In the constant attempt to earn enough cash to want nothing more in life, it’s only natural to start wishing to make some money appear in your pockets like magic. Gambling seems to have an almost similar concept to that.  

For a vast majority of gamblers, betting on sports, casinos, online, lottery among others offers the possibility of getting fast money without the monotony of a white-collar job or the manual labor involved in blue-collar jobs. 

The thrill and easy cash is especially a hit for the youth as you’d notice in Kenya which has the highest number of gambling youth in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) with sports betting as its most popular form. A study by GeoPoll found that 57% of Kenyans who are at least 18 and above have participated in gambling in the past. 

Despite being a multi-million-dollar business in the country, there are more losers than winners in gambling. The fun and harmless shortcut to earning money can eventually turn into an unhealthy obsession that would lead to a financial disaster. 

Since gamblers divert their assets to the game, it would eventually spiral into debts, bankruptcy, and criminal activity just to feed off their addiction and delusion that they’ll be declared a jackpot winner.

Its adverse effects go beyond empty pockets. Consistent gambling can disrupt a life. It preoccupies gamblers from living life beyond chasing losses. It could lead to missing out on work or breaking other commitments because they spend all their time on gambling. 

A study by the Kenyatta University Institutional Repository found that gambling had several adverse psychological effects for gamblers. They start to feel depressed, down, or irritable. It also affects their sleep patterns since they would either have trouble falling asleep, staying asleep, or they would sleep too much. 

As large numbers of Kenyans engage in gambling, Chezacash tackles three of the most common reasons that fuel the betting craze in the country which you’ll need to understand to tackle the problem head head-on.