guys and gals, we're just getting started

Did you know, you are thirty percent more likely to have a gambling addiction today than back in 2020. It was not until 2018, when the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), or the Bradley Act was overturned. This legalized sports betting throughout the United States, in 2019, many states started legalizing online gaming. By 2021, nearly half the United States had legalized sports gambling and in person gambling at sportsbooks. As of today, August 24th, nearly eighty percent of the United States now has legalized sports gambling (insert exploding head emoji). Gambling addiction is at an all-time high. It is projected that 1-2 percent of the US population (~2 to 4 million adults) has a gambling addiction or will in their lifetime. Its even getting more younger now as some estimated 750K kids ages 14-21 have gambling problems as well. (https://www.addictions.com/gambling/5-alarming-gambling-addiction-statistics/#:~:text=Over%2080%20percent%20of%20American,21%20have%20a%20gambling%20addiction) Since most are underdiagnosed or do not admit they have an issue, could very much well be more than that. College aged kids are the most reported to have a gambling addiction with upwards of 75 percent of individuals between the ages of 20-30 

According to a recent study, roughly 1 in 4 Americans gamble on a daily basis. (https://www.sportsbettingreport.com/1-in-4-american-sports-bettors-gamble-daily/).  A fair majority of those problem gamblers bet more than half of their monthly take home pay. About 70 percent of gamblers (sports bettors) like it because it’s a fun hobby. While there are safe ways to gamble, we tend to not see it that way. The way our brain works while active in addiction, we crave more. The same way a drug addict reacts when they are using.  We need more to trick our brains into raising the levels of dopamine by way of trying to win more money. The more concerning issue is that 60 percent of them considered gambling as a source of extra income, which is not the right way to look at it especially being a game of chance. 

Gambling and specifically online gambling are more easily accessible today than it was even just five years ago. Once the PASPA was overturned, more and more online casinos, sportsbooks and online daily fantasy apps became very popular and started becoming used daily with the likes of Facebook, Instagram and X (formerly Twitter). For most of us problem sports gamblers, the sportsbooks were one of the first apps we looked at upon rising from our slumber. We would check the apps if our bets we placed in international sport leagues cashed. Sometimes that determined how our morning would go. Would we have a great morning or crappy? Depends, did the over 7.5 runs scored in the Hiroshima Toyo Carp/ Hokkaido Nippon- Ham Fighters game at 4:30am hit? If yes, great fucking start to the morning as we had money for later. No? WELL, WERE GOING TO HAVE A SHITTY MORNING. (Insert "sometimes maybe good, sometimes maybe shit" meme). You know you're in deep when you bet on some Nippon Professional Baseball (Japan baseball). We would check it periodically during the day, usually some sort of soccer game going on in Europe. If it was a Tuesday or Wednesday…sometimes a Monday, or Friday, there would be Premier League Soccer on midday. "Let’s throw some money on o2.5 goals in Arsenal vs Tottenham" we say, rationalizing both teams could score…only to lose by one goal since it ended in some 1-1 fucking tie. Then, It would be the last apps we looked at during the night before heading off to bed. Checking for more action so we can try to win back that money we lost during the morning and early afternoon. If this is/ was you, please call/text 1-800-GAMBLER now. It is only going to get worse from here.  

  

Please enjoy this photo of Zinnia. I love this photo (and love and miss her greatly) because of what the amazon box says “Future you says thanks” If we do not place a bet today, go to the casino, avoid buying scratch off tickets or buying lottery tickets, we are one day from recovering from our addictions and can try looking to a better future for ourselves, family, friends and others who are a part of our long recovery journey. 

 IT GETS BETTER. One day at a time.

My advice for those who want to change: 

• Delete the sportsbook apps.
• Forever, do not re-download
• Self-exclude yourself. 
• Asking a gambling venue to exclude you from the venue or a gambling activity offered by the venue.
• Lifetime ban, if not the maximum years
• If you have a loved one, they will be affected by it in some way, come clean to them what you are doing. If it gets pushed back and not talked about, It could be worse in the future. 
• Gambling addiction is one of the most secretive addictions out there, stop hiding from your loved one and tell them EVERYTHING
• Attend a GA meeting (online or in person)
• https://gamblersanonymous.org/ga/
• Find a therapist that specializes in addiction. 
• Make better habits
• Hit the gym
• Watch what youre feeding your mind 
• Nutrition
• Social media
• Books 
• YT videos
• Read books
• Learn about the gambling addiction 

• When you learn enough and change your mindset, you will eventually understand why you started in the first place. There are often underlying issues that contribute to gambling addiction.

