Gambling is addictive and self destructive but hard to get over.

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Hard because it appeals to many the quick and easy gains of instant wealth or complete loss of an entire life's savings. One year a man who I will not name so as to protect his identity, will remain anonymous, won over 135, 000 dollars at gambling and was able to use part of this money to pay off his mortgage. The following year and most recently, the year 2016, was bad. I mean, he told me he gambled and lost over 120, 000 dollars. One year he was winning, the next year he lost big time! Now he tells us in confidence that he is trying very hard to only go to the casino once or twice a year and this is due to his wife telling him to. He has to cut back. If this seems like a major change in his ways of doing things, he used to go gambling almost ever weekend. So going out only once of twice and limiting the amount you are willing to take with you no more no less, is the only way he will seem to manage it. The bottom line is, most people who are addicted to gambling fall into the category of having lost far more money than they ever won and having to fight the almost daily temptation from urges deep inside to risk everything or lose it all as the rush in the head the cold sweats and hands trembling, the anticipation of all or nothing thinking takes a major toll on everyone who falls into the gambler's trap. I call it a trap because it is. A trap that many of us know about but will not readily admit to strangers or friends alike. We will keep this confidential. We who have paid a measly dollar to buy a Quick PICK ticket for the Texas Lotto are at the ground floor of impulse gambling. With just one buck, you can be in for a penny or out for a pound. You know who you are. I don't have to spell it out to ya. You and I and the rest of them are likely to at some point in our lives, tempted to taking risks that may seem like no big deal, what's a dollar anyway? right? A dollar lost by a million people is one million dollars in the bank for the Texas Lottery and they keep the change and do what they want with the money. But if you think you might stand a one in one million's chance at winning a few million dollars, of which, taxes will reduce it to less than a third of what you will win, or could win if you only part with a dollar or a few dollars for the mega plier. One guy told me he once won three dollars in a basic lottery. Well, I told him I kept those 20 dollars worth of one dollars and spent them on groceries at Kroger and it was a win-win for us. When you get to the point of no return you play one against the other in The Gambler, with Mark Wahlberg: