Lewis and Clark College, Portland Oregon recently hosted a seminar on treating the compulsive gambler. Professor Tom Ten Eyck examined the similarities between the treatment of alcohol and drug addictions. Clinicians generally agree that 80% of gambling treatment replicates A & D treatment, but note that 20% is unique to gamblers. The 20% addresses the gamblers egotism and sense of entitlement. Beliefs such as I can beat the odds, This machine owes me, and Its my money: I can do with it what I want reflect a basic defect in the thinking of most compulsive gamblers. This defect is reflected by the gamblers erroneous belief that:
One can predict or control the outcome of a random (or chance) event.
Compulsive gamblers believe it is possible to:
- predict when a machine is due to hit,
know which cards to throw away on a poker machine rather than relying on the computer to pick them
control which number the dice will show through instinct.
They also believe notions like: If that player hadnt taken that card, the dealer would have busted and I would have won, Im better than these players so Im bound to win, and The more I play, even though the odds are in the houses favor, Im bound to win.
Those who design slot machines, manage gambling establishments, or govern state sponsored gambling are well aware of how gamblers think and design machines that feed into their erroneous beliefs, such as letting the gambler think that it is possible to predict a win by making almost wins 10 times more common than real wins (an almost win on a slot machine shows 2 bars on the line and one just above the win line).
One part of recovery is helping the pathological gambler recognize these cognitive distortions even when they are actively gambling. This is difficult because most gamblers have an ego which is loathe to admit they have no impact on the games results. Counselors need to recognize when a clients thinking is distorted and keep bringing the client back to the present.