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Gambling: Does It Help Us?

In this age of what has been called the "tax revolt", no lawmaker wants to go on record as advocating higher taxes.

Yet all of today's legislators want more money in government, each for his or her own pet projects, not to mention for the power and influence that big government lends to its elected participants.

This reasoning causes officials to euphemistically describe gambling as 'voluntary' tax. What they mean is a painless tax, one that the payers don't feel as a burden. But critics feel that, along with the pain of taxation, comes the watchdog tendency that makes citizens keep an eye how their dollars are actually being spent.

How many New Yorkers who voted for the first New York State lottery, for example, are aware that the funds, though originally earmarked for education, were transferred to the general fund during New York's financial crisis?

Certainly fewer than would have known, if a school bond issue had been suddenly changed from an "education" tax to "general" tax proposal.

Criticism of this kind, along with some of the same kind of moral fervor that brought gambling down in the 1900s, has slowed the government shift to the bookie business.

Neither Nevada nor New Jersey underwent any world-shaking controversies about legalizing casino gambling, but Florida experienced some soul-searching that will make gambling proponents think hard before coming up with more proposals there.

Nevertheless, the final choice is up to the individual. Gambling will be around, whether it's run by your Uncle Sam, or some dude with a diamond stickpin.

For some of us, playing a little blackjack is amusing and relaxing, once in a while, and we don't care much whether we win or lose.

For others, cards, craps, or whatever are serious business, either seriously to be avoided, or played to win. Individuals of the former type are unlikely ever to be tempted, either by the bright lights of a seaside resort, or by the cheap chance of a lottery ticket.

And for those of the latter type, the best bet is to be as well-versed in all the intricacies of every game as is humanly possible.

The first duty of the serious gambler is to become familiar with all the possibilities of the games he or she plays.

The chances of winning at blackjack, for instance, can be fairly good, depending on a player's skill. The chances of getting a slot machine to pay off are usually abysmal, and the odds against coming up with a winning ticket in your state lottery are the worst of all.

There is no system that will help you beat the slots or the "lotts" (no matter what your fortune-teller says), but blackjack can be played systematically, and sometimes won, if conditions are right, and the players are sharp enough.

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