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Video Poker; An Easy Addiction for the Disabled
You’re disabled and home most of the day. You are looking for something to do to pass your time. T.V. just isn’t cutting it any longer. So you start experimenting with other forms of entertainment and you start spending more and more time on our computer connected to the Internet. You have too many morals for Internet Porn. Besides, that simply is not for you. A friend tells you to try video poker on your computer. The friend gives you the web address for free video poker online. From that one video poker site, you start exploring and you find multiple sites that offer free video poker. The variety of games is fun. You start off by playing a half an hour at a time and within a couple of months, you are now playing video poker and listening to music hours a day. You are feeling pretty good for a while. Gradually over time, the thrill of hitting a video poker Royal Flush and not getting compensated monetarily is starting to wane. You have reached a level of tolerance for that adrenaline rush that you get when you get a big hit. The time has come when you need more. You don’t know what to do because you swore to yourself that free video poker was all that you were ever going to play. You swore that you would never open up an actual online account with one of these sites because “common now!” you are not a gambler. You can’t understand why the urge to open an account to play video poker and start playing for money is so strong. Why you can’t stop thinking about it all day. You think, “I know, I’ll stay away from video poker for a couple of days and I will be fine.” Days later, you are still feeling this urge. You can’t go near your computer without the urge becoming stronger and stronger. Finally, you give in. You justify your decision by convincing yourself that you will only play quarters. You open an online account. The online casino is gracious enough to give you a free trial of $20. What the heck, you open the account with your credit card for $100. You swear up and down that when and if you ever loose that $100 that you will stop immediately. You will be OK you keep telling yourself. Its just video poker. You didn’t stop and think how vulnerable you are, being disabled, at home and on a fixed income. You need to get your adrenaline rush somehow and video poker is it. At least for now! You begin to play. You win some and you loose some. Initially, you are breaking even and you think to yourself that this is great. You can get entertainment for virtually nothing and still get great excitement. You don’t realize it but you are being sucked in. Video poker has bee called the Crack Cocaine of gambling. Weeks have gone by and you have won and lost but overall, you are still in good shape. The dollar and a quarter that you are betting on every hand of video poker is getting boring. You are not really winning or loosing. You figure that you will up your bet and play $.50 video poker. So now it costs you $2.50 a hand. You are at the computer longer and longer during the day, hoping that you will get that big hit. The Royal Flush that is worth $2000! “Just one more hand, just one more hand you keep telling yourself” as you are now loosing $2-300 per day. You didn't see this coming because it has been happening slowly. Over a long period of time. Your credit card is becoming maxed out. You had a realization of how much money that you have lost over these months or years and you are scared. You then become somewhat desperate because you want; no need to win your money back. How can you justify this to your spouse, kids or yourself? You have kept your loosing from them. Simply, you can’t! The person in this story is about to spiral into a frenzied world of gambling addiction. I hope you realized by the above illustration that gambling and especially gambling with video poker slowly sucks you in. It doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time. However, when it takes hold of you, run, don’t walk for help. I have spoken to individuals who have lost their marriages, jobs, house, savings, essentially their lives from simply starting out playing video poker. Be careful! Researchers say gambling addictions are the same as alcohol and drug addictions. Video Poker addicts become preoccupied with their activity. Video Poker addicts bet in increasing amounts and often trying unsuccessfully to quit as their lives unravel. The following website, http://www.addictionrecov.org/qandagam.htm asks the question; is there one type of gambling that is more addictive than others? The answer is; “Video poker and slot machines have been referred to as the "crack cocaine of gambling." Because of their immediate and effective reinforcement schedules, problem gamblers who regularly play these machines appear to progress into pathological gambling much faster than problem gamblers who only gamble at horse races, or other games that do not have such an immediate rate of gratification. Just as crack cocaine referred to as the "great precipitator" shortened the length of time between first use of cocaine and chronic addiction, so too have video poker and slot machines apparently reduced the length of time between first wager and pathological gambling. In the past, a gambler would experience 15 to 25 years of "sick" gambling at the horse track before he or she reached the desperation phase. Today, it is not uncommon for a gambler addicted to slot or video-poker machines to progress into the desperation phase in two or three years.” So what is problem gambler? According to the National Council on Problem Gambling, http://www.ncpgambling.org/ ” Problem gambling is gambling behavior which causes disruptions in any major area of life: psychological, physical, social or vocational. The term "Problem Gambling" includes, but is not limited to, the condition known as "Pathological", or "Compulsive" Gambling, a progressive addiction characterized by increasing preoccupation with gambling, a need to bet more money more frequently, restlessness or irritability when attempting to stop, "chasing" losses, and loss of control manifested by continuation of the gambling behavior in spite of mounting, serious, negative consequences.” Also, according to the Council, almost 3 million Americans meet the criteria yearly for pathological gambling. 10 Questions About Gambling Behavior (adapted from the Council’s website) 1. You
have often gambled longer than you had planned. If you or someone you know answers “Yes” to any of these questions, consider seeking assistance from a professional regarding this gambling behavior by calling the National Problem Gambling HelpLine Network (800.522.4700) toll free and confidential throughout the U.S. All we can say her is to be careful. Video poker addiction is real. It creeps up on you slowly but surely. Do not take playing it for granted because it will eat you alive. If you do think that you have a problem, please seek help and get your life back. It's
easy to get addicted to things that bring us pleasure. Learn about the ref="http://www.projectknow.com/gambling/history-statistics.html
history
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