Published: June 30, 2013 12:01 AM EST
Updated: June 29, 2013 9:20 PM EST

Liz Allen: Do you have a gambling problem?

Liz

Allen

I can't resist 50-50 tickets. I spent $20 on chances at a parish drawing last Sunday and won a beautiful planter. And I've gone to great lengths to bet on the ponies.

Actually, my husband went to great lengths to satisfy my craving to pick a long shot in the Kentucky Derby. When we drove to New York for his granddaughter's first Communion, Eric took a 25-mile detour so I could bet on the derby at Yonkers Raceway.

I always win something in the Triple Crown races, but my luck ran out this season. I'll try again next May. If I bet at Presque Isle Downs & Casino, I'll play $5 in the slots, then walk away when it's gone. And I refuse to spend more than $2 on 50-50s.

I met a woman who is not so fortunate. She has a "compulsive personality." She is addicted to gambling and she needs help.

She requested anonymity. She is middle-aged and employed. She comes from a good family and tries to go to church. Gambling hasn't ruined her financially, but her addiction causes problems. She plunges into a depression when she realizes how much money she has blown. "Stress from gambling has put a little toll on my marriage. It hurts (my husband) because it hurts me," she says.

She knows she can overcome her gambling habit with the right kind of support. "Once I decide on quitting something, I'm good," she says. She quit smoking, and with the help of Alcoholics Anonymous, she's been sober for 14 months.

She realized she had a gambling addiction about eight years ago. "Before the casino opened, it was club gambling, with the drinking and (instant) tickets," she said. "I could sit and play $300 to $500."

If she runs out of cash at the casino, she writes a check for more money to gamble. In May, she got $80 in free play. "Some weeks I did good. Then, oops, I spent $300 of my own money," she says.

She'll quit gambling for eight to 10 weeks. "Then I'll say to myself, 'OK, you can do a little bit.'" But she can't stop. She compares the rush of gambling to a Calgon bubble bath. "You're in your own little world."

Like this woman, an Erie man who is a five-year veteran of Gamblers Anonymous is frustrated that there are so few GA meetings in Erie. "I've had people approach me and they say, 'Don't say anything, but I think I have a gambling problem.' I tell them about the meetings but they just don't come," he says.

Some websites list a GA meeting at the Erie City Mission, but GA hasn't met there for a few years. There are two GA meetings in Erie: Saturdays at 11 a.m. at the Masonic Temple, fourth floor, 32 W. Eighth St., and Sundays at 7:30 p.m. at St. Joseph Bread of Life Church, 147 W. 24th St.

If you have a gambling problem, visit www.paproblemgambling.com or call (877) 565-2112. I took the test on the website. I'm OK.

http://www.goerie.com/article/20130630/OPINION18/306309897/Liz-Allen%3A-Do-you-have-a-gambling-problem%3F