• If sports gambling is the main culprit, STOP WATCHING SPORTS 
• Watching sports for us compulsive sports bettors is the gateway drug.
• Delete all sports apps 
• Unfollow all sports teams and fan pages from social media 
• Give control of your finances to a trusted person 
• For gamblers, seeing money in a bank account could increase the risk of gambling, thinking we could turn that $100 in the account to $1k is not the right mindset to have.
• If you have a line of credit, cut up your credit cards, close the accounts.

Houston, we have a (gambling) problem

Have you ever lied to a loved one about how much you were gambling or how much money and time you wasted? Weeellllll (to the tune of you might be a redneck) you might have a gambling problem. While we're in the midst of our use, we do not realize how bad our actions are or who we're hurting by doing so. We lie because we become ashamed of our using and do not want to hurt our loved ones any more than we already have. On the outside we seem like we have it all together, but on the inside we’re broken. We got used to doing so it became second nature to us. We continued medicating ourselves that way because our brains are wired in a way that whenever there is a minor inconvenience or we are stressed out after a long day, we wanted to gamble to try and get away from reality. Escape gamblers use this as a coping mechanism to escape from physical or emotional pain, which can include stress, depression, anxiety or boredom. They tend to play "luck" games such as slot machines or the lottery. There is really no thinking when it comes to this type of gambling. (https://www.algamus.org/blog/subtypes-gamblingdisorder#:~:text=Escape%20gamblers%20gamble%20as%20a,%2C%20lottery%2C%20or%20Keno%20machines.) Once we make the decision to recover from this illness, we need to look deep within ourselves first to figure out what was the real issue. We should be prioritizing our mental health first and foremost. If not, we may be more prone to relapse because the issue(s) we were running away from was not addressed properly. We will never recoup the money and time lost from this poor habit, but the only thing we can do is accept what we did, and find more productive ways to spend our time. 

 

Have you ever taken out personal loans to pay off credit cards, then used those credit cards to source your gambling addiction? Weeellll, you might have a gambling problem. We kept thinking "oh, I just deposit $500 now, win a few bets, then use that money to pay back my credit card or personal loan debts". BUT THAT NEVER HAPPENS. IT RARELY HAPPENS IN FACT.  What happens next? You lose all that money and deposit another $500 because you blew through it so fast. Now you're down $1k… continuing to chase the losses. All you’re doing by chasing losses is digging a deeper hole to come out of. We started chasing losses because we thought we could hit the huge jackpot we saw other gamblers post about on X (twitter) or IG. It seemed like every Sunday during the 2022 NFL season, one bettor had some sort of parlay that always came down to the Sunday or Monday night games. We all did the same thing; wish we were in that person’s shoes because there were always astronomical odds to win some astronomical amount of money. We kept chasing that "high" feeling thinking that could be us one day. But what happened instead? Kept throwing out stupid bets that would've never happened. How dumb! All for what? To get retweeted by some X page and maybe noticed by other degenerate gamblers? How stupid and a waste of time! 

 

Did you ever have dreams or spent all day thinking about gambling? Weeellll you might have a gambling problem. In the three years I have been a compulsive gambler, I had one too many dreams about placing bets, and winning a large sum of money. But that’s all it was, a dream. When I was not gambling, I was thinking about my next bet. Thinking about what games would be on at night, if I should take a certain player prop bet for the night as my “lock” of the night. Certain dreams can be interpreted differently. Dreaming about gambling can symbolize our ability to take risks. I mean, you are taking a huge chance with money, either going to win some of it, or lose it all. In most cases, losing it all is what happens. THE HOUSE ALWAYS WINS. Fear is another reason for dreaming about gambling. The fear of losing something of much value, or not having the ability to control an outcome can lead to dreams of gambling. If this is you, please consider taking a step back from gambling before it ruins your life further. The good thing once you are in recovery or practice abstinence from gambling, the dreaming and thinking about gambling subside, and you spend more time putting that energy into more productive habits and long-term goals (like creating blogs to get the word out on problem gambling). 

