside gambling made you a better and more responsible gambler?

[noorman0]

I recall how traditional dice and "crazy ball" games were frequently held in secluded spots in my neighborhood during my childhood to avoid detection by patrols. I didn't play the games myself, but I was often asked to make a guess, as children were believed to bring good luck. Sometimes, losing players would deliberately tip off the police to have the location raided.

[Zlantann]

Well, I didn't have access to gambling as a minor because I had older ones who didn't give me that chance to come out and play around with my mates, to mingle around, and to know what's happening in town that I should engage in. It's always from house to school, from school to house. Nothing else.

Another thing is that the use of phones and the Internet weren't commonly used by kids as they are now; gambling been accessible wherever you were, as long as you had a phone. Then you had to go to a physical gambling shop to bet, and you had to be over 18. Then, I wasn't. I was a minor who wouldn't dare come close to a gambling shop

You were lucky to have such a family. Mine was a laissez-faire family where children had freedom to move around at will. I befriended people who were older than me, and it exposed me to gambling at a tender age. One of my friends would always take me along to an abandoned school where they played cards and dice. He would give me money to place bets and give me a percentage of the wins. I helped him keep his bag, where money was kept during the gambling exercise.

This was how I joined them and ended up interested in placing bets. The discovery of phones changed the mode of gambling, and meeting to play physical games was reduced or even ended in my neighbourhood.

[Cryptomultiplier]

I started gambling when I was 22 years old, and yes, that’s old enough for someone to be introduced to gambling because their mindset is likely mature enough by then. As for you, OP 10, that’s a very young age for someone to be introduced to gambling, but it also happened because you were in an environment closely tied to gambling since your grandfather ran a small casino business. I’d like to ask, have you ever experienced a downward spiral because of gambling, or has living alongside gambling made you a better and more responsible gambler?

The society indeed has more impact on a child's growth than their parents, that's why when children grow up in an environment which is prone to gambling activities, they soon pick it up early and even become better at it as they grow in age over the coming years.

Not all children who grew up in such environment would gamble, but a greater percentage would, and how it impacts their financial life as they become adults depends on if they are disciplined enough, have learned from their many previous mistakes and if they don't rely on it for livelihood and as an income stream that pays better than a real job.

[Mr_Brilliant$]

I recall how traditional dice and "crazy ball" games were frequently held in secluded spots in my neighborhood during my childhood to avoid detection by patrols. I didn't play the games myself, but I was often asked to make a guess, as children were believed to bring good luck. Sometimes, losing players would deliberately tip off the police to have the location raided.

Your experience is way far different from OP's own. I have this gut feeling being exposed to gambling as a child may likely make them addicted to gambling. In your own case, seems you had the willpower to stand up for yourself. But it still don't drop the fact that children shouldn't be exposed to gambling. Kids are still developing. It all boils done to how we parents even care for our children.

[Floxynice]

As a girl child, gambling, sports and every other related activity made no sense to me. I saw older people gamble, I saw where people carryout their gambling businesses, but I was never motivated to give it a try. This should be a typical behaviour of a female child towards gambling.

Gambled for the first time as an adult at the age of 23 . Then, a friend introduced the game to me and it never occurred to me that that was gambling and it was slot games. Everything is just making sense to me. My interest in gambling and sports grew after joining this forum.

[Zadicar]

Who here started gambling when they were still a minor?

Already in my 40s now, and gambling is not really new to me since I was exposed to it when I was still a kid, maybe around 10 years old.

My grandfather had a small gambling place in our town, you know not a real casino, just a small local setup. Sometimes I was asked to watch the players and I would get a small commission whenever someone won. Because of that, I slowly became interested and eventually tried gambling myself.

I know gambling as a minor is risky, and I’m not saying minors should gamble. But in my case, being exposed early made me understand the risks, emotions, and self-control better.

Share ur story.

