Episode 137 - The Hidden Cost of Gambling Addiction

Gambling isn’t just a vice of the reckless; it’s widespread among good people. Ever thought about how easy it is to get caught up in it? 

Tag someone who needs to hear this. 

In today’s episode, we’re diving into the hidden epidemic of gambling, especially among young people in yeshivas. It’s alarming how normalized betting has become, presenting itself as harmless fun when in reality, it’s a slippery slope. 

Many think they can control it, but the truth is that gambling can lead to devastating outcomes, impacting not just the gambler but their families too. 

Instead of chasing that thrill through risky bets, let’s explore healthier ways to get our adrenaline pumping! 

What’s your take on this? Let’s discuss below! 

Full episode in bio!  #thetrustfactorpodcast  #jewishpodcasts

Transcript

Marriage, Kids, And Money Myths

SPEAKER_00 0:00

When I have the right amount of money, when I've got the right job, when I'm comfortable financially, then we can start having kids. What a mistake. Or even when I get the right job and I have the right amount of money, then I'll get married. What a mistake. Life begins, your income starts to expand exponentially when you get married and when you have children. Why? Because of what I just told you. I can attest to that. Before I got married, I was barely making any money. I was working in the biggest banks in the country, but I couldn't earn a decent living. Why? Because it was just me. As soon as I got married, the floodgates opened. And as soon as I started having children, even more so. Why? Because you need that money to finance them. So when you go to the casino with all this money that God gave you, you're not only gambling away your money, you're gambling away your wives and your children's money. The Trust Factor is a ticket to a bad life. The Trust Factor shows you how to get through the live. And I got news for you. It is mainstream. And it is some of the best people you will ever know who are oftentimes addicted to gambling, but you won't know about it. They will never tell you about it. And if they do gamble, they'll make it seem like they just dabble in it here and there, and that they've got full control, just like any other addiction. And that it's more wins than losses. It's all good. You've got nothing to worry about.

Gambling Addiction Hides In Plain Sight

SPEAKER_00 1:50

But I'll tell you something. I've only put out, I think, one or two episodes on this concept of gambling. And I've already had a few comments back from people who have obviously been there or who may even still be there. And they recognize the truth behind everything that is being said over here about this devastating idea called gambling. And they've made comments about it, and they appreciate the fact that we're talking about it because it's been made mainstream. And because it's mainstream, people are more likely to get involved in it. People are less likely to get involved in opioids and illicit illegal drugs because it's not mainstream. It's looked on negatively as taboo. But gambling is everywhere. I finished telling you in the other episode that today you can play Solitaire or Majon or some other game that you play online thinking that it's harmless, it's inert, and it should be. But today, every game comes with an option to play for Monday. Gambling has been normalized in a big way. Casinos are everywhere. I remember not long ago in Canada and Toronto, they were illegal. You couldn't gamble unless you went to a charity casino where you were capped at peanuts. Today, casinos are everywhere, my friend. So it's mainstream. People are more willing to talk about it and to go out and dabble in

When Sports Betting Hits Yeshivas

SPEAKER_00 3:10

it. In fact, do you know where it is plaguing the world in a big way? In one of the last places you could ever imagine. Yeshivas. Religious institutions where young boys go to learn to grow. That is where this concept of gambling has grown legs. It's become exceedingly popular to a point where the rabbis are talking about it. I've heard many lectures where rabbis are talking about just how dangerous this has become. A lot of these students in yeshiva are betting on things like sports betting. It's very popular, too popular. When they should be sitting and learning and growing in the prime of their lives in their downtime, and whenever they get a free minute, they find themselves looking at statistics and figuring out which are the better bets to place in sports betting. That's what yeshiva kids are doing. What's the rest of the world? What's the rest of the secular world going to do? What chances do they have if our young students in the religious world are betting on sports? And that's where it starts. It starts there. You build up this desire to be the winner by getting involved in some form of gambling that seems inert. It seems harmless. But ultimately, it builds that desire to be right, to be the winner, to beat out the next guy. When your friend thought it was going to be A and you were convinced it was going to be B and it ended up being B and you were the hero. That feeling of being a hero, even though it's five, ten minutes of gloating time, you want to parlay that and you want to continue to be the winner.

Rigged Games And The Betting Mindset

SPEAKER_00 4:40

And you think that it's going to come to you by making good predictions, not realizing that the games in and of themselves are corrupt. And we'll get into that later on when we talk about lotteries. So many obvious indications that the whole system is broken. You don't even have to look at lotteries. Look at sports spending. Look at the players and the referees that have been caught rigging the game for their own benefit. Tens of millions of dollars, massive amounts of money, have gone through referees to be able to throw games or players. It's happened so often that now there's regulation around it. Baseball players have lost out on multi-million dollar contracts and amazing careers because they got caught fixing pitching speeds or whatever it may be. It's all corrupt, and our kids are getting involved in that. It starts with harmless sports spending and it becomes everything and anything. Suddenly they've got that bug. And suddenly, in almost every situation where they're making a claim, the words that follow are, do you want to bet? How much do you want to bet? Put some money on it, right? All of a sudden, everything that they're talking about, even the weather, becomes how much do you want to bet? How much are you willing to wager? Put your money where your mouth is. That's the habit that forms when they start with something as simple and seemingly harmless as betting on a baseball game. That's where we're at, my friends. Let's read a little bit and figure out just how dangerous this concept of gambling is, despite the fact that the powers that be have made it seem like it's perfectly harmless. At

