I knew about lotteries from when I was very young. There were few kiosk container in some areas where I grew up where married men go to play games to win lottery. Every week we hear gist of failed attempts, how these men waste money, fail to be responsible at home, can't do away with the habit of going back to try their luck again and again, spend even more money thinking it will attract good odds and even beat up their wives when they try to discourage them. All these were enough points for our parents then to discourage us from trying it out.
Around 2015/2016, sports betting became very popular in my environment, teenagers and youths that love sports would always patronise these betting shops. Back in my junior secondary schools days, a betting shop opened right opposite my school. I would say it's a very nice business strategy. Gradually, youths around my school (most were either fresh sec school graduates or student from other schools) began to patronise and it took just a while before my school joined them. There was this popular one called colour-colour. You win by predicting colours combinations. I guess it was for beginners and to entice those who want to give bet a try, it doesn't require much money and doesn't give out much money either. This way, you don't look you're already into it and you gradually move to the main betting.
By the time I was graduating from secondary school, betting and gambling had become a normal thing in the society. You'd see about 4 shops of betting in just one area. Youths wasting their money and time sitting for hours trying and trying again to win some money. The addicted one no longer care about anything but fast money especially when someone they know or heard of has been lucky: they also want to cash out. Gradually vices of all sort initiated from theses betting center because it was a center if attraction for many youth. Cults dragging for dominion, initiation to cults, fights, internet fraud and then drugs. So many youths got into things they never planned for. These things were birthed more from gaming center,sports betting centers and casino bars. I've lost count of many friends, neighbors and residents that became an addict of the betting, internet fraud or the other things that were initiated there. The chase for money, bad exposures that changes behaviours, manners and way of life.
Gambling and betting has destroyed so many lives and is still in the act. I've got some few guys I know that still play bet and doesn't look like they are quitting soon: they have won big money few times, they have had results so how do you convince them not to try again. The upgrade of these sports betting companies from physical shops to online sites and phone apps made it even easier to start and keep a bet life without anyone knowing. They made more customers since the creation of their apps and more apps came in, they made bank transaction possible. You can keep money in the bet apps and can also fund the app from your Opay or Palmpay. Guys can send betting code to their friends and copy the same list of games, just like copy trade in Crypto: betting got better, easier and seamless.
It is also very popular in X app, there are quite a number of popular guys with great number of followers who are known for betting. These sets of guys made their money from sport betting and are still making it. Their games and screenshots of loses and wins motivate their followers everyday. Mayor of Ekiti, Mr Bayo, Mr Banks: These are guys who win in millions, for example, 40,000 naira to get maybe 5m naira. I got to know few of them when my close friend back at home joined sport betting too. He has won money several times, enough to convince me to give it a try. I almost did because I gave the popular guys a follow and was already asking my friends questions. I would have been a gambler too if I had not gained admission into the university few weeks after I developed interest to wanting to learn how to place bet. In fact,one of my friends had two of the betting apps on my phone and registered with my number, I was just this close to it😂😂. I heard this guys study football games and could predict a match from the lens of how well the team has been in form for a long while. Whatever!. One popular saying some gamblers I know say is that betting is like forex, they mean forex is also betting. I've never agreed to that, they just need something to say to themselves till their mind accepts it that gambling is not bad.
The reality that bet, gambling and the likes aren't good is in the calculations of loses to wins. You won't know until you add up all the money that was lost to bet, then you realise how much you could have invested, saved or used to get things for yourself.
Betting should be banned, I would have said regulated but it won't do much because I know how we can easily get past some laws here and not getting caught because the law enforcement team are either not interested or aren't doing their job well. It is better that it is banned. God knows how many 10, 50, 100, 200, 500 naira to cash out 1, 2, 5 million has been wasted. Good wealth is made with much investments, work, time and dedication. I believe in luck but it shouldn't be a thing you depend on, sit and wait for. Time waits for no man, find something else doing, find little businesses that will give you fair returns and wait till it grows big.
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Gambling is a game of luck, like you've said, and often our luck fails, and for those that have bad luck no way for them.
No way at all. Crazy thing about it is that they keep hoping they'd get lucky while wasting time doing nothing so meaningful because they have betting as a backup plan.
Thank you for stopping by.