It is hard to witness the destruction of a friend and his family as a result of an addiction. It is a dependent feeling. Hopefully, by sharing this story with you, you joker123 will be able to help a friend or loved one avoid this road to self destruction.
This friend, let’s call him Gary, enjoyed interacting with his friends on a Thursday night for an evening of playing pool. It seems innocent enough when he decided that we should all play for groups. We all thought that this would make the game more fun and competitive, which it did.
Gary loved to win. The bigger the pot the bigger the celebration. Little did I know that this was the beginning of his casino addiction.
You see, casino individuals experience the same rush as a crack addict. That rush is created when they win. They start to understand crave that feeling to the point where it rules every awakening moment.
Next we learned that Gary was skipping the pool games so that he could go to the local Indian casino where he enjoyed playing poker. We stopped getting together on the weekends. I saw Gary less and less. I later learned that Gary had taken to playing poker online each night in front of his computer drinking and placing online gambling bets.
Is it no surprise that soon Gary’s business was in trouble. He was disregarding his customers and his revenue was dropping. His creditors were calling. His wife couldn’t stand the tension. She left him.
These are the classic signs of a casino addict. The casino becomes a compulsion that defies sense and rational thought. The gambler seeks the casino high whatever it takes. His or her life is ruined through the destruction of personal relationships and the burden of increasing debt.
I hope that you share this article with any person you think may be suffering from a casino addiction. It may help them avoid the road to self-destruction. There are many self-help groups available and qualified therapists are willing to help. In fact, many casinos will have a 24 hour casino addiction hotline available if you ask.