Читать книгу The Wolf of Gambling - M.Trojan - Страница 9

I think the greatest difference between Germany and America is the fact that in Germany, you will experience mainly envy and mistrust while in America, people are happy for those who experience something good. Strangely enough, the citizens of both countries look the other way in the case of a slot-machine addiction. I was able to leave the addiction behind me; but it was very hard and I had to face a lot of adverse winds. Everybody tried to unsettle me and repeatedly gambling was glorified and sugar-coated. I believe, that in the United States, there is much more solidarity among people and this can be an advantage for you. In Germany, there is less solidarity and also little enlightenment. In America, only the enlightenment is missing because the solidarity already exists. Therefore, as an individual gambler, you can achieve a lot – even everything, for as long as you decide against gambling and instead want to improve enlightenment.

It can hit anyone and - to be quite honest – it has affected too many already; at least, we are the living proof for the danger which emerges from a gambling addiction. However, we must rise and stop hiding the gambling addiction. Pretending it doesn’t exist is of no use to anybody except the gambling industry. Cause & effect, withdrawal & enlightenment. It is up to you – you are the key to the solution. Consider for a moment what you are currently achieving with gambling and then think about which of those achievements are actually worth mentioning. Very often you hear the saying: “It wasn’t all bad”, but what part of it was good? Since when can you regard the gambling away of money positively in any way? We, the gamblers, really punish ourselves with gambling; but we consider it to be something redeeming. In gambling there is no Happy end and it is this fact which you need to understand and accept.

When I talk about my gambling addiction nowadays, it never takes very long until someone in the audience asks about how much money I gambled away in the course of time. In conclusion, there is the consideration of all the things I could have bought or what I would own today if I had never gambled. Well, I think everyone of us has at some point thought about these things. And it is these considerations which frustrate us because we automatically deduce that our life would have been good if we had never played. That may be true. However, it is also a fact that nobody can see into the future and for this reason one can affirm that we all make mistakes. It is not a question of always having a master plan for everything. It is all about accepting mistakes and making the best of the existing situation. What would have happened if...? is irrelevant because with this question we don’t want to achieve control, but rather punish ourselves. Since then, I don’t ask that question anymore; the question of whether I would still be alive if I had continued to gamble away my money is much more important. And this question allows me to perceive the present quite positively. It is the confirmation that I do have a future which I can determine myself to a certain degree. Very often, we hold on to what would have been if the addiction had not taken over rather than recognizing that things which happened in the past can unfortunately not be changed. We should not consider the gambling addiction as a kind of a stroke of fate. All that is to come; everything depends on the decision you make now. The gambling addiction does not make the rules. You do. It is not the gambling addiction, which will decide what you are going to achieve – it is you. Every wrong question or opinion will make you look in the wrong direction. You do not have to hold on to what would have happened if ...? Live in the present because only that is actually relevant. Learn to counteract negative situations, thoughts and questions; learn to act instinctively. It is not the ultimate answer which will give you your peace of mind, but rather an honest answer will do this. As soon as you are honest to yourself, the answer will then always be right, regardless of how hard it may sound.

Cause and effect; addiction-trigger and addiction. The gambling addiction causes a systematic self-destruction. Nobody wants to admit to that voluntarily. Unfortunately, you will do everything possible so that the risky undertaking will bear fruit as quickly as possible. But how can the fun in the game turn into such a suicidal undertaking? In my opinion, it is due to the fact that you recognize the addiction or stress-trigger far too late – and even then you don’t want to accept it. In the course of the years, I have guided many people away from the slot-machines – doctors, lawyers, politicians, prostitutes, teachers, unemployed persons, journalists and many other professional groups are among them. All in all I can say that every social class is to be found. Regardless of rich or poor, middle class, lower class or high society. There were and are all kinds among them and nobody is worth more or less than anybody else. At the end of the day we get caught in the clutches of the addiction and then you are just one thing – a gambler. It doesn’t matter, what you managed to achieve through hard work or what you might achieve yet. The minute you become addicted, status symbols change ownership, the money goes from A to B and finally you are willing to pay any price just to be ALLOWED to continue gambling away your money. Do not hold on to the delusion that gambling is about winning money. That is 100 % not true. I described the range of my customers on purpose, so that you may recognize that persons in certain jobs definitely do not need a financial subsidy from gambling. It was never about winning; it is about the kick in order to be able to manipulate boredom, frustration, stress, and partly to be able to manipulate emotions in a targeted manner. However, it was never about winning money. However, gamblers sometimes hold on to that and claim in fact that they only gambled in order to possess money. Why? For just one single reason – it is easier to explain the addiction this way.

