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Gambling is one of the sneakiest thieves of time, money, and in some cases life. For the most part people handle it quite well, a lottery ticket here, a few dollars in the slots there, certainly nothing constituting a problem. There are others however that either don't know when to stop or can't stop, for these people gambling is a tremendous problem.

My introduction to gambling began when I was quite young, my grandfather always bought me a scratch off ticket or two when I visited. I got the impression this was fun and safe, afterall why would grandpa ever introduce me to something harmful? By the time I was ten I was already dreaming of playing blackjack in Vegas. When high school rolled around I was organizing betting pools for major sports events. When I turned twenty three however is when things got out of hand.

I was stationed in a state which had gaming, the daily number, scratch tickets, and just for fun a casino forty five minutes down the highway in a neighboring state. The day I arrived I placed five bets on the daily number not fully aware of the type of bets I was placing so I tried one of each with the same set of numbers. I won over seven thousand dollars. While at the time it was great, and why wouldn't it be, it opened a dangerous door. I now had plenty of money to visit the casino and try my hand at my long held dream of black jack. What I found was the game bored me, but roulette and craps were fast moving and full of people cheering and groaning. That got my interest.

Again I walked out of a new gambling experience a winner, how much I no longer recall, but at the time it was enough to put me on top of the world. I found a high, and it was a high making me money. "I don't know how they stay in business" I said to myself cashing out. Soon I found out as weekend visits stretched out longer. Weekday visits got added to the mix, and believe me, I won sometimes, but never enough to cover a previous sessions losses. I knew this was getting to be a bad habit, but it felt so good. I told myself I was in control, I could stop, I just chose not to.

What I didn't realize then was that win or lose, I got a rush. Anticipation builds and for even a scant three seconds at times every bit of my being was focused solely on the dice, flip of a card, or spin of the wheel. Time not only stood still, in the casino there was no time. People catered to my every need and whim. When I wasn't in the casino I sought any avenue I could to get that rush and found keno

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