I can say that when im on adolescents period on which there are those simple activities that involves money on which we know that its considered gambling. I do able to play some fruit game machine way back and then also having those horse racing on a retro classic gamebar or something like that and i dont see myself that being that addicted into it but of course there's really that kick about on being impulsive because you do want to win money. After those times or years then i have stopped since i have realized that im losing up that much money on which i would rather see it to be worth on spending up on other things like buying up a t-shirt and some sort and on the moment that i do have the age of 20+ then i have started to play on crypto gambling but still on the same essence on which you would be spending up money of course.

[Bright0515]

There's a lot that can happen when you get exposed to Gambling at such an early stage of life and just because you were able to escape it doesn't mean that others would. If you started gambling at the age of 10 and probably got addicted to it after a few years, this can actually affect a person's focus, at a young age what you supposed to be putting your interests and attention on is basic education.

U wasn't introduced to Gambling at an early stage so I would say that gambling as an adult made me become more mature enough to handle the pressure that comes with gambling.

[Bryan jessy]

I started gambling when I was 22 years old, and yes, that’s old enough for someone to be introduced to gambling because their mindset is likely mature enough by then. As for you, OP 10, that’s a very young age for someone to be introduced to gambling, but it also happened because you were in an environment closely tied to gambling since your grandfather ran a small casino business. I’d like to ask, have you ever experienced a downward spiral because of gambling, or has living alongside gambling made you a better and more responsible gambler?

This is a good age to start gambling if you should ask me, because as an adult you already had the knowledge and able to understand at least the basics of gambling, introducing kids to gambling games at a very young age is not advisable so they will not start practicing what they see and start gambling, for the sake of their sanity keeping them away from gambling is the best thing to do until they have grown to the age where they are responsible enough and be able to handle any emotional trauma resulting from the game later on, because if they are not fit yet or too young they will not be able to control their themselves in case of any loses.

[Onyeeze]

Gambling is very easy to access but it has been a few years but before that it was not very easy to access gambling. In the last 5-7 years, a lot of new online casino platforms have been coming to the market. Even though gambling is illegal in my country, there are many local casinos active which are operated from other countries and some agents are hired from my country to complete the tasks of depositing and withdrawing money. And even though those agents are involved in legal complications, its impact is not decreasing. As time goes by, more and more people are getting addicted to gambling and minors are not exempted from this. I used to gamble a lot but I was an adult then. I never gambled while I was a minor but I have seen some of my friends gamble.

don't know the reason why people who is under age is not exempted in gambling addict, it is because of there is no guidance for them not to gamble most of our parents now does not guide their children and also tell them the implications that is involved in gambling, but the Grant their children access to internet and that is what is making some of the underaged children to be involved in gambling to the extent of being addicted, so even though gambling is not legalized in your country I will attest to you that children will still maneuver or manipulate their way to gamble, so use of Internet have exposed many things and that is why you see many people who are not up to age involved themselves in gambling because it is something they will be doing in secret without the awareness of their parents

[bhadz]

Yes, I did. You know that in our country, the gambling setup from place to place is just easy to do, and that's why, even with bystanders, we'd see the card games and other gambling games that we can find in every neighborhood. That's why my mind was already open when I was a minor and had known about gambling by then. No one gives that reminder not to get addicted because it's just all about the fun, real fun to be honest. But that young mind of mine was dealt to think that there's money in gambling and havent realized it too early that it should be done for fun.

Gambling is very easy to access but it has been a few years but before that it was not very easy to access gambling. In the last 5-7 years, a lot of new online casino platforms have been coming to the market. Even though gambling is illegal in my country, there are many local casinos active which are operated from other countries and some agents are hired from my country to complete the tasks of depositing and withdrawing money. And even though those agents are involved in legal complications, its impact is not decreasing. As time goes by, more and more people are getting addicted to gambling and minors are not exempted from this. I used to gamble a lot but I was an adult then. I never gambled while I was a minor but I have seen some of my friends gamble.

