No matter your skill level or experience in poker, if gambling keeps coming up regularly and there is an urge to play it is wise to put a stop to it. Although breaking gambling habits may not be easy at first, it can be done if one makes significant lifestyle changes to break free from it and makes changes that bring lasting changes into one’s life.
Gambling can be an addictive activity that wreaks havoc with finances, relationships, work and lifestyle issues. To understand why you gamble and what keeps drawing you back to video poker machines this article seeks to shed some light. Here we discuss common reasons people become hooked and how you can break free.
Video poker allows you to place bets of coins or credits by pressing buttons on a video screen, with five cards then being dealt out, which must then be determined as either keepable or discardable before being replaced by new cards by the machine. When winning hands are achieved you will receive payments according to a paytable which typically pays according to straight, flush, two pair or Royal Flush hands.
Video poker and slots often result in you chasing losses; thinking about what money has been lost while trying to regain it back. Debts that have accrued can also become an issue; this can become extremely stressful if your family are also experiencing gambling addiction issues. Chasing losses is a common gambling addiction that’s hard to break free from.
Your best strategy to break this addictive pattern may include refraining from carrying cash and staying away from casinos or online betting sites, socializing in bars and restaurants without these machines or taking up an activity unrelated to gambling such as yoga or meditation to focus your mind and deep breathing exercises as mindfulness techniques.
Some programs rely on addicts severing all ties with gambling and declaring they won’t gamble again – an approach which can be both patronizing and ineffective; many gamblers have attempted numerous times and failed to stop gambling altogether, only making their lives even worse in the process.
Effective treatment for gambling addicts involves helping them understand that the enjoyment they derive from gambling comes from specific areas of their brain. This process, known as priming the pump, can be accomplished in various ways such as showing them real-life consequences such as debts or property loss from gambling addiction and discussing these effects in detail with them. Other techniques have proven extremely successful such as cognitive behavioral therapy which has proven extremely helpful at breaking this addiction cycle.