theassiam

Anyone got any input as something that would help with gambling urges? Did the meetings and tried just about everything I've heard of to quit and no luck.

bigsombrero

I answered your other post. You should request the mods to merge the threads so that you can manage the responses.

ACT10Npack

Do you live close to a casino?

FeenixxRising

Do you engage in a specific type of gambling (cards, craps, online casinos, sports betting, horses)?

Are you chasing losses and going on tilt? That is, if you're losing, do you bet larger amounts in an attempt to win your money back?

Also, do you understand that there is no such thing as luck? Wining and losing are nothing but mathematical probabilities in action. There is no luck involved, there is no magic to gambling. For the most part the house has a built in mathematical advantage over the player on every single game*, and the house advantage will eventually assert itself, and you will lose in the long run.

For example, many standard casino slot games hold roughly 10% of all money bet. So if you're playing a slot at $3 a spin, and you can bet $3, 200 times in one hour, your expected loss is ($3x200 spins) x 10% = $60. In short, when playing that game, you have an expected loss of $60 per hour. That is a lot my friend, especially if you're playing many hours each week.

Tell me some of the games you play and I can give you some mathematical information pertaining to those games. When you see the actual dollar amount you will lose on average each hour, some of the scales may fall from your eyes.

* I said "for the most part" because there are games where skilled players can obtain an advantage over the house--card counting and sports betting are two examples. But it's almost certain the OP is not a skilled player.

bigsombrero

For me, gambling went hand in hand with my alcoholism. The diseases are very similar. My game of choice was sports, especially when I became unemployed. Bad combo. But when I quit drinking, the gambling went out the window also.

Are you a drinker?

What sort of problems are you having? Casinos, or sports/websites?

theassiam

Well thanks much for the replies. Yeah i have like 3 casinos near me in like a 5 mile distance. I've banded myself from all 3 but they don't enforce it. I'm a slot player and I'm pretty good at paying my bills but anything left over is stuffed down the machines. I know the odds of winning are against me but at this point in a weird way it ain't even about the money any more but the cheap high ya get from playing. I know I'm walking out a looser cause i can't leave till that last dollar is spent. It's the most destructive habit out there cause it can take everything from ya. I have a older brother with with problem too. He use to live in a $250,000 home and rent out about 15 others. He lost them all to gambling and is now renting. Yeah i like him am a drinker too though I don't think drinking for me leads to gambling since i rarely drink when i gamble. All I know is that's what's left of every pay check ends up in a slot machine.

I'm 53 single so called mom with 2 kids. I gave up custody for them to their dad like 3 1/2 years ago. My gambling was getting so out of hand and facing bankruptcy I didn't wanna take the kids down with me so thought they'd be better off with him. And yeah gotta say suicide was pretty much a daily thought. I've pretty much cut myself off from them and my whole family cause really don't know where my life is going. Guess things just got worse as far as the kids go. My boy developed schizophrenia to a severe degree and progressively got worse quick. He didn't tell anyone he was hearing voices and yeah listening to them led to him assaulting another boy with a knife to make the voices go away. Right now he's serving time in a state mental health institution and just turned 19. He was 15 when it happened. My girl didn't get along with her father and spent most of her time running from his place and doing drugs. Yeah guess maybe that ended on a better note in that now she's in foster treatment care for the last 2 years and is 16. Guess that's my life summed up short and sweet. I work 3rd shift and yeah if ya ever did the shift there ain't much fun in it. Guess I'm looking to see if there's a med out there that helps with these gambling urges cause kinda hanging by a thread I guess. I do online support with gamcare but guess I'm looking for something that works. Lol LOL LOL

Mirage74

Have you tried Gamblers Anonymous? I suspect the only solution to a gambling problem is total abstinence, similar to drinking. I doesn't sound like you can moderate. I don't think there is a magic pill that won't make you want to gamble.

theassiam

Yeah i did Ga but a small group of people that wanted to be there about as much as I did. Basically just read from pamphlets and no real life stuff.

Mirage74

Another suggestion I would have is to find a substitute for your love of slots. You say it's not about the money. I know you can play slots and other games online for free. But I suspect that wouldn't be as exciting, although it would be a lot better on your wallet.

theassiam

Ya I do the free slots on line after I loose at the casino. LOL play em for hours as i curse under my breathe. Seems if I just play the free ones for fun it just builds to the real thing and just try to avoid them totally

FeenixxRising

theassiam. This is something you can overcome, and you can get your life back on track. It will take hard work on your part though, so it's not something that will be easy.

I don't know of any medications that are marketed directly for gambling addiction, but there are medications designed for other conditions that are also used for gambling addiction (do a Google search on "medication gambling addiction).

I think you should also consider therapy. Some therapists specialize in gambling addiction.

You should consider talking to your Dr. about this. He/she may be able to help you develope a recovery program.

Bottom line, there is no magic pill that you can take that will stop you from gambling. I believe you will have to treat this like any other addiction and use a number of different recovery methods to overcome this problem.

ACT10Npack

Have you thought about moving to an other state that there is no gambling or just the state lottery? Having 3 caniso in a 5 mile area is not a good place for you. If the caniso are not enforcing the ban on you then you could have a lawsuit against them for it. I remember there was a case against a casino because the gramber had a problem but himself on the blacklist. They never enforce it after many time playing after and losing until he won millions and didn't want to pay. Meaning they took his money but wouldn't pay when he won.

kadidee

Hi theassiam, I'm sorry to hear of your troubles.

