Gambling Addiction & Recovery Support Group
Compulsive gambling is an urge or addiction to gamble despite harmful negative consequences or a desire to stop. A preferred term among many professionals is problem gambling, as few people described by the term experience true compulsions in the clinical sense of the word. Problem gambling often is defined by whether harm is experienced by the gambler or others rather...
Day 72 gamble free.
Reading the posts of so many past and present. It amazes me to read how much in common we all have, the stories of the compulsive gambler the inability to stop, the lose of money, time, family. Its as though I am reading my story and it opens up my memory bank of my days I gambled. I used to think I was odd, I was the only one, that the other people at the table were fine, it was me. I remember sitting with the same people, for hours, or seeing the same people each time I went, kind of like Cheers, where everyone knew my name, including the staff / dealers.
Part of me missed it, what would I do without those people? Without seeing the dealers who were always so nice to me? HUGE delusion. I do hope that in secret, I'm communicating on line though this site with some of the people I sat with all those years. I remember one time in Oceanside, huge card room, a man I would play with all of the time, for years had disappeared, I hadn't seen him for a long time, and one day he showed up. He was in a wheelchair, missing his legs. I swear to God, we were outside of the casino smoking and he was there. I asked him what happened, he said he had been in a car wreck. Here is the thing. He was back at the casino! It has stayed with me all of this time, thinking about the man who lost his legs.
Odd story I know, over the years, the people I have met, the places I have gone to feed my habit, have been crazy, the stories I can tell, but why bother? The man that started to have a seizure in the casino, and nobody stopped to help him? The fact that the floor man and dealers had to know I had a problem, but always welcomed me with open arms.... in my world, this world I live in, today, that isn't happening.
I will always open my heart to the compulsive gambler who wants help, and I will always pray for the compulsive gambler that still suffers.
I am a compulsive gambler, I am in recovery. It is who I am, it is who I am, it is where I come from, and today, I am in recovery. xoxoxoxo
Reading the posts of so many past and present. It amazes me to read how much in common we all have, the stories of the compulsive gambler the inability to stop, the lose of money, time, family. Its as though I am reading my story and it opens up my memory bank of my days I gambled. I used to think I was odd, I was the only one, that the other people at the table were fine, it was me. I remember sitting with the same people, for hours, or seeing the same people each time I went, kind of like Cheers, where everyone knew my name, including the staff / dealers.
Part of me missed it, what would I do without those people? Without seeing the dealers who were always so nice to me? HUGE delusion. I do hope that in secret, I'm communicating on line though this site with some of the people I sat with all those years. I remember one time in Oceanside, huge card room, a man I would play with all of the time, for years had disappeared, I hadn't seen him for a long time, and one day he showed up. He was in a wheelchair, missing his legs. I swear to God, we were outside of the casino smoking and he was there. I asked him what happened, he said he had been in a car wreck. Here is the thing. He was back at the casino! It has stayed with me all of this time, thinking about the man who lost his legs.
Odd story I know, over the years, the people I have met, the places I have gone to feed my habit, have been crazy, the stories I can tell, but why bother? The man that started to have a seizure in the casino, and nobody stopped to help him? The fact that the floor man and dealers had to know I had a problem, but always welcomed me with open arms.... in my world, this world I live in, today, that isn't happening.
I will always open my heart to the compulsive gambler who wants help, and I will always pray for the compulsive gambler that still suffers.
I am a compulsive gambler, I am in recovery. It is who I am, it is who I am, it is where I come from, and today, I am in recovery. xoxoxoxo
I would not change a thing of my past for who I am today! Indeed, we are who we are. Proud of you teri!
Love,
Victoria
My experience on recovery sites such as this and in the rooms of
GA the more we share our stories with each the stronger we get.
Favourite saying of mine is :
"A Sorrow Shared Is Half A Sorrow and A Joy Shared is Doubled."
God Bless
Ken L YBIR