The summer vacation might not be the right time to read heavy gambling studies articles that are filled with statistics and complicated calculations. Here I suggest four text about gambling that are interesting, easy to read and entertaining. Perfect for leisurly reading. They all have in common that they give a perspective on gambling in different cultures. All of them are freely available via the internet.
Puri, Stine S. (2013) Speculation in Fixed Future: An Ethnography of Betting in Between Legal and Illegal Economies. Copenhagen: University of Copenhagen.
– This is a thesis about horse betting in India. You will be surprised how different it is from horse betting in Western countries.
Bosco, Joseph, Lucia Huwy-Min Liu & Matthew West. (2009) Underground lotteries in China: The occult economy and capitalist culture. In Economic Development, Integration, and Morality in Asia and the Americas (ed.) D.C. Wood. Bingley: Emerald.
– Facinating description and analysis of underground lotteries in China. For example, some people believe that winning lottery numbers can be revealed by interpreting events in the Teletubbies show.
D’Agati, Marina (2014). “I feel like I’m going to win”: Superstition in gambling. Qualitative Sociology Review, 10(2), 80-101.
– About magical thinking among Italian gamblers.
Krige, Detlev (2011). ‘We are running for a living’: Work, leisure and speculative accumulation in an underground numbers lottery in Johannesburg. Critical African Studies, 70(1), 3-24.
– Magical thinking and local gambling traditions in Johannesburg.
For Swedes: You need not buy a Triss instant lottery ticket to get a thrill. You can watch “Triss-Mannen” scratch a few tickets every Friday in “Trissfredag” on YouTube. Very exciting!
