“I tell you what, you give me half your money, we’ll go out back, I’ll kick you in the ass, and we’ll call it a day.” The words of the blackjack dealer in National Lampoon’s Vegas Vacation have never seemed more real. How you wish you could actually go back to the poker table or table game and have taken this proposition. Unfortunately, we can’t reel back the paradox of time.
So you are sitting at your favorite regular game with seven to nine buddies that you are on a first name basis with. Of course, you know their last names too because you’ve been playing poker with them for years, but using last names just wouldn’t keep the atmosphere friendly. It’s your turn and you decide to raise the last of your chips in the pot and announce “Go big or go home!” to the rest of the table. Sure enough, your buddy Rick calls your bet and you hear him mumble “I knew he was bluffing.” It’s time to get up… or is it?
If you recognize your problem, do you deny to it when asked? Do people say that you don’t know when enough is really enough? Are you consistently losing when you are playing poker? My friend, you might have a gambling problem if you answered any of these questions with a yes.
You usually lose “just a bit” each week, but you’ve already lost this week’s paycheck in tonight’s game, and last week it was “just bad cards.” When are you going to stop and realize that poker might just not be for you. When are you going to grow a backbone and surprise your Friday night buddies when you don’t show up?
Losing a paycheck isn’t all that bad, but your gambling problem can certainly lead to other things. Before you know it you will be losing your car, home, and, some place in the process, your wife / significant other.
Lots of people don’t waste time on gamblers, especially women. If you expect to be able to have a relationship and continue gambling, you might as well save the other person by not getting involved at all. Fix your gambling problem first and then you can think about having a relationship with somebody.
To learn more about how to fix a gambling problem that you might have, go to Gambler’s Anonymous and setup an appointment. You and your significant other will thank me some day.
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