Time magazine estimated that there are 8 million people in america that are compulsive gamblers one million of whom are teenagers. Many people set out to casinos for many different reason. Some just go for entertainment and the excitement of winning money adds to the thrill. Some also like the casinos for the rush of adrenaline and the risks of betting money on games.
For some this feeling can be seductive and alluring and for others it turns into there worst nightmare addiction. What better way to talk about this ongoing problem in america that to hear the truth by a former addict.
I am a 23 yr old male, I have a very low income and I also have one child who is 2 yrs old and also have a court order for child support. I never gambled when I was growing up and really didn’t have any thoughts of doing so in the future. I had met my best friend in high school who once said quote “I feel so bad about being the one who introduced you to gambling”. My first trip to the Casino wow how exciting. I had worked about 8 to 9 hours painting propane tanks all day long and made about 40 bucks or 50 bucks that day.
My friend asked if I would like to stop at the casino so I said sure. I played roulette first time there and I lost my money very quickly I was so upset that I felt that I need to get drunk to cope with losing all the money I earned that day. This being the first time there I had no urge to go back I lost money which I have not much so I cant afford to lose. While this was the first it was not nearly the last time.
Being around my best friend might have been the reason for developing this problem or definitely didn’t help. We began to start going frequently to the casino to try to make some extra cash. The lights and the noises its sounds of winning money could it be this easy. The answer well im sure u already know. Losing money began to become a habit for me that for some reason I didn’t have a problem with it. Not losing a lot of money but enough that it would add up and here and there would I win a couple times probably not even getting me even.
So while going to the casino was a very attracting place to try to win money. My friend discovered the wonderful world of online gambling. Not knowing about this at all I started observing him. Wow he was gambling online and u can win money this way he said. Introducing me to the game called No-limit Hold-em. A very fun game once learned but also very addictive.
While spending a lot of time over at my friends house I would spend many hours watching him play poker and there was times when he would win and times when he would lose. One day he asked would I like to try it out and ill just pay him back. Not really thinking about getting hooked on online poker I said sure. I played and I was even up for a bit but ended up losing oh well not to much money I said. But as the days went on I found out.
Wow, you can use credit cards for the gambling awesome I have credit cards I can play. Twenty dollars here fifty dollars there u get the point. I’m starting to rack up the debt on my credit card over a game that I obviously have no chance of winning. This wasn’t no game anymore it was addiction I had to play and when I lost I wanted what I lost back and would play to win it back only making matters worse.
While knowing that I have developed a slight addiction to gambling and the thoughts of winning money while never having it ran through my head. I started to realize when is it enough for me? Is this money that I win today enough to make me happy or will I just go and lose it all back tomorrow. Having my credit cards maxed out all basically from gambling. Is this how I want the rest of my life to be?
I started to question what I was doing with myself not only my financial problems may be because of the addiction of gambling but what about my health throughout all the rushes of adrenaline and late nights without sleep do to gambling online. I have prolly about $10,000 dollars in debt because of the gambling world. Wondering what I could have done with this money is a very disturbing thought. I believe I need this as much as anyone else. Why am I risking not only my life but the future of my sons over a game.
