My only foolishness is putting my money into the machines but your post made me laugh and I appreciate that.

My gambling progressed like many, from social to obsessive over a period of time. Near the end of my last spree of 4 years, as my gambling accelerated, so did my obsessive/compulsive behavior. I found myself slipping into counting compulsions. Counting the steps from the room to the machine I choose, counting spins, counting ceiling tiles when sleepless, counting cars, counting, counting ... I was scary and a big red flag that I needed help, but I was able to ignore it until I really got to rock bottom.
And I agree with pennyluv. Not sure who said: Gambling is a tax on people who are poor at math. (Sound Mark Twain-ish)
Thank you for posting this islapoppy.

I too became a counter. That's so strange. I would count the paces from my car into the casino elevator. Then I'd count the paces from the entrance of the casino to the high limit room. Then I would count the paces from the entrance to the high limit room to the machine I wanted to play.

For a while I was obsessed with progressive jackpots. I had a notebook where I'd try and trend when the progressive on a certain machine hit, how many credits the player was betting, that sort of thing. The slot machine I became most obsessive over by far was Cleopatra. The version I played is a $1 or $2 multi-denomination 9 line machine but you can bet up to 10 credits per line. I would relentlessly spin it at $27, $36 and even $90 & $180 a pull trying to score a bonus round. I was suckered into believing this machine was a good value because the bonus round offered 15 free games at 3x pay with the possibility of retriggers. My obsessive behavior came from some early success and 2 massive handpays. Naturally I believed this would continue so I was obsessed with playing it. At one point I felt such a strong connection to this machine I had the idea of one day getting the machine logo as a tattoo. In my mind this machine was a living, breathing entity. I would talk to it (in my head obviously) while I was playing. Begging for a bonus round, a strong line hit, maybe even life changing money. There were lots of trips where I lost $5000+ playing it. Fortunately I wised up. But for a while playing Cleopatra was all I thought about. I even had an app on my phone where I'd play it at work. What's funny is as I type this, thinking about the sounds and symbols of that game, I actually feel a little nauseous. To think the amount of life it stole from me, I'd like to smash those devious eyes in that logo into a million tiny pieces with a baseball bat.

One time when I've lost everything, I tried to pawn a watch that I rarely wore. The store didn't want it because it was a Fossil and wasn't worth much.
Then I emptied out my piggy coin bank which totaled $60, went to the bank, converted that to bills then drove to a casino that was 1.5 hrs away (cost of gas was probably $15). Lost it all. Looking back it still gives me a good chuckle.

My foolishness things I did was rubbing the slot machines like they were going to give me some big winnings, bonuses or that I would hit the jackpot. I acted like a zombie day and night (during the weekends) and thought I was on a big mission to hit the big jackpot. Also, walked back and forth to check to see if MY machine was available.

Yes, I had MY machine. And could I stare daggers if someone was on it. Worse yet if they won. (That was MY money they just won.)
I would not only rub the machine but talk to to it, try patterns of betting up and down the whole works.
INSANITY!

There should be a tragi-comedy made of the self-talk of people sitting at slot machines. Showing them feeding 20's and voice-overs like:
--"please, God, if you just give me this jackpot, I will go home and never gamble again" (as if God would be involved in the slot play and determining outcomes)
--"some casino manager upstairs has changed the settings so the machines are in sleep mode and not paying, or this machine must be broken"
--"someone next to me just sat down and won a jackpot, I said congratulations but I really hate that they won because somehow that reduces my odds of winning" etc.

Parking, Where Oh Where Should I Park? The last time I won money I was parked on this side of the building. Oh come on............. best to just leave the parking lot and go home.
How does where I park have anything to with how much money I hand over to the casino? None. I hand all it over to them. Not funny, but I am chuckling to the stupidity.

I was a craps player. I believed:

1.) If I concentrated really hard enough, or practiced enough, I could learn dice control and be a master and make millions.
2.) If someone walked up to the table who had bad vibes, they could kill a good roll.
3.) If someone was in the middle of a great roll, and the casino put on announcements loudly, it would kill the great roll.
4.) Occasionally I believed I had "psychic" moments and just "knew" when a certain number would be rolled. Never mind that there are only ten numbers on a dice and pure probability would make me right a certain percentage of the time. I knew, and would waste hundreds (if not thousands) on side bets calling out numbers on the Hops or betting the reds.
5.) If a woman was a first-time shooter and she came up to the table, she could make me a fortune. I lost a fortune betting on this.
6.) There are good shooters and bad shooters. I spent a lot of money betting on the good shooters and withholding bets on the bad shooters. Often, I did this on the "read" I would get from people's vibes.

I feel embarrassed even typing some of these. But it was what I believed. I thought I discovered this magical world of fun, riches, and excitement that provided an escape from reality. But in reality, I was just abusing myself and deluding myself. And I'm a smart girl. It's hard to believe.