The joy of playing
With love, for Mihnea, a lord…
By Oana Lis
When we say the word *game* what do we think of? The action of playing and the result of it, being considered a fun activity. And it connects us to our psychological childlike state, because yes, even though we are adults now, we still have that *inner child* state within us, which we can access from time to time.
*Life is like gambling.*
Games are of different kinds, from board games, word games, the act of acting, meaning performing a certain dance, a role in a play, to Olympic games and gambling.
So for thousands of years, children and grown-ups have been drawn to the game and the joy, excitement, thrills it offers. Gambling is explained as a pastime involving cards, dice and other forms of entertainment, usually involving sums of money, played according to certain rules observed by the partners, with the winnings determined by chance or calculation.
*I am human and nothing human is foreign to me.* (Terentiu)
For example, board games are seen as fun in a group of people that can consist of funny questions and answers or solving funny problems. So, people are attracted to many kinds of games, which make them think, amuse, and spend time in a fun way.
*Play is the highest kind of inquiry.* (Albert Einstein)
Throughout human history, people have played different games as a source of entertainment for themselves or others.
As an idea, the first dice to appear were improvised from animal bones. At an archaeological site in an ancient village in Turkey, 49 painted and cut pebbles were found, believed to be pieces of a board game.
*The game is the testing of odds.*
Games are an integral part of all cultures and are the oldest forms of social interaction between people. Games began as ways for people to express their physical abilities, imagination, determination, intellectual capacity, stamina, etc.
Outdoor games were very popular during festivals and fairs and were played by all social classes.
For example, the Colosseum was built in order to satisfy the public’s enthusiasm for games and shows. They were organized by private individuals as a demonstration of the prestige and power of their family. Also, the Romanians of the aristocratic class organized games for the plebeians in order to get their votes. So, since then, the games had a stake. It was built primarily for gladiatorial games, and if a gladiator won more than one fight, he had the right to ask the emperor to be released.
*War is the game of kings.*
Common features of games throughout the ages include winning, operating by rules, a competition, a standardization of time and space, elements of chance, goals, and of course, personal enjoyment.
*Fun is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.* (Seneca)
Over time, throughout history, bets started to be made on some of these games and the element of winning, of money, became more and more prominent.
The first documented game of poker dates back to a Mississippi River steamboat in 1833. During the American Civil War, the game became very popular among soldiers as a form of recreation. And the game became popular in American casinos after a World Series of Poker (WSOP) tournament was launched in 1970.
And the history of online gambling began in 1994 when Microgaming developed the first online gambling program of its kind.
The history of casinos in Romania began with the first land-based casino built in Vatra Dornei in 1898, with the aim of entertaining the customers of the Austro-Hungarian Empire’s high society, who came to the baths in that area.
So, gambling has fascinated mankind for millennia, offering an irresistible combination of excitement, risk and the potential for winning and entertainment.
*In gambling, the many must lose so that the few can win.* (George B. Shaw.)
Modern studies have found that gambling activates the brain’s reward system, creating a powerful sense of pleasure. In particular, when potential wins occur at irregular and unpredictable intervals, the brain remains in a state of anticipation for longer, releasing a dose of dopamine, a neurotransmitter associated with pleasure and motivation.
This release of dopamine instantly creates a feeling of euphoria and this reinforces human gambling behavior.
*It’s not hard to gamble, it’s hard to stop gambling.*
These activations in the brain and especially in the amygdala area make gambling perceived as exciting and exciting. The situation becomes problematic for someone who instead of seeing it as an activity for fun and spending time with excitement and enjoyment, sees it as a way to win, and this is not something guaranteed by anyone, especially on a constant basis.
*Whatever games we get into, we owe it to ourselves not to play with ourselves*. (R.W. Emerson)
So one of the basic factors that attracts people to gambling, in particular, is the pleasure associated with risk.
*If it weren’t for luck, I’d win every time. *
The secret to enjoying the positive effects of dopamine, that of relieving stress and feeling that state of pleasure rather than the negative effects, is to gamble responsibly, as much as you can afford.
*After the game, both king and pawn go in the same box.*
With love, Oana Lis
