Entertaining Seniors through Gambling – Its Benefits
Seniors tend to be the late bloomers in the world of casino and gambling. These silver-gray haired citizens are already loving to play games of probability and trying to find their luck in gambling. This industry actually entertains the seniors and offers them some sense of belongingness.
Casinos attract seniors to gamble by giving some discounts, transportation or mobility devices like wheelchairs and scooters to explore the environment.
However, it sounds very strange to involve seniors in casinos and gambling especially when you think of gambling as a sin. The good news is that gambling also entails a number of advantages for senior citizens.
Benefits of Gambling for Seniors
Here are some of the benefits that seniors can get from gambling and playing in casinos:
Allows seniors to socialize
Senior casino players find a new form of their therapy through gambling. While playing, they can able to interact with other senior players. Mostly, elders who play bingo table games, and slot machines can build friendship over it.
Helps the brain to exercise
Gambling, in general, has the ability to make the brain active over a period of time. Since skills are needed in gambling, elders can exercise their brain and keep their mind working.
Entertain the elderly
Yes, it is a fact that gambling is a good source of entertainment, especially for the old ones. Aside from that, playing poker together with family members is also entertaining.
Introducing Card Games as Therapy among Seniors
The National Institute on Aging promotes card games among seniors. Because according to research, it revealed that playing strategic card games helps in exercising concentration and memory retention. With continuous practice, it can help in reducing or preventing cognitive declines among older adults. Basically, some are even playing free card games in 우리카지노 for fun.
Card Games and its Cognitive Benefits
According to Keith Josephs, one of the neurologists at Mayo Clinic based in Rochester, Minn., there’s small evidence that engaging in games prevents Alzheimer’s Disease or any degenerative process that normally happens among seniors. Instead, it may help in delaying the onset of its symptoms.
On a 2014 study at University of Wisconsin-Madison on the other hand, it says that participants who are often engaging in card games, board games, checkers or some puzzle games throughout their middle age had better brain volume compared to those who played no or fewer games on the same age range. People who have later developed brain diseases experienced a bigger decrease into their brain volume.
As per research, recreational activities similar to card games are useful in stimulating nerve growth in parts of the brain that is processing executive function and emotions.
How about Immunological Benefits?
Card games do offer protective benefits among its participants. In an experiment performed by a neuroscientist, Marian Diamond, it showed that seniors are likely to increase the number of their immune cells referred to as CD-4 positive T cells after they play card games.
There is a separate study performed among adults who are being treated for alcoholism. It showed that engaging in recreational activities similar to playing card games brought positive impact on their condition. For one, it helped in decreasing their stress levels and improving their mood in the process. Most specifically, the participation in card as well as board games have helped in lowering plasma cortisol levels.
Promoting Social Benefits
One of the vital elements of card games is to socialize. Majority of the card games are involving 2 or more people in order to play it. Because of this, just a simple game starts friendship among people and most especially, residents in senior care facilities. Social engagement is also linked to stronger immune system, lower risk of dementia, better mental health and even decreased depression.
On top of the social and mental benefits of card games, playing card games promotes motor skills like by improving hand-eye coordination and reflexes of seniors.
Malaysian Gov’t Eyes Regulating Online Gambling to Address Illegal Operations
Malaysia’s crackdown on online gambling operations reportedly revealed police officers who have been protecting the hubs supporting the illegal operations. In July of this year, Malaysian Deputy Minister Datuk Zahidi Zainal Abidin of the Ministry of Communications and Multimedia, had remarked via the national TV3 that he has put forward suggestions that it would be better for the government to regulate and collect taxes from online casinos operating in Malaysia, as an alternative to tolerating illegal operations.
Who Tolerates Illegal Online Gambling Operations in Malaysia?
The technology firms raided in Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia, presented themselves as local software development companies, but were actually providers of illegal mobile gambling apps that allow Malaysians to gamble online with real money. The firms are reportedly also making it possible for illicit gambling operators to navigate money transfers in 7 different banks located in nearby countries — financial activities deemed in violation of international Anti Money Laundering laws.
However, based on investigations of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), several senior police officers in Kuala Lumpur, appear to be under the payroll of the local cartel. Allegedly, they have been providing protection to the technology companies supporting the illegal online gambling rings and their money laundering activities.
While about 37 individuals were held under suspicion of acting as protectors, later reports gave clarifications that said police officers were only invited for questioning and that no actual arrests have been made. Moreover, the MACC later decided to allow nine of the arrested individuals to post bail and be out of jail while investigations are ongoing.
The move though, was opposed by the Kuala Lumpur Criminal Investigation Department (CID), which the CID countered by immediately re-arresting three of the nine individuals released on bail. The Director of the Kuala Lumpur CID said the three are being detained under the Prevention of Crime Act, so they can assist in furthering the investigations on illegal online gambling and money laundering operations in Malaysia.
PAGCOR Reached Out to Malaysian Government to Consider Regulating Online Gambling
In separate but related news reports in the Philippines, the head of the country’s gambling regulatory body PAGCOR Andrea Domingo, told the Philippine News Agency that they have been in communication with the Malaysian government about the benefits of regulating online gambling in their jurisdiction. After all, many of PAGCOR’s licensed offshore online gambling operators (POGOs) also offer online casino products and services in Malaysia, but are subject to licensing and regulatory oversight.
The PAGCOR Chief shared the news that based on a Memorandum of Agreement sent to Malaysian authorities, the latter are now seriously considering opening its doors to POGOs. Ms. Domingo said that the Malaysian government has already expressed willingness to give generous incentives to online gaming companies who will physically relocate their business to Malaysia.
The offer includes a ten-year tax moratorium but to be granted on conditions that POGOs will make sure only non-Muslims will be given access to the gambling sites. Moreover, in order to qualify for the incentives, at least 30% of each firm’s workforce must consist of Malaysian citizens.
Malaysia is Looking to Designate a Malaysian-Based Gambling Regulatory Body
In line with the announcement, the government of Malaysia is now looking to designate an official government regulatory body to regulate, monitor and impose taxes on appropriate parties related to the operations of the online gaming companies. Moreover, the plan includes dividing Malaysia’s online gambling landscape into three sectors based on the following categories::
1. Malaysian citizens who gamble in overseas websites
2. Overseas gamblers playing in Malaysian online gambling websites
3. Malaysian locals who gamble in Malaysian online gambling websites.
In the meantime, as these developments will take time before they actually happen, Malaysian gamblers should take care not to access online gambling applications provided by Malaysia-based software companies as they are not licensed and regulated by PAGCOR.
As it is, Malaysia-facing online casinos like mega888 maintain their base of operations in the Philippine. That way, PAGCOR can closely supervise and monitor their online casino slot games, mobile applications, the related APK, and online gaming operations as a whole.
