The Wheel of Misfortune
To non-gamblers, even more to controlled gamblers,
the idea that gambling may become compulsive (an addiction or a sickness)
is incredible. It is not so difficult to believe that people can be alcoholics
or drug addicts because, in those cases, something gets into the physical system.
Nonetheless, the condition is real enough.
It begins for some when
they are still young. It overtakes others later in life. It is more than just
having an irresistible itch to gamble. Those who are affected vary considerably
both in their personalities and in their positions in life. Their experiences
of gambling and of its results in their lives have much in common but in detail
there are considerable differences.
The onset of compulsive gambling
may be prompted by circumstances. The beginning for some is an introduction
to gambling which they recognise immediately as an inviting world. They enjoy the
excitement and the whole atmosphere. Others win when first they gamble, and
become convinced that they are lucky gamblers, a conviction which prompts irrational
action. Others cannot endure being under pressure for money. The move from
ordinary to compulsive gambling for these may start when they get married, when
a child is born, or when for some other reason their responsibilities, domestic,
financial or otherwise, are suddenly increased so that they are not sure how
to handle them. They are faced with bills and not enough money to meet them.
This is a common human experience but the compulsive gambler feels that the only
answer is to gamble and try to win enough to pay them all at once.
However
all that may be, the onset of compulsive gambling waits for an introduction
to what may be called 'real' gambling, which is continuous and circular
in its action. That 'action' moves rapidly and without pause from staking to the
tension which is experienced while the card or wheel is turning, the dice rolling,
or the race is being run, and so to release of tension when the result is
known and then on to staking again. For those who can endure the extremity of
excitement which this engenders, the 'action' produces an unbelievable degree of
arousal of the whole person, so that it is like entering a new and wonderful
world.
Compulsive gamblers are carried away by this and for them it
becomes a squirrel's cage. Win or lose they cannot escape - this distinguishes
them from heavy and professional gamblers. As time goes on they develop a need
for the action. Because it contains the elements of tension and release, some observers
have made a comparison with orgasm, and decided that, as an experience,
gambling has more in common with breaking and entering than sexual intercourse.
If
you must have the action and, win or lose, cannot leave it, then,
because the odds are against you, you must lose till it hurts. This leads some,
mistakenly I think, to say that compulsive gamblers are masochists. It is
certainly a humiliating experience. It makes compulsive gamblers swear that they
will never gamble again. They do though because their dream world capacity obliterates
bad memories.
This dream world enables a compulsive gambler,
on his way to the action with money in his hand, to know without any peradventure,
that today he will advance, win after win, to that glorious consummation
of the ultimate win which will cut down to size the man who broke the bank of
Monte Carlo.
There can be no ultimate win for those who must continue
to gamble. (When in Sydney, Australia, I heard of a man who cleaned up in a two-up
school, and was so frustrated that the action had ceased, that he divided
the money among his fellow gamblers to make a fresh start). However much is won
on any occasion, or over a period, the end is the same: "...as usual I came out
skint".
But the dream world continues into the aftermath. The gambler
creeps away dejected, but later in his imagination goes over the proceedings
again, making right decisions instead of wrong ones. then he emerges, widely
smiling, smoking a large cigar, driving off in a splendid limousine, owning houses
in every desirable place, and showering benefits on family, relations, friends
and acquaintances. So confidence is re-built for the next time.
This
kind of gambling is expensive. If people possess them, fortunes go. Those
compulsive gamblers who have no fortunes find ways and means of financing their
gambling. They use money which ought to be used for other purposes, and then
borrow money more. This adds a new dimension, and both their indebtedness and their
compulsion progressively increase. At first they must get money to gamble.
Later, they must gamble to get money back.
There is no chance to stop
and examine the situation. Their unusual degree of impatience makes them fretful
to meet all demands now. They must gamble themselves out of the mess they
have gambled themselves into. This is a new merry-go-round: to borrow, to gamble,
to lose, and borrow again. Debts can reach staggering proportions because a
compulsive gambler can charm money out of people. His dream world capacity enables
him to concoct, quite believe and tell convincingly quite incredible stories.
He develops a desperate urgency which overwhelms those whom he cannot quite
convince.
Compulsive gambling eats into every part of the gambler's
life. It destroys his integrity; it ruins his relationship with his family and
he loses his friends. It crushes truth and consideration for others and his own
self-respect. This is inevitable when his gambling costs far more money in a day
than he earns in a week. This may mean the end of his job, but not of feverish
activity.
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