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Gambling Addiction Quotes

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Gambling Addiction Quotes

“The gamblers lose and are remorseful. The non-gamblers are consoled in the mistaken belief that the gambling is only intermittent and thus accept any promise made to never gamble again. Months pass between gambling episodes. Most of the time, however, there is ongoing gambling which remains hidden from view.”

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Book:GAMES COMPULSIVE GAMBLERS and WE PLAY Second Edition
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“In the third stage of gambling, the illness escalates and exerts an even stronger pull on the gambler. Family relationships deteriorate, friends are gone, emotions are strained, and finances are ruined. Life becomes meaningless and the players proceed down the pathway to the complete destruction of one another.”

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Book:GAMES COMPULSIVE GAMBLERS and WE PLAY Second Edition
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“Are we doing for the gamblers what they must do for themselves? Are we accepting behavior that is unacceptable? Are we taking responsibility which is not ours to take? Are we shirking our responsibilities to self and others? Are we in a state of denial about the reality of our situation? Are we continually reacting to the gamblers, or are we taking our own appropriate actions?”

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Book:GAMES COMPULSIVE GAMBLERS and WE PLAY Second Edition
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“The gamblers may make statements such as: "If you weren't always nagging me and making life miserable, I wouldn't need to gamble." "You know how hard I work and you begrudge me my hobby." "If you were a better spouse... " "If you didn't spend so much I wouldn't need to gamble." "If you hadn't made me so angry, I wouldn't have had to leave the house to calm down." "Sitting at the computer is the only way I can relax after one of your stupid fights." "If you paid more attention to me, I wouldn't gamble."   Usually, the accusations are much more subtle and more difficult to deal with.”

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Book:GAMES COMPULSIVE GAMBLERS and WE PLAY Second Edition
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“[The non-gamblers] can’t help but wonder if they could have stopped the gamblers from gambling if only they had done or said something differently. The fact is that whether or not the non-gamblers continue to play this game and join in the argument created by the gamblers, the gamblers get to gamble.”

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Book:GAMES COMPULSIVE GAMBLERS and WE PLAY Second Edition
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“If my husband ever felt guilt, he never showed it. I always felt guilty. My efforts to stop him from gambling or change his horrible behavior always ended up with me apologizing for making him angry, or not trusting him, or making him feel inadequate as a person and as a provider for his family.”

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Book:GAMES COMPULSIVE GAMBLERS and WE PLAY Second Edition
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“My gambler put blame on me for any problem that might occur. This kept me tripping over myself to prove that I was a good person and blameless. These "blame sessions" never really ended; they just moved on to the next time my gambler had the opportunity to indulge his need to take the focus off his gambling behavior.”

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Book:GAMES COMPULSIVE GAMBLERS and WE PLAY Second Edition
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“Sunday was my husband's day to do what he wanted, when he wanted to do it. All he wanted to do was watch sports while changing channels constantly, listen to the radio and make phone calls. When I asked him to go with the children and me to the park or to someone's house, he yelled that he works hard all week and I am begrudging him his only hobby. He never gave that up to spend the day with us.”

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Book:GAMES COMPULSIVE GAMBLERS and WE PLAY Second Edition
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“The gamblers always seem to be submerged in one serious financial or emotional crisis after another. Sometimes the crisis endangers the family's lifestyle or assets and sometimes it affects only the gamblers' quality of life. Regardless, the non-gamblers often make the unhealthy choice of not allowing the gamblers to experience their own crises and instead proceed to find ways to fix the situation. The behaviors shown by the non-gamblers may include:   Co-signing notes; Lying to creditors and employers; Asking family members for money; Making restitution for bad checks written by the gambler; Making excuses for the gambler; Paying the gamblers' debts; Compromising their own credit; Doing whatever is necessary to keep the gamblers out of jail; Making life more manageable for the gamblers.”

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Book:GAMES COMPULSIVE GAMBLERS and WE PLAY Second Edition
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“I was standing in the way of my gambler's recovery by treating his symptoms with bailouts and sympathy, taking on his responsibilities and softening his consequences. He couldn't feel how bad his illness was because I was helping him numb the pain it caused him.”

