The 1% in Recovery Successful Gamblers & Alcoholics Stopping Addiction
The 1% in Recovery Successful Gamblers & Alcoholics Stopping Addiction
Austin Texas Gambler John G, 30 Years, Talks 12 Step Rooms, Depression and Live Sports Betting
Recovery from addiction takes many forms, but as our guest John G explains after 30 years without placing a bet, the journey follows distinct layers. First comes arresting the illness through changing daily behaviors and becoming accountable. The deeper work involves addressing character defects that drain serenity, making amends to those harmed, and developing a spiritual connection that sustains long-term recovery.
The digital age has dramatically transformed gambling addiction. What once required visiting a casino or calling a bookie now happens silently through smartphone screens, creating a new breed of gambler who's more isolated and depressed. College campuses have become ground zero for sports betting companies targeting young males through aggressive advertising and peer pressure. As John points out, "It's toxic, but it's intoxicating," especially for young people who haven't yet learned the value of earning and saving money.
Perhaps most alarming is the industry's promotion of live betting, which accelerates addiction by encouraging continuous play and chasing losses. This practice compresses what once took decades of addiction development into just a few years. The parallels to Big Tobacco are unmistakable—from targeting youth to denying harmful effects while hiding behind hollow "responsible gambling" messages. As John wisely observes, "Everyone thinks coming in that it's a gambling problem. They realize after a while it's a living problem." Ready to understand how recovery goes beyond just stopping the behavior? Listen now and discover what it takes to truly heal from gambling addiction.
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Oh, we're going to be talking Houston, austin, central Texas with a gambler. Welcome again to another episode of the 1% in Recovery where we encourage you to laugh every day, to work hard. You have to work hard in recovery, work hard in relationships, work hard in your job, business, school, just work and to love unconditionally. Put more love out there and watch the universe give you much more love in return. Now remember, recovery is beautiful. Your EQ is your IQ and you cannot outthink an emotional issue. So what I encourage people to do is to join the Facebook group Recovery Freedom Circle. It's just a community where everybody can talk about recovery, the steps, something that you are dreaming about or you just achieved, or something you may be struggling with, struggling about a step or something else that the community can help and have some input so you can live your best life. Now help me welcome John G from Austin, texas. How are you feeling, john? Feeling good.
Speaker 2:Hugh and I wanted to thank you for giving me a chance to share today. I really like what you're doing with the pod and the website and spreading the message of recovery Very encouraging and very uplifting. So thank you for the chance to participate for the chance to participate.
Speaker 2:No problem Now tell everybody something you love. I love to be near the beach and just hear the ocean and the sound of the surf. It's very peaceful and it's very continuous. You look out on the horizon and you just see the vastness and you recognize that, uh, uh, yeah, nature and uh and God's green earth is a beautiful thing.
Speaker 1:Did you have a favorite beach that you went to growing up?
Speaker 2:Um, I, um, I. I grew up, uh, in the Philadelphia area and certainly the South Jersey shore, Of course. Atlantic City is there, unfortunately, and also my youngest sister lives in Boca Raton, Florida, and her part of the Atlantic Ocean is pretty well accessible the whole year, so that's a beautiful thing as well.
Speaker 1:Ah, that is. I'm actually going to be on the Jersey Shore in three weeks, so I'm going to enjoy eating dinner there and also being run by the beach Something going back to my old childhood days, when we used to live in New Jersey and in Philly.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's a nice part of the world. I still have family back that way.
Speaker 1:Yeah, all right, let's just jump in. Let's get into the questions. Sure, question one so people know John G has now over 30 years without placing a bet. He's hit the triple X on that coin. So he's got a lot of experience, going to a lot of meetings, retreats, conferences. He's seen a lot. Tell us over these 30 years, if you've seen, especially in the gambling 12-step rooms, how is there more recovery now and are we actually trying to evolve? Because we'll get into question two about the new type of gambler, but tell us about the rooms and how you see it. Is it more conducive for better recovery?
