Casinos have been a huge business in the United States for the last two decades. Casino gaming was only legally legal in the United States in the 1980s. Since then, nearly 30 states have legally legalized casino gaming.

What the increase in casino gambling will bring, however, is also a resulting increase in the number of individuals who are taught to live with the "gambling curse." Gambling causes alcohol and drug abuse as well as broken families and an overall decline in educational levels. It is due to gambling leading to overspending and living beyond limits, both of which are situations that result in negative social consequences to individuals. The social cost isn't limited to the individuals who are forced to engage in drinking or using drugs, nor to families of those who lack education. In fact, the damage that gambling does on the entire society can be assessed through the expansion of the tax base that is needed to fund the social services required to help the less fortunate and mentally disabled.

What does this mean for you? On the one hand, it is possible to argue that by maintaining Las Vegas and Atlantic City (both of which have extremely high rates of crime and, consequently, very high cost of health care) open, we are trying to reduce the negative impacts of financial deterioration and crime. While it is undisputed that casinos are beneficial to communities (and numerous experts believe that they actually do fairly well economically), there is also an limit to the value added casino can accomplish. In this instance the casino's entertainment may not be a significant benefit.

It is clear that closing down casinos would limit economic opportunities in these regions. Even if the casinos were not closed, this is still true. The casino's revenue creates revenue that is transferred to the local economy. These income flows decrease or cease to flow after the casino closes.

If we decide to shut down gambling establishments will this bring long-term benefits to society? If we don't take action, then why are we allowing it to happen? It is possible to consider the following question: Are we becoming dependent on the casino mentality that we're losing the long-term economic benefits from this type of entertainment and event-based income stream? If we don't allow this to take place, what are the reasons?

In other words should we let casino owners and players to receive an exemption simply because they have more than we do? Is it just about making a living? Are we simply providing jobs for the labor force which is desperately required in our country? What about the expected positive returns from gambling ever going to happen? What's really happening when we don't address this problem?

I believe there are many solutions to these questions. First of all, I don't see anyone of the owners of casinos or top casino executives having a crystal clear vision of what their businesses will look like after they shut down their doors. The most successful of them will not know what their business will to look like five years from today. Most have no experience traders all of the time, or, at best, they have no idea how to trade. They're rarely even if ever with the financial market in any way. They learn how to trade through the experience of more novice traders, and they can use that knowledge to help them as the market operates.

Most of us walk away from betting with only a tiny amount of money within our pockets, sometimes barely a gain. This is the unintended consequence of attempting to make gambling money on emotion-driven decisions, not weighing the outcomes of those actions before they occur. As a result, we are unable to maintain our sense of self-discipline which is the main reason why the majority of gamblers who make a mess of their money on the floor will be broke before they complete their career in gambling. It is no wonder, then, that they need to master how to manage their money better prior to entering the casino? You can learn to stop gambling addiction, regardless of the amount you play.