Vegas Gambler David Talks Recovery Freedom Circle, Living in Vegas while Working at a Casino

Vegas lights make everything feel possible—until the illusion cracks. We sit down with David, a dueling pianist who performs inside one of the city’s most charged environments, to unpack how he broke the gambling cycle without hiding from it. His turning point wasn’t a dramatic rock bottom; it was a quiet realization that the real loss wasn’t just money, it was time—years traded to a system designed to keep him chasing.

We walk through the practical steps that helped him rewire habits and thinking: setting daily goals to reclaim attention, learning how games and apps engineer compulsion, and building guardrails that make good choices easier than risky ones. David explains how the rush of big tips, applause, and late nights can blur judgment, and how small decisions—leaving after a set, banking tips immediately, swapping drinks for water—compound into real freedom. He also shares why “you’re not alone” landed harder than any lecture, and how accountability through his relationship created a clear reason to change.

If you’ve ever thought “one more win and I’ll stop,” this conversation shows why that promise is part of the trap. We explore neuroplasticity, natural dopamine through healthy routines, and a reframed approach to recovery that swaps shame for clarity. Hear how David went from bargaining with the house to betting on time, relationships, and steady growth—the kind you can actually keep. Subscribe for more honest stories and practical tools, share this with someone who needs a nudge, and leave a review to help others find the show. What small guardrail will you put in place today?

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome And Recovery Mindset
• 0:37 Scorecard And Brain Healing
• 1:15 Meet David In Las Vegas
• 1:51 Joys Of Live Sports And Music
• 3:08 Finding The Podcast And Reframed Steps
• 4:33 Goals Shift Focus Away From Gambling
• 6:38 Stealing Time And Aging Wake-Up Call
• 8:16 You’re Not Alone And Letting Go Of Guilt
• 9:42 Why These Steps Resonated
• 10:45 Working Inside A Casino While Recovering
• 12:48 Discipline, Triggers, And Money Habits
• 14:25 Accountability Through Relationship
• 15:20 What Freedom From Gambling Feels Like
• 16:35 Games Are Built To Hook You
• 17:45 Gratitude And Closing

Transcript

SPEAKER_01: 0:01

Yes, today we're going to be in Houston and in Las Vegas talking to a client who's actually worked, the Recovery Freedom Circle. Welcome again to another episode of the 1% in Recovery, where we encourage you to laugh every day, to work hard, work hard in recovery, work hard in your relationships, work hard in your job, business, school, just work. And to love unconditionally. Put much more love out there in the world and watch more love return to you. Now, what we encourage people to do is to go to the website lifeiswonderful. Download the free recovery growth scorecard. That way you start healing your brain. You start getting natural dopamine, serotonin, endorphins, oxytocin, and most of the things, activities there are free to do, but it gets you on that healing path. You got to change the neuroplasticity and the transmitters in your brain. That's how you start to heal, and that's how we move forward. Remember, recovery is beautiful. Your EQ is your IQ, and you cannot outthink an emotional issue. Now, help me welcome. How are you feeling today, David? I'm feeling good, man. I'm feeling good. Feeling good. Nice and hot in Vegas, even though it's January.

SPEAKER_00: 1:32

Yeah, it's a lot, it's a lot warmer than it is in New York, I'll tell you that.

SPEAKER_01: 1:37

Yeah, you're from Rochester.

SPEAKER_00: 1:39

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 1:40

You're out you're a little more upstate, not even in the city.

SPEAKER_00: 1:42

You're literally Oh no, it's almost in Canada, actually.

SPEAKER_01: 1:46

You're up in there in the Adirondags. Yeah. All right, jump in. Tell the uh audience something you love.

SPEAKER_00: 1:54

Oh, um, well, I love music, but I love I love the 49ers, I guess. We can we can start there since we're in the uh playoffs season now. So um, yeah, I mean, I love my game. Yeah, we did. Actually, my girlfriend and I just went uh in October. It was wild. You know, um watching the game live is so much different than watching it on TV. I mean, everything is a little bit slower. It's like it the field doesn't look as live. It's weird. It's it's always reminds me of like watching my brother in high school football. It except at you know, you know, uh high level, but a few more people in the stands. Yeah, yeah. But I love watching it live. I really do. So it was fun. They won. The only uh the only thing that was disappointing was pr, you know, the my favorite quarterback there, uh Brock Purdy was on the sideline. He was hurt, but other than that, it was fun. We had great seats. It was good for us to do that too.

