May 2, 2006
NEWSAddicts lose more than money
Gambling addiction is a reality for many people. For some it’s poker, others like roulette, some people bet on sports. Gambling addictions can have serious effects on people’s personal lives.
Gambling does not only happen at casinos, although that is where most of it takes place. If gamblers can not make it out to their local casino, there is an alternative that has been around for a while. Online gambling is an easy, more efficient way to gamble money on either sports, roulette, bingo, blackjack or poker to name a few.
“I prefer sports gambling more than any other type of online gambling,” said ASU student Ryan Reker. “I logon to sportsbook.com almost everyday to see if there are any changes in the numbers. The website is pretty big right now with over one million users.”
Reker doesn’t believe gambling has interfered with his personal life.
“Most of the people in my life don’t even know about it and those who do don’t really care. They might tease me and call me an addict but it has not gotten that serious yet,” Reker said.
Addiction can be described as a compulsive need. An addict will do whatever he or she has to do to fulfill that desire. What starts out as a pleasurable experience turns into an uncontrollable, destructive craving. Jessica, who wishes to keep her last name anonymous, is an administrative assistant at the Toby House in Phoenix. The Toby House is a residential facility for mentally-ill patients. One patient that they have been working closely with has a gambling addiction. His addiction cost him his family, his career and almost his life.
“This man would commit heinous crimes just so he would have money to gamble with,” Jessica said. “He would lie to his friends and family about where he was going and why he was always broke. He became aware that his addiction was taking over his life but there was no way for him to stop on his own. That’s why he came to us.”
According to Jessica some of the signs of gambling addictions are “time loss from school and work, unhappy home life, feeling of remorse after gambling, gambling to escape worry or trouble and difficulty sleeping among others.”
Brian Goalder spends most of his free time and even takes days of work to hit up the casino.
“I get on this kick where all I want to do is gamble,” Goalder said. “That’s all I can think about and once I get to a casino I feel like something has been lifted off my shoulders.” Goalder’s gambling addiction has caused problems with his live-in girlfriend.
“She won’t go with me anymore because of how I can get when I’m in the middle of a game,” Goalder said. “If I come home a loser she knows it right away and leaves to go to her parent’s house for the night.”
“All it takes to become addicted is to go to wherever your gambling source is and win one time,” Jessica said. “After that initial visit, you get the impulse to keep going back time after time because you think you might win again and again, and that next time you hit, you might make it big.”
There are ways to get help for those who either have an addiction to gambling or know someone who does. The Phoenix hotline for gambling addiction is (602) 266-9784.
Volume 43, Issue 14. Today is
“All it takes to
become addicted is to go to wherever your gambling source is and win one time.”
photo by Amanda Smith