Things My Daddy Didn't Tell Me About Games

It's just a game, right? We should play games but not take them too seriously.

It doesn't matter what kind of games you play there is always something new to learn. I must have played Scrabble for 15 years before I heard that game is played in dozens of languages with different tile sets. I just always assumed everyone used the same tiles. But there is a science between Scrabble tile selections. Another interesting fact I learned only a few years ago is that 4-suited playing card games originated in China sometime in the 900s. We've been playing these games for over a thousand years!

I've never understood why card games are divided into "family" games and "gambling" games. I guess gambling card games are also adult card games. But you can gamble on anything. That's the essence of proposition (prop) betting. So you could bet your neighbor your kids will beat his kids playing Crazy 8s. That's just a point I'm making.

You probably should not teach your kids to gamble. They'll learn about it eventually but gamblers and superstition go hand in hand. Some gamblers become so paranoid they start to believe the casinos are going out of their ways to cheat them. The first thing I'm going to tell my kids about gambling is don't believe everything you hear, especially from gamblers.

Not everyone who gambles falls into that pattern. But if you watch the Richard Dreyfus movie "Let It Ride" you'll get a sense that habitual gamblers can become crazy about the weirdest stuff. The movie just pokes fun at gambling stereotypes but I've seen people behave that way.

Fortunately for most of us, science says that if we just think of gambling as a fun thing to do it probably won't ruin our lives. I say it's always good to have science on your side, especially when you're walking into a casino. Because the casino sure isn't on your side.

Not every game is about gambling with money. Some games are about gambling with skill. I'm talking about competitive sports where you stake your career, maybe your future, possibly even your health on the game. Name a professional sport and I'll bet you can find at least one story about someone getting sick, injuring themselves, or dying while playing it.

You know everyone has heard about the Olympic games. There are a lot of happy and sad stories associated with the modern games. And as kids we learned in school that the Olympic games were invented by the ancient Greeks. I always thought the games ran for about 300 years. But did you know they lasted 1200 years the first time around? Man, I would hate to be the Olympic historian at the end of the first 1,000 years. Imagine all the athlete names you'd have to memorize and pass on!

I'm sure there must have been a lot of stories about pain and gain in the first 1200 years' of Olympic games. I guess they ended during the late Roman Empire. So the Olympics were still being played when Jesus walked the Earth. That's a long, long time for people to be lighting torches.

Games and gaming are fun. We play them with our kids. We play them when we are kids. We play games as adults. We never stop playing games. We just find new games to play.

The last cool thing I learned about games was that they can be good for your health. This old Readers Digest article lists 8 benefits from playing games. Playing games can help you ignore your pain, improve your memory, motivate you to exercise, help you get over depression, and help you improve your interactions with other people. There's a lot to be said about the good side of playing games.

I've heard about occasional video gamers who died while playing their games too long. I don't want to become the next victim of a video game. But I don't mind spending a few hours in front of my game screen. And I'm glad it's not all wasted time. Gaming is good for our mental health when done in moderation. Just don't bet the rent payment on your next game and you'll probably be okay.