SPEAKER_01: 2:57

So I agree, man. It's always good to go, whether it's a sporting event, concert, uh other, you know, any any type of live event. Yeah. But let's jump into the questions. Okay. You had contacted me, and you know, you were struggling with gambling, you had found the podcast, and you inquired about the recovery freedom circle. You know, we talked on the phone. Uh, you then became a client. Tell the audience what you liked or and or loved about the recovery freedom circle.

SPEAKER_00: 3:33

Well, um I remember I was searching for something that would register with me, some someone I could talk to or that would just um turn the light bulb on. And I would listen to a bunch of other podcasts, and I just happened to find yours on a way I was driving to a gig, and um the way you were talking about the steps and just talking about addiction and recovery and what it does to you, just you know, just hit a light bulb for me. I was like, oh wow, this is this guy's got it. He's real, you know, he's realistic about all the issues. There's no, you know what I mean? It just hit me as like, okay, I want to talk to this guy. So I literally, I really did pull over. I pulled over, and I don't know if I called, I think I might have called you or emailed you, and I was like, hey, I I I want to know more. And then after that, it just started rolling. But I really like the steps. There was a few steps that really kind of helped me. And um, again, the a big light bulb was just talking to you before I enrolled in the program about um, you know, the um just the battle. And actually, one thing that really hit me, I never thought about it was the fight, you know, like you're going against you go in a fight. If you're in a fight, you know, you think it's gonna be fair, and one guy shows up, but ten guys show up, and now you're that's such a disadvantage. And that really hit a light bulb because I've the odds are so against you that I just you get clouded and you don't think about that. You know, you're you're so tunnel vision on winning your money back, or or um, you know, you got some lucky streak, or you got you know, you're you're the only one who's the lucky guy, you know, that kind of thing.

SPEAKER_01: 5:30

And you're counting cards or whatever. You know how to throw dice or whatever, whatever we challenge.

SPEAKER_00: 5:36

Whatever your system is, you know what I mean. So that was great, yeah. And then, you know, I started rolling the program, and um the goals really helped me because I started writing down certain things I wanted to accomplish, and it just got my brain off of gambling and trying to win my money back in that path. And uh I remember just going out to work and I just noticed my vehicle. I was like, wow, I really love this vehicle. And I never, you know, like before, it was like when I was missing all that stuff. I wasn't seeing it because I was gambling was on my mind. I was like, I have to work, then I hope I make tips so I can go and try and win some of the money back I lost the night before, you know. And it helped me, it helped those things just get farther, farther behind my brain or whatever.

SPEAKER_01: 6:33

All right. Any other the besides uh because goals is uh step one.

SPEAKER_00: 6:38

Yeah. You said there was a couple other ones that uh any other of the steps that you step well step number eight was good, was uh we stole time, and that made me really realize like I I remember uh I went to see Billy Joel live out here, and he was really old, and I just uh just dawned on me like, wow, like I'm getting old. Right. You know what I mean? And I'm in my 40s, I'm 45, and what am I doing? I've wasted so much time. Just if I keep doing this, I'm this is a bad path. You know, and it really kind of just was like, holy shit, I gotta change, I gotta change this now.

SPEAKER_01: 7:25

Right, because so many people focus on the money. They always people, you know, whether it's the gambler, how much money did you lose or this, and don't realize how much time has gone by. Yeah, that hit me big time.

SPEAKER_00: 7:36

That hit me big time. That becomes my own solution. Even when I was going through that program with you, I still had my own solution in the back of my head. I was like, well, I could do it this way. If I just win this one, then I'll be done. And I could do it this way. And then that kind of hit me, was like, wow, I really need to flip this around because I'm wasting way too much time and I'm not getting any younger. And this is I, you know, my future is going to be ruined.

SPEAKER_01: 8:02

Correct.