Destined Income Versus Self-Made Losses

SPEAKER_00 6:22

the beginning of the year, there's a heavenly decree. We know that. And your losses. You're going to have gains and you're going to have losses. So it says, it gives you an example. Let's say John Doe is going to make $150,000 this year and he's going to lose $30,000. It doesn't matter how many tricks John Doe pulls out of his hack. And doesn't matter how many statisticians and computer analysts he hires to be able to rig the system, to figure out a way to be able to beat the system and to advise him on how to bet on the dice. He still won't make any more than his allotted amount. But pay close attention. By gambling, he's liable to lose more than the predetermined loss. The 150, that he's guaranteed if he gets up and does what he's supposed to do. Go to work. Bazaat pechato khalakim. By the sweat of your brow, you will eat. You need to go out and do something. It doesn't matter what it is. If you're a you've got a desk job, if you're a tradesperson, you get up and you do your job, your 150K is coming to you. The $30,000 loss, however, if you go and do the wrong thing and you go and jeopardize the hard-earned money that you have coming to you, then your own hands you have potential to lose much more than the $30,000. Even all of your assets. If you knew how many people fall into this category, you would be blown away. If you understood how many people have lost their life savings and are living in a constant state of debt because of their gambling addiction, you would be floored. Either way, the gambler is a loser. It is a double-edged sword. It's a double whammy. It doesn't make any sense. Just for a little bit of a thrill. You want a thrill? Find something else to get your blood pumping. There are so many other things. It doesn't have to be a casino. If he loses, he's liable to lose all of his assets and even more. And if he wins, his winnings are money with a curse. Like we said the other day, there's no blessing in that money. It's dirty money. It can't come with a blessing. You want blessing with your money, make sure it comes in a clean way. And he won't earn a penny more than what's destined for him. Either way, he's a loser. He would have been so much better off if he had only patiently waited to receive his money, honestly and in a dignified manner. Doesn't have to come from corrupt means. It doesn't have to come from a source that is not kosher. It could be above board and 100% kosher, and that's where it should be.

Stealing From Family Through Gambling

SPEAKER_00 9:19

Now, here's an idea that goes right over the head of 90% of gamblers in the world. What is it? The money in our possession is not truly ours. It doesn't belong to me entirely. What do I mean? It is only a safe deposit in our hands to use in a fashion that the creator intends. More than that, he doesn't give a person money for his own exclusive use. A person's allotment includes money and a stipend for a spouse and for children. It says that a person comes into this world with his income in his hand. What does that mean? That means you shouldn't fear bringing in a lot of children to this world, which a lot of people foolishly do. A lot of people think when I have the right amount of money, when I've got the right job, when I'm comfortable financially, then we can start having kids. What a mistake. Or even when I get the right job and I have the right amount of money, then I'll get married. What a mistake. Life begins. Your income starts to expand exponentially when you get married and when you have children. Why? Because of what I just told you. I can attest to that. Before I got married, I was barely making any money. Barely. I was working in the biggest banks in the country, doing an amazing job, completely above board. And I was top of my game, but I couldn't turn a decent living. Why? Because it was just me. I just had enough for myself to be able to get by. As soon as I got married, the floodgates opened. And as soon as I started having children, even more so. Anybody who's married with kids will tell you the same thing. They started making real money when they got married and when they had children. Why? Because you need that money to finance them. So when you go to the casino with all this money that God gave you, you're not only gambling away your money, you're gambling away your wives and your children's money. Most of your money is earmarked for your dependence. If you were single, he says, he'd probably earn a lot less. Like I just said, it's true. Happen with me. So who gives him the right to take that money that the creator earmarked for their food and their clothing and their shelter and gamble with it? Who gives him the right? When he gambles, he steals from his wife and children. What an outlook. He takes the money that was earmarked for their sustenance and pours it down the drain of folly and fantasy. Do you think that gamblers are thinking about this when they go into the casino? On the contrary, they're usually thinking the opposite. I'm doing this for my wife and children. This is what's going to give them the life on Easy Street. They're not really thinking about the fact that the money that they're using is not theirs. It's their wives and their children's. This is their college education. If the guy's willing to give away his house, you think he cares about his children's education or the next meal and where that's coming from? It becomes a sickness, my friends, that is unmanageable, that is one of the most corrupt in the world. And

Lotteries Tease And Final Takeaways

SPEAKER_00 12:24

hopefully tomorrow or the next day, we'll talk about lotteries. That's a big one. And you want to talk about mainstream. Holy cow, is that ever mainstream? It's everywhere. And we'll talk about just a few key signs that you can look at to understand just how fixed these systems are. You won't even believe it. You've never thought about these things before. But if you just stop and think, apply a drop of logic to any of these concepts, especially lotteries, then you will be floored the next time you go to buy a lottery ticket. You will think a thousand times before you actually do. That's it for today, my friends. Have an amazing rest of your day, and we'll chat tomorrow. Thank you for spending time with us on the Trust Factor Podcast. If you've heard something today that moved you, save this episode and share it with someone who might need to hear it. Be sure to subscribe so you don't miss upcoming conversations that challenge, empower, and uplift. And if you're on social media, connect with us. Leave your thoughts, drop a quote that resonated with you. Hashtag the TrustFactor Podcast. Until next time, keep growing in your trust and keep living with purpose. I'm Jesse Revivo, and this has been the Trust Factor Podcast. Thanks for listening.