Gambling Addiction

[MichaelWinicki]

It's like alcohol. Most people can handle it, but some can't. Keep an eye on it.


For some people, spending the $1 on a scratch off is a nice escape from reality. If their biggest vice is spending a $1 a week on scratch offs, then that's not too bad. Better than seeing the same person spend $12 a day on cigarettes or booze.

But they aren't spending just $1... That's the problem. They're ramming a $10 or $20 bill in the machine and getting back 3 or 4 or 6 cards.

That concludes the first half of the process.

The second part is getting the cards scratched off as fast as humanly possible.

By just watching them you can tell they're "hooked" and have "get-rich-quick-itis".

 

[Jammer]

The best thing that happened to me in regards to gambling was losing money the first time I did it. It wasn't a whole lot of money, something like $50, but living in England as a newlywed when money was very tight was a blow to my finances. It was an expensive (to me at least) lesson. For the most part I haven't looked back since. I've played a few times over the years, but the thought of losing any money makes the games no fun at all. I find it boring actually. I have wondered if it would have been different if I won that first time and got the "itch".

 

[Seven]

That's why Casinos stay in business.

They don't only stay in business.

They're multimillion dollar institutions.............for a reason.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

They don't only stay in business.

They're multimillion dollar institutions.............for a reason.

Yep.

They've become adult day-care for the retired.

We have a Native American themed casino near us, I don't go to gamble... just to eat at the buffet. LOL!

They bring in bus after bus of the retired and don't exactly have to pry the money out of them.

 

[TellerMorrow34]

I've never had to deal with this because I've never spent a dime on scratch offs or in casinos.

I once played on a free Texas Holdem website, when I was in my early 20's, and losing fake money pissed me off so much that I realized, very quickly, that I didn't want anything to do with losing real money.

 

[Longboysfan]

I play on Poker Stars site play money. -* FREE *-
But enough to be good and have a nice bankroll.

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

One of my wife's uncles had a serious gambling problem. It got so bad that he was always able to pay his losses and we live in a smaller rural area so there is not a lot of the bookies that are tough on people. They basically just quit taking his bets after he did not pay off his debt.

However one time he was at a stop light and someone hit his car. He stopped and got out of his car and was going to the other car to tell them he needed their insurance information and it was the bookie. The bookie said that he would not pay to fix his car, nor would he give his insurance information...he said, think of it as a pay off to the remainder of your debt and be lucky we did not make things worse for you.

I think that was the last time he gambled on sports.

 

[Nomad]

I used to bet on sports a lot a long time ago, around 2006 or so they made it inconvenient to bet online and I decided it's not worth the time and hassle anymore and it's better just to stay away from it. I actually did pretty good I think my biggest win was when Dallas upset the Rams in 2002, when Roy Williams broke Kurt Warner's thumb, I payed off my Mom's credit card for her with the money haha. The best you do most of the time is break even and it's not worth the trouble, I feel really bad for people who get too far off into it.

A really good movie about gambling addiction is Owning Mahoney with Phillip Seymour Hoffman, based on a true story.

 

[rynochop]

It is a sad addiction.

Sad to see the folks line up at 7-11 to buy scratch-offs who least able to afford them.

Ive seen more than once someone pick out there scratch offs, give em a twenty, then say oh yeah and i need 6 dollars in gas.lol

 

[rynochop]

Does anybody here play these fantasy gambling sites like Fanduel or Draftkings?

 

[Tabascocat]

One of my wife's uncles had a serious gambling problem. It got so bad that he was always able to pay his losses and we live in a smaller rural area so there is not a lot of the bookies that are tough on people. They basically just quit taking his bets after he did not pay off his debt.

However one time he was at a stop light and someone hit his car. He stopped and got out of his car and was going to the other car to tell them he needed their insurance information and it was the bookie. The bookie said that he would not pay to fix his car, nor would he give his insurance information...he said, think of it as a pay off to the remainder of your debt and be lucky we did not make things worse for you.

I think that was the last time he gambled on sports.

Yea, betting on credit sinks more people than anything. That is why I used an off-shore account and sent the money beforehand.

My motto was to never bet more than I could afford to lose. Tried a local "credit" bookie a few times and never got a payout, I always owed because of chasing

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

When I did bet on football, and it was not a high dollar amounts by any means, I had one rule that I stuck with no matter what.

I never Bet on my Team. Cowboys in the NFL of course and WVU in college.

I learned that no matter what I tried I would always lose betting on or against either team.

So no matter what I would not bet on them.

Funny thing was my Father in law would ask me what I thought of a WVU or Cowboys game and I would give my opinion on what to bet...If he followed my advice he would win that bet UNLESS I would bet along with him lol.

So quit betting on those two teams.

Won some, lost more but never lost enough to hurt by any means.

Same if we would go out and play poker machines.

If I got a good amount of credits I would cash them out. After that I would put however much money I wanted to keep (always what I brought there at the very least so at worst I would go home even) in my back pocket and not touch that money.

Even if the wife would ask If I had any left to gamble I would give her some from my regular amount but never from the back pocket.

At the end of the night I would go home (if I had won enough to put in back pocket) with what I came in with.

I had seen too many times where She and/or her parents would rack up huge credit amounts only to turn around and put it right back into the machine and walk away with nothing....even if they cashed out they would eventually put it right back into the machine for the most part.

 

[Rockport]

'Its not gambling when you know you're going to win'

You're going to lose much much more than you're going to win or they will ban you.

 

[Tabascocat]

When I did bet on football, and it was not a high dollar amounts by any means, I had one rule that I stuck with no matter what.

I never Bet on my Team. Cowboys in the NFL of course and WVU in college.

I learned that no matter what I tried I would always lose betting on or against either team.

So no matter what I would not bet on them.

Funny thing was my Father in law would ask me what I thought of a WVU or Cowboys game and I would give my opinion on what to bet...If he followed my advice he would win that bet UNLESS I would bet along with him lol.

So quit betting on those two teams.

Won some, lost more but never lost enough to hurt by any means.

Same if we would go out and play poker machines.

If I got a good amount of credits I would cash them out. After that I would put however much money I wanted to keep (always what I brought there at the very least so at worst I would go home even) in my back pocket and not touch that money.

Even if the wife would ask If I had any left to gamble I would give her some from my regular amount but never from the back pocket.

At the end of the night I would go home (if I had won enough to put in back pocket) with what I came in with.

I had seen too many times where She and/or her parents would rack up huge credit amounts only to turn around and put it right back into the machine and walk away with nothing....even if they cashed out they would eventually put it right back into the machine for the most part.

That is rule #1.........never bet for or against your team!

 

[YosemiteSam]

'Its not gambling when you know you're going to win'

lol, a fool and his money are soon parted!

 

[rynochop]

That is rule #1.........never bet for or against your team!

I bet on the Boys once, they won but didnt cover, i was mad, and i felt dirty for it.ha

 

[BAZ]

My mother is a gambling addict that was threatened with being knee capped by a bookie when I was a kid, my uncle bailed her out and they stopped talking 20 years ago. She kept it maintained for a few years but eventually lost her house and her sanity, now she lives in a womans shelter. People will tell you drugs or alcohol are worse but that’s only because you can see the toll they take in the persons face, gambling will take everything from you.

 

[daschoo]

I work in a bookies, for the most part it's quite an enjoyable job. Fairly relaxed and spend most of the day watching and discussing sport. Main reason I am looking for a new job is the minority of people who come in who blatantly have issues with their gambling. It's not nice watching people lose their wage packet on virtual dog races or a horse race from Singapore.
Personally I enjoy putting a small stake accumulator bet on football and/or soccer or a scorecast if I'm going to a game but I rarely even bet a fiver a week which I'm not going to miss when I usually lose.

 

[Longboysfan]

I work in a bookies, for the most part it's quite an enjoyable job. Fairly relaxed and spend most of the day watching and discussing sport. Main reason I am looking for a new job is the minority of people who come in who blatantly have issues with their gambling. It's not nice watching people lose their wage packet on virtual dog races or a horse race from Singapore.
Personally I enjoy putting a small stake accumulator bet on football and/or soccer or a scorecast if I'm going to a game but I rarely even bet a fiver a week which I'm not going to miss when I usually lose.

Better to invest in your favorite Pint.

 

[burmafrd]

addictions are just excuses for the mentally weak.