 

In the last three years, I did all these and then some. Did I think it was an issue at the time? No. In fact, I did not really think it was bad until I decided to abstain from it and get help. Being in recovery helped me look at who I was while in use and decide that’s not how I want to live the rest of my life being attached to this poor habit. Sure, there are ways to practice responsible gambling but to anyone with an addictive nature, they will get triggered in some way and go overboard with it. If you have any of these issues and more, please call 1-800-Gambler and get the help you need today. 

 

It gets better. One day at a time.

 

1. https://www.mdproblemgambling.com/warning-signs/

 

My advice for those who want to change:

• Delete the sportsbook apps.

• Forever, do not re-download

• Self-exclude yourself. 

• Asking a gambling venue to exclude you from the venue or a gambling activity offered by the venue.

• Lifetime ban, if not the maximum years

• If you have a loved one, they will be affected by it in some way, come clean to them what you are doing. If it gets pushed back and not talked about, It could be worse in the future. 

• Gambling addiction is one of the most secretive addictions out there, stop hiding from your loved one and tell them EVERYTHING

• Attend a GA meeting (online or in person)

• https://gamblersanonymous.org/ga/

• Find a therapist that specializes in addiction. 

• Make better habits

• Hit the gym

• Watch what youre feeding your mind 

• Nutrition

• Social media

• Books 

• YT videos

• Read books

• Learn about the gambling addiction 

• When you learn enough and change your mindset, you will eventually understand why you started in the first place. There are often underlying issues that contribute to gambling addiction.

 

• If sports gambling is the main culprit, STOP WATCHING SPORTS 

• Watching sports for us compulsive sports bettors is the gateway drug.

• Delete all sports apps 

• Unfollow all sports teams and fan pages from social media 

• Give control of your finances to a trusted person 

• For gamblers, seeing money in a bank account could increase the risk of gambling, thinking we could turn that $100 in the account to $1k is not the right mindset to have.

• If you have a line of credit, cut up your credit cards, close the accounts.

 

My Story as a compulsive gambler

Hello, my name is Geoff, and I am a compulsive gambler and my last bet was May 7th, 2023. My "drug" of choice was sports betting. I started gambling late 2020 - 2021 after seeing so many commercials and ads about sportsbooks. I enjoyed watching sports and figured why not watch and try to win some money while watching. It took the fun out of watching sports enough that to this day, I cannot watch sports or look at scores anymore. Every time I saw a post online or a score of some game, I started getting urges. At the time, I did not think this would be a problem, gamble a few bucks here and there, nothing excessive. But that’s how any addiction starts. I started during the NBA finals bubble, this then led to American football, soccer, tennis and other sports later in 2021. I was living at home with my mom, sister and girlfriend at the time and working full time in a field that we were considered essential, so I thought I had money, even though I should have been saving it for the future. I did not think my betting would amount to much and I would be able to control myself. NEWSFLASH: I could not control myself. I let the compulsive behavior take control and went way overboard. I was using (gambling) upwards of 5-6x weekly, hours at a time, before and after work. There were days I would stay up late or wake up early to watch or follow games overseas. While in my heavy usage time, of course I did not see that as a problem but in retrospect, I considered myself a degenerate gambler. 

During this time, I was applying to a professional program, while working 10-12 hours a day. I brought work home with me most days and felt, not quite burnt out, but fried. I applied for 3 cycles and got denied by all six programs each cycle. An outright denial. I kept it in and just said "eh, there is always next year". Deep down, I was sad and upset which eventually led to depression. I seemed fine on the outside, always had a smile on my face, pushed all worries away and did not think about my problems. On the inside, the total opposite. I felt miserable, dejected and discouraged, my life was over because all my dreams, everything I worked for the last 10 + years went down the drain. During that time, I felt the only thing I wanted to do when I got home was sit down on the couch, put on whatever sport was on during that time and just gamble. Trying to win any amount of money possible would make me happy because it meant I would have more money to gamble later. As a compulsive gambler, my favorite bet was always the next one because of the possibility of it winning and being the one that put me on top. The curses of being an optimist (we'll talk more about optimism and how it relates to gambling in a later blog). It was never like that, and I eventually continued to chase my losses. 