Speaker 2:Yeah, excellent question, hugh. The thing that jumps out to me is that there's layers of recovery that I, to arrest the illness, change daily behaviors, change your associations, make a conscious effort to be accountable with your time and your finances. You know that basic common denominator of recovery is always going to be the focal point and there has been a fair amount of growth. Where it can be a little more challenging is the next layer of recovery being working on aspects of your character. You know being aware of character defects that are just drains on your serenity. They wind up getting in the way of you making progress in your life to do the reflection, the self-introspection, to see where the problems are and also be willing to make the adjustments. So that level of recovery.
Speaker 2:We have a lot of folks that just want to abstain initially but as they continue to come to meetings it winds up being something that if you're working with a sponsor and if you're doing step work, you realize that working on aspects of your character is going to be an ongoing thing. There are people that are really focused on how do I make it right with the people that I've harmed or damaged along the way? And the key there is you know, to work your program, to be accountable, and you have the desire to make it right eventually. And then, of course, there's that ultimate layer of recovery where you want to be able to acknowledge, you know, a higher power that has blessed you with the opportunity to make your life better and to have a conscious contact and an ongoing spiritual relationship with a higher power. Now, does everybody coming in get to that particular layer?
Speaker 2:I found over the years, hugh, that it does wind up being a sequence, right, I agree, yeah. So to look at it in general terms, the abstinence level yes, there has definitely been a consistent uptick, and I can only speak to the Austin community. We may have, you know, 40 regular members, attendees, attendees. It's a close-knit group and there are people that are actively working as sponsors to help members experience all the layers of recovery. So I'm thankful that our particular fellowship looks upon the recovery as going way beyond just the abstinence.
Speaker 1:Right and yeah, it does take a while to kind of to me understand. Exactly what is needed, I think, in the beginning is is that you know you want people to, you know, just start to realize they've got to make changes and that's kind of. You know it's a slow process but yeah, hopefully they can kind of see the end result that in reality it's not about the gambling, it's changing what is going on inside. You know, like they say a lot in that combo book. What are those emotional insecurities? What is the immaturity about? What is the inability to accept reality? Why are you living in this dream world? So, yeah, there's a lot there and that'll help you understand. This is like this is more than just, oh, I just had a bad weekend or a bad six months, yeah, everybody thinks, coming in Hugh, that it's a gambling problem and they realize after a while it's a living problem.
Speaker 2:Right, yeah, that was made 10x more complicated with a gambling addiction. But when you get the awareness that there is a program of spiritual recovery that gives you a chance to regroup and completely go about things differently and go forward, then it can be a very uplifting experience.
Speaker 1:Yeah, okay, let's jump into question two, because now with so many states 38 states plus the District of Columbia legalizing sports gambling and of course so many more obviously have live casinos, now here in Texas, unless you go into those one or two Indian reservations, there are no casinos, there is no sports betting. But the gambling gambling has overtaken America, just like it's started in Europe and the UK. You can't escape it, doesn't matter what state you live in. You can't escape the gambling advertising Right, and we're seeing, unfortunately, so many young college males especially getting into that sports betting and then getting in trouble because, as we know, the more you bet, the higher probability is you're going to lose.
Speaker 1:And so the question becomes is have you seen a change in the gambler? Because now I notice that the gambler used to be very outgoing, bombastic, egotistical, loud, kind of like your big a-hole, and now the gamblers are a little more, almost like depressed. Tell us about you know, because it's on your phone. It's much more isolating when we used to call up the bookie or go to the casino that if we're going to help people in recovery, we've got to understand that the gambler is also more isolated than we were, more lonely, in my opinion as well, as just more depressed, and how that's going to, how we have to really attack it. Tell me what you've seen in the gamblers, because you're living in a college town. You're right there at the University of Texas. What are you seeing?
Speaker 2:Well, the scary thing that I'm observing, hugh, is that it's a lot like the tobacco industry wanted to hook the kids when they were young teenagers and get them hooked on the product early. The appeal to the college age youth, the males in particular, to be able to make something out of nothing, you know, by placing a wager. You know it's toxic, but it's intoxicating. Also, you know the glamorized, you know, and that it's something that all the fraternities do, and so there's almost, it's become such a part of our culture and, you know, such a part of the young people's peer groups that it winds up being almost an expectation.
Speaker 1:Also, you can't you can't watch a game without them just throwing betting lines down your throat. The announcers are just nonstop spokespersons for the gambling industry. It's like shut up, Let me watch the game.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, I've actually heard announcers talk about a missed extra point not being that big an issue in the game, but of course if you were betting the over, you know you're in trouble. It's just become so much more outward and out in the open now that gambling and betting on the games is, you know, not only going to be prevalent but it's going to be more and more so going forward.
Speaker 1:Well, you're also brainwashing. The little kids who are eight and nine are just watching a game and they're just now constantly hearing, like you said, it's like the cigarette companies. Yeah, you were, you're, you're, you're training the whole, every, every age group.
Speaker 2:right, talk about gambling yeah, why just watch the game, uh, if you can use our app to uh, to place a wager on it? And yeah, it's, it's, um, it's, it's really it's, it's sneaky, but it's that. They recognize that it's going to be. They're they're just trying to grow revenue and you know they don't look at the potential implications on the other side of things. You know they just are thinking in terms of more is more, and it gets to also people being on their screens eight or nine hours a day. That has a very isolating effect on its own and you know how many of these people wind up. You know nothing else to do. I'll go to the gambling site and that winds up being part of the daily routine. So I think that goes hand in hand with the cultural thing we're going through, with all the screen time, which is isolating to start with, and then you know the gambling aspect can really contribute to the lack of socialization, the isolation and then depression. They seem to feed upon one another.
Speaker 1:And don't forget, the gambling is going to create much more anxious people. Yeah, anxiety disorders are going up, depression's going up and it's like don't we see this mental health problem?
Speaker 2:Yes, a mental health problem. But also the folks in their college ages. They don't quite have the value of a dollar earned, the value of a dollar saved and the value of a dollar invested. They're just looking at numbers on a screen and thinking, well, I can get a higher return if I just keep betting. And they lose sight of the value of a dollar, unfortunately, betting and they, they lose sight of the value of the dollar, unfortunately, um, but that's um. That's one aspect that is feeding it. But, yeah, the mental health implications are.
Speaker 1:We're we're not even scratching the surface on the uh, the impact all right, let's jump in then, because that kind of also leads into question three sports betting and how? Live betting. To me, the two biggest issues that I have with the gambling industry look, america has voted. They want gambling. I'm cool with that. It's no different than America wants alcohol. Let people drink, let people gamble, but be smart about it.
Speaker 1:You've got to. First of all we talked about, you got to pull back and pretty much almost eliminate gambling ads, like they did the cigarette ads. But that's going to be hard because now media, so every media company relies on this $2 billion gambling revenue each year. But the other part is is the live betting? Let a person make a bet. They win or lose. Don't encourage chasing desperation, because that fuels that goes into the cycle of addiction winning phase, losing phase, desperation phase and to me, live betting is just let's speed up the gambler. We're going to destroy him in two years instead of what it used to be 10 to 20. I was more of a 20-year guy, but everyone now has just a shorter gambling life because it's geared for you to lose faster.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no question about it. It's, uh, it's an accelerator, and you know the? Um, the double up to catch up mode, um, once again, you, you lose track of the, the value of what you're actually wagering um and to me that's even, that's even more.
Speaker 1:That's just gambling in the purest sense, because you have no idea. In the middle of the game You're just throwing money Right, chase, you're not even thinking about it. Is this a good play or not?
