Originally Posted by
Sloppy Joe
I've always thought that a genuine gambling addiction would be super hard to overcome.
At least drug addicts feel physically better after going through detox. I imagine gambling addicts go through serious cycles of depression when not in action or while in rehab. Obviously no excuse for behavior but still. No wonder recidivism is so high among degenerate gamblers.
Pretty wild to brazenly roll someone so brutally
On a personal note I saw some of this happen to me. During the last two NFL seasons I have crushed it. I just havent lost. I lost one game and went 18-1-1. I didnt really share on forum how much I was betting but toward the end it was a lot and therefore I was winning a lot. I was smart about it and didnt fire too hard in the pits or do anything else really stupid. I think the dumbest thing I did was make some crazy UFC bets and lost of few of those.
However, I got a really good glimpse into how a brain addicted to gambling works. My own.
I usually stay 3 days max in Vegas. There are many reasons for this but mostly it is because of the excessive drinking, I got shit to do etc etc. However, I noticed that about half way through last season when I would get home I would be in a super shitty mood for a few days after I got back. I had just kicked Vegas' ass for the 7th time in a row that season and I was feeling like crap. At first, I kind of shrugged it off as I had just drank too much and my body was not happy. However, it continued for the rest of the season. I would win alot of money in Vegas, get back, and feel shitty for the next 3 days.I finally figured out what was going on. My brain had gotten so use to those feel good chemicals that come with winning that when I would get back home there was nothing to produce those same effects. I was actually going through a withdrawal that to me resembled cocaine withdrawal.
I have this theory that when you are gambling with money you care about most people will be forced to go through some withdrawal. It is the act of losing. So lets say you get on a heater and win a bunch of money. You then either go home or lose it back. When you lose it back you feel like shit/stupid and that in a way I think kind of resets your brain. If you go home after you win, the rush was short lived and probably doenst have any long term effect. The difference was I was not losing, so all i would get is feel good chemicals and never bad feelings that come with losing.
Luckily for me, I was able to recognize what was going on with my brain chemistry. Also, after 3 days I was forcefully withdrawn from the environment (via Southwest flight back home). This shitty feeling I had was all short lived and the longest depression probably lasted a week. But I got a really good glimpse of the gambling addiction progression and what it felt like. It also made me realize that if you are surrounded by it, and cant spot it, you will fall just as hard a drug addict. Maybe not physically but mentally you get destroyed. Your fate is turning into a zombie and being a slave to one of those shit hole casinos on a strip. You will just going through the motions hoping to hit a jackpot so you can do it all over again.
Btw, I am sure there are people that can win all day long, for a long period of time, and not feel any kind of negative symptoms. I think it also depends on how you approach it. For example, Billy Walters treats it like a business whereas Stu Ungar just fired non stop on anything.