During my heavier use, I started to bet well above my means, this led to more chasing. I chased long enough to get into insurmountable debt. Enough debt, I was considering filing for bankruptcy.  Eventually, I let the depression take over me. I just kept doing what I thought at the time was going to give me some kind of joy, seeing green check marks when I won a bet (not often). To the gambling brain, that was our happy place. Whenever we saw a green check mark next to our bets or at a casino’s sportsbook, placing a check next to a bet ticket, it increased the amount of dopamine in our brains and of course, we thought we could win more. So, what did we do? We increased our wager and bet more, thinking we had a hot hand. But in the end, the sportsbook won, they always win. That should be the first rule for anyone who is currently gambling whether it be at a casino or online, THE HOUSE ALWAYS WINS. When you learn that, getting away from this horrible habit makes it easier. 

My biggest regret in life was hiding my illness from the woman I loved the most, my best friend. She knew I gambled but not to the extent I was using. When she asked, I always hid the amount because I was ashamed and did not want her to think less of me. I hid more than that. I hid how I felt from being denied, rejected, unwished for, unwelcomed, not wanted. Maybe had I talked with her how I was feeling and how I was medicating that illness, things would be different? Instead, I froze, said I do not know what I plan to do and just let it go. THAT’S NOT THE WAY TO HANDLE THIS KIND OF ISSUE. I wanted her to think I knew what I was doing. The last thing I wanted was for her to worry about our future. She eventually left me, which can be seen both ways (good and bad). If we were still together, would I have told myself I have a problem and need to change it? Maybe, but maybe not. Losing her and our cat was my rock bottom. But rock bottom does not always have to be a bad thing. When we hit rock bottom we give over our control of hopelessness and helplessness and realize we have a problem that needs to be fixed. Eventually we try to dig ourselves out of the rubble that we have against our back and try to move forward being a better person. Not everyone hits rock bottom. Most will continue to medicate themselves with the same issues thinking it is not a bad thing. DO NOT BE THAT PERSON! If you need to, allow yourself to hit rock bottom, dust yourself off, give yourself a few days or weeks, then make some goals and crush them.

 

If your situation is or was like mine, talk to your partner. Tell them what Is going on in your mind, devise a plan on how you are going to control your life. This might be the biggest fight you will ever have in your relationship but if they still want to be there by your side, make a change for the better, for yourself, and your future. If they do not choose you, life is not over. Move on. Get better. Make better choices. Build better habits. Put in work daily to get to a place in life you feel content and want to live. 

If you have debt, work with a financial advisor or financial coach to see how you can attack this debt head on and regain control of your finances. Worse case, file for bankruptcy and start with a clean slate. (Not a financial guide, please talk to financial experts on these cases). 

My aim in creating this blog site is to help get the word out on gambling addiction and problem gambling. I plan on posting blogs MWFs starting end of August, beginning of September, on a wide variety of topics regarding problem gambling. My target audience with this blog site is those that know they have a problem and are willing to work on making the necessary changes to give themselves a better life. The idea behind “Winning Daily” came from a youtube comment i saw while watching a Ted Talk on gambling addiction “the day you quit, is the day you start winning”. As of today, I am 99 days sober and plan to never look back.

  IT GETS BETTER. One day at a time.

My advice for those who want to change: 

• Delete the sportsbook apps.

• Forever, do not re-download

• Self-exclude yourself. 

• Asking a gambling venue to exclude you from the venue or a gambling activity offered by the venue.

• Lifetime ban, if not the maximum years

• If you have a loved one, they will be affected by it in some way, come clean to them what you are doing. If it gets pushed back and not talked about, It could be worse in the future. 

• Gambling addiction is one of the most secretive addictions out there, stop hiding from your loved one and tell them EVERYTHING

• Attend a GA meeting (online or in person)

• https://gamblersanonymous.org/ga/

• Find a therapist that specializes in addiction. 

• Therapy was honestly one of the best things i started doing, getting professional help is one of the strongest things any person can do to want to get better in life

• Make better habits

• Hit the gym

• Watch what you're feeding your mind 

• Nutrition

• Social media

• Books 

• YT videos

• Read books

• Learn about the gambling addiction 

• When you learn enough and change your mindset, you will eventually understand why you started in the first place. There are often underlying issues that contribute to gambling addiction.

• If sports gambling is the main culprit, STOP WATCHING SPORTS 

• Watching sports for us compulsive sports bettors is the gateway drug.

• Delete all sports apps 

• Unfollow all sports teams and fan pages from social media 

• Give control of your finances to a trusted person 

• For gamblers, seeing money in a bank account could increase the risk of gambling, thinking we could turn that $100 in the account to $1k is not the right mindset to have.

• If you have a line of credit, cut up your credit cards, close the accounts.