??

Its his right to know where this happened, people could just use this and scam him

I'll second the '??' - that post made very little sense.

Yeah, Mike isn't the uberscammer. Just cause I can post that Mike owes me fifty thousand quatloos I gave him when he was trolling the spaceport at Area 51 doesn't make it true.

All these poker podcasts are garbage. Not done with any quality, so hard to listen to the hosts with scratchy voices.

maybe it's your ****ty computer

Just listening to the podcast at the moment, and a couple of points to Mike:

You're comparing the situation fifteen years ago, to the situation today. Most people accessing drug and alcohol treatment in the US now only get 28 days -- certainly, when it's covered by insurance.

The 28 day programmes will generally find you a halfway house. Halfway house will make you find a job to pay for the rent and provide you with a similar structured environment to a long-term rehab, only out in the community.

The brain wiring thing is just a metaphor. Reading a book rewires your brain. Taking a class rewires your brain. Without a long period of abstinence though, you're not likely to learn new ways of living, new forms of satisfaction, etc.

Re. costs -- most states provide funding for gambling rehabs. They've been getting cut a lot lately, but you can still get them. California has two state-funded rehabs. Here:

https://www.calproblemgambling.org/r...ent-facilities

That Jewish rehab actually looks perfect for you. State funded, treatment flexible lengths, depending on severity of problem, run by jews... you're a smart guy, you should be banging on their door already.

http://www.beittshuvah.org/

I don't think people have a very empathetic kind of understanding of how impossible it must feel to be an at-the-bottom gambling addict. It's a lot different than drug addiction or alcohol addiction in that the idea of "getting clean" is that to live without the drugs or alcohol is to immediately increase health and life quality, because outside of the addiction itself you don't need alcohol or drugs, and you in fact 'live better' without them. Yes, heroin addict will do anything to get heroin, but nobody needs heroin in order to not be hungry or have a place to sleep. You need money for these things.

Gambling starts out being about money, before addictive behavior sets in. Yes, as gambling becomes an addiction there is lots of pathology involved, but a homeless, penniless gambling addict only knows gambling or hustling when it comes to ways to get money together quickly. When you have no place to live, no food, and no money, you need money quickly. Your addictive behavior feels like the only and obvious avenue to accomplish that. It is an _extra_ terrible cycle for this reason.

When ChicagoJoey's interview, he suggests that Mike should, and I quote, "...find a way where you can...still...have some money." Really? This is Mike's path to salvation? I bet he never thought of that. Ugh.

CJ goes on at length in several spots about what Mike needs to focus on to get his life turned around. The only advice he should be giving is to go to GA and get advice from those who run it. Mike you have a long and incredibly hard path ahead of you. But luckily, it's only incredibly hard; it's not impossible.

I wish you the best.

EDIT: I think ChicagoJoey did a great job with the whole thing up until the advice started. Before that it was very well done, with a really good balance of encouraging the story telling and challenging the story teller...did come unraveled at the end there though.

bagging someone because they offer a free to listen to podcast is just

That was my point - all I asked was to provide any specific details of that because almost all of what he said was not how I went about asking or getting money from anybody. In fact I don't ever remember saying I have to go to the bank machine to get money ever(but I guess it could be true). There was just no specifics in his claim about when/where/what event etc...

Mike may not have scammed that fellow, but rather than react immediately with a challenging tone, I think he ought to give the benefit of the doubt. He can ask for more details certainly to verify, but start from the attitude that it is more likely than not that he did the scamming. Mike took money from many people through the years by lying. I of course don't want him to fall prey to others who try to take advantage of his situation now. I just want him to take an attitude and path that leads him to a better life.

Thx diet, I really appreciate that.

Good Points as well.

I don't see why a lot of posters are giving such a hard time to exit82.

All he's doing is trying to tell him that this should be "rock bottom" for him. Everyone would have to agree that Mike's actions last week before he left Vegas clearly show that he didn't really want to change & didn't think this was "rock bottom".

I got news for you Mike, "rock bottom" should have been in 2000 when your family wouldn't have anything to do with you. Your family loves you & will support you(not financially) if you take the steps to become a better man & are SERIOUS about it. They will take you back but you have to be dead serious about it.

I'm sure there are a lot of posters, including myself, in this thread who have gone/going through exactly what your family has gone through whether it was due to alcohol, drugs or gambling addiction of a close family member. You seem to be oblivious to their struggles & not understand that what they are doing, by basically disowning you, is trying to tell you that should have been rock bottom & were hoping you would choose them over your next fix & can somehow emerge from this dark place a better man so they could have you in their lives again instead of waiting for the call that you're dead. Believe me when I tell you, that call is their biggest fear.

It can't happen overnight but you're still a young man with a chance for redemption. You owe nobody on this board a thing but you do owe your family everything. Stop feeling sorry for yourself & looking for sympathy while taking the easy way out & keep taking the steps to become a better person.

Good luck.

Imo there is a big difference from a post such as yours and repeated insults by a poster like exit82. Look I am not going to go back and forth with that guy because it does nothing positive for me. He made his point and then he is back every day insulting me over and over. When other posters start commenting and noticing the same thing, I think it becomes pretty obvious what his agenda is.

Thx though for well -wishes, I appreciate it and realize it is not going to be easy to change 15 years of living the way I have been living. You can't even imagine how many urges I have had over the past week to gamble(even 2 meetings haven't really lessened them - YET).

Those urges will ALWAYS subside if you recognize them for what they are: a gnawing bodily sensation and (sometimes) a mental urge.

Over time it might be helpful to