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...
I used to think about this question, and I got my answer last night.
I'll admit I have been gambling within the last few weeks, however, I didn't see it as a 'problem' because I was winning. I came ridiculously close to losing on a few occasions, but always managed to come out with a gain (usually $100-200, which is my target).
I was playing roulette last night and bought $500 worth of chips even though my starting capital was $1000. I won $200 at first and kept going, then lost on a few spins and was down to my last $200 of chips.
I started placing them on the table and the dealer started the spin. She was about to call "no more bets" but I still had a handful of chips in my hand. So I rushed (always a big no no when it comes to gambling) and just stacked them to the number closest to me, being a 28-31 split and 31.
It landed on..........31.
To realise how lucky this was, you need to understand that I bet on a particular 'sector' of the wheel, and that 31 is right on the border of that sector. Hence if the ball had fallen slightly to the left into the next slot, number 14, I would've been down $500.
Instead, I had won $900. My total gain from the night was $1000.
I was stunned. I cashed out and walked around the casino, unable to believe what had happened. I felt like I had won the lotto. I needed to sit down, but I kept walking around.
I eventually left the casino, and realised that gambling actually CONSUMES you. It EATS AWAY at your mind slowly. So even if you can make money out of it, it actually DEPRIVES you of your time to enjoy every other thing in life. And this is the difference between gambling (and winning) and having a job - although both earn you money, work is not an addiction and does not take over your life to an extreme extent.
So I am going to leave my credit card at home from now on, and I plan to not gamble for the next 3 months. I can't say right now I won't ever gamble again, but I think 3 months is a good start.
I'll admit I have been gambling within the last few weeks, however, I didn't see it as a 'problem' because I was winning. I came ridiculously close to losing on a few occasions, but always managed to come out with a gain (usually $100-200, which is my target).
I was playing roulette last night and bought $500 worth of chips even though my starting capital was $1000. I won $200 at first and kept going, then lost on a few spins and was down to my last $200 of chips.
I started placing them on the table and the dealer started the spin. She was about to call "no more bets" but I still had a handful of chips in my hand. So I rushed (always a big no no when it comes to gambling) and just stacked them to the number closest to me, being a 28-31 split and 31.
It landed on..........31.
To realise how lucky this was, you need to understand that I bet on a particular 'sector' of the wheel, and that 31 is right on the border of that sector. Hence if the ball had fallen slightly to the left into the next slot, number 14, I would've been down $500.
Instead, I had won $900. My total gain from the night was $1000.
I was stunned. I cashed out and walked around the casino, unable to believe what had happened. I felt like I had won the lotto. I needed to sit down, but I kept walking around.
I eventually left the casino, and realised that gambling actually CONSUMES you. It EATS AWAY at your mind slowly. So even if you can make money out of it, it actually DEPRIVES you of your time to enjoy every other thing in life. And this is the difference between gambling (and winning) and having a job - although both earn you money, work is not an addiction and does not take over your life to an extreme extent.
So I am going to leave my credit card at home from now on, and I plan to not gamble for the next 3 months. I can't say right now I won't ever gamble again, but I think 3 months is a good start.
Three months is a great start. Make it happen.
Please, STOP.... Please....
Can you send me a copy of your avatar, cuz that's what my face looks like right. I'm sorry to hear that you've been feeding the evil wolf. If I can be brutally honest with you, the first part of your post had a eerie sense of excitement about it...which proves the statement you made in the second to last paragraph about gambling consuming you. The "high" of your good fortune rang ever so true in the words used to describe the moment!
I appreciated your honesty when you stated that you're not sure you can say that you'll ever gamble again. I hope and pray you make the right choices in order to prevent it from consuming you in the future.
Hugh Prather is author of a book titled Love and Courage-I was reading it this evening and came across a thought he presented that seems befitting for the occasion. He writes:
"There is a time to let things happen and a time to make things happen. No one becomes permanently comfortable. Life is not solved. Like a large hibernating animal it turns on it's belly and once again we have to crawl out from under it. If we don't move, we die."
About 140 days ago, I decided it was time for me to make things happen...working it every day with fierce determination...to thwart off one less self-inflicted "belly crawling" life experiences.
May your journey be a safe one, Toey. You're in my thoughts and prayers.
Warm regards, Tagg
I forgot to add one thing, which was that on one occasion I was playing, there was another gambler bantering back and forth with the dealer. The gambler kept jokingly asking the dealer what number would come up next.
The dealer finally said "even if I give you $500, $1000 now, you will come back". I thought that was sooooo true.
Well I'm determined to prove her wrong.
Wow! ain't that the truth!!
Thanks for sharing ... I really believe I needed to see that.
Best,
Niki