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THE HOUSE ALWAYS WINS.


I thought it wild but attainable, Brazil to beat Japan four nil, Germany 2006 World Cup. A £10 bet on that score line at the bookies would return £110. More encouraging was a friend’s telephone call that morning saying he won huge by predicting correctly results of 10 accumulated football matches. It was a period of celibacy for me gambling wise, but today the unction had return.

Two hours later, Brazil won the match scoring 4 goals, save for Japan’s Tamada uncharacteristically scoring first. 4 -1 it ended, illusion of being £100 richer gone; reality is, I had lost my tenner…again.

The actual danger of gambling surprisingly lies in winning a bet. By this, you enter into ‘Self Hypnosis’ – convinced beyond doubt it works, becoming addicted. I had once won a couple of hundreds on dog-racing, which began two-years of daily stakes, believing fortune would shine on me again, especially when people around me testify to winning a few quid here and there.

“We’re already too dependent on gambling revenue, if we continue, we’ll soon be owned by them” – Donald L. Carcieri (Governor of Rhode Island 2003 – 2011)

Isn’t that what happens in Nigeria? People give donations and pay tithes to churches in anticipation of a hundred or a thousand times manifold return. Testimony time usually goes like this: Praise the LORD, “I gave my salary to the church last month and this month I got a promotion at work”. “I gave Papa my car last year and my son got healed” [these are real testimonies]. Amidst people receiving such goodies, one would be encouraged to participate in this giving less and receiving more game, which if compared to gambling is a theory of greed.

Why do we conveniently ignore the real needs around us but run to church to make donations? Prostate cancer and Fibroid is prevalent among Nigerian men and women between 40 – 55 years-old. Malaria and Typhoid murders more Nigerian children Under-5 than AIDS. We don’t give toward funding research programmes into their cure or control, yet we’re quick to release funds to religious sects, why? Well, the answer is simple; we’ve been promised irresistible odds of 100:1 and 1,000:1, encouraging us to gamble in guise of having faith.
Non-Government Clinic in London

Principle of giving to receive in future is a law of nature, having nothing to do with religion. Whether Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist or Pagan it’ll work and you don’t have to give to people who share your religious belief before it does. In Science, Newton observes: “Every action has an equal amount of reaction”. Eastern karma culture says: “Whatever you do will come back to you; good or bad”. Philosophy calls it Altruism and Zoologists confirms even animals observe it. You also breathe out carbon-dioxide to receive oxygen, while plants breathe out oxygen to receive carbon-dioxide. Anyone selling you this natural phenomenon as their “god’s blessings”– is a fraud.    

I wonder if bookmakers pride themselves at making people rich by setting odds encouraging them to gamble. Well that’s what the churches are doing. Land of Shiloh, Redemption Camp, Gathering of Champions, Love World, they call themselves, asking people to stake their funds and await a supernatural release of double-double.

If your goal is to be a millionaire, waiting on lottery winnings may just be lifelong. You have to take personal responsibility to pursue that goal in a logical way. One or two people winning lotteries (testimony time) shouldn’t encourage you to put your little into that bottomless well.

For sure we get excited when lottery companies pay-out, but we forget the money they’re  paying is only an accumulation of monies we’ve donated, which mind you, are only estimates*. Also, have you asked yourself what lottery organisers do with the monies in roll-over weeks? Tens to Hundreds of million pounds in right hands will yield in a day benefits you can’t imagine. It is worse with religious centres, because you don’t get to win it back; you’re instead expected to await a new supply from the invincible realm.

You will never find a millionaire or billionaire at a corner shop buying a lottery ticket. They have better schemes to think about than making someone else rich. They own the horses you bet on at The Grand Nationals and possibly a Gaming Licence, which they use to design various lotteries for the poor; ripping you off while paying a few with your money.

Bookmakers, Lottery Organisers and “god businesses” are more interested in their own existence than your financial well-being. They're the only businesses that open more outlets during an economic recession, psychologically, people are more inclined to gamble when in lack. And ultimately, the game of chance ends with only one winner...I'm sure you know who. 

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