Gambling News by Gambling Headquarters

Gambling on football on Thanksgiving Day is almost as traditional as eating turkey and yams. Thanksgiving Day sees more betting action on singular games than any other day of the regular football season, and it also kicks off the general happy and joyful mood that pushes the high season of gambling in the United States. Thanksgiving is also the day when people give thanks for living in a country where freedom is cherished, and Ameicans seem to love to head to their local casino to celebrate that sense of freedom. It is college students' time to take a break from their studies and many of those students head to Las Vegas or Atlantic City to release and relieve some of their schoolbook stress. Other students head home to find that while they were gone slot parlors were approved and new casinos were open up, such as in Hollwood, Florida and Pennsylvania. "I feel so good this time of the year, everyone feels so good and is in such a good mood," says Frank Taylor, a Hard Rock casino visitor in Hollywood. "Thanksgiving Day is for the family," Frank said, "but the rest of the weekend is for partying." Thanksgiving also kicks off the season of spending money. People enjoy buying gifts for others to celebrate their religious beliefs and in that same sense of giving they head to the casino to try to find some loose slots. Even online casinos see a rise in bets and total wagers through the end of the year. "This is typically our busiest time of the year," says one Internet casino manager. "I don't know why people love to gamble during the holidays... but it is something real and it happens every year." However, gambling during the holidays could be more of a problem for addicted gamblers than at other times of the year. Nancy Petry, Ph.D professor of psychiatry and director of the Gambling Research and Treatment Center at UConn Health Center agrees that problem gamblers face a harder time during the holidays.

"Family-related stress can send problem gamblers to the casinos for an escape during the holiday," Petry said. "Many people gamble because they are lonely, bored or stressed. These moods can be more common during the holiday season."

Petry is quick to point out that you should never bet more than you feel comfortable losing, never wager with borrowed money, and she suggests that a problem gambler find something else to do besides gamble during the holidays.

Whatever your reason for gambling may be, be sure to be responsible to yourself and to your close ones, and remember that gambling is only a form of entertainment and should never be taken more seriously than such.