Quote:
Originally Posted by sirswish6
what were your screennames?
how much did you lose total?
did u pay your roommate back?
was there ever a chance you would actually be homeless and broke? (ie no help available from family/friends)
how did your walk raise awareness for gambling addiction?
Screennames: I had so many names that there's no way I'll remember them all. Here's a shot:
roadrelief
stonedug
stonedugs
apriest10
...dozens more. I haven't thought about them in 2.5 years
The amount I lost is immaterial. I was suspended from two colleges in 4 years. If you count wasted tuition money, then all in all from ages 17 to 23 I probably lost 100k to 200k. But, like I said earlier, it wasn't about the money for me. It was a drug, and I got a high from putting everything on the line whenever I could, so I rarely had access to large amounts of money.
Yes, I paid my roommates back.
I raised awareness for problem gambling through the interactions I had along my trip. It was a pretty small scale. I didn't ramp up a lot of media attention before I left, and once I started, attention wasn't what I tried to get. I talked to people along the way, got a few newspaper articles here and there, and then spoke at the National Conference on Problem Gambling at my destination in Boston. I had a few people along the way send me personal messages about how I had inspired them to quit gambling. That gave me a sense of purpose, even if it was only a few people. I will never know exactly the extent to which I raised awareness about gambling addiction, but I think the Drawing Dead poker doc will do a pretty good job of that, depending on the scope of its audience.
No, there was not a chance that I would be completely broke, or homeless. My parents knew I had a gambling problem long before I did, so that was always a touchy subject among us. After my second college suspension, I knew exactly what was going on, so I admitted my problem. They were good at supporting me without enabling me, so when the time came, they were very glad to help me put gambling behind me. Today, I am financially self-supporting as an independent musician/contractor, busker, yardworker, landscaper, painter, and limo driver, but gambling isn't in the cards.