There’s a particiularly cruel class of Meme known as the Gambling meme, floating about the Internet that pokes fun at gambling addicts. Many of us have chuckled at light-hearted jests surrounding the world of betting and casinos. In today’s post, we’ll delve deep into the world of gambling memes, their origins, their impact. Whether you’re a meme enthusiast or someone who’s felt the sting of these jokes, this exploration aims to shed light on a nuanced subject in our ever-evolving digital culture.

Gambling Addict Meme

The Gambling Addict Meme is described on KnowYourMeme.com as:

“..showing the cast of The Sopranos playing poker with text related to the Keep Gambling memes about gambling addiction”

KnowYourMeme.com on Gambling Addict Memes

Leaning heavily on satire, the meme statement proposes a surely made up on the spot statistic: “Proven Fact: 90% of gambling addicts quit right before they hit it big!”. It makes me think of that line “lies, damn, lies and statistics”. Fitting for this situation indeed.

Origin of the Gambling Addict Meme

The Gambling Addict meme has its roots in an article published by satirical website “The Onion”, over a decade ago now, which proclaims a similar statistic of dubious origin and even less reliable truth:

“Study: 83% Of Gamblers Quit Right Before They Would Have Hit The Big One”

The Onion

It is the kind of content you would expect from a publication whose other articles include titles like “Marriage Counselor Encourages Woman To Take On Numerous Sexual Partners While Husband At Work”. Which is fine from the context of their website, a known satirical web publication.

In this instance though, the content has spilled out, beyond the boundaries of theOnion.com and into the wild of the Internet, where it may be mistaken for something other than what it actually was intended to be.

The Keep Gambling Meme

Sprung from the same origin as the gambling addict meme, the keep gambling meme tells the same story, but with visual illustration, instead of with a malicious statistic.

This meme implies that giving up is a mistake in gambling, instead the gambler should just continue. The trouble for the gambler, is that there’s no way to ever tell how far away from the cavern full of diamonds they are.

KnowYourMeme.com is once again credited with the research on this meme, which first surfaced in October 2022 when user DomDod posted the modified digging for diamonds meme in /r/okBuddyRetard subreddit:

Drawing a Line Under the Satire

I’m not a gambling addict, but I find it hard not to regard these memes as contemptible. While I agree that most of us would see the humour in the tongue-in-cheek statement of the gambling addict meme, I cannot help but think of those who will miss the satire entirely and surely double down on their latest hair brained gambling scheme, having drawn strength of will from this throwaway statistic, thus driving them deeper into their addiction.

This pushes the meme, in my humble opinion, out of the realm of satire and into a more malicious spotlight. It strikes me as comparable to poking fun at drunks or junkies lying in the gutter. They’re deserving of pity and charity, not malice.

The conservative view of gambling is that it is a pastime of the rich; those with money to throw away at the hope of a quick thrill, but unconcerned if they lose the lot. While I don’t share this view, there is some truth in it.

For while most of us can use alcohol responsibly and know our gambling limits, there are those who become completely obsessed with it and cannot control their impulse to gamble more, even, when the chips are down.

Winner Winner..

There are some terrific gambling memes out there though, and there’s a superb compilation of gambling memes on this PInterest board from PInterest user @loribarkdull :

Composed of the straight up funny memes, there’s clearly no malicious undertones and can be enjoyed by all and are well worth checking out!

Cashing Out..

I’m all for humour, even when pointed at myself and even at gambling. As we’ve shown here, there are some superb memes about gambling out there. But there’s clearly also a blurred line that’s been crossed in meme territory. Be wary of mixing satire into your memes folks