# Ever known someone with a bad gambling habit? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 16, 2020, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-known-someone-with-a-bad-gambling-habit/848007 "2020-02-16T03:55:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2020, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-known-someone-with-a-bad-gambling-habit/848007/61 "2020-02-19T19:06:43Z")
The students’ coop in my college was being robbed. It was clearly an inside job, among other things because the coop itself was atop one of the towers: any stranger moving around there would be noticed. It turned out to be one of the school’s janitors, two brothers who lived there with their families. Gambling addiction. The school paid us back and worked out a plan with him to get treatment, pay off his debts (both gambling ones and to the school for our repayment), etc. ---
**Author:** ![divemaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/divemaster/32/78_2.png) [@divemaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/divemaster)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2020, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-known-someone-with-a-bad-gambling-habit/848007/62 "2020-02-19T19:32:52Z")
From another thread: > [@What's the most money you lost in the dumbest way?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-money-you-lost-in-the-dumbest-way/845030/13): > > The worst thing that ever happened to me was being a winner at casino gambling for about 10 years. Hit Vegas or AC once or twice a year type of thing. Nothing huge. Win 1-2K. Not a whale. Not living at the casino. Just a guy making some extra coin at poker/blackjack/craps a couple of times a year. > > Then, winning $22,000 in about 5 minutes. > > You then get on the “preferred” lists. “Free” rooms. “Free” meals. Matchplay. Etc. > > Believe me, the amount I lost over the subsequent 10 years more than offsets the winnings. Way more. You convince yourself that you can beat it (hell, I did for 10 years). Lose at the casino? I can certainly win it back sports betting. I watch a lot of sports! How hard could it be? You start chasing. And chasing. And chasing. > > It ends up bad. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2020, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-known-someone-with-a-bad-gambling-habit/848007/63 "2020-02-19T20:43:28Z")
Ouch. Hope you’re free of that “chasing” now. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2020, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-known-someone-with-a-bad-gambling-habit/848007/64 "2020-02-19T22:59:25Z")
> [@skdo23](#): > > I was on a card counting team during the mid to late 1990s, and there were other casino patrons who were pretty obviously degenerates, but I never got friendly enough with any to learn the details. Have you done an “Ask The Former Member Of A Card-Counting Team” thread? If you haven’t, have you got it in you to do one? I’d love to hear more. ---
**Author:** ![skdo23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@skdo23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/skdo23)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2020, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-known-someone-with-a-bad-gambling-habit/848007/65 "2020-02-20T00:12:47Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > Have you done an “Ask The Former Member Of A Card-Counting Team” thread? If you haven’t, have you got it in you to do one? I’d love to hear more. Sure, I’ll be gone for the next week so I’ll need to wait until I get back. In the meantime, here are a few past SDMB threads on counting, however they seem to be more focused on card counting from the casino’s standpoint as well as the general principles of it as opposed to team play. [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/search.php?searchid=16494954](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/search.php?searchid=16494954) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-known-someone-with-a-bad-gambling-habit/848007.md?page=3)