Success Story Four
The Background
A former Gambling Clinic client had never had any trouble with gambling before. He had enjoyed sports betting sometimes or the occasional trip to the casino. But gambling had never been an issue for him. He’d never had any financial problems as a result of gambling. He didn’t think of himself as having an addictive personality. He was a working professional, financially responsible.
A huge sports fan who loves sports memorabilia, he got into sports card breaks. He would buy a chance to participate in the breaking of a sealed box of sports cards, and then see what cards he got. He could get something valuable, or something worth nothing. It was exciting.
But the costs quickly piled up. He drained his savings to fund the breaks, and he started accumulating debt. He’d always been smart with his family’s money before.
When he started to have to take money from other places to cover the breaks, he realized it was a problem, and there was urgency to fix it.
He knew the breaks were an issue for him, but he wasn’t able to stop. Sometimes he got valuable cards he could sell to go toward the debt he’d accumulated from past breaks, and it was hard to give that up. He knew he needed to quit, and he’d never dealt with anything he couldn’t shake before.
He talked with his wife. She didn’t have context or understand the allure of breaks—and she was worried about the financial impact on their family.
Finally, he reached out to The Gambling Clinic. It was a big deal for him to ask for help. He didn’t see himself as a therapy type of person. But he hadn’t been able to give up sports card breaks on his own and wasn’t sure where else to go.
The Process
His therapist wasn’t that familiar with breaking either, but he immediately recognized the appeal of breaks—and the potential for addiction. The therapist did some research after the first session to provide insight for their work together.
One of the first steps was for the client to calculate his spending on breaks.
Then he and the therapist made a plan. It was pragmatic. This is what you’re going to do. This is what accountability will look like.
The process was encouraging. The former client said he tends to be skeptical, but this wasn’t a gimmick. It wasn’t a Band-aid. This was a serious, informed recovery process that he could buy into. This was a solution that could be sustainable.
The client did one or two sports card breaks after he started therapy, but pretty quickly he was in recovery mode. He didn’t miss a single appointment. There wasn’t a single piece of homework he didn’t do. He answered the questions honestly. He didn’t do it halfway.
The Result
He felt momentum. He was making progress in paying off his debt, and with everything else. Soon, the sports card breaks became a non-issue. He wasn’t tempted anymore. The urge to do the sports card breaks was pretty much gone.
Today, his quality of life is back to what it was before he started the sports card breaks. He feels pride that he fixed a persistent problem, and pride that he and his wife got through it together.
His wife is at ease and trusts him again. She’s not scared to look at the bank account in the morning now. This was a hurdle that the two of them overcame.
He even enjoys cards again. He’s started doing card shows. He sells cards and has recouped some of the money he’s lost. He’s built his savings back up, and he’s paying off his debt. He doesn’t do breaks at all anymore—now he saves up for cards he wants. There’s no randomness to it, no impulse buys. It’s planned and intentional. Now it’s an extra treat to get money from selling the cards—and he actually does make a pretty good amount of money buying up-and-coming players, sending off cards to get graded, and doing the research to make good sales. He might buy a pack of cards for himself and his kids at Walmart from time to time—and there’s an element of randomness in that since you don’t know what’s in the pack—but it’s just for fun and the love of sports now.
As for the advice he would give to someone who is struggling with sports card breaks or another form of gambling, he said don’t allow it to be stigmatized. He was initially embarrassed about having a gambling issue. It wasn’t how he thought of himself. He’s a teacher and a coach and a dad. He’s a respected person in the community. But a lot of issues tend to be pretty non-discriminatory. Anyone could have trouble with gambling. So if you have trouble with gambling, don’t let it be stigmatized, and don’t hesitate to find help.
It may not be immediate progress, he said. It was never harder than the first month. But then he felt momentum, and it got easier.
The biggest thing about overcoming a gambling problem, he said, is just that you have to actually do it. Everybody wants a quick fix. Something that drastic that you’re getting help for it may not be easy to fix. So you have to be consistent, be accountable with the therapy sessions, the homework, and the plan. You have to treat it like something that is lifesaving. Maybe not literally lifesaving, but financially, gambling could ruin your life—don’t let it.
