An Interview on Problem Gambling Prevention

[Frank Kneeland]

Im not buying this. If people like us who post on forums are supposedly in the low end of the risk pool, why Frank are you telling us these things as if the majority of us have gambling problems? Something doesn't smell right.

I'm leaning more towards the majority or even ALL of us have that issue.Dr. McCown is one of the top doctors and researchers in the field today. Whether you feel the information might apply to you or someone you know has no bearing on the information itself. As I said in the pre-post, problem gambling is common enough in America that it is almost impossible for a person to get through life without at least knowing someone that has struggled with the issue.Therefore, I think it's a good idea to get this info out there for those that need it, or that may know someone that needs it, but my part in this is done.If you are saying you know someone that could be in a high risk category, then what you do with the information from here on out is on you.Try to understand this: I do not know, nor can I know, who's on the other end of these posts. Perhaps the information is useless,? Perhaps someone that really needs it will benefit? I have no way of knowing. I stick it out there and hope people will at least find it interesting. Part of my motivation for doing this is making up for years spent training pro VP players with no thought whatsoever to the downsides of gambling.~FK

[Frank Kneeland]

ya what Im sayin is that theres all kinds of gamers. Theres the people who claim to always have an edge, or never play. Then theres people who try their hardest to find good tables and win small/or  reduce their losses. Then theres people who could care less, and just fire twenty after twenty into penny slots and wonder why they never win. Bottom line, theres a fine line between entertainment and stupidity. Gambling gives me an unexplainable high when Im winning and the polar opposite effect when Im losing. Who likes to lose? Just my opinon but to an extent, we can all make excuses or justify what we are doing at the time.My opinion on these matters is less than pointless. You know yourself better than I ever will. If something bothers you then my advice is to look into it. Your advice to yourself is what's really going matter.I hope the interview shared some extra info you might not have known. If so, I'm pleased. Approximately, three months of research on my part went into that interview . I hope it was time well spent.

[brmcc74]

Frank, I personally did enjoy the article as I originally stated. I just think that gambling(the idea) in itself is wreckless. Other than the very few people at the professional level, its a waste of money. Its just not as easy to quit then it was to start. I have never spent $ on gambling that I couldnt afford. I have however been in deeper than I cared to a time or two. I agree also that it seems gambling would be harder to kick then drugs. Its legal, its personal( nobody really knows how much eachother gamble), and with a good amount of disposible income, its easy to find yourself at the local casino seeking that dopamine rush.

[BillyJoe]

Well put, BR. I certainly fall into that category. I like to thing of myself as a "player" rather than a "gambler". I think a true gambler is trying to change their life through success in the casino. I do not play enough in casinos, living in FLA, so there is little that could happen to me with my play that would be life-changing.
Now a PowerBall lottery win, that would be another story..

[Frank Kneeland]

Frank, I personally did enjoy the article as I originally stated. I just think that gambling(the idea) in itself is reckless. Other than the very few people at the professional level, its a waste of money. Its just not as easy to quit then it was to start. I have never spent $ on gambling that I couldn't afford. I have however been in deeper than I cared to a time or two. I agree also that it seems gambling would be harder to kick then drugs. Its legal, its personal( nobody really knows how much each other gamble), and with a good amount of disposable income, its easy to find yourself at the local casino seeking that dopamine rush.What you say is very interesting. The research says that pathological gambling may indeed be as hard if not harder to kick as an addiction compared to things like Meth and Heroin.In all of Dr. McCown's books he is very careful to metnion that what's known as the "moral paradigm" is not only ineffective it can hurt recovery and treatment. What is "the moral paradigm"? Basically saying that all gambling is "bad". Some religions take this stance and unfortunately some therapists do as well.Right or wrong, it doesn't work.I personally think there's nothing wrong with gambling as long as people can moderate their behavior and really know what they are doing. It's harder than you'd think since more often than not people only think they know what they are doing.As Dr. McCown said in the interview, a deep understanding of probability math really helps...but it also makes things less fun. He didn't talk about that in the interview, but the reason is that a lot of the "fun" of gambling comes from the mystery. Remove the mystery remove the fun.~FK

[brmcc74]

I personally think there's nothing wrong with gambling as long as people can moderate their behavior and really know what they are doing. It's harder than you'd think since more often than not people only think they know what they are doing
Frank= Very true. One of the puriest things Ive read on hear. It does get boring once a person figures it out maybe , taking away the allure.
 
 
Billyjoe= Thats where Im at, Give me a stupid amout of $= AKA Lottery

[Frank Kneeland]

I thinks it's safe to close this thread, but I'd like to paraphrase the conclusions and revelations that came out in the interview. It was long, so a quick summary seems apropos.1. In only the last ten years the success rates for problem gambling treatment have gone from abysmal to pretty darned good. For the first time in the history of gambling, if you do have a problem, something can be done about it and your chances for recovery are good. That's amazing and wonderful news!!! Part of the reason for the improvement is now we know: Problem gambling
is not a single problem with a single cause and treatment must be
different for each person.2. Not so encouraging, early detection and prevention of problem gambling has gone from non-existent to nearly non-existent. Though the psychological comunity now knows a great deal about the risk factors that contribute to the development of gambling problems, no effort is being made to address issues early. If you as an individual don't take steps yourself to identify and account for risk factors, no one is going to do it for you. No one!  The diagnostic tools used by clinicians and even the DSM-IV classification of "problem gambling" itself are geared only towards late stage bottomed out gamblers.3. Though there are many early "signs" of problem gambling the only easy one to spot is trouble moderating your behaviors. If you are preoccupied with gambling and have difficulty doing it in moderation this may be the only easy to spot early sign to go on. Please note, preoccupation with gambling can be present even if one is "winning". Problem gambling is not a financial problem and it is not necessary for one to be losing for there to be a problem.4. The prevalence of problem gambling is about 6-8% in the general population, and the prevalence of the more serious pathological gambling is between 2-3%. If you moderate your behavior and understand probability math well, then your chances of being in either category fall dramatically.videopoker.com is not the general population it is a site devoted to video poker, so my hope is not necessarily that people here will need the information. Since you are members of a site devoted to playing VP intelligently my hope is that in your travels you may encounter someone that needs help and now you'll have a leg up in doing so.Be well, play safe, have fun! ~FK

[Frank Kneeland]

I'll be busy for the next few weeks and won't be able to post much. Expect several days between replies. ~FK

[royal flush]

it is really simple like any other addiction if one harms other areas of ones life ( financially, socially, relationships et al) there is a problem this is nothing new he is just talking his book the 12 step programs have had some sucess without a self serving motive. what the theripist did is bring the issue to light. the casinos and advantage players do exploit the folks with problems myself included finding games with these players

[backsider]

I have a question along with a few comments. How the heck can anyone compile anything close to accurate about problem gambling or pathological gambling statistics when we all know that finding someone open to admitting to having such a problem is about as common as seeing two albino alligators on the same day?

People are so protective of what others think about us. I guess Im addicted to playing because I always look forward to it, even though I can only get to the machines once a month or thereabouts. Because of that, I see 25 million hand players and those such as B. Dancer as having way more serious problems, but we definitely will only see "no way" and spun rationale from them because they have reputations to uphold and businesses to profit off of. Even this fellow here who talks about "Sweet C" and who seems to play all the time, must have some type of problem. Its a very simple equation: the more one plays, the more of a problem one has. All the spin, cute wording, denial, and "hey, its ME youre talking about Bud" in the world cannot hide that fact.