The following is an exclusive interview with a problem gambler, now in active recovery from his addiction. We want to thank Tim for his candor and willingness to share.

Can you share a little bit about yourself?

I grew up in Eagan to loving parents with 2 siblings. Like most boys growing up, I was very into sports. I played hockey, football, and baseball and when I wasn’t doing that, I was playing video games or wiffle ball with my buddies. As I got older, I shifted my sports obsession (as far as playing) to golf. I graduated from Minnesota-Duluth in 2011 and began work in sales. I currently work for my father in industrial sales. I got married in September 2023 and live with my wife and our 2 cats in Richfield.

Would you mind going into your gambling journey? How did you get into it and what did you enjoy about gambling?

I started gambling probably in 8^th grade or so when I would play poker with my friends. I didn’t really gamble as I went through high school or during college. I would maybe make 2 casino trips in a year after I turned 18 and would typically stick to a lower $ amount. I got in to sports gambling around 2015-2016 but kept it to a reasonable amount just because it was kind of a pain to take screen shots of my bets and send them into a bookie. My betting began to become more frequent around 2018 when I found a new bookie that had a website where I could log in and place my own bets (and where I could settle up weekly or at certain $ amounts). The sports betting from there slightly progressed through COVID-19 when I switched to online gambling. From that point on I was pretty much either gambling on sports with my bookie or playing online casino games when I had free time. All the way up to the point I needed to seek treatment.

How did you first come to see that you had an issue with your gambling?

Going to treatment and not having a casino (phone/computer) at my disposal at all times was a huge first step for me.Probably around that time COVID-19 hit, and sports shut down. I knew I liked gambling but without sports to bet on I turned to online gambling as well as obscure sports that were still being played (horse racing, video games etc.). That was when I knew I was in trouble and quitting was going to be difficult.

What did your recovery journey look like?

It began in November 2022 when I pretty much ran out of money and options and didn’t know what else to do. I went to my parents and my fiancé at the time. I had great support from them, maybe too much when it came to financial support from my parents. I started doing outpatient treatment at the end of 2022 but within a few weeks I was gambling again and hiding it from others. Things quickly spiraled out of control again and in early April 2023 I came clean again and decided to go to inpatient treatment.

What helped you most in treatment?

I would say the biggest thing that helped me going to treatment was the time away to disconnect from the world I had known. Unlike a lot of people that struggle with gambling, I hardly ever went to casinos but would do it all from the phone or computer. Going to treatment and not having a casino (phone/computer) at my disposal at all times was a huge first step for me. While I was in treatment, I had a lot of time to think about what was really important in life and how sad was the life that I had been living when I was gambling all the time. I really needed that time to give me a springboard into recovery.

What does your recovery look like today?

I finished my outpatient program in January and now I attend a weekly Gamblers Anonymous meeting. This helps me keep my addiction at the forefront of my mind and keeps me grounded. It is nice having a community of people who understand the struggles of addictive gambling.

What advice do you have for those currently struggling?

Take it one day at a time. Along with that mantra there were a few tools that I leaned on heavily in the early days of my clean time:

1. Installing a gambling blocker on all of my devices (Gamban)
2. Turning over my finances to my wife. She sees any purchases that hit my card, so I am not tempted to get back into online gambling.
3. Reach out to resources at Gamblers Anonymous. The people there are helpful and do not judge you no matter where you are at in your addiction or recovery.

Anyone experiencing the negative impacts of a gambling problem, including sports betting, can reach out 24/7 to the Minnesota Problem Gambling Helpline. Calls are free and confidential. Call the Minnesota Problem Gambling Helpline at 1-800-333-HOPE or text HOPE to 53342.

Last Updated on March 6, 2024