Slot machines are designed to be addictive. Slot machines are also known as VLTs (video lottery terminals) or pokies. The machines are designed with three or more reels that spin when a button is pushed or a handle pulled. The machines have different themes containing graphics and music from popular movies or TV show.
Can men at a GA meeting welcome a slot machine addict?
A group of men were standing by a side door behind the church. They didn’t look like gamblers, but then I didn’t know what gamblers should look like. I wondered if any of them had committed the crimes I had committed. I opened the side door and peeked into the room. Several men sat in folding chairs around the table. I didn’t see any women.
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A tall man with lots of black hair came over to me, blocking the doorway with his huge frame and said, “Hi, my name is Pete S. . . are you looking for Gam Anon?”
“I don’t know what that is,” I answered.
“Its for women who are married to compulsive gamblers. You’ll learn how to live with the gambler and how you can change your life. They meet in the room across the hall. Is your husband a gambler?”
“No, I am.”
Slot Machines Designed To Be Addictive As A
He looked me up and down and asked, “YOU are?”
“Yes . . . the man on the phone said there was a GA meeting here tonight. I carefully stepped around Pete and slid into an empty chair. Maybe this was a Men Only meeting and I wondered if they’d let me stay.”
The man sitting next to me reached out his hand and said, “Hi, my name is Don W. Would you like a cup of coffee? Are you a compulsive gambler?”
“Yes, I am.”
“What kind of gambling?”
“Slot machines.”
He chuckled, “How could you get into trouble playing slot machines?”
“I got in a lot of trouble. I lost a lot of money . . . and I’ve committed a crime. I didn’t tell him everything because they might not let me stay.”…(to be continued)
Help for slot machine addiction
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