It's not really about the online casinos; I know that they have existed for a long time. But the kind of neighborhood that I was in have got a lot of gamblers, they play those cards and suddenly I was able to learn how to play it by just simply watching them. They're interactive and talkative while playing that game called 'pusoy'. But with the popularity of the online casinos and that they don't require kyc mostly, in my country where new ones have been coming out left and right, the access has been easier and even minors of this time can play them and easily deposit money from e-wallets.

[Pi-network314159]

I started gambling at tender age as a minor because of my friends. We started from whot betting and some other small games until we gradually migrated from petty/childish bet to real sportbet till we became adult. The experience was like a normal thing, I learnt a lot but abiding to the promises I made myself was one of the most difficult challenges I ever faced. Like promising myself not to gamble again was easy but I later found myself gambling. This repeated countless times till I got admitted into high institution where my focus was diverted before I could learn self control. Because of this I would not advise any Minor to gamble at tender age because it will be hard to stop since the possibility of getting addicted is too high.

[Nwada001]

The only form of gambling I know I might have been involved in when I was a minor is between friends and playmates, where we can stake something, not necessarily money, on who will win a particular game. It can be anything, which can also be seen as another form of gambling, but such an experience can’t teach anyone anything in the current gambling age.

[Pressurizedem]

Starting gambling as a kid is the worst thing that can ever happen to someone. The moment your younger brother starts visiting the casino hall and you see him, it's better you start flogging him immediately or send him to a place he won't have access to it again. Gambling is one of the major things that lead young people into stealing. The moment they have a little Penny in their pocket, the nest thing that enters their mind is gambling and how to double that figure, which is bad of that age. At least it is somehow okay if you start at a certain matured age like 20 years, but gambling while you are still a teenager is something so bad to do.

While growing up, I didn't even have the opportunity to come outside, let alone gambling. The kind of home I was brought up in is something you won't even dare try nonsense, because if you do, and they find out you are gambling, literally everything will stop functioning well for you.

[Byebyebtc]

I started gambling when I was quite matured tho,

You know when I was growing up I looked at it as a bad thing just like how I looked at people smoking and drinking as well, I thought they where all bad people, but as time passes and I grew to a matured level I realized it was not what I thought, and after a while I started to get Intrest in it, and I also started gambling as well for the first time, and funny enough the first few times can be very rewarding lol. It may not be the case of others, but as for me the first few games where very rewarding, and I couldn't leave it anymore

[Orpichukwu]

Yes, I did. You know that in our country, the gambling setup from place to place is just easy to do, and that's why, even with bystanders, we'd see the card games and other gambling games that we can find in every neighborhood. That's why my mind was already open when I was a minor and had known about gambling by then. No one gives that reminder not to get addicted because it's just all about the fun, real fun to be honest. But that young mind of mine was dealt to think that there's money in gambling and havent realized it too early that it should be done for fun.

You got exposed to gambling at an early age due to your environment. You learnt from it when some could have used it as an excuse for why they got addicted. As humans, we decide how to shape our minds and ready them. No matter what experience we had when we were little, some people could have turned into gambling addicts because they saw those gambling at minor age and got exposed to it early.

[kawetsriyanto]

I know gambling as a minor is risky, and I’m not saying minors should gamble. But in my case, being exposed early made me understand the risks, emotions, and self-control better.

I'm not surprised you know gambling too early because your grandfather owned a gambling space. It is good that you could take positive sides because you have been familiar with gambling for years. However, for average kids, it isn't recommended to know gambling earlier. Not all kids can understand the positive sides, many of them only get negative impacts. Ideally, kids must stay away from gambling because they have weak self-control. Involving in gambling too early, they can be easily addicted and end up with varied problems.

[Bitcoin_Arena]

I know so many friends who got exposed to gambling when they were still minors. The amount of depression those boys faced that time was bad, and I even recall one failing to finish up with school because he diverted his tuition fees to gambling. I was lucky to first experience gambling when I was about 21.

The emergence of online casinos exposes minors to gambling even more since they can do it on their devices without being monitored. Strict KYC on casinos could help avert this a bit.