Problem Gambling

Recently read this Article on Problem Gambling at the Las Vegas Sun website.

Quite interesting and thought provoking I'm sure most will agree.

I honestly don't believe I will ever fall into this kind of problem, since I am more of a "Gamer" than a "Gambler".

That isn't to say I can't understand how it could happen, I *do* get obsessed at times.

There are various humorous tee shirts about not having a drinking problem because you have no trouble falling down when you get drunk. Although we all know there can be greater consequences suffered by some people who bump their chins on a bar room footrail. We tend to view addictions in a varity of ways. Addicted to coffee, to alcohol, to heroin. Addicted to sex, addicted to fishing or golfing. Gambling addiction? There can be desperation: I sat next to a woman who was playing Blackjack (poorly) and who announced she didn't have money for the mortgage, yet the dealer kept right on dealing and nobody showed up with even a pamphlet for her. Somebody did however show up to take drink orders.

Its a behavior pattern displayed over time. Its hard to say "I was helpless" over a period of several months.

Are there genetic susceptibilities? Sure. To everything! Are gamblers particularly likely to be smokers? Well, thats a can of worms for another thread. Genes play a role. Hardly a primary role however.

Some people take heroin and get strung out. Some people take heroin for decades and simply enjoy it without it taking over their lives. There is more at play here than just genes, personality, alcohol and a willing casino.

Quote: FleaStiff

Are there genetic susceptibilities? Sure. To everything! Are gamblers particularly likely to be smokers? Well, thats a can of worms for another thread. Genes play a role. Hardly a primary role however.

Some people take heroin and get strung out. Some people take heroin for decades and simply enjoy it without it taking over their lives. There is more at play here than just genes, personality, alcohol and a willing casino.

Studies show that problem gamblers are 4 times more likely (24%) to suffer from a alcohol or drug problem than non problem gamblers. They also are about 4 times more likely to be suffering from another psychological condition.

There are lots of ways gamblers become addicts. Some people use gambling as an escape from their day to day problems. Others get hooked on the dopamine released when you win. Some people have self-esteem issues and feel a familiar feeling of loss when they lose. Others simply are stupid when it comes to odds and play looking to recoup losses that they had before and join a never-ending cycle.

Still, gambling addiction, although not as deadly as drug or alcohol addiction carries similar consequences, usually financial. Gamblers deeply in the hole can commit fraud to get more money to gamble. They will hide their losses from their loved ones. They will call in sick and go to the casino instead of working. They will frequent the casino and not tell friends and family where they are. In other words, the shame of losing and the need to gamble more will push people to the fringes of society and put some people at tremendous risk to lose everything.

I posted earlier about the risks of drinking when gambling. Believe me I would love to sit there sipping a beer or martini while I play but have learned that when I do I show a type of gambling bravado that I don't have when I am not drinking. This bravado leads to abondonment of ones gambling plan for the night(loss limits/win limits)--- the net effect being losing money.

I have noticed one psychological trait I have seen in many gamblers. It's that feeling we all have about not liking to lose. Some people though have it at a much higher level than most of us might. They feel its an affront to them personally if they lose and then we start to see them doubling and tripling up on bets after an initial loss which which has been proven to be a huge mistake. I have seen this at the craps table a number of times. Some people just feel somehow that losing shouldn't happen to them and they lose a ton of money then even feel remorse after a huge loss. Just some things I have noticed.
ZIPPEDUP

As a floor manager I've had to send people home for the day for many reasons: being drunk, being vocal, etc. But along the topic of problem gambling I submit to you the following stories:

One day I got a phone call when I was in the office that one of the Mini-Baccarat pits "smelled like sh*t". When I came out it indeed smelled very bad. I managed to figure out the offending lady. Even though our bathrooms are no more than a few yards away, she was in the middle of a really hot shoe and so she couldn't leave. Well I made sure she did.

Another story is similar except a female was wearing white pants that day and it was near the end of the month. I don't have to say more. She was one of our VIP players and refused to leave. We did give her some towels to cover up but come on.

Enjoy the rest of your meals.

Quote: RiverRock

One day I got a phone call when I was in the office that one of the Mini-Baccarat pits "smelled like sh*t". When I came out it indeed smelled very bad. I managed to figure out the offending lady. Even though our bathrooms are no more than a few yards away, she was in the middle of a really hot shoe and so she couldn't leave. Well I made sure she did.

Enjoy the rest of your meals.

Along this line, we noticed that there was an older guy (over 60) who stank at the craps table next to us. He would not leave the table through hours of playing. We figured that he was wearing a "diaper".

My brother was an addiction addict; if it was possible to be addicted to it, it happened to him. So much so that when he cleaned up (everything), he became a drug and alcohol counselor and did gang interventions. He actually became "addicted" to religion. (Not saying that as bad, just pointing out the similarity in his own particular devotions; our sister referred to him as a "dry drunk" because of his fervor in trying to get us to stop drinking completely. I drink a beer every month or so, she a glass of wine with dinner on Sundays.)

Anyhow, to the point; he wouldn't go on cruises or to Atlantic City, or anywhere where there were casinos; he couldn't. He went to a casino once, and bottomed out completely, lost every dime he could put his hands and credit and debit cards on. The way he described it to me was it was like he was on an insanity high; the lights, the bells, the hubbub, all the money... he said there was no amount of money that he could have won that would have made him stop. If he would have won a million, he would have bet a million. For him it was just like being on drugs.

And the point being, it's different for some of us. I can go to a casino and play $100 in penny slots, or $1000 at a $10 craps table, and leave when it stops being fun. But for others, it's not about win, or lose, or fun, or not fun, because the feeling they get isn't the same as "fun". For those people it's about being in a place where the brain goes into its "delight" circuitry, and it won't shut itself off and they don't want it to. He couldn't go near a casino, and had his own computer set up to block internet gambling sites (his wife held the keys).

