Posts Tagged ‘sportsmanship’

Pennsylvania State Police have reported an act of vandalism occurred at Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem. According to the police report, an unidentified man was playing a game of video blackjack when he suddenly slammed his fist into the machine, breaking the glass faceplate. The man left the casino a few minutes later and did not return. It is estimated that his temper tantrum caused $400 in damage.

Sometimes gambling can be frustrating. Even if you employ perfect strategy, sometimes you will lose. If there were any guarantees, they wouldn’t call it gambling. There is no excuse to ever act like this man, though. Gambling is supposed to be something you do for fun, so if you’re not having fun, if you won’t be able to take losing well, then do everyone a favor and don’t gamble.

Not much is known about this man or his situation, but many times people who react negatively in casinos do so because they are breaking the number one rule of gambling: Never wager money that you can’t afford to lose. Every game in the casino has a house edge, even blackjack, which means you are more likely to lose than to win. If you know that and choose to play anyway, you are accepting those odds and accepting the fact that you may lose money. A wise gambler is certainly capable of losing less money at a casino than at Disney World, though. It’s all about playing it smart. Whatever that man at the video blackjack game was doing, one thing he was not doing was being smart.

Maybe he was one of those kids that when playing football with his friends would take the football and go home if his team was losing. Remember that annoying kid who knocked all of the pieces off the board game and walked away when they were losing? I’m sure this way was one of them. For a kid, though, it’s more acceptable. Once you’re an adult you’re supposed to behave like an adult. That means being responsible and being a good sport. You should be gracious in victory and defeat. Also, he probably broke some bones in his hand.