How predatory gambling is destroying my life
I had never set foot inside a casino before I was 30, never bought a scratchers ticket, never bet on horses, I never liked the thought of risking my money. That changed one day in March of 2007. I was heading back from a fishing trip with my father at Grand Lake in northeast Oklahoma when he mentioned stoping to get something to eat. We stopped at the Turtle Stop gas station in Wyndote, Oklahoma. At this gas station there is a small casino and before we ate, Dad said he was going in to try a couple of dollars… I decided to go watch. He put $2.00 in a quarter slot machine and I watched him turn it into $15.00 rather quickly. He gave me five and said try it. I lost the five pretty quick and thought to myself this is why I don’t do this. We left that day and I didn’t think I would ever return. I am a happliy married father of four who, three years later, can say I have probably lost in the nieghborhood of $40,000-$50,000 at casinos and playing scratchers tickets. I used to have a nice boat, several nice tools, and my wife always drove a dependable car. God has watched over my family and I because it could have been a lot worse. In that same time period my wife helped me settle our credit card debt, pay off our vehicles and sell what ever items were neccessary to cover my gambling problem. I thank God she doesn’t gamble too. I have seen many divorces, home forclosures, and increases in crime in our area all caused by problem gambling and casinos in every town. Please do what ever you can to put a stop to this grave problem in America.