You’re Not Alone: The madness of being addicted to gambling
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LANSING, Mich. (WILX) - March Madness is underway, and according to the American Gaming Association, $2.7 billion will be bet this year on both the men’s and women’s NCAA Basketball Tournaments.
For the next two weeks, bars and restaurants will be packed with college basketball fans who have an appetite for watching and wagering. Since 2021, online betting has been legal in Michigan, putting a casino right in the palm of your hand.
Dustin Ritzenhein was “all in” when it came to gambling on his smartphone, especially slot games.
According to Ritzenhein, “The quicker, the better for me, and it was really easy to win on slots.”
Ritzenhein said he got on the gambling roller coaster when he was just nine years old after winning $100 on a one-dollar scratch-off. He said he continued to scratch the gambling itch, and when he turned 18, he gambled away thousands of dollars in high school graduation money at Soaring Eagle Casino. Traveling to gamble was one thing, but for Ritzenhein, phone wagering was a game changer and quickly became a 24/7 obsession.
Ritzenhein recalls, “As I’m brushing my teeth, getting ready for work, I’m gambling; I’m driving to work, I’m gambling at work. I’m gambling. I’m falling asleep playing, but still gambling; it became that bad.”
The losses began to mount. Ritzenhein said he gambled away the profits from a house he and his wife sold. Then, he lost his entire retirement savings. Ritzenhein said, “Now I’m at the point where I’m keeping everybody in the dark; I’m lying to everybody and my family.”
To try and win his way back into financial stability, Ritzenhein said he applied for five different credit cards, and all were approved.
He maxed out every single one of those credit cards and said that was the point he hit “rock bottom,” and he was now desperate to find a way out.
Ritzenhein recalls, “I never in my life had a thought of suicide until I was that deep into it.” That’s when Ritzenhein turned to his phone once again, not to gamble, but to call the Michigan Problem Gambling Help Line.
Alia Lucas is a gambling disorder specialist with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. She said calls to the state’s problem gambling helpline had grown steadily, with no signs of slowing down.
Lucas said gambling disorder has the highest rate of suicide out of all the addictions.
Lucas said, “We call it the hidden addiction because you can’t physically see when an individual is suffering from gambling disorder, and most times when we find out our loved ones are dealing with gambling, they’ve already taken a financial hit.”
Dustin Ritzenhein agrees, saying, “You make it look exciting, showing your family and friends, Oh look, I hit the big jackpot, but you’re never talking about your losses.” When Ritzenhein finally reached out for help, he was put in touch with Gambler’s Anonymous, which he calls “life-changing.”
Dustin Ritzenhein said he hasn’t gambled for the past six months and is now going to Gambler’s Anonymous meetings twice a week, both in-person and online. Ritzenhein said along with going to meetings, he has black-listed himself from all online betting apps. The Michigan Gaming Control Board has an application form where you can personally ban yourself from all online or on-site gambling.
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