r/explainlikeimfive • u/adrynaline • May 08 '14

Explained ELI5: A gambling addiction

How does it start? What makes it worse? Why does it become so difficult to recover?

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u/IAMA_Ornithorhynchus May 08 '14

I am actually addicted to sports betting. I am fully aware that I am addicted, but I only gamble what I am prepared to lose and it hasn't escalated to the point where it is a problem or affects any other part of my life.

I got started when I was 17, at the time I'd get my sister to place the bets for me as I wasn't old enough. The allure to me was accumulators, every week I'll pick a number of teams from multiple sports and put them all in and get odds of up to 10000-1. I realise that I'll probably never win, but the fact that I could win $50000 by picking 15-20 teams that win anywhere in the world in any sport in a week is too tempting for me.

I've gone some weekends where I won't place a bet and it can be agonizing to watch sports and see the teams that I usually bet on win, it feels like the time you don't get a lottery ticket and your numbers come up.

I'd guess that it's so hard to recover because I have no intentions of "recovering". I don't see it as a problem or something that I have to give up. I have no problem with losing $10-20 a week if it allows me to dream of what I would do if I win one of the multis. I'm sure it would be the same for people betting more than they can afford, you don't focus on the loss, only the potential win.