Gambling Addict: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
[[File:
|'''Marla Daniels''', ''[[The Wire]]''}}
▲{{quote|'' "You can't lose if you don't play."''|'''Marla Daniels''', ''[[The Wire]]''}}
▲[[The Gambling Addict]] is self-explanatory. A character who likes [[The Bet|a flutter]], to the extent where it becomes a habit or starts to cause problems.
At the less extreme end, the character will stick to small bets and simply enjoys the game. In some cases they may even be able to make a profit from their gambling. At the more extreme end, the character is fully addicted and quite capable of ruining their own finances, lives and those of the people around them. Perhaps more common in older works and literature, when people [[Older Than Television|had to make their own entertainment]] and card games were a much more common social activity.
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Unfortunately this is still very much a case of [[Truth in Television]], especially in a world where Internet gambling allows people to indulge in this destructive behaviour without ever leaving their house.
Not to be confused with [[The Gambler]]. Will almost always know at least one [[Bookie]], who happily supports his addiction. May lead to being [[Trapped
{{examples
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==▼
▲== Anime and Manga ==
* Kaiji from ''[[Kaiji]]'' is also suffering from this after the end of the first season.He still hadn't learned his lesson.
* Tsunade from ''[[Naruto]]'' fits it quite nicely. It's later revealed she inherited her love of gambling from her grandfather Hashirama Senju.
* In ''[[Pokémon Special]]'', we have Gold and the gaming corner in GSC (hints are towards it being an habit; [[Crowning Moment of Funny|and his Togepi "inherits" it]]), and then the [[Compressed Vice]] version with Platinum Berlitz and the game corner at Sinnoh years later during the DP arc.
* Eisuke Kitamura in ''[[Stepping
* Although its based on market arbitraging, and not gambling for pleasure, ''[[Spice and Wolf]]'''s Lawrence Craft often takes risks for profit, and makes quite a good living from it. When he hits an extreme debt, he does consider the method of gambling for pleasure as a means to pay it off.
* Faye Valentine from ''[[Cowboy Bebop]]''.
* Lelouch from [[Code Geass]], before [[Becoming the Mask]], was a heavy gambler who often skipped classes to run off to casinos and nobles' residences. It stopped when he donned the alter-ego Zero, but regardless he still used his gambling addiction as a cover for his operations.
== [[Comic Books]] ==▼
▲== Comic Books ==
* The [[Ironic Nickname|ironically-named]] Lucky Smurf in ''[[The Smurfs]]'' comic book story "The Gambling Smurfs". He hardly ever seems to win at gambling, but he'll never stop betting on something.
== [[Film]] ==▼
▲== Film ==
* Frankie Four Fingers from ''[[Snatch]]'' definitely falls under this category. Every single character that knows about his gambling tries to either desperately keep him from it, or trick him into it. He's called Four Fingers for a reason.
* Given the setting of the movie as an underground [[Poker]] world, many of the characters in ''[[Rounders]]''.
* The title character of ''Bob Le Flambeur'' ("Bob the Gambler") is a [[Gentleman Thief]] and an all-around great guy, except he's hopelessly addicted to gambling, which he does all day and night, and even has a slot machine in his apartment that he is shown playing several times during the film.
* In ''[[The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus]]'', both the title character and the Devil. {{spoiler|While the Devil controls their relationship, he also gives up several opportunities to win because it would end their game.}}
* The main character in ''[[Bad Lieutenant
* Dr. John Watson is heavily implied to be one in the 2009 Guy Ritchie ''[[Sherlock Holmes (
== [[Literature]] ==▼
* Phillipe Bridau from [[Balzac]]'s ''[[The Black Sheep]]'' / ''La Rabouilleuse'', who not only loses all his own money, but steals all his family's money and loses that too, becoming (temporarily) destitute. Also from this book, Madame Descoignes, who, in contrast, only spends what she can afford but still puts most of her spare money on the French lotteries.▼
▲== Literature ==
▲* Phillipe Bridau from Balzac's ''[[The Black Sheep]]'' / ''La Rabouilleuse'', who not only loses all his own money, but steals all his family's money and loses that too, becoming (temporarily) destitute. Also from this book, Madame Descoignes, who, in contrast, only spends what she can afford but still puts most of her spare money on the French lotteries.
* Mr Farebrother in [[George Eliot]]'s ''[[Middlemarch]]'', who's actually quite good at whist and can supplement his paltry income by betting. This wouldn't be a problem if it wasn't somewhat scandalous behaviour for a churchman. When his income increases, he gives up.
* Duncan Wedderburn in [[Alasdair Gray]]'s ''Poor Things'', during his elopement with Bella, visits a casino in Frankfurt and thinks he's worked out a system for roulette. At first he wins large sums, but inevitably loses it all the next day. Then he thinks his true strength is in card games, but gets cleaned out by sharps. For the rest of the trip he gambles away any money he's given at the first opportunity.
* Little Nell's grandfather in [[
* In [[Robert E. Howard]]'s "[[
* ''[[Harry Potter and
* Morley Dotes from the ''[[Garrett
* Nozdryov from ''[[Dead Souls]]''.
▲== Live Action TV ==
* David Scatino from Season 2 of ''[[The Sopranos]]''.
* Booth from [[Bones]].
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* Joe Tranelli in [[Men of a Certain Age]]. Many episodes focus on the consequences of his gambling addiction, for good or ill.
* Alan Townsend in ''[[Reaper]]''.
* The victim of the ''[[
* One episode of ''[[The Golden Girls]]'' has Dorothy being this, upsetting Sophia. According to Sophia, Dorothy had been this once before, which got her deep in debt. And she wasn't the only one. From Sophia's account, Salvador, Sophia's late husband, "was a gambler right up to his dying days."