SPEAKER_00: 8:03

You know, and I the time is time doesn't wait for you. You know, so that was a big one. Um, and then um step number two was uh and step number three were good. Step number three was just helped me with we're not alone. I'm not the only one. Because that's that's tough because you know, I was guilt, I felt really guilty. I felt let down my family, I let down people I loved. I I'm I'm working for nothing. Uh all my hard work is going is and then that guilt spirals into trying to get it back, and you don't realize that you're just stuck on this hamster wheel because you're so tunnel visioned on winning it. And then when you win it, you think you're like, oh, okay, great, I got this. I can do this. This is my, you know, I could beat it. So just knowing that I'm not alone, and then talking with you was just like talking to a friend, you know? And that was what I really liked about it. It was just like I got I got someone who really just gets it. There's no formula. There's I I don't know how to explain it, but there's no special or like and and I I believe in God and everything, but some of the other steps start there, and you already feel more guilty because you're not following that path anyway. That this was a very different um way of looking at it. And it's the whole thing resonated with me.

SPEAKER_01: 9:34

Excellent. Because that's the how I I envisioned it. You know, I you know, I've been in recovery over 25 years. Uh, gambling, alcohol, and I've seen in it in my own experience, and that's why you know, when I was at a retreat, I rewrote the steps because there's got to be a way that makes more sense.

SPEAKER_00: 9:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 9:56

And I'm glad that you really kind of gravitated to that and you know that they kind of jumped out at you.

SPEAKER_00: 10:02

It did, big time. You know, it's like just talking to a really good friend who got you, you know, like talking to a family member who was like, hey, you know, and it it it didn't, I guess it didn't make me feel like I was um uh worse than I I don't know. It didn't make me feel like I already did, I guess, you know.

SPEAKER_01: 10:26

Right. And people need to realize everyone, most gamblers they're they're good good guys, you know, good women. It's the behavior that just needs to end because you can't win. Right. But the insanity in our brains, and you know, that's why I said step one, you know, the gambling just lies to you and tricks you into thinking that maybe today you'll get lucky.

SPEAKER_00: 10:48

Right. Yeah, and that was big for me to change, yeah. But it was, but that that was a huge thing. And it and it was, I mean, the whole program was definitely worth the investment. I will say I will say that. My dad helped me uh with half of it, and I'm very grateful for my family because um I had to call. I always told my dad, I was like, I don't my whole life, I was he always would be able to help. I was like, I won't call you unless I need you. I was like, you know what I mean? Like, I'll do it on my own. And that's kind of how I was with gambling. I was like, I'll do this on my own. I'll I'll I'll and I couldn't anymore.

SPEAKER_01: 11:25

You know.

SPEAKER_00: 11:26

I got you.

SPEAKER_01: 11:27

Well, let's jump into question two. Okay. Now you're someone who lives in Las Vegas, yeah, works as a casino, you're an entertainer, you're a dueling pianist over at the ARIA, so that's why people can understand when you said gig and tips. You uh you have a job where you're going into a casino, you're making money, and you still kind of have to leave. Tell the audience how hard is it to deal with being in Vegas, working at a casino as you're trying to stop this gambling problem. Tell us about the ups and downs.

SPEAKER_00: 12:10

The ups, the ups is, well, in Vegas you can get anything you want at any time. You know, if you want to go out at six in the morning and gamble, you can. There's no, there's not a lot of rules. Everything's open 24 hours. You can go to freaking the gas station down the street and hit a slot machine. You can do it in the airport, you know, you can do it uh at Applebee's. I mean, it's just there. It's always there, it's always available. And it was strange because when I went home to visit, I never gambled. I never had the urge. But what out here, when you're working in that environment and people are throwing you money, sometimes big money. I mean, sometimes we'd come out with like a thousand dollar tips, or somebody would just throw a thousand dollar chip of stuff that I've never seen before, you know, or where I grew up with. So it was a rush. And it's all, and when you're drinking and people love you and they're clapping, it's a rush, and you feel um like you're on top of the world, like you can't lose. Right. And then you feel lucky, and you're like, oh, there's a slamming shirt right now. I just uh just a hundred bucks in my tips. That's it. And it doesn't end there because I don't like to lose. So I lose a hundred. Oh, another hundred. That's right, I'll put it back. Okay, well, tomorrow I work, so I'll make it back. And then it just spirals and and it's it's really tough. It's tough because it's always around. I had to really um start disciplining myself and just walk away. Just walk go home, don't stay there any longer and not drink, you know. Like if someone buys a drink, have water, throw it out. You know, act like you're drinking it and don't do it. Because my personality is um I have an addictive personality to begin with. Like, I don't, even if I'm playing video games, you know, like I could really get wrapped up in it. And then I have to stop and think about like, okay, it's a video game. You know, like what am I getting out of, you know?

