The signs of Gambling Addiction

You may have the signs of a gambling addiction and not really know it. After all your just having a little fun out and you seem to keep going back to the casino to have that fun out. Right? Why go anyplace else? The casino has everything right there for you. Free pop, coffee and tea. The food is great too! You can't beat the price for a good meal.

Boy do the casinos make it convenient for you to stay for a long stretch at a time. Don't they?

When I would go less often I did not notice if the same people were there from time to time. Now that I go as often as I do I spend a lot of time walking around and watching people gamble. I am able to spot the people that have a gambling addiction. They usually are by themselves and are oblivious to what is going on around them. They are focused on the slot machine and nothing else seems to matter. I have seen people that will sit at the same slot machine for hours putting in more and more money because they are sure that the machine is going to start paying off.

One late morning my sister picked me up to go to the casino to play the slots and to have lunch. We also had an appointment to get our nails done at the salon that is attached to the casino. When we walked in I noticed a man that I seem to see every time I go to the casino. He is one of the people that I think has a gambling addiction. He was sitting at a nickel slot machine. I noticed him because he was calling out to an attendant that he needed change. My sister and I played a few machines. Each time I walked by the one area I noticed the man playing the same machine. I decided to sit down by him. I asked him if he was winning when I sat down. He was so intent on pushing the buttons on the machine that he only grunted a response. I had a good spin and was able to cash out more than double my money. He just kept pushing the button and kept putting in twenty dollar bills.

After all he thinks he's going to win "the big one".

When my sister and I were having our nails done I asked the manicurist how long she had worked at the salon. She said for two months, that she had worked in the casino prior to the salon opening. She talked about people having a gambling addiction and how some of the older women wear adult diapers so they do not have to leave their machines to go to the restroom.

She said that there were many people that had lost everything due to their gambling addiction. When my sister and I left the man was still sitting and playing the same machine.

He just kept feeding the machine what it was designed to do. Accept any amount of money you wanted to give it and let you win a little (so keep on playing) and have you lose "A LOT".