Its all about Responsible Gaming

October 10, 2006, it was reported that for a lot of people, playing bingo is a past time that you can indulge in to relax and enjoy after a hard day's work, but for some this harmless charitable past time has turned into a dangerous addiction. Some of the terms that are used to describe this problem are compulsive gambling, problem gambling and gambling addiction and it generally means when gambling already controls a larger part of the person's life.

According to the Chief Executive Officer of the Rio Grande Valley Council, Jose G. Gonzalez, playing bingo for relaxation purposes is only normal, it becomes dangerous when players became addicted to it and even their finances and social relationship become affected. They isolate themselves and no longer believe in the social aspect of the game. CEO Jose Gonzalez said that one of the dangers is that they could get addicted to it, making their brains release endorphins, making them feel the high and rush of playing bingo. Compulsive gambling is also considered to be a psychological addiction already because people became dependent on it for their existence. As they became more addicted to it, the money that they bet becomes larger and their everyday routine, like paying their bills and other stuff that are more important, becomes affected. They even have the illusion of they can win every time that they bet.

The Charitable Bingo Operations Division of the Texas Lottery Commission handles the control and supervision of all gambling related activities in Texas including Bingo. It is the general rule that there are parts on the proceeds of the bingo halls that must go to their very own non-profit organizations. Some bingo halls vary in the rules in their games and the prices that they award their players at each session. Players can also buy paper and electronic bingo cards that have different numbers on their cards with random drawn numbers. They must mark each numbers that are present in their cards and if they will be able to do that, they must yell bingo immediately. At the Skateland Bingo Hall, they also have pull tab games that players can join and win decent prizes. Fortunately, The Rio Grande Valley Council has not treated anyone for gambling related addiction but that does not mean that there is no gambling addict at Rio Grande, CEO Gonzalez said. Most Gambling addicts are in denial or do not want to acknowledge that they are already addicted in Gambling like in Bingo. In some point, they became irritated on the situation that they have put themselves into.

The director of the legal services for the family crisis center in Harlingen, Jose Juan Lara Jr. said that most gambling addicts are not ready to accept that they do have a problem and it may affect their relationship because of that denial. This problem may also eventually lead into the destruction of the family of the gambler concerned as well as their financial, emotional and possibly a physical injury to their own family because stress from gambling related activities can result into an aggression by the person concerned. But it is not too late as there are organizations that can help this kind of problems like the Rio Grande Valley Council which offers like outpatient abuse counseling and high school and youth prevention services. The Texas Lottery commission also has a toll-free Help Line for Gambling Addicts and other problems that are related to gambling.

07 March 2010