Speaker 2:Or even how on earth am I going to cover this if it doesn't come through? You know that that part just is out the window as well. Um and the um, the, the concept of what we said in our rooms locally is is uh.
Speaker 2:You know you're just adding a zero to uh to uh. That's how progressive the gambling illness can be. Um, yeah and uh it it is. Um yeah. It's become incredibly progressive, not just a progressive illness and the concept of okay, if your first half bet did not work out, we got you covered for the second half. You're going to win it all back. It's going to be great. I mean, that's the approach and that's the hook that the tobacco industry used to you know, you want to be cool amongst your peers, you want to smoke this brand? Yeah, and it's the same type of thing. Hey, we got the answer for you. This is going to make it all you know work out for you and it's going to be great.
Speaker 1:Well, to me, as in the gambling industry, with their ridiculous propaganda saying well, we've made statements called responsible gambling, yes, so it's all on you. We're not doing anything wrong, we're just making the product available, right, you're just not responsible.
Speaker 1:Just like the tobacco industry said you know, all those studies were going to either not come to light or we're going to deny that there's any links to cancer or health issues. Yet they knew full and well the addictive nature of cigarettes. And to me, the gambling industry knows the full effect of the addictiveness of gambling, especially on the mobile phones, which is becoming much more addictive in and of itself.
Speaker 2:Well, how about the gambling commercials that you see five times an hour in the course of one game, and they all say please gamble responsibly. But we're going to come back to you in the next 10 minutes to remind you that there's still a chance for you to gamble responsibly.
Speaker 1:Come on or call 1-800-GAMBLER.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and they might as well just say call 1-800-JACKPOT, because we're the winners here. We just want you to keep playing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that'd be almost the equivalent of a fast food chain saying at the very end of it, saying Now, if you have a problem eating our value meals, call the American Diabetes Association or the American Heart Association, because you will be pre-diabetic, you will have cardiovascular markers, which you are headed towards. To me, it's the same philosophy they know what they're doing, they know their product is destructive yeah, and you know, but not to all people there.
Speaker 2:There's, there's some folks that, um, that that know how to, um, you know, manage the, the behavior responsibly yeah, but they don't need to be.
Speaker 1:It's like but it's alcohol, you don't if you know how to manage alcohol.
Speaker 1:You don't need a reminder. You know when I'd stop at one or two. I'll only go to the bar once a month. Right Right To me. It's like to me, it's like the. When you do the 20 questions, you know the question. To me that always indicates a compulsive gambler. I think it's question number nine, which actually states that after you lose, do you have a strong urge to come back the next day and win, win more, or to try to win, because if you can't accept the fact that you just got your ass handed to you, let it go because you don't have another paycheck.
Speaker 2:You don't have like three paychecks coming. Yeah, I've had to remind members that they tell me John, you don't understand. I have to go back and win my money back. I said last I checked my friend, it's no longer your money you click on or you push chips. It's not your money anymore.
Speaker 1:You need to let it go. But you know what's even worse than that is when they say but the casino promised me, I still have one more free spin or free play.
Speaker 2:Oh it's absurd.
Speaker 1:I'm sure that's how the casino looks at it. They say we love you so much. Well, you know how, you know what it's on us. We'll let you spin the wheel one more time, Like you're on, the Price is Right or something or Wheel of Fortune.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you get reminders all the time. You know when a new casino goes up, they don't have a mortgage for it. It goes up for cash and that cash, unfortunately, is from the players that got that last free spin and the comp room and the free buffet and tickets to the show. That's how all the casinos were built.
Speaker 1:Well, you notice how they don't give back cash, they just give a hotel room. They give food that would probably be thrown in the trash can. Oh, there's an extra ticket that's going to go unseated anyway at the show. They know you're giving cash. I always say they give you certain everything. Yeah, but with that, we are going to conclude this episode of the 1% in recovery podcast.