What would you consider compulsive or excess gambling?

Question

I enjoy the idea of online sports gambling and while my spouse was aware of this, she was shocked that I would be making 2 or 3 bets a night on different games. It should be mentioned that my personal limit per wager is $50 with most wagers being $10 to $20. Last year I lost an overall amount of $344 dollars.

Answer 1

I don't think that the amount of time spent gambling has anything to do with it being obsessive or compulsive. There are many many pro's in this country that play at least 8 hours a day. That doesn't mean that they have a problem. If you have good bankroll management and treat it like a business, then you can gamble all you want, as long as you can afford it. If you spend that much time at it, then it usually turns into a skill, rather than gambling.

If you are betting on sports, then you are more than likely betting on at least 2 or 3 games a night. Especially during basketball season. The thing to do is to only bet on the games where the line is bad. There are usually only 2 or 3 of those a night. Some nights there may be 10 games with a bad line. Don't bet on a game just because it's on tv, or just because it's the only game that night, i.e. Monday Night Football. If you're looking at the lines one day and you don't see a good game, then take that night off. You should still watch all the hightlights so you stay sharp.

You are doing the right thing by staying within your limits per game. That is what you are supposed to do while sports betting. Another thing to do would be to keep a separate bankroll. This way is does not effect you when it's time to pay the bills. People have a problem when the gamble with money they can't afford to lose. For the amount that you bet per game, $344 is not a whole lot after a years worth of action. That's only 10 to 15 bets. When I used to bet on sports, I would have 600-700 games that I bet on in a year. Sometimes close to 1000. I'm assuming that you are probably close to that too. Everybody that bets on sports knows that you have to win 52.4% of your games to break even. If you bet on 1000 games in a year at $30/game, then you hit roughly 51.25% All you need to do is increase your winning percentage by about 1.2% to be a winner for the year.

Another thing. Girlfriends and wives USUALLY don't like or understand gambling. That is why there are so many men that hide it from them. You're lucky enough, like me, that you don't have to hide it from her. That is the way it should be. I would just reassure her that you aren't risking money that you can't afford. I would also explain to her that in order to succeed at it, you have to follow the games every night and 2 or 3 bets isn't that many when there are 10-15 NBA games and usually 30-40 College games every night. Good luck

Answer 2

Well, I would say if you are losing more than you can afford to lose. That means, you should be able to pay all your bills and still have money for extras, some fun, a savings account for emergencies, and putting money into some type of retirement account.
It doesn't sound as if you have done that, so I doubt it is excess. But, is it compulsive? Can you stop, or not do it as often without missing it? I think ANSWERS is compulsive.
The other thing to mention is your spouse. If this bothers her, why would you keep it up? If you cannot help yourself, it is compulsive. If you now want to do it just because it bothers her or you see her as controlling you, you both need counseling. I personally think she is just shocked because in her mind it was maybe once or twice a week, not per night. Maybe she is OK knowing how little you lost, maybe not. $344 would make a car payment or take her out on the town and to a hotel with a hot tub in the room and that money would be better spent that way. Consider it. (I just don't think you have a problem except for helping your wife understand it, perhaps it relaxes you.)

Answer 3

The problems usually start if you have a bad losing streak. Start betting more and bigger, in hopes of getting your money back, that kind of thing. Pretty soon, your bills aren't getting paid and you start thinking of people you can rip off to keep it going.

Anyone gambling daily has a problem. If you were playing poker twice a month with your buddies, fine. Daily betting is not a good idea.

The real test of whether it's a problem, is if you can just quit cold-turkey.

Try taking 30 days off. Zero bets. You'd be wise to not spend your time analyzing charts and stuff too. Just leave it all behind for 30 days. It will, of course, be there waiting for you when you return. If you can't stop, time to get some help, before you lose your wife, job, everything else.

Answer 4

Yes, if he is addicted. Gambling is an addiction like drugs, but I say as long as he can hock his houses, that's his and wife's business. Now the abusiveness and bad temper may suggest another problem. I felt a certain irritability at Obama for (making him come to Mississippi-maybe) McCain was tortured in VietNam and has illnesses, in which some people defer to drugs and alcohol for relief. My uncle had post traumatic stress from WWII that he died with. The horrible vestiges of war is far reaching and long- lasting. That is why I am voting for a man who will not lead us into senseless conflict, who says talk to your enemies and get a common ground(sounds like someone I read about on Sunday) With Russia in the mix, the next war would be unfathomly terrible.

Answer 5

If it's purely entertainment for you, and you can easily afford your losses, then I wouldn't worry too much.

One of the telltale signs I've seen (I have lots of friends that are poker players, and one or two have some gambling issues) is when you hit a bad stretch and start betting more and more money to try to "win back" your losses. This is when a lot of people get into trouble, and if you recognize this to be true for yourself then I'd try to get help.

I linked to the Gamblers Anonymous Q&A page here. Hope all is well.

Answer 6

1

Answer 7

it always starts low then gradually when you win a nice jackpot it makes you wonder if your bet had been bigger how much more you could have won, and it starts to become an impulse to go bet every chance you can so that is when it becomes a problem.

Answer 8

Sports betting systems are sets of events that when combined for a particular game for a particular sport represents a profitable betting scenario

Answer 9

Well it depends on your financial situation and your behavior if you hit a losing patch.

If you can easily afford it and you don't lose more than you can afford then it's fine.

Answer 10

gambling more then you can afford and doing stupid bets