hi and welcome to our instructional video that is designed to make
you smart a gambler my name is Steve Corey
and on the author of the American casino guide number one bestselling book in the
US on the subject of casino gambling and travel
and the only book that comes with over one thousand dollars in casino coupons
if you want to know more about book sure to visit our website at American casino
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in this video American casino guide author Steve Corey
interview certified compulsive gambling counselor arnie wexler
artie was the executive director of the Council on compulsive gambling at New
Jersey for eight years
and is the author of the book all bets are off which chronicles his ears ass a
compulsive gambler
as well as how he eventually overcame his addiction and went on to help others
at the end of this video we will provide a list of organizations that can provide
help if you
or someone you know has a gambling problem here a certified compulsive
gambling
counselor can explain what that is and how you got that certification we had to
go through
lot about was a training if I remember we 60 hours a training
way back then in the eighties and then you became a certified counselor
you do trainings and workshops and you what what by people
professional back because the game in and taught some other classes he was the
guy that
started treatment on compulsive gambling is an American certification boorda the
New Jersey
and the National Certification Board at the National Council
at Washington at this point exactly what is compulsive gambling compulsive
gambling is
something that affects you to the point that nothing else matters in your life
you don't care about you vocational pursuits you don't care about your
family
you don't care about anything the only thing you care about
eat sleep and drink am
think that's the ballgame in in my time that I was
gambling I start again with my seven or eight years old was flipping baseball
caught shooting models pitching pennies
playing pinball machines you know not every kid that did that became a
compulsive gambler
just like not everybody that took a beer became an alcoholic unfortunately we
it would be nice if we could identify who could be the addicted gambler and
maybe help them before it happens
at fourteen I went to the racetrack was memorial day in 1951
I was making fifty cents an hour if the school
i won that day fifty four dollars to change my life
it said to me on the way home while if I could win fifty four dollars at the
racetrack what a jerk I am is to make fifty cents an hour
I could be a millionaire from gambling and from that day on
I was locked into believing that I was going to be a millionaire from gambling
at 17 I was stealing to support my gambling addiction
gambling only when I was a teenager and I had no clue
and you know it continued in got worse some more so more so more
I've heard the terms pathological gambler and
problem camber use when discussing people with gambling problems can you
explain the difference between the two
in my head there is no difference whether it is the
the compulsive gambler is defined as a compulsive gambler
by the literature in the twelve-step programs
and about some other research stuff that doctors have put together
this the pathological gambling stop but that's really the same thing steve
it's like calling the thing two different names but it is the same name
it could be pathological we could could be compulsive
could be addictive compulsive gambling is compulsive gambling
no matter what you wanna label it will call it I think when you look at
problem gambling versus compulsive gambling
someone owes people that are labeled problem gambling
are gonna become compulsive gamblers and someone not
we just don't know which ones unfortunately gonna be like that
you know personally I think that we're born with a gene
that other people don't have
and I think that's the addiction to gambling what percent of people who
gamble are expected to develop a gambling problem
if you listen to the American Gaming Association they say the numbers on the
one percent
I think that they're getting false information because they're doing most
the research maybe all the research
and what they're coming up with is very interesting because they're calling
people on the phone
there this saying to people on the phone do you have a gambling problem in
what is your history with gambling the wife is that kids a day other family
members area
how do you get a truthful answer the real answer
is to get a a group of people together when family members are not there
and get a real answer i've seen. research over the years that showed
anywhere from two to five percent
compulsive gambling personally I think the numbers even bigger than that
harmen or women more likely to become problem gamblers
that's a very interesting question because up until about the
when the slot machine started spreading across the country
probably 95 to 98 percent of all the people above seeking help for male
gamblers they were action gamblers and the last year's
has we see slot machines coming so prominent across the country
we seeing about eighty percent of the people maybe ninety percent of the
people that play slots
and get addicted a female gambles and most americans Cape campbell's
and what happens with them is it they come in later rage
something happens in their life to lose a husband when they lose a job or lose a
child or something negative happens in their life
and they become xscape gamblers and ninety-five percent of the slot campbell
is that are looking for help
I believe a woman gambles today is there one type gambling
where the players are more likely to develop gambling problems
maybe casino players are sports bettors a lottery players
anything that's the quicker faster action
creates more compulsive gamblers when I went to the racetrack you used to have
