Cunning? Baffling? Powerful??

It is said that addiction is Cunning, Baffling and Powerful.

In problem gambling, one symptom that is consistently baffling is "chasing".

Chasing is betting money to get back the money you lost betting!

When a problem gambler is chasing, there is a compelling need to recover losses using the same type of gambling activity. If money is lost with slots, most slot players will try to recover by playing slots, often at the same machine or machines. So it goes for all types of gambling.

Maybe someone has previously had a loss limit. A loss limit is as it sounds – take $20.00 to the casino and when it’s gone, it’s gone. However, once the addiction kicks in full force, that loss limit is quickly abandoned. This now leads to greater betting which leads to greater losses, and the cycle continues. If some money is recovered, then hope is generated that all money can be recovered. If all of the lost money is recovered, the problem gambler now feels a sense of relief and feels that ìnow I am even, I can start fresh. So rather than walking out, as recreational gamblers do, problem gamblers will continue to gamble, many times until the last dollar is gone.

Now the problem gambler feels angry, frustrated and anxious and now may acquire additional funds from the ATM or other sources to continue to gamble in an attempt to get rid of those feelings.

So as you can see, this is not about money. Money is the agent of this addiction as drugs are the agent of drug addiction and alcohol of alcoholism. Emotions drive the chasing.

Cunning, baffling and powerful? It sure is.

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