Early in my recovery, I played “world series of poker” on my phone. It is a “free” app. I played the tables, mostly tournaments. I did very well. On the app, there is a “slot” option… also “free”. In between hands I started playing the slot machine. I began to lose in minutes the hard earned “chips” that had taken me hours to accumulate. Now that my “chips” were all gone, I decided to “buy” some more…with real money…I am buying fake chips. The moral of my story is that even if something is done innocently, if it is not completely thought out it can become very costly. I am 5 months gamble free. I only play the poker app on very rare occasion, and it doesn’t hold much interest for me any more. The lesson I learned from the “slot” option is very frightening. These machines were not built for entertainment, they were built to take your money. They are called “one arm bandits” for a reason.. This situation has caused me to do some research into the addiction process. There is a book called “addiction by design”. It discusses in extreme depth the math, and the emotion that slots cause. It is truly a non winning option, and If people were educated to the fact, it would be something nobody would ever do.
Human nature is strange. Very similar to people who play big money on lottery… If the odds of winning the Mega-Millions are 0.000000167 to 1…. we see somebody win, and wonder why can’t it be me. Even if you bought $1000 worth of tickets, you would only eliminate one of those “0”s. Frankly, the numbers tell us we should not play at all. And many on this site agree completely. I hope since you gamble for a living, very much like the gentleman who does the stocks for a living, you have to do it with a clear mind and complete understanding of what you are doing. Unfortunately, if you cross this line, you might have to seek another career. Just my two cents