18 or 22 minutes
I stop gambling 1968 so you went to the racetrack you didn't have simulcasting
and what you had was races around every 16 to 22 minutes
so you had a lot of time to the
down time I guess you could call it where
in 16 or 18 minutes if you're in a casino you making probably 102 decisions
so two different ball game but the more addictive games
other Quickoffice the games i read your book in part of it told the story of how
you were a compulsive gambler
it seems you were a pretty miserable got back then especially to your wife can
you tell some stories that have affected your life
you know it's interesting everybody that's read the book all bets are off
for telling me the same story
you gotta see emails from friends I'm getting how mean I was to my wife
you know it wasn't that I was mean to my wife this sickness over addiction
gambling
makes you mean everybody because you're even mean to yourself
you so angry that you lost and you chasing your money to get it back
or if you want you can sleep and you have anxiety because you want to go
gamble more
so that's really what happened I had seven years of my marriage
for seven years in my marriage I was so sick
that my wife was having a miscarriage
on february second 1968 I was taken at a hospital
and I thought the answer was God may could I she does this is going to solve
my problem
that's how sick I got I could tell you that
I would tell her I would pick a fight with her
I would come home pick a fight with up and then
leave there were times that I'd should lay down on the floor by the door night
step over her and leave to go gamble
I deliver in the house crying on walk out to go gamble
I destroy this lady's life for seven years and never even
understood our could figure it out until years later
was until I stop gambling that I really understood the damage I did to her
how can someone tell if they might have a gambling problem
well you know if you go to a 12-step group they have a a list the 20
questions
and you could go through the 20 questions I answered 19 outta 20 yeses
you got and 27 to be qualified as a compulsive gambler
but only you can qualify yourself but the fact is that
the 20 questions will tell you if you have a gambling problem
if you're honest enough to answer them to yourself honestly
but if someone takes a 20 question quiz has less than seven yes answers and
still feels they have a problem
well nobody's gonna throw them out over twelve step program if they don't answer
7 yeses but
I've had a situation where a a guy I know into
3 and came back the next weekend and today I think seventeen
yeses so you know what happened say if you become honest with yourself
and you do have a problem it's gonna show up the other thing is
people need to know that there is help available I run a national hotline
called a date last bet
taken call may be happy to talk to them anytime how can someone tell her friend
or loved one has a gambling problem
you know it's a little tricky because what happens is there's no track marks
that no dilated pupils there's no smile
a you can tell somebody for being a compulsive gambler just by looking at
them
just like you can't separate the compulsive gamblers in a casino from
sociable gamblers
unless you see what kinda action they're doing on what's going on
financially with them you know my wife would get
letters in the mail that I took alone in the bank she I would come home and she
would say
or I applied for a loan in the bank I would come home and say
Sheila they made a mistake I didn't try to get a loan
you know bookmakers would call up looking for money shot looks would call
up for looking for money
a financial I remember one time before we got married
we had a joint bank account savings account
I was putting sheila was putting money in I wasn't
when it came time to get married she thought we had X amount of money we had
less than ever that
because she was the only one putting money in so it's very tricky for a
family member
to know if somebody is a gambling problem here's a classic case I get a
call one day on the
a date less but cool lady calls me up and she says
my husband's a compulsive
how long you married she said 33 years when did you know we had a problem
she said three weeks ago when the FBI arrested him
because he stole six hundred thousand dollars from an insurance company
and it can be that had an invisible I get many calls like that
someone decides they have a gambling problem what kinda resources are
available to them if you want to call me at the a day date less bed I'll be happy
to give out all information I know
most other states what's going on this cementation available
there's a lot about patient available this gamblers anonymous
this gammon on and those are places the gunman on the step family members
compulsive gamblers I helped into gamblers anonymous room
and last question can a compulsive gambler
ever gamble normally again in my mind no
and I'll tell you why I have a friend of mine that was 38 years in recovery
and he decided about three years ago
that he wanted to gamble he wanted a make some bets on the final four
tournament that was going on and that was three years ago in the last email I
got from him
he went through his three houses he went through is to cadillacs
and he was living in a rental apartment and I've never seen a compulsive gambler
become a normal more sociable gamble I say that
twelve-step program meeting with a five guys were in
this twelve-step program before I got there in 1968
and they will come back in the last few years and they were out the gambling one
guy lost millions and millions of dollars
in the period of 25 years that it was in the program
if you wanna know more about what we do to help people
you couldn't buy a a book it's called all bets are off
you can get an Amazon you can call me on the phone
on a day date list but a be happy to help anybody that wants or needs help
a gamble or family member