Canadians Hope to Gamble Their Debt Away

It's nice to know that Canadians aren't risk averse. Gambling can provide the kind of low-level thrills that make our day-to-day lives a little bit more fun. But it's alarming to discover from a recent survey that many Canadians may be risk dependent.

The survey of 1,027 Canadians showed that 45 percent would place a bet on a poker hand that would either wipe out their credit card debt or double it. But only 18 percent would do the same for a mortgage.

I don't mean to imply that a huge section of the population consists of gambling addicts. In most cases, the dependence isn't a psychological addiction. This is more of an admission that many people feel so buried by their debt that they imagine the only way to crawl out from the hole is to do something drastic.

Fortunately, in practice, it's clear that these feelings don't translate into action. While one obviously can't engage their credit card company in a hand of poker, there's little preventing people from wagering that same amount online and then using the winnings to pay off their credit card (or to lose the money and double their debt). But most people just don't do it. So while Canadians may dream of a quick solution to a debt-ridden existence, they choose instead to channel their optimism into hoping a Canadian team will eventually win the Stanley Cup again.

Some Canadians would bet mortgage in poker hand [Reuters]

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