Atom-RSSBad Beats in Poker: We all get them handed to us, and not only do we lose the money, but everyone goes on tilt for at least a hand or two so we can lose more of our poker bankroll!
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March 9, 2005
By KATIE WILSON
People across the Mountain State are trying to get the word out to those with gambling problems and their families that help is available.
Virginia Shelhammer, a gambling counselor for the Problem Gamblers Help Network of West Virginia, said this week is Problem Gamblers Awareness Week. Counselors all over the state are wearing green and white ribbons while putting up posters and billboards in an effort to let people know that gambling is an addiction and there is help for the addiction and its effects.Counselors also are donating information to public libraries so that gamblers or their families can do research on the addiction.
Problem Gamblers Awareness Week comes at a time when the West Virginia Legislature is considering a bill that would allow individual counties to vote on whether they will allow table gambling at racetracks. Shelhammer said if this bill passes and table gambling becomes a reality in West Virginia, counselors will have to begin finding resources to treat an entirely different type of problem gambler.
She said gambling addiction can take many forms, from bingo or slot machine use to playing poker or using scratch-off tickets. Different games of chance appeal to different people; therefore, each gambler has to be treated individually to help avoid and manage "triggers," which are certain sights or sounds that trigger the urge to gamble.
Shelhammer said gambling addiction can lead to more problems, like financial disarray, suicide and crimes like forgery and theft.
"No one ever sets out to become a gambler," Shelhammer said. "Someone may begin as a recreational gambler, then not be able to stop."
Gambling is a real addiction, just like drug or alcohol abuse, she noted. Frequently, family members need to get counseling as well. Shelhammer said family members come home to find their paychecks gone and then lack the funds to meet expenses, like rent or groceries. In extreme cases, spouses and children find lines of credit opened in their names or their entire credit history in shambles.
"Family members think, 'If they love me, they'll stop,'" Shelhammer said. "It's not that easy."
She said gamblers get caught up in "chasing losses." The gambler believes the money they've lost can be won back because it's in the slot machine.
"If you lose something, you go back to look for it," Shelhammer said.
They believe if they just play another $10, they'll win back the $1,000 they've already lost.
Shelhammer said help is available for gamblers and their families through the Problem Gamblers Help Network of West Virginia by calling (800) 426-2537.