I'm too chicken to play high limit tables for any game. I stick with $5 tables and usually only get higher than the minimum when I'm above my initial bank roll and am pressing bets. This will change once I get either the High-low or KO strategy memorized. Once I've hit double my money (I usually go to the Craps or BJ table and get $100 worth of reds)I'll walk away, unless the table is hot and I'll hang around until the next loss. Given there is usually only one BJ table open at any one time at the local place, I'll reluctantly play Video Poker with $20 until a spot opens up. This usually equates to me either getting up maybe $10-12 bucks and cashing out because I know it won't last, or hitting a long series of crap hands and losing the $20. Last night I was playing 5 quarters per hand, hit four aces and went up around $15 bucks and fled.

As nutty as this sounds, I'm too chicken not to play at least green action - if I hit a streak or a bonus, I'm like, "Damn! WHY did I drop down??!!" Also I hear myself say "double up - to catch up!" Especially with booze in my blood. I tell you, the damn drinks are not free. For every drink past the second one, the player will chase in 3 times as much. I plead guilty.

I don't FEEL the action unless the win is enought to pay an important bill, or even do some damage on a bad run.
If I triple my money, or hit a big payoff, I may come to my senses and may lock it in.
I cannot tell you how much I lost when I first came to this town, but it was ugly.
Since then, I don't gamble often, and I don't use any "quality of life" money when I do.
Also since then I got luckier, by taking things way slower.

As a dealer, there are times I really sees things, but I cannot say squat to any player. But, damn, do I think it: like -

"Run to the CAGE, asshole! You can pay the mortgage for months, GET UP TO DATE ON YOUR CREDIT CARDS PLUS spend two weeks in Thailand, curteousy of the casino. And new tires for the car! SO RUN, YOU IDIOT, before you kiss it goodbye!"
But Sure as shit, I often watch 'em chase it ALL back in, then they sit dumbfounded and confused, thinking "What the HELL just happened??!!"

A vegas right of passage....

Quote: RiverRock

Another story is similar except a female was wearing white pants that day and it was near the end of the month. I don't have to say more. She was one of our VIP players and refused to leave.

VIP simply means she already lost a lot of money and quite possibly an addicted gambler.
Sure she refused to leave a "hot" game.

Quote: Paigowdan

"Run to the CAGE, asshole! ... before you kiss it goodbye!"

I think I told this story already, but....

I saw a guy hit BIG at Roulette in Mohegan Sun. He had a bunch of chips on a number, as well as several on each of the splits and corners for that number. Plus a few spread out. His big number hit.

That one spin won him over $22K.

I told him to ask them to bring four $5K chips to stick in his pocket. It took forever to pay him off, I ended up walking away before it was done.

I go back around an hour later, and the table is empty, but has the same dealer.

I asked the dealer:
"That guy never bothered to ask for the $5K chips, right?"
"Right."
"HE gave it back, didn't he?"
"All of it."

I just shook my head and kept walking....

Gambling is a horrible addiction. It's part of the frailty of the human condition. Every loss generates more hurt, pain, suffering, and emotion than every gain. That's a scientific fact as well as every subsequent win generates less and less satisfaction if you keep your bets flat. This post reminds me of the one of our fellow members of this forum who reached out for some advice. Sometimes people need a big loss to put things in perspective and seek help. Sometimes, that loss never equates to hitting rock bottom and they perpetuate a cycle of falling.

I wonder if we can make a fair distinction between addicts and gamblers? If I would dare say, many of us here enjoy gambling a little or as I call it engaging in "recreational activities of statistical chance". But to be an addict implies something much more, a persistent obsessive behavior in which all logic and reason fail you. A recurring high in which judgement is impaired.

I've come to believe that many gamblers have rules in which they try their best to follow (we're human, keep in mind). But an addict lacks all rules, all sense of direction, and perspective. A gambler might only play the 8th position at a craps table while an addict will play any position. A gambler might have a hard call and walk away at a predetermined time while an addict loses all sense of time.

Is there a true cure for such addiction other than to quit entirely? I would suppose not. I remember a colleague who was addicted to liquor and one drink would lead to several bottles. The only way for him to be good to himself and his family was to quit entirely. A painful process with some setbacks but ultimately promising results.

in some ways a gambling addiction might be harder to quit, as I have seen alcoholics quit when they realized they were going to die [and seen others keep drinking because they didnt care if they died]. But a gambling addict isnt challenged in this way.

I can only relate it to my brother; if he'd bet until he won the entire casino, he would have bet the entire casino to win another casino. If he'd won the world, he would have gone double or nothing. It wasn't the winnings he was after, it was the thrill of the bet. It couldn't be satisfied, it demanded to be renewed, again and again.

I have to stop here and say something. I miss Jim terribly. He died last October, heart attack at 53. He packed one hell of a lot of living into his first 30 or so years, then sobered up in about 1988, then spent the last 21 years of his life as a drug and alcohol counselor in prisons. We raised some serious hell together in the '70s and early '80s. I straightened up before he did, but I was also never as bad. He basically killed himself with hard living, then lived another 21 years after that on sheer personality.

Anyhow, that came out of nowhere. He helped a lot of people after he straightened himself out. He did it by every single day refusing to engage in destructive behavior. I know that he wouldn't even take prescription drugs; one of the reasons he kept putting off bypass surgery was he didn't want to take the painkillers.

Quote: Mosca

I miss Jim terribly. He died last October, heart attack at 53.

Sorry for your loss. That was 21 years that he elected to have, heeding the warnings [sorry if presumption wrong]. Some just go on and die young. I swear I had a friend who wanted to commit suicide by driving, and did so barely in his twenties.