Gaming = Investment or How Not to Become a GAMBLER

If your games are objectively profitable in the long run, then the game is an investment for you. Or do you not keep track of the money spent and received? Often this happens when the player understands that he has long been in deep trouble... why collect the exact growing numbers of his losses? Then you can recognize yourself in this confession of a gambling addict: :huh: Fuel of luck. Notes of a former gambling addict. /live-journal/ Perhaps the most difficult step for many gambling addicts is admitting their powerlessness before the Game. Many addicted players often find it very difficult (or even impossible) to admit that they are gambling addicts, that is, actually addicted to the game. An internal template works like this: "Gambling addicts are different, everything is really bad for them, they are sick (stupid, obsessed) people who have long lost control over themselves. I am not like that, I am smart and independent. I will be able to quit the Game if it becomes really dangerous for me or as soon as I really want and decide to do it." It is clear that in this case the "real" decision is either postponed indefinitely, or is still solemnly and quite fervently made (usually immediately after another loss) and soon broken ("how everything turns out to be difficult, bad and hopeless in my life, I have to try my luck again"). We are often afraid of losing self-respect, pride and the established internal self-structure as a whole, admitting our dependence and helplessness before the Game. Especially if it needs to be admitted in front of another person (wife, girlfriend, parents, friend, creditor) or even a specialist psychologist. And sometimes we are afraid of the coming discomfort from the need for changes within ourselves - we are often not really ready to immediately admit dependence on the Game as ABSOLUTE EVIL for ourselves and AT LEAST WISH to get rid of it. We have long and compulsively received sweet "candy" from this evil in the form of some aspirations, hopes and illusions. We lived by this. And carefully guarded this evil, denying the arguments of our mind or the arguments of other people - even if we were unlucky. What can we do without it then, how to fill the place where there used to be a long WAITING AND ANTICIPATION OF THE BENEFIT from the Game? And we also understand that rebuilding yourself is also work, which means a violation of the usual inner peace and laziness. My problem was that until the very end I could not admit that I was an addicted gambler - although no one was pressuring me from the outside. With my mind I understood that the life situation was getting or had already gotten out of my control - precisely because of the Game. And that in general, something urgently needs to be done with my addiction. Sometimes I even desperately wanted to stop and craved some kind of outside help. But my gut resisted the thought of having to break my pride and stubbornness and admit my helplessness. I was afraid of "losing face." In addition, it was obvious that in this case I needed to radically change something in myself, rebuild it, and this requires strength, patience and time. Perhaps even qualitatively change my consciousness, but this is a process of unknown duration, and it is scary - will it get better and what will it lead to? And then the Game whispers that I still have a chance to quickly "return everything to how it was" - without any self-restructuring, self-recognition and maintaining self-respect - just by trying my luck once again ("the very last") and - if I am very lucky - returning to the world independent, successful and happy. Well, how can I stop here. There are many tests on the Internet on the topic of "Are you a gambling addict?" or "20 signs of gambling addiction." I read and passed some of them already being addicted; predictably learned from them that I am a gambling addict and that I am sick, and still did not admit my helplessness and all the anxiety of the situation, believing that these tests are for some other people - those who really can not stop. But for me it is different, I am not a gambling addict yet, I only have some temporary problem, which I will deal with myself, as soon as I choose the time or there is a reason. In the end, I admitted it and stopped only after a complete collapse of life. I honestly do not know how an addicted gambler can come to self-admission and what can push him to this even before the Big Trouble begins. Most gamblers admit their addiction only when they are facing an immediate threat of losing everything, or having already lost everything. Stop and admit the beginning of this addiction, read materials about gambling addiction on the Internet, or go to a psychologist, finally share this vague problem with your loved ones, while it is not so terrible and your Monster of Compulsiveness has not yet grown. PLEASE, FOR GOD'S SAKE, give this meaning RIGHT NOW, otherwise EARTHLY HELL and HORROR AWAITS YOU, believe me. Don't play IN THE MINUS and God bless you. :dry: I began to return to the Game more and more often. I tried various online casinos. My stakes gradually increased. A vague, latent desire to finally grab the Big Luck became stronger over the years. As a result, I began to lose a lot of my small income. However, occasionally I would win something - not that much, but decently, and sometimes I would even withdraw my winnings from online establishments, but most of the time I either didn't withdraw the money at all, or it would return to the game a couple of days later and stay there. Even then, my winnings