unknown: 14:16

Right.

SPEAKER_00: 14:17

You know, like I'm how why am I so addicted to winning this game? And uh so yeah, I had to really discipline myself to finally just be grateful for the money that I'm making and just go home, put it in the bank, be happy with that. And and and then watch what really was not, it was like just watching my bank account grow.

SPEAKER_01: 14:41

Yeah, that gets that's actually uh fun to see.

SPEAKER_00: 14:44

It was fun, yeah. I was like, oh wow, if I don't waste my money, I can actually have some money.

SPEAKER_01: 14:54

And then you go to more Niners games, you can do all kinds of stuff. Go back home to New York. I mean, all kinds of things just open up. And I think that's what you're saying is also because you liked about the goals, then you can stay more focused, even when you're drinking or people are just, you know, building you up.

SPEAKER_00: 15:13

Well, I also, you know, I don't have any family out here. It was just me and my little dog. I had no accountability. I could just do what I wanted to do, and I was just in that cycle. And then when I got in my relationship, my girlfriend was really helpful. I mean, like, because I had to be accountable now. You know, I couldn't just stay out till six in the morning because she'd want to be, she'd wonder where I was. And if I wanted to stay in this relationship and prove to her that I could, you know, that I'm the guy she wants or I'm the guy I can really be, I had to change my life too. It wasn't it was difficult as I draw I dragged her through a lot of it, but she stuck by me. And um and I had accountability, you know, I had to change things.

SPEAKER_01: 15:59

Excellent. And then one last thing. Tell us about uh three, question three, freedom from gambling. When I say freedom from gambling, what does that kind of mean to you?

SPEAKER_00: 16:13

Um it means you're free from the control it has on your mind. Like it just it it frees you up from being um from the guilt, the embarrassment, the illusion. You're free of just trying to beat the system, you know. It really frees you mentally. Um that's the most I could say is it just you're just free of the of the hooks it has in you. Like the hooks are gone.

SPEAKER_01: 16:53

Excellent.

SPEAKER_00: 16:53

There's no strings anymore. You know what I mean? Like you could just breathe, and it's like, okay, I don't have to have this monkey on my back. I don't need it. I don't have to have it, you know.

SPEAKER_01: 17:05

Right. And when people talk about in Vegas or the gambling industry says, oh, gambling is entertaining, yeah. You look at it differently.

SPEAKER_00: 17:15

Very right. Yeah, absolutely. It changed really changes your mindset on on what it's really about. And I think that's what helped me the most is knowing the ins and outs of actually what's going on with the game. Like I know we talked about it, even video games, like they're set up now to keep you interactive.

SPEAKER_01: 17:41

Correct.

SPEAKER_00: 17:41

You know, like you're never gonna really beat everything, so you have to go back. I mean, it's it's trained, it trains your brain to be addicted to it. And I and that really helped me because that was like, oh wow, this is what's really happening. And I'm in this illusion that you know I can beat the system.

SPEAKER_01: 18:05

Right. Well, I'm glad that things have worked out. Any last words?

SPEAKER_00: 18:11

Uh, I mean, the the last words is I'm grateful for you, man. I'm grateful for the program, and the program is definitely worth the investment. I think it's the best program that is out there, and I think more people need to know about it. Um, because it presents itself in a very different way, way that really, really um spoke to me.

SPEAKER_01: 18:34

Excellent.

SPEAKER_00: 18:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 18:36

All right. With that, we are gonna conclude this episode of the 1% in recovery podcast.