It seems like we all love our games. And that’s great. But what makes you a gambling lover versus a gambling addict? At what point do you need to stop and say “I have a problem”? I don’t think I’m an addict at all, but it makes me wonder what really is an addict.

You have a problem when gambling drives your life. If you cannot stay out of the casino for a week, if you cannot stop gambling even though you have no money or if you are spending the rent money, or your bill money in the casino, then yes, you have a problem.

It’s like any other addiction.  Many of us have an occasional drink or even get drunk but that doesn’t make us alcoholics.  When you begin to need the alcohol is when it crosses the line.  When you for whatever reason need the thrill of gambling, that’s when it becomes and addiction.

When you are borrowing money from friends because you don’t have money to gamble with then you are an addict. If you are spending money on gambling rather than buying groceries for you or your children then you are an addict. It’s that feeling of I’ll play just one more hand because I know that that hand will be the winner and if I walk away now someone else will win my money that makes you an addict.

Gambling is actually a serious addiction. Often, our first gambling experience is a win, but for others who lost it for the first time was not particularly pleasant. I know an old friend who began to gradually gamble longer and with more money to spend, then her character changed. Her obsession with gambling grew. She began to gamble longer with her monetary losses increased, because she couldn’t stop gambling until it was all gone. Her financial problems put her in trouble, there were times that I helped her pull through but I couldn’t help her financially because she would use them again for gambling.
Now that person is a gambling addict. She couldn’t get enough of it.

There are some times when I find myself not wanting to stop and… I go broke, so I may have a minor gambling addiction, but it’s not crazily serious. I mean, after a while, even I know when to stop. This is a serious matter though as people can fall into serious debt, and that’s honestly not too good. :\

I know when to stop, and that’s one thing I pride myself on when gambling. Not a lot of people have self control, but I do.

Self control is a big thing when it comes to anything that you could become addicted to. You have to make a decision of when it’s time to stop. Stop before you send your child’s college fund into oblivion. That’s a scary thought, but it has happened to a lot of people.

I don’t believe in gambling addiction.  There must be a physical component to be called an addiction.  What they call gambling addiction is a manifestation of either immaturity, selfishness or a mental disorder of some kind.  They call everything an addiction these days but that doesn’t mean that it’s accurate.

I know a man who lost his job because of taking too much time off work to go visit the casino regularly. He lost his house, his car and his family. He had no money to buy food - yet he would go to the casino hoping for one big win to make it all better. He doesn’t believe he has a problem

Too much of anything is also bad, and that includes sex. Same with gambling. It was supposed to be treated as a leisure game, sort of ‘to entertain you” thing. What happened to some people was the lack of what they call - “responsible gambling”.

I think it’s really sad to see a great person who loves to play some games turn into an obsessive addict. It’s such a shame and it only takes the smallest nudge to push some people completely over the line.

Well I love gambling and I can’t suppress the urge of gambling whenever I come across a casino. But I have preplanned strategies and stop losses which often save me from loosing bigtime!

I can control myself most of the time, but sometimes I feel like I have to keep going. Thanks to my friends, they have stopped me on a little bit of a gambling rampage.

My friend Chelsea had a really bad addiction for a while, but we managed to get her some help and she’s better now and not in as much debt.

I think you become an ‘addict’ when you are spending more money then you had set aside for such activities, or spending money you don’t have.

Addiction is must for winning. I am completely addicted to gambling and have made lots of money. Today I have a swimming pool, an audi, international sized snooker table. I can hire entire stadium so that my child’s team can play football or baseball.