"You know you play too much poker when you are having such a bad day at Hold 'em that you decide to take a break... and play Omaha…"
I can't say I have encountered much in the realm of personal addictions in my life. Sure, I stayed awake for hours upon hours trying to finish some stupid video game or had a few wild nights. But nothing destructive to myself or my family (unless you count the fact that I weigh way more than I should and not really doing anything about it). I do know of several people around me who have battled some sort of addiction (and I will not go into detail) and know how it has affected the people close to them.
Reading through a lot of the blogs recently, I started thinking about whether or not I was addicted to poker. I enjoy it. I play it. I read about it. I sometimes watch it on TV. But am I actually addicted to playing it?
I went and checked out Gambler's Anonymous and found their 20 Questions page. If you answered 'yes' to seven or more you might be a compulsive gambler. While I did have a few yes answers, I didn't make it to seven. Not even close. I think part of the reason is that I might not consider poker to be gambling. I don't see it as a means to make money. I don't get a huge rush from winning (or losing). I see it more as a competition of skill involving some luck (which might be the gambling side on some level). I don't actually gamble outside of poker. If I even make it to a casino, I am not at all interested in table games unless there's a social aspect associated with playing them.
But going back to those stories of addiction I've been reading lately. Since I really don't know much about addiction I might be way off base here, but wouldn't someone with an addictive personality want to stay away from other stimuli that could lead down the path to a different form of addiction? Does a recovering drug addict drink? Does a recovering alcoholic gamble? Does a recovering gambler want to have sex all the time?
Does a recovering addict need to stay away from other vices? I have no idea. What do you think?
Play 
3 comments:
On a recent episode of the Ante Up podcast, there was a lady on there that had a serious addiction to online poker. She blew through money like crazy. Lying to everyone just to get money to play and hide the fact she was losing. The interesting part was she never felt the same compultion in a live casino. For her, playing poker in a live casino was just fun and social.
I have no idea if the helps answer your question. It doesn't for me. I'm not an expert in addiction. I've known people with addictions and each one seems so different. I just doubt there is ever going to be a right answer to these questions.
Well you certainly gave me something to think about as far as the gambling. But I can however answer your question, "Does a drug addict drink"? No, the program I follow is complete abstinence from all drugs. Thinking of alcohol as different from other drugs has caused a great many addicts to relapse, I don't view alcohol separately, to me alcohol is a drug, and I have the disease of addiction who must abstain from all drugs in order to recover
I think I agree with you OhCaptain, each case is probably different. And I am sure that on a certain level people get addicted to online poker and online gambling, just like they would live gambling.
Donkette, I completely understand the drink/drug combo and I kind of assumed it was this way. Your personal story is extremely inspirational as well as heart-breaking and I applaud you for your amazing strength. Thank you so much for sharing.
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