Addiction - or just a gambler?

[Mousey]

Jenn, the others have spoken well, and I won't repeat them... My only advice is to go here http://www.casinomeister.com/quit_gambling.php and actually read it. Don't browse or skim the page, read every bit of that advice. Then go to the links at the bottom and read some more. Be honest with yourself and carefully consider what you're reading.

If you need us, we're here. If you need to leave, opt out, quit gambling entirely, then we'll support you in that, also.

((hugs)) and good luck.

[Reine__0]

Based on your story, it's quite rude to you to escape from those things you usually do. On my way of thinking, you are just a gambler. Not so considered as casino addict.

Thanks!

[EasyRhino]

jenn, sounds like it's negatively affecting your life. Consider it a problem.

There might be an underlying cause... but it's probably just a plain ol gambling problem.

[winbig]

Originally Posted by Reine__0

Not so considered as casino addict.

Thanks!

Did you miss the part about:

It was after that that I began to gamble more. So much more that the line of credit I opened to get me through school was maxed out 2 months before I was done. Credit card, same story. I worked my way through school, and that money disappeared, too.

[Jufo]

Originally Posted by tofu23

Substitute the 'gambling' with ..............winning. Up above NextToYou mentioned he/she was a professional gambler and implicitly a winning gambler. I DO NOT mean you need to become a professional gambler in a poker player sense. I mean you can easily make bonus play an integral part of your online gambling profile - and you need not lose another $1 for the rest of your life.

But if person has a potential gambling problem, then I don't think that even edge derived by using bonuses will save him/her in the end. Bonus hustling requires self-discipline and being in control of risk and reward. Problem gambler would have difficulties playing these bonuses in efficient manner.

[SlotMonster]

Please read this post, I hope it will help you:

http://www.casinomeister.com/forums/...tml#post252006

[vinylweatherman]

Originally Posted by jenn1381

So, I've been struggling with the concept of addiction lately. I have been gambling since I was 12 years old. My friend's grandma would take us both to bingo, buy our cards, and if we won we'd give her half. One of us would almost always win, never a lot, usually $20 or so. I also played scratch cards, as long as I had the money for them someone in my family would buy them for me.

On my 18th birthday I went to the casino for the first time (we lived in Alberta then, and 18 was the legal age) and I loved it! I was certainly hooked and loved going. I was a smart gambler, though. I never gambled more than I could afford, and I had a strict rule that if I doubled my money, I quit.

Then, I found online gambling. I'd say I was around 19 or 20, but I didn't really start wagering my own money until a year or two after that. I started off doing really well, with the same strategy I used at B&M's. Bet low, double my money, and quit. I'm now 27, and probably over the past year or two I have noticed a difference in my gambling strategy.

I have been in school for the past 11 months. It has been a difficult thing for me to do, and the school has not been without its issues - we switched teachers 4 times for various reasons, and my stress level went thru the roof. Then, my beloved grandmother died, suddenly and very unexpectedly. It was after that that I began to gamble more. So much more that the line of credit I opened to get me through school was maxed out 2 months before I was done. Credit card, same story. I worked my way through school, and that money disappeared, too.

Now that I am finished school, I have a lot of extra time. It used to be that when I was at home I had homework or studying to do. Now, I am bored and finding the urge to gamble pretty strong, although I do not have the financial means to do so. The fact that I feel the NEED to gamble is what has prompted this post. I respect a lot of you and while I tend to hide in the backround, I feel I know a lot of you just from reading your posts. I trust that if you tell me I have a problem, that I probably do. All the extra time I have really leaves me with a lot of time to think as well. I am so proud of myself for getting thru school and graduating with honors, but I am so not proud of how I handled my finances! I am smarter than that, and I am now way more in debt than I should be.

Could it be an addiction in the making? Or am I just a gambler? Gamblers love to play, right? Any thoughts? Don't hold back, if I didn't want to know, I wouldn't have asked.

This looks like a borderline issue. Some people get too much stress and "hit the bottle", and some go and "hit the slots".

Making a profit by going "profesional" is no answer. Poker provides a path to riches and fame for the select few with talent, but a whole ocean of "fish" is needed to feed this.
Profiting with bonuses may still be possible, but there has been a huge unpsurge in "confiscated winnings" where players have been deemed "too clever" by casinos.

FOR NOW, the Kasino King method seems to be "under the radar" of many casinos, yet he has been bonus banned from a couple. The KK method requires iron discipline, do you have it - I certainly don't

I am far too likely to get 2 out of 3 right,

1) Hit big and set a floor - and actually CASH OUT.
2) Start moving portions out of my eWallet for non-gambling purposes.
3) Sadly, goes a bit pear shaped at times, although I try a different casino, I can still play as though I just hit big again, rather than starting off low.

The only good thing is that I have gained 4 years worth of knowledge about how the games and software works, and damn well know what NOT to do with an SUB - so I never end up with confiscated winnings, and the stress of having to fight a case.

The ONLY casino on record to have "confiscated" anything from me was Crystal Palace, and it was only from a free chip - so they didn't get a fight, they just got a "shove it up your corporate a**es" email instead, and they never "spammed" me again

[zebedy]

this may help you to find out,


TWENTY QUESTIONS
1.Did you ever lose time from work or school due to gambling?
2.Has gambling ever made your home life unhappy?
3.Did gambling affect your reputation?
4.Have you ever felt remorse after gambling?
5.Did you ever gamble to get money with which to pay debts or otherwise solve financial difficulties?
6.Did gambling cause a decrease in your ambition or efficiency?
7.After losing did you feel you must return as soon as possible and win back your losses?
8.After a win did you have a strong urge to return and win more?
9.Did you often gamble until your last dollar was gone?
10.Did you ever borrow to finance your gambling?
11.Have you ever sold anything to finance gambling?
12.Were you reluctant to use "gambling money" for normal expenditures?
13.Did gambling make you careless of the welfare of yourself or your family?
14.Did you ever gamble longer than you had planned?
15.Have you ever gambled to escape worry, trouble, boredom or loneliness?
16.Have you ever committed, or considered committing, an illegal act to finance gambling?
17.Did gambling cause you to have difficulty in sleeping?
18.Do arguments, disappointments or frustrations create within you an urge to gamble?
19.Did you ever have an urge to celebrate any good fortune by a few hours of gambling?
20.Have you ever considered self destruction or suicide as a result of your gambling?

Most compulsive gamblers will answer yes to at least seven of these questions.

[GrandMaster]

Originally Posted by zebedy

Most compulsive gamblers will answer yes to at least seven of these questions.

There is a big fallacy here. Most compulsive gamblers will also answer yes to the question "Do you drink a glass of water most days?". To have some validity, they should calculate the conditional probability of your being a compulsive gambler if you answer yes to a certain number of questions.

[zebedy]

Originally Posted by GrandMaster

There is a big fallacy here. Most compulsive gamblers will also answer yes to the questions "Do you drink a glass of water most days?". To have some validity, they should calculate the conditional probability of your being a compulsive gambler if you answer yes to a certain number of questions.

your probably right .i should have posted that i copied and pasted it from ,
http://www.gamblersanonymous.org/20questions.html and to get a true picture to see if your addicted you should read the whole site,