* Toby from ''[[Switched
* Pearl Forrester from ''[[Mystery Science Theater 3000]]'' has a weakness for gambling, particularly slot machines. It even comes into play in one episode when Mike challenges her to a [[Shell Game]] and ends up winning his choice of the movie that he and the 'bots will watch. He picks ''[[Hamlet]]'', but ends up getting [[Be Careful What You Wish For|more than he expected]].
* ''[[The Twilight Zone]]'' episode "The Fever" featuring a man who abhors gambling travels to Las Vegas with his wife (who won a contest) and is forced by a drunk to put a dollar token into a slot machine, and winds up winning some money. Despite his efforts to run away from the slots, he hears the slot machine literally calling his name, and winds up addicted to the point where he thinks it's alive, and [[Karmic Twist Ending|he might be right.]]
* Gerry in ''[[Luck]]''. He's a whiz at horseracing, but a terrible poker player, blowing all of his track winnings on cards.
* Max Holden on ''[[One Life to Live]]'', who within a few short months, went from a blissful newlywed to someone who nearly destroyed his business, his friendship with his partner, and his marriage with his rapidly developed addiction.
* Detective Ed Green on ''[[Law
* One of the [[Un Subs]] on [[Criminal Minds]] was a hopeless gambler who kills a [[Loan Shark]] and subsequently has great luck in the casino. When his lucky streak ends he kills another person and his luck seemingly returns. This convinces him that he has a super power that makes him lucky if he kills someone he knows.
== [[Music]] ==▼
▲== Music ==
* [[Kenny Rogers]]' signature song ''The Gambler'' details the train-rider narrator having a conversation with a man of this sort.
* The classic song "House of the Rising Son" has the male singer relating his depressing life and his slide into gambling addiction and habit of picking up prostitutes at the eponymous house of ill repute in New Orleans.
== [[Video Games]] ==
* ''[[
* In ''[[
* Makalov, from ''[[Fire Emblem Tellius
== [[Web Comics]] ==
* In ''[[Impure Blood]]'', [
== Western Animation ==▼
* ''[[The Simpsons (Animation)|The Simpsons]]'': Marge Simpson becomes addicted to slot machines when a casino's built in Springfield, and shows this trait occasionally in subsequent episodes.▼
* In the ''[[South Park (Animation)|South Park]]'' episode "Red Man's Greed", Gerald Broflovski loses $37,000 at a [[Native American Casino]], underwritten by the family's house. Later, when the Native Americans threaten to take over South Park, the townsfolk pool their resources and bet it on a single roulette number in a last-ditch effort to save the town. They win, giving them the money they need and a bit extra on top, but Gerald convinces them to let it all ride on another spin, and they lose everything.▼
* In ''[[The Flintstones (Animation)|The Flintstones]]'', Fred Flintstone had a severe gambling problem, to the point where simply mentioning the word "bet" in his presence caused him to get a crazy look in his eyes and start repeating the word over and over.▼
* The ''[[Looney Tunes (Animation)|Looney Tunes]]'' cartoon "Early to Bet" has a literal gambling bug whose bites causes gambling addiction.▼
* Soccer-themed cartoon ''[[Hurricanes (Animation)|Hurricanes]]'' has Jackson Black, a casino owner who would take any bet. [[Big Bad|Stavros Garkos]] won Black's ecosphere and his soccer-themed resort in a rigged roulette game. Because Garkos had to agree to offer Black a chance to win back whatever he lost, Black decided to bet the Hurricanes would win the upcoming Hurricanes versus [[Opposing Sports Team|Gorgons]] soccer game. {{spoiler|The Hurricanes won}}. Hurricanes coach Jock Stone considers Black as someone with ''more money than common sense''.▼
* In ''[[The Ren and Stimpy Show (Animation)|The Ren and Stimpy Show]]'' episode "My Shiny Friend", Stimpy has an addiction to watching television. At the end of the short, he appears to have reformed, but it turns out he switched to...gambling.▼
▲== [[Western Animation]] ==
▲* ''[[The Simpsons (
▲* In the ''[[
▲* In ''[[
▲* The ''[[
▲* Soccer-themed cartoon ''[[
▲* In ''[[
==
* An apocryphal story is that the Sandwich is named after John Montagu, the 4th Earl of Sandwich on the grounds of him being such a gambling addict he spent much of his waking hours at the gambling table, to the point he'd have a servant bring him sandwiches rather than leave to eat somewhere else. A biographer of him, Nicholas A. M. Rodger, actually suggested that John Montagu was such a [[Workaholic]] that he ate sandwiches instead of leaving his work.
▲* ''[[Pokémon Mystery Dungeon (Video Game)|Pokémon Mystery Dungeon]]'': ''Explorers of the Sky'' is host to an Octillery explorer who - once the café opens early in the game - will subsequently spend all her time there continuously trying to win that Big Prize Draw run by Wynaut and failing. She ''knows'' she shouldn't continue, but does so anyway!
▲* In ''[[Dragon Quest IV (Video Game)|Dragon Quest IV]]'', Maya's gambling addiction leads her to spend all of her sister Meena's [[Fortune Teller|fortune-telling]] profits at Endor's casino, leaving them stranded in the city until [[The Hero]] arrives to recruit them for his quest.
▲* Makalov, from ''[[Fire Emblem Tellius (Video Game)|Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance]]'' and its sequel. Both he and his sister Marcia lost their jobs in the Begnion Army because of his gambling (and the huge debts he got into).
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Gambling and Games of Chance]]
[[Category:Characters As Device]]
[[Category:Bargain Tropes]]
[[Category:Character Flaw Index]]
▲[[Category:Trope]]
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