The Addiction Help .com

Is this a fair assessment/assumption of mentality based on another "Best" answer to a poker machine addiction question? Where you read "smoking" think "gambling".
--------------------------------------------
Smoking is not an addiction. It's a lack of self control. An irresponsible smoker chooses to squander money on cigarettes. Suing cigarette makers would be like suing Ford if you crash your car. Or suing Jack Daniels for being an alcoholic.

Cigarettes exist legally, there is no need for the cigarette industry to be held accountable; it's not their fault. Just like it's not Pizza Hut's fault if I eat pizza every day and get fat.

While the situation may be sad for those involved, the answer is not to try and place the blame elsewhere. The smoker involved needs to take personal responsibility for what is going on, and not try to pretend that these cigarettes have some magical addictive power that leaves smokers powerless to resist.

Addiction is an interesting word. Overused, misused and misunderstood. There are many groups whose very existence are financially dependent (yes, addicted) to saving others from an addiction. Oh, the irony.

It's OK and chic to be addicted to coffee ($5 for a cup of coffee), but HORRORS if someone spends $4.00 for a pack of cigarettes or plunks 40 quarters in a slot machine.

I do not wish to diminish true gambling addictions, which exist, and have ruined lives and families. But frankly, I'm tired of whole INDUSTRIES being started by people more interested in creating the world to their likeness, and making a profit as icing on the cake.

2007-04-23 05:02:47 by ycoidi

Gambling isn#39;t a problem when you consistently win... right?

Australia holds the highest number of poker machines/slot machines in the world. Do you know anyone or yourself have a gambling problem and how bad has it affected you?

I'm 25 and i have had a gambling problem for 3 years now. I had lots of money and travelled alot, lots of freinds and stuff. Now i'm heavily in debt, very few friends left and have an never ending feeling of stress. Sometimes i blow the rent and food money, leaving me in a bad state of affairs.

Well, certainly seek some help my friend.

2009-05-01 06:30:40 by Steve

I am a compulsive gambler addicted to casino poker machines for more than 13 years now. Consequently, my husband and my children left me. I had been living in a dormitory trying to find work but always I end up going back to the casino to gamble in a few minutes what took me a month to earn. Wanting to recover the millions of pesos I lost in gambling, I tried to chase my losses by playing bigger and bigger. I embezzelled company funds by erasing checks and writing pay to cash so I can encash them, I borrowed from bank using fictitious name, I defrauded many people, I stole money and things from laptop, cellphone to jewelries, I got jewelries from a store on consignment and issued unfunded checks for them and then pawned them so I can have gambling money. Now I want to die from shame, guilt and fear of being put to jail. I am held back by my fear of hell. But sometimes I think that hell is just a fiction so I might succeed in getting done my suicidal thoughts one of these days.

You need to seek professional treatment as soon as you can. It is great that you are open to people speaking into your life. Keep that up. Once you're willing to admit and address the problem, your life will start to change for the better. There is nothing worth ending your life for, because I know that everything can be overcome. Call the National Counsel on Problem Gambling at 1-800-522-4700. It is a confidential 24 hour help line that will help you find a GOOD counselor in your area. Please call and give it a chance.

2007-10-02 22:22:44 by Tess T

Price: $23.95

Seems like a 15 minute overview of probability and statistics would cure anyone. No one can win if they play long enough, especially games of pure luck like slot machines. Have there been many math geniuses who are addicted to slot machines?
i'm serious here, people need help.
All BRILLIANT answers -thank you!
you are so right. So is gambling as bad as doing any other drug - Hey it destroys lives and your $ is your lifeblood so...
Extra snuggle points for any reference to a gambling mathematician (other than card counters)

Professional poker player Barry Greenstein once studied for a Ph. D in math but never finished it. Bill Chen, also a professional poker player, completed a Ph. D in math at UC Berkeley.

If you mean pit games, no I can't think of any examples.

2008-02-12 13:58:15 by blinky doodles

my mother is a compulsive gambler. she can go gambling 12-20 hours straight. she always tell me that she know what she is doing. Everytime she goes to the casino Im always worried of how much she will be loosing since we do not have a liquid funding. She is not contented with one slot machine but more. She have been borrowing money from the financiers. Once I caught her lie to me that she is not in the casino. I want to talk to her but my worries is that in this process my family will be broken and my mother will be mad at my wife since most of the information I have came from wife because her family goes to the casino also for fun but not addicted to gambling.They are concerned with my moms addiction t gambling. please help me

This is a tough one, I haven't dealt with gambling addiction with anyone I know but I've had a great deal of experience when it comes to other addictions and there's a lot of parallels between any two addictions.

First thing I'll tell you is that by your fear of intervening and confronting her about it you are enabling your mother to continue her active addiction without realizing that something is wrong.

Secondly, and this is an unfortunate truth, there is very little you can do to change her, if you confronting her directly doesn't work. The change has to come from her.

This however doesn't mean that there's nothing you can do yourself, I strongly suggest that you go and attend Gamanon meetings. Gamanon is a fellowship program for the families, friends & those affected by compulsive gamblers. You will find a lot of support there and will learn how to deal with the impact her addiction has on your life.

I've attached links to Gamanon below, as well as links to Gamblers Anonymous (and other related sites) which is the fellowship your mother optimally should be attending. However, don't expect to be able to force or convince her into going there and equally don't just dismiss Gamanon for yourself because she's the one with the addiction - be honest to yourself and admit what an impact her addiction is having on your life.

She'll come around once she hits rock bottom, if your very lucky that might be achieved when you confront her, but more than likely it'll take some time. I wish you a lot of strength for the difficult time ahead and hope you make use of support networks like Gamanon.

Regards,

-CP-

2008-07-16 16:09:56 by 1021