would get me hooked. As far as I remember, it was during this period that I first started to "break down" in the game - sometimes I would lose all the advances and payments for projects I had received, and sometimes - uncontrollably and unnoticed. Having received the money, I would almost inevitably think about spending "only part" of this amount on the Game and sometimes even planned in advance which part. It is interesting that at the same time I still very often subconsciously left myself some vague freedom regarding the intended framework. Let's say - they were ready to expand if it was necessary to go "to the victory" and there would be some convincing hint or any indirect reason to do so. And it seemed that the Game felt it and dictated its capricious turns. Usually it turned out that the initially allowed "ceiling" of game funds was exhausted - either completely unsuccessfully, or with some intriguing reserve - like luck, but somehow completely unexpectedly, at low stakes. The first suddenly excited and angered, and the second also feverishly and annoyingly called to raise the "degree", that is, the stakes, and try again. States, in general, well known among players as tilt. And sometimes - rarely - I suddenly simply forgot myself and received emotional pleasure from the game - even having lost in the end, and then the simple setting "good, but not enough" was already turned on. In general, as a result, there was often an impulsive violation of previously determined limits, and - again another deposit and a fierce pursuit of luck. And after it there could be another, and another, and another - often until a complete, desperate, bitter and disappointed loss of everything. That's how my gambling addiction began. It should be noted that in almost all cases after this I felt very bad - coming to my senses after the game. Fatigue, guilt, emptiness and confusion fell upon me. The financial balance was again upset and "didn't hit" yesterday's plans, and the planned, long-awaited expenses for good and such necessary everyday or professional needs were again suddenly pushed aside or ugly redrawn - and all in just a few hours of playing. I was tormented by self-reproach, I was annoyed with myself for my stupidity, I scolded myself, sometimes I just hated myself. Sometimes I even gave myself promises to "compensate" for the loss by working harder. Sometimes I languidly thought that "I should quit". But of course, I still did not have a truly fervent and decisive desire to get out of the gambling rut. I was simply not ready for it yet. I was still subconsciously waiting for Big Luck and saving this decision for "sometime later". Besides, there was some naive hope for the Fairness of the Game. A monster of compulsiveness was being nurtured and growing inside me. And, it seems, I carefully guarded and cherished it. I switched to online poker, got excited, and for a long time got involved in a new direction of the game for me - without a noticeable change in my gaming luck. I thought that in poker I would be able to achieve something. In reality, studying some popular strategies and trying to apply them in practice frankly gave me little. Perhaps it was just not my thing, and I do not have the necessary qualities and intuition for poker. Or perhaps all strategies are nonsense. But, be that as it may, I couldn't admit my inability to influence the Game here either - it seemed to me that I just needed to continue practicing and trying, and someday That Very Luck would smile upon me and shine. This went on for several years - mostly with a negative result, although there were some wins occasionally. Over time, I got more orders, sometimes very good ones. I began to earn more. But, accordingly, I spent more on the Game. Over the years, thanks to my gaming practice, I was unable to do much that was good and necessary. The renovation of my apartment that had begun was completely abandoned and forgotten for years - and so I lived with bare plastered walls. For a long time, I could not update my work equipment. I stopped buying accessories and consumables for painting - my once favorite pastime. I began to rarely buy new clothes. Yes, there were many good things I did not buy and did. In addition, it was becoming increasingly difficult for me to explain to my loved ones my modest financial situation - with my seemingly constant employment. I started to wriggle and lie a lot. I was still a secret player. And yes, at the end of this period I had my first gambling debts. Small ones for now. Now I think that at that time I already had a pretty serious hidden guilt complex. I remember that even then - even if I hadn't played for a long time - the memory of the losses, of the Game itself, of all the lies and the pile of negativity and problems associated with the Game - often bit, reproached and forced me to push these thoughts somewhere far away in my consciousness. I think my conscience persistently made it clear that I had long ago crossed some bright, reasonable, human boundaries and that EVERYTHING IS NOT SO ANYMORE. At the same time, for some reason this was also a vague reason (or one of the reasons) why I could not simply leave and forget the Game - too much time, effort and money had already been invested in it over the past years, and - according to the logic of life's harmony - this required some kind of compensation, a return. I would have to sort this issue out then, somehow rebuild myself, cleanse and free myself from within. But I thoughtlessly preferred to drive away and hide these thoughts, it did not seem to me such a significant problem.

It looks like the man hit rock bottom and went into religion, this is the scenario for many

I once checked whether I was a gambling addict myself or not, the check was simple 1) I calculated the result for the last 3 months 2) I decided not to play at all for a month answers 1) the result is in the normal plus (and these were not the best months) 2) I did not play for money for a month, while I did not experience any super urges I think this is a normal state and I do not understand what makes people pull the last from the family, steal, etc., in order to put a hundred in a slot machine a riddle maybe their brains are arranged differently?

...maybe their brains are wired differently?

As soon as Shpilevoy asked this question, I immediately remembered how I found some interesting food for thought on the Internet. About forty years ago, a group of scientists studying the brain conducted an experiment. Electrodes were inserted into the brains of experimental rats, stimulating the pleasure zone. An electric signal was sent to these electrodes through a special button (pedal), which the rat could press itself. Water and food were placed next to the button, so that the rat could gain strength from time to time for further entertainment. So, all the experimental rats died from exhaustion and complete brain damage from electric current, but not one of them found the strength to tear themselves away from the button that gave them pleasure for even a minute. The instinct for self-preservation did not work. A terrible result, isn't it? Now, if you look at people - are they very different from the experimental rats? For the most part - yes, fortunately. But not everyone has the necessary willpower and intelligence to break away from the pleasures that lead to death. For example, most drug addicts, apparently, realize that ever-increasing doses lead them to degradation, but they cannot stop. Are they much different from experimental rats? But this is how not only drug addicts behave, but also people engaged in other, more socially approved activities. ................................................................................................................................................................................................ Since we are talking about gambling addicts here, the parallel is also visible. For example, while playing roulette, a complete with heavily loaded numbers worked, and this moment of winning was remembered as a very vivid feeling. And now the player, taking as a basis what played somewhere once, contrary to all predictions, inserts this template with only one goal, to once again get the moment of winning, and the extraordinary emotions (euphoria) accompanying this win. And as soon as a person has an irresistible need to experience these states again and again, often contrary to common sense, health, relationships and even the preservation of life, then this is classified as an addiction. .............................................................................................................................................................................. Professionals on the pages of the site have repeatedly drawn attention to the huge difference between template thinking (I want) and real forecasting (I see). They also directed attention to the fact that novice players take control of their emotional block, bringing analytics to the main role. Many thanks to them for this.

I remembered another study by the famous German mathematician (and also physicist and astronomer) Gauss. (I think the name should be familiar, especially to those who studied probability theory, were interested in physics and astronomy). We are talking about the normal distribution law This is how it looks on the graph (you can click on the image and it will enlarge) Now why am I presenting it here and how does it relate to the topic. In fact, this law applies not only strictly to mathematics, it covers all areas of life, helping to learn to accept the order of things that exists. The point is that all characteristics of living and nonliving matter in this world are distributed according to this law For example, if you take all the people who are keen on playing roulette, then according to the graph, 3-5 percent of players will lose everything "to smithereens", 3-5 percent will be Virtuosos of the highest level, and the rest of the players will be evenly distributed between these opposites, forming the concept of the average. Here it is important to determine (at least for yourself) at what point a specific player is (and not even is, but in what direction he is moving, that would be more accurate) and begin to take measures, if not "there", where they would like.) .............................................................................................................................................................................. Personally, I have met people in my life who, thanks to the Game, raised their well-being. And their energy, philosophy, attitude to life were much different from the one I read in the confession published by dlk. I think that players with well-developed analytical skills (+ intuition) will step by step reach the level where the game will become an investment for them.

Well noted. The only thing is that roulette does not work according to the normal distribution law in the short term. Maybe somewhere in the millions of spins it would have evened out if Vasya Pedalny had not interfered with the game I also want to note that even super-pros have moments of complete failure. But they get through them correctly - they immediately minimize losses and wait out the black streak. In your interpretation, this means that the player does not move consistently along the bell, but chaotically appears between two extremes: "I am God" - "I am a loser". It is necessary to evaluate near which pole he is more often, and this perfectly demonstrates the financial result of a long period.