This question most gamblers ask themselves when they begin to realize gambling has affected their lives.

Most gamblers intent is not to lose all their money, but rather to win big and buy all those materialist items they have always dreamed of. Gamblers are not selfish people; in fact they enjoy buying things for their family and friends.

Compulsive gamblers live their lives to just place one more bet. It doesn't matter if a compulsive gambler is up five thousand dollars, they will still gamble until they lost all the money they came with. This is reality for a compulsive gambler. At the time they finally win, their ego's sore like a bird in flight. For that very instant they feel like their on top of the world. For them there is no other way they can get that euphoric feeling. This is what keeps a compulsive gambler from really wanting to stop gambling.

When a compulsive gambler realizes that they are always losing there money reality sets in. They then question themselves. "Do I really want to stop gambling? They decide yes I want to stop gambling. They are feeling good about there decision. They finally made the decision to stop. The next day comes and goes. The compulsive gambler is feeling good about them selves. All of sudden they get a call from a friend. Next thing you know you're in the car headed to meet them at the gambling establishment. You now realize you didn't stop gambling. You then play games with your mind, telling yourself "just one more time and I will stop." On the way to the gambling establishment you start thinking about the big win and how you are going to spend the money. You finally arrive and place your first bet. As the night goes on you realize you're ahead, you're on top of the world and then everything begins to crumble. You only have twenty dollars left in your wallet. What do you do now? You reach for your wallet and realized you have a credit card you can get three hundred dollars off of. You head directly to the credit card cashing area and look for the shortest line. You start wondering why this line is moving so slowly. When in reality it's only been a few minutes. You finally get the money and you begin to gamble again. Before you know it you lost that money too. You finally decide to leave and head home. In less then one minute after leaving you begin to ask yourself "Why didn't I leave when I was up? How could I go and take three hundred dollars off my credit card. How could I lose all my money again? What am I going to tell my wife? How could I do this again? They finally arrive back at home and have to face the music. Once again they ask them selves: How could I do this again? They then decide it's time to stop. The next day arrives and they ask themselves "Do I really want to stop gambling?" The logical answer is yes but the reality is no.

Once a compulsive gambler no longer has any resources to gamble with, reality sets in and they are willing to admit they have a gambling problem. I have met a person who attended a gambler's anonymous meeting and convinced themselves that their problems were minimal compared to the people at the table. Once a compulsive gambler no longer has any resources to gamble with, reality sets in and they are willing to admit they have a gambling problem. I have met a person who attended a gambler's anonymous meeting and convinced themselves that their problems were minimal compared to the people at the table. A year passed and this same person went back to same Gamblers Anonymous group and their situation is now worse then the people he met at the first meeting. Don't let this happen to you or a loved one. There is a site called I Stopped Gambling So Can You http://www.istoppedgambling.com/ that has informational resources related to stop gambling addiction.

Knowing you have a problem gambling and doing something about it can have an everlasting effect on your life. It's time to take one day at a time.

Mr. Howard Keith has an extensive background in dealing with compulsive gamblers, relatives and friends of gamblers and teenage gamblers. Mr. Keith believes there are many alternatives to aid in the recovery of a gambling addiction verses a twelve step program. A large percentage of his emails were from compulsive gamblers looking for an alternative to Gamblers Anonymous and twelve step programs. Gamblers Anonymous also helps a significant number of people each year but there is a large percentage that does not stay. These are the people Mr. Keith is hoping to reach.