" When gamblers hit bottom they have run out of options. They have run out of places to borrow money, people to touch and ask for money. They’ve often spent so much time away from their job that they’re either on the brink of losing their job or have lost it. Friends don’t come around anymore because the friends don’t gamble and don’t want to be asked for money. Their wives or husbands are ready to leave too so they have lost their family and children. And at that point they often consider suicide.
Gamblers are three to five times more likely than any other group to commit suicide. That’s something we watch for in every gambler. They’re depressed. They’re not quite sure how they got into this situation because when they’re gambling they live a minute to minute existence without any forethought or planning. They don’t look at tomorrow. They don’t look at next week. Only right now. All of a sudden they look back a year, two years, three years and they’ve run up a couple of hundred thousand of dollars in debt.
It’s not uncommon for a gambler to need money and figure 'I’m gonna win' and to borrow money out of petty cash, or to embezzle money. When they get paid, the pay it back, and then they borrow it again, thinking, 'I paid it back last time.' Well, eventually they can’t pay it back and they end up anywhere from $60,000 to $300,000 in debt. They don’t even know how much they’ve taken. Companies have to conduct audits to find out how much money is missing. Because a gambler doesn’t know. They don’t keep track. They honestly don’t know. They only live minute to minute."
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