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Book:GAMES COMPULSIVE GAMBLERS and WE PLAY Second Edition
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“My husband lied to me about why we needed money and in turn I lied to my father about why we needed money. My father took out a bank loan to give us the money and gave the payment book to my husband. When my husband missed a payment, I lied to my father, telling him that I forgot to pay it.”

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Book:GAMES COMPULSIVE GAMBLERS and WE PLAY Second Edition
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“The non-gamblers come to believe that the gamblers are not capable of better social conversation, better social interaction, or involvement in worthy pursuits. They may attribute this to reasons that have nothing to do with gambling, such as exhaustion from work, bad childhood experiences, lack of confidence, etc. The unacceptable behavior becomes the norm in this environment, and the non-gamblers settle into believing the gamblers are ‘incapable’ rather than ‘ill.”

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Book:GAMES COMPULSIVE GAMBLERS and WE PLAY Second Edition
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“My aunt remarked to me how silent my husband always seemed to be. He never participated in dinner discussions and often retreated into the bedroom when the family was together. Once in recovery he emerged as a man with the ability to join in conversation and not run off to his private world. I had come to believe he was incapable of socializing. I came to understand that retreat was what he did as a gambler.”

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Book:GAMES COMPULSIVE GAMBLERS and WE PLAY Second Edition
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“Even in the face of current losses, the gamblers are convinced that the next bet will result in a win so huge that all debts will be paid, and there will be money left over to buy that house, or take the family on vacation, or buy the new car.”

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Book:GAMES COMPULSIVE GAMBLERS and WE PLAY Second Edition
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“Years after my husband stopped gambling he was speaking at a combined GA/Gam-Anon meeting. He mentioned the time he phoned me after he left the racetrack to tell me that he won and I was going to be able to buy the new winter coat I needed. I never received that call. The fantasy he created that night was so real that years later he remembered it as if it really happened.”

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Book:GAMES COMPULSIVE GAMBLERS and WE PLAY Second Edition
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“Gamblers hide the compulsive gambling so well that the non-gamblers are unaware of it. They may be aware of recreational, affordable gambling, but have no idea that the gambling has gone beyond that. The gamblers use access to family funds, business funds, credit lines and credit cards to gamble and use the love and trust of non-gamblers to their advantage.”

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Book:GAMES COMPULSIVE GAMBLERS and WE PLAY Second Edition
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“The gamblers calculate exactly how much time spent with family and friends, how much loving attention given to them, and how much money spent on and with them will be enough and not draw awareness to the time, attention and money that is being withheld.”

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Book:GAMES COMPULSIVE GAMBLERS and WE PLAY Second Edition
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“As the tobacco industry knew with its lectures to high schoolers informing them that smoking is only for adults, the best way to ensure young people are interested in doing something is to tell them they are not allowed to do it.”

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Book:Losing Big: America's Reckless Bet on Sports Gambling
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“If a business sells alcohol to someone who is clearly intoxicated, and that person commits personal or property damage, the business that sold them the booze can be held partly liable. These laws place the onus on suppliers to ensure their customers behave safely and to remove any incentive to overserve someone in pursuit of profit. Levant asks why sportsbooks should not be partly liable if they allow someone with an obvious gambling problem to continue betting and that person commits a financial crime to keep up their habit.”

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Book:Losing Big: America's Reckless Bet on Sports Gambling
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“Who determines exactly what a high-risk bettor looks like? What will happen when their account is flagged? How restrictive will the limits on young bettors be? The efficacy of the programs will depend on the answers to these questions and the degree to which companies are willing to make decisions that hurt their bottom line.”

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Book:Losing Big: America's Reckless Bet on Sports Gambling
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“If any aspect of the sports gambling boom has inspired a backlash, it is not rising rates of problem gambling, industry lobbying, or the athletes banned for gambling. It is the advertising. Everyone hates ads, after all. But the sudden rise of sports betting ads seems to have inspired a special kind of rancor and regulatory pushback. Frustration with sports betting ads relates in no small part to their sheer quantity, with around 1.5 million television advertisements in 2023. In polls, 47 percent of Americans—and nearly 60 percent of sports fans—agreed that there were too many ads. Just 10 percent disagreed. As late-night television host Conan O’Brien tweeted, “I haven’t seen an online sports betting ad in almost 7 minutes. Am I dead?”

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Book:Losing Big: America's Reckless Bet on Sports Gambling
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“The industry’s goal has been to cultivate a second-screen experience. Companies want gamblers to get into the habit of keeping their sportsbook app open while they watch a game, with betting an expected part of the sports viewing experience. Many ads, then, show betting app interfaces on phones or feature someone holding their cell phone while watching a game, modeling the behavior sportsbooks want to inculcate.”

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Book:Losing Big: America's Reckless Bet on Sports Gambling
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“Sportsbook logos are emblazoned everywhere, from billboards to trash cans to sports arenas. At Fenway Park, a half mile from PHAI’s office, the historic Green Monster left field wall is adorned with a BetMGM logo, and DraftKings and Fanatics logos are visible from home plate. These ads ensure that branding for all three companies is visible throughout the game, not just during the commercial breaks. Sports media companies, too, are invariably sponsored by sportsbooks, if they do not have a sportsbook of their own, with gambling content integrated into news and analysis. Ads are just as easy to find online, with 2.1 million digital advertising units in 2023, according to the AGA. Many of these are on social media, where for some people gambling is inescapable. Numerous bettors described feeds inundated with gambling influencers, both paid advertisements and so-called gambling influencers touting their expert picks and big parlay wins. The algorithm is relentless, picking up on the fact that someone is interested in betting content and serving them a steady diet of it. This situation is especially challenging if someone wants to take a break from gambling, as it can prove difficult to reprogram the algorithm entirely.”

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Book:Losing Big: America's Reckless Bet on Sports Gambling
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“On TV and online, companies have turned to celebrity spokespeople to help normalize sports gambling. On the surface, the selection of spokesmen and they are almost all men may seem unconventional: comedian and actor Kevin Hart for DraftKings, actor and singer Jamie Foxx for BetMGM, and actor and comedian J. B. Smoove for Caesars. After all, none have any post-secondary athletic credentials. The former DraftKings employee believes these spokesmen were chosen to make sports betting feel accessible to casual fans, rather than someone already obsessed with sports or gambling.”

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Book:Losing Big: America's Reckless Bet on Sports Gambling
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“While sportsbooks contract with their fair share of athletes from active players like LeBron James to recent retirees like Rob Gronkowski to old-timers like Charles Barkley they select actors and comedians in an attempt to strike a broader appeal. It likely comes as no coincidence that Hart, Smoove, and Foxx and many of the former athletes are Black. African Americans are more likely to have a sports betting account, more likely to check their account at least daily, and twice as likely to say they typically bet more than $100.”

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Book:Losing Big: America's Reckless Bet on Sports Gambling
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“Tonko introduced the Betting on Our Future Act, which proposes a ban on sports betting ads on television, radio, and the internet. The bill is intentionally modeled on the 1969 legislation that prohibited most cigarette advertising. It comes in response to what Tonko called “a public health crisis” created by “predatory promotions.” By offering generous bonuses and so-called “risk free” or “no sweat” bets, Tonko alleged, the industry is seeking to “hook and retain a new generation.” “Instead of Joe Camel, now we’ve replaced that with celebrity spokespeople.”

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Book:Losing Big: America's Reckless Bet on Sports Gambling
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“In April 2021, forty-year-old Luke Ashton died by suicide after sinking £18,000 into debt, primarily through gambling with Betfair, a part of Flutter. Ashton had utilized numerous RG [Responsible Gaming] tools, including self-exclusion and deposit limits. But in the ten weeks prior to his death, he ramped up his gambling. In March 2021, he made 1,229 bets and deposited £2,500 into his account. Ashton received eight generic RG emails from Betfair, whose algorithm labeled him “low risk” for problem gambling. In a landmark move, the coroner listed gambling disorder as a cause of death, noted that RG tools are “inadequate” for protecting gamblers, and castigated the company for not adopting practices that would meaningfully prevent harm.”

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Book:Losing Big: America's Reckless Bet on Sports Gambling
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“The SAFE Bet Act would reenact a ban on sports betting but create a process whereby states can apply to the Department of Justice to set up sports betting operations, offering federal oversight to ensure states have sufficient consumer protection regulations in place. The “minimum federal standards” called for in the bill fall across three categories. First, advertising, banning certain ad content such as bonus offers and placing limits on when gambling ads can run, including during live sporting events. Second, affordability, banning credit card deposits, requiring affordability checks for anyone making a large wager, and banning sportsbooks from accepting more than five deposits from a customer over a twenty-four-hour period. Third, artificial intelligence, banning the use of AI to track players’ gambling or create individualized promotions.”

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Book:Losing Big: America's Reckless Bet on Sports Gambling
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“In 2022, a New York Times investigation uncovered at least eight campuses that had reached partnerships with gambling companies, including the University of Colorado Boulder, where every download of the PointsBet app using the university’s promotional code netted the school $30 after the customer placed their first bet.”

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Book:Losing Big: America's Reckless Bet on Sports Gambling
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“Gambling companies had promised sports betting as a tax revenue bonanza and by converting players from the illegal market, a product that would do little to reshape the total amount spent on gambling. “We’re starting to see policymakers start to really push back on all of the false promises that they were once sold,” Brianne Doura-Schawohl explained.”

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Book:Losing Big: America's Reckless Bet on Sports Gambling
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“The first lawsuits against tobacco companies by smokers were filed in the 1950s, but the industry maintained an undefeated record in these cases for four decades. The opioid crisis began in the 1990s but took until the mid-2010s to gain national media and political attention, and a similar (albeit shorter) lag plagued lawmakers’ response to fentanyl. The Senate’s passage of the Kids Online Safety Act sponsored by Richard Blumenthal in 2024 came only after a leak of incriminating Facebook files and years of warnings about the deleterious effect of social media on young people’s mental health. Federal action on sports gambling regulation will likely face a similarly protracted timeline.”

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Book:Losing Big: America's Reckless Bet on Sports Gambling
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“By recognizing that unsafe gambling is not simply a matter of personal irresponsibility, sportsbooks could transform themselves into sustainable businesses that protect public health. Every day they choose not to do so brings them a day closer to reckoning.”

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Book:Losing Big: America's Reckless Bet on Sports Gambling
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“Too many young people and some not-so-young people are getting caught up in gambling without understanding how easy it is to get carried away or to become addicted. Some of these people likely would have run into trouble gambling anyway—a curious fact about American problem gambling is that rates have generally remained consistent for decades, even as states have expanded the menu of legal betting options. But many people like Kyle, only started betting because it was legal and, more importantly, because it was available on their cell phone.”

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Book:Losing Big: America's Reckless Bet on Sports Gambling
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“The question is not how to totally denormalize sports betting such that putting $5 on the Cubs becomes socially or legally unacceptable. The question is how to normalize safe betting practices and, more importantly, to put a system in place that prevents unsafe practices from developing in the first place.”

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Book:Losing Big: America's Reckless Bet on Sports Gambling
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“The classification of gambling as an addictive activity means that at some point, problem gamblers are not choosing to gamble. The road to addiction is smoothed for them by sportsbooks. The design of the app interfaces, the nonstop stream of betting options, the relentless advertising, and the auspiciously timed bonus offers all serve to keep people like Kyle engaged, maximizing their “customer lifetime value,” the industry’s holy grail metric dating back to the days of DFS. If sportsbooks have smoothed bettors’ paths to heavy losses and gambling disorder, then states have smoothed sportsbooks’ paths to products that let them do so.”

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Book:Losing Big: America's Reckless Bet on Sports Gambling
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“Executives and spokespeople constantly argue that offshore, illegal sportsbooks do not have to comply with any regulations or pay any taxes. But legal sportsbooks should be held to a higher standard than illegal operators.”

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Book:Losing Big: America's Reckless Bet on Sports Gambling
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