Am I addicted to gambling?

LegacyUser

I've started visiting a Casino more and more regularly after nights out. It's almost become a routine now after clubbing. It used to be go get chips after the club, now it seems to be go gambling. Don't get me wrong, I'm not down money by any means, tonight i'm up 500. I normally set myself a budget of 20/50/100 and stick to it but sometimes I come out of there feeling disgusted with myself. I have lost money there obviously in the past but I'm up 1000 over the last 3 weeks. I fear that it will become a necessary part of a night out now and I dont want it to be. I enjoy it but it's becoming a bit too regular when I'm after a few pints

Logical Fallacy

So stop going.

It's really that simple. If you decide you are going to stop and you do...you are obviously fine. If you decide you are going to stop and you can't then clearly you have an issue.

For what it's worth, gambling as a system works because of the lure of the win and the rush of the bet, but the simple fact is that over the long term you lose money. I'm sure you will have any people coming into this thread saying how much they won and blah, blah, blah but the simple fact is if everyone who gambled was winning then the gambling industry would have folded a long time ago.

whatsamsn

I did the same as you.. always used to go into the sporting empornium casino in town after a night out. Did this for most of 2009. I also worked in a casino for a few months in 2010.
So my advice is from two sides of the coin. Both someone who went there too much and someone who worked in a casino in north dublin.

In 2009 I started to realise I was just another stupid gambler. I was up to around 600 euro in july 2009. Thought it was great. Started to go there every week with friends, or ended up going on my own after a night out. By November 2009 I was -730euro. Most of which was spent trying to get it back. Stupid. I stopped going.


In april 2010 I worked in a casino. It opened my eyes even more.

You say you're up. Doesnt matter. The casino always gets it back. I seen someone loose 1000 euros in the time it took to have a cigerette.
People go on and on saying the casino has the advantage - they dont understand why that is.

The only thing I can gurantee you is that the 1000 you are currently up will go back to the casino if you continue to go. It'll start out small. loose 100-200 one night. Then another. Then you'll be chasing. It happens to everyone.

Mr. Loverman

It's only a problem if it's affecting your life in a negative way.

From the sounds of your post, and the fact that you came here to speak about it, it probably is a problem for you.

Try giving it up for a few weeks and see how you feel.

wylo

the second reply is right, you cannot win long run in the casino because the odds are against ALWAYS you , for every 4/1 bet your making you only 3/1 etc, its just not possible. For every 'evens' shot you have at the roulette there is a zero which means its not really evens. You WILL lose long run in the casino and thats a fact.

The only way to successfully gamble is become a good poker player, or study real real hard at a particular sport, give the horse/team/player a particular price and make sure when your betting your getting better than that price. Its called a value bet, that way you will win in the long run, and this is even very difficult given the fact that bookies dont give a fair price.

LegacyUser

Answer the following question on the gamblers anonymous website and see if you are an addict???

http://www.gamblersanonymous.ie/twenty_questions/twentyQuestions.html


If you are you may want to get help, if you aren't then I would recommend that you stop gambling now before you become an addict as it can destroy your life and the lives of those you love if it gets out of hand.