How to Identify and overcome gambling addiction
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ROCKFORD, Ill. (WIFR) - Gambling has always been popular, but with sports season kicking off the number of players only increases.
“No one could have told me I had an addiction. They may have told me, but it wouldn’t have mattered,” said “Amy” a woman who has asked to remain anonymous as she is a recovered gambler.
“Amy’s” addiction started more than 20 years ago until she hit rock bottom forcing her to face her own demons.
“I was taking money and I was not paying my bills. I was not paying my mortgage,” Amy recalls.
She says a big win fed her addiction but that big win feeling only happens once. After you come off that high, the game controls you. Which is why she now warns gamblers their big win is only temporary.
“Just because you’re winning now doesn’t mean its going to be that way. The odds are stacked against you. You are eventually going to lose,” said “Amy”.
“We have the whole casino right here, right on our phone. I mean that is the new casino and you can do it and it’s not like even real money,” said Bill Johnson, a retire executive director of Illinois council and problem gambling.
“We do train our employees on are the different types of red flags that might suggest somebody is gambling too much,” Paul Pilzaria said, global social responsibility vice president of Hard Rock International.
Some of those red flags could be a player’s frequency at the casino or comments made about bills to be paid. Pilzaria says casino employees help players understand the game and the risks that come with it.
If you believe you have a gambling addiction, ask yourself some of these questions:
“There are basic things you can know so you can set a budget, you can stick to it and you don’t lose more money than you want to,” Pilzaria said.
He says Hard Rock is able to support and check in on problem gamblers through facial recognition at each casino in an effort to help monitor their gambling habits.