I was addicted to online gambling (cards). After I maxed out my credit cards and put them into debt consolidation, I started playing with my debit card (bill money) because I couldn't stop. I finally admitted to my family what had been going on after I lost my rent in January 2012 and quit for 7 weeks then relapsed. Lost my rent twice more, then I started going to GA meetings and that's what saved me.

It sounds like you haven't gotten much out of meetings due to the format, and I really hope that you can find another group in your area to attend. In the meetings I attended, there were a mix of oldtimers (some who had been fired or gone to jail for stealing) and newcomers. We shared and talked a lot. Hearing about others' urges/compulsions, the devastation that gambling caused, and recovery journeys pulled me out of the crazy merry-go-round. I didn't do the steps (nor was I pressured to)--it was more about solidarity and support.

Gambling is not about the money. We win big, we bet more. We lose big, we bet more to win it back. It's about the chase and being in the action. The hardest part is breaking the cycle, but the longer I got away from it, the more I saw how crazy it was making me. I used gambling to avoid things I didn't want to deal with, to avoid being alone with my thoughts.

I just googled meetings in your area and I found only 2, but maybe there's more? Also, if you've been attending GA for awhile, could you suggest to the moderator that you all spend some time sharing?

Just some thoughts. Wish you the best.

Uninvited

Have you tried this?

Wisconsin Council on Problem Gambling
1423 Kellogg Street
Green Bay, WI 54303
Tel: 920-437-8888
Fax: 920-437-8995
Helpline: 800-426-2535
Email: [email protected]
Website: Wisconsin Council on Problem Gambling Inc.

john44

Yep, me too. Now that I'm sober. I actually play the lottery for a couple bucks once in awhile with no compulsivity.

kadidee

I got kind of jealous when I read this, lol. Before I got addicted, I used to buy scratch off tickets once in a blue moon. When the flip switched, I gambled drunk or sober (but was much more reckless when drunk). They don't sell scratch offs in my state, so I'm not used to seeing them, but on a road trip last summer, I'd gone into a gas station for coffee and there they were, just starting at me from the checkout line. I could feel my heartbeat quicken and figured it wasn't a good idea to buy one, even that wasn't my DOC so to speak.

bigsombrero

As for moving to another state, I would imagine that with your children, job, and financial situation (among other things), that's probably not an option. Let's try and keep the advice here realistic and helpful.

I have some experience with overcoming this. My first day in alcohol rehab, I remember talking to a fellow alcoholic who asked if I knew the Olympic handball score between Latvia and Ukraine. Apparently he was betting on anything and everything he could. It just opened my eyes and I thought: "wow, that's me".

You have to stop, completely. Free slots are like non-alcoholic beer - a terrible solution. This needs to completely stop and total absitenence is the only way. I would say gamblers anon is your best bet. Take it seriously, this is your LIFE we are talking about here.

theassiam

Well once again thanks for all the replies. I did come across one med that's suppose to help with the gambling urges and had it prescribed by my doctor, It's more to fight alcoholism but some good things were said on it about gambling urges. Guess i started taking it a few days before I got paid and yeah didn't help much in that as usual made that bee line to the casino. So yeah quit taking it. Guess maybe I didn't give it a fair shake and maybe needs to be it the system a bit longer so started taking it again Thursday. As for moving to another state I guess I wouldn't even consider right now. The job I hold right now is pretty good in wage and benefits and be a very slim Chance of coming accross that else where. Guess i don't care for the hours all that much but the perks make up for it. As far as winning a jack pot while being banned it happened to me. Lol yeah hit for $1,600 and of course couldn't claim it. Of course they want your drivers license and social security number and told them I left it at home. They sent me off to go get it and yeah of course couldn't return. LOL LOL LOL yeah that one sucked but I wanna say the fine would of been more for me being there. Wanna say there's 2 places that have the ga meetings in town here and attended for a while but like I said no real life talk and just reading from pamphlets. Not overly big into the religion and just found it more of a torture treatment attending. I do go online to gamcare for support which I guess does help to a degree. Yeah playing the free slots differently adds fuel to the fire so try staying away from all that other than when i loose at the casino. Guess i found that the only place I can win is playing the free stuff. LOL yeah I'm in search of that magic pill and won't stop looking. Hopefully the one I'm taking now will be more in my system by the time I get paid again and be of more help. Guess i don't wanna say the name of it since I thought it said not to bring up names of prescriptions here. Once again thank you all for your thoughts.

FeenixxRising

I'm afraid you won't ever find a "magic pill" theassiam. Even with medication you will need to use a number of support methods to help you. I urge you to consider and use whatever is available. Gambling addiction is very serious.

EndGameNYC

You've arrived at a place in your life where choosing the torture of living a life that has virtually no purpose, no prospects for the future, and no way out trumps the torture of healing. In your own words.

You seem to have lost everything important in your life, and now you can't even collect your winnings from the very activity that's left you in a dead-end of a daily routine, the "payoff" of which is emotional, social and financial devastation.

I don't see any words in your comments that indicate you want to stop torturing yourself; only that you've resigned yourself to living a life that's empty even of emptiness.

Finding a new hobby, drinking chamomile tea, practicing yoga, moving to a different city and going to meetings are not going to help you. If you want to crawl out of the bottomless pit that now seems to be your life, you need intensive treatment for a variety of ills that seem to be feeding your denial...which is formidable.

People who don't want to stop, who don't want help, will find something wrong with every available treatment. Until they've lost everything.

You've got little else to lose, besides your life. How much more suffering are you willing to bear before you're done?