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The author considers the universal interest in games and compulsive gambling from the anthropological and psychological points of view. Her anthropological data are interesting and informative. For example, astragali, or knucklebones, are described as six-sided bones from the legs of sheep or deer, used much in the manner of modern dice, which are probably their lineal descendants. Specimens, often much worn from use, are found all over the Old World and the New; copies in clay, bronze, or crystal have been discovered in places as far apart as Peru and Etruria, dating back to a very early period. They are still used by some modern Arabs and American Indians.
The descriptions of the gambler and the formulations of the psychology of the gambler are derived by the author from observations made in Gamblers Anonymous, an organization similar to Alcoholics Anonymous, from some individual therapy, and from questionnaires answered by psychiatrists.
According to the author, eventually the true compulsive gambler always loses. If he wins, his first thought is to keep playing or to find another game until he loses. The gambler's behavior is apt to be childish. He deliberately puts himself at the mercy of forces