It becomes explainable for non-gamblers, possibly even understandable. The reason for a gambling addiction is rarely or really never lack of money. The reason are worries which in fact are in no way related to the financial aspect. When we think about it logically, it would make no sense to gamble away money in order to win a little. No, the start into the addiction was triggered by stress, worries, and anxieties. These may actually originate from financial straits; but it is not the lack of money which guides us to the slot-machines, but rather our worries. Therefore, emotions play an important and even decisive role in becoming addicted as well as in the withdrawal from the addiction. Think about addictive behaviour objectively for a moment, please read the following questions intensively and carefully and answer them as honestly as you can. Please do not forget that with every lie you are not dishonest to me, but rather to yourself.

 If someone gave you a gift of 500 dollars at this very moment, what would you do with the money? Would you invest the money in something not connected to gambling?

 Does the idea that it is possible to spend the money on something other than gambling appears to be quite confusing for you?

 Could it be the case that the idea of NOT using a gift of money or unexpected money for the slot-machine actually frightens you? Do you fell restricted or under pressure in making the decision?

 Is it possible that when you heard of the 500 dollars in question, you immediately started calculating how long you would be able to gamble with it?

Why did I write 500 dollars and not for example 5,000 dollars? Regardless of whether you gamble daily or weekly (periodically), I am deeply convinced that a gambler loses AT LEAST 500 dollars every month Some gamble away far more, others somewhat less. 500 dollars are worth nothing in the eyes of a gambler because in his hands money in the true sense of the word completely loses its value. You invest so many dollars, just so that at the end of the day, you can say you won.

Think about what you would be winning if the slot-machine does actually pay out for example 1,000 dollars at some point. Do you actually win money or just more time to gamble away money?

The gambling industry and their sympathisers are actually looking for a lucky devil who became rich by gambling at the slot-machines. And according to the old rule: if you don’t find anything, you need to invent something – the crowd who were said to have won create an illusion. You just invent the lucky devils and everyone will believe it because the gamblers want it to be true. The gambler will not recognize the illusion because the people behind the different forums, etc. know exactly what they have to write in order to deceive the crowd. Warning against the addiction and at the same time recommending sensible gambling is a good example. This is basically absolutely contradictory; however, it includes a brilliant proposition. The gambling industry and / or anyone who wants to downplay gambling forums always speak of sensible gambling. To be quite honest, if I were a pathological gambler today, I would immediately be distrusting upon mention of the word addiction. However, if sensible gambling is mentioned, I think like an addict: „Yes, that applies to me precisely.” Being gamblers, we do not want to realize that an addiction has taken over. There is no such thing as sensible gambling. There are occasional gamblers. However, Sensibility is destroyed completely by problem or compulsive gambling. If you were sensible you would stop gambling for ever at the next loss – and did you stop?

Gambling forums always use the term lasting advantage and gamblers boast about knowing about a lasting advantage or being willing to sell it at a price. You have to think about this objectively. There are (supposedly) gamblers who can continuously empty a slot-machine and they would be willing to pass on their knowledge because they want to help other gamblers to win. Oh yes, that basically means that one could take the money out of the slot -machine oneself; however, one is so charitable as to allow others to do it instead. What would be the sense in that and such people would be hired by the gambling sector, if they actually truly existed. In such forums you quickly see that the gamblers try to emulate an illusion and that there are even pathological liars among them who play with the hope of the gamblers. There is no such thing as a constant advantage for the gambler. If there was such an advantage, the slot-machine and/or the gambling system would no longer be in existence. As I said, if you think logically about such statements, then you’ll understand the absurdity in such texts. Furthermore, the term timeframe is being circulated again and again in the Internet. It ought to be clear to you that such absurd myths are only being circulated in order to confuse you and influence you. That is what it is all about. You are to start doubting and every confusion will automatically move you closer towards the slot-machine. Only by means of clarity, you will be able to consciously withdraw from the slot-machine. The confusion is based on the fact that even ex-gamblers are manipulated and confused so severely that former gamblers do ask themselves, whether it would perhaps enable them to clear out a slot-machine. In this way, you begin to doubt himself and you become curious. Suddenly you have the urge to gamble again and will actually do so. Then the addiction has again prevailed. And this happened only because you were confused and manipulated. Be careful of what is suggested to you. The promotion of addiction takes place every day. Anyone, who consciously downplays gambling, denies the dangers and is therefore a gambling sympathizer. For this reason, you should never believe a gambler when he talks about gambling as such or winning at gambling. A certain group of gamblers will do all they can, just so that you will start gambling again. You become someone very special if you turn against the gambling sector – but not if you join it. From that moment on, you are just a sheep and will follow the herd. You must turn into the shepherd who will keep the herd from destroying itself. You have to become aware that it is not the alleged profitable system or the continuous advantage which are the breeding grounds for happiness, but rather the final withdrawal and the fight against this addiction.