I guess I need to clarify a little seeing some of the responses I've gotten (and yes, this morning when I got up, I wish I hadn't started this thread at all). First of all, I don't have a "problem" with gambling. Pro football is the only thing I bet, I only bet on one game a week win or lose, I never bet more than $200 on a single game (and up until yesterday, had never bet with money that wasn't there), and I keep my emotions out of my betting. I do it because I enjoy the preparation for each week along with my fantasy teams. I hadn't planned on doing any betting at all this year because of how life has been this year for me, but I decided to go for it and see if I could make an "easy score" Sunday to give me a little extra cash flow this week. I've never done what I did yesterday as far as betting with money I didn't have and making multiple bets and because of the scare I went through, there won't be any more betting this year. I was just curious to see if there was anyone out there that had to keep rolling from game to game to try to break even and see if that kept them from betting again or was just part of the "thrill" for them...that's all. It wasn't about an admission of a problem, it was to hear other stories that some of you may have gone through. I guess this was the best $15 I've ever lost because of the lesson learned.
Well I still say bet against the Lions!! LOL
As for storys, well one time I was betting with a buddy of mine who had a bookie or whatever you call them lol. College basketball. He also had an online offshore account. We went through a streak of bad luck, too many losses with the bookie and too many bad parlays. What was worse was we worked at a movie theatre and didn't make that much coin to be losing, but it was addicting because we had a tv in back and could watch the games. And yes, I kept playing to try to recoup losses. I remember watching headline news constantly because they had a scrolling sports ticker. There was also one of those "numbers" you could call to get the scoring updates. We called that thing constantly until the phone bills at home and work caught the attention of the parents and bosses and we had to stop.
Last thing we did, was bet on UCLA to win the NCAA, with the online offshore account. I forget when we placed the bet, was fairly early on (before the tourney started, I think), after watching them dominate some team while at work one day. They won that year which helped a lot, and I still needed to clear a couple of hundy to pay off that debt. Haven't bet a sporting event since then.
We also used to go across to windsor to the casino before they opened up here. Like every weekend after work. Thats when I determined I am just not lucky, pretty much at all. After hitting the bank account hard one weekend, I told the guys that always went to never tell me they were going ever again. They wouldn't. I would ask "what ya doing?" and they would just say they were going home to bed or something even if they were going to gamble.
Now, I just kind of stay away. I mean I'll bet the occasional "squares" or the friendly $5 wager or some texas hold em or something...once in awhile I'll go to the casino but its rare. When I do go I always expect to lose, that way if I win, I'm happy, and if I lose...well I already figured I would.
This last vegas trip wasn't cheap, but I don't feel bad for losing money at slots or whatever. I knew that I would. Some of the other guys were losing and could afford to lose much more than me and were freaking out...trying to keep betting to "win it back". I tryed to tell them to just get up and they wouldn't listen, and then lost more. They weren't interested in my theorys or storys.
For me, I'm just unlucky. lol