With the ongoing and seemingly endless global recession, people who are down on their luck are looking for a way to increase their income and many are looking to gambling to increase their bank accounts. Nobody’s luck can be all bad, right? After losing their jobs, homes and even families a lot of people are more than willing to bet their last dollar on a vast longshot. The problem with this is that they are throwing good money at bad, and when the last dollar is bet the real problems start rearing their ugly heads.
Five signs that you may be a problem gambler;
- Do you gamble in order to be able to afford something? Many people have lost their life-long career jobs in recent years due to recessionary times, and in that same timeframe the number of online casinos, poker sites and real, live casinos has mushroomed. When people do not have money, they dream of having more than they do, and then they start buying lottery tickets, visiting the local casino or gambling online and playing poker online with the hopes of hitting it big and just end up losing their grocery money and maxing out their credit cards.
- Do you gamble because you are bored? When there is nothing much to do, the weather outside is lousy with rain and cold winds, and your friends are all busy do you gamble to pass the time? If so, then you are a problem gambler and should either seek help or try to stop yourself. Casinos, either online or live have exclusionary rules where patrons can sign up and then not be allowed into the casino in the future. Being able to admit that you have a gambling problem is the first step, but the second step is actually doing something about it.
- Do you gamble because you have lost money? Gambling is generally a losing proposition, that’s why there are so many ritzy casinos, online casinos and poker sites popping up on the landscape and the Internet lately. With global recessions, so many people have lost jobs and can no longer live up to the lifestyle that they have become accustomed to and there will always be someone waiting in the wings promising great chances of winning large sums of money.
- Do you gamble because you know someone who has won? There is always the exception to the rule, and there are a fair number of people who gamble for a living, and fare quite well doing so. For every Super Jackpot there must be at least one winner, whether it is on a slot machine or a lottery ticket. Yes, you do have to buy a ticket to win, but the odds of winning are so miniscule that only the people who are already wealthy can really afford to gamble full time.
- Do you lose when you gamble? If you answer yes to this then you are either a bad gambler or a problem gambler. Gambling is a problem, and losing a lot of money in a short period of time can cause a lot of psychological problems.
There is probably one successful gambler for every ten thousand that consider themselves to be gamblers, and if you happen to be one of these people then great and good for you. But if you lose more than you win you are a problem gambler and should seek help immediately, before you lose your job, your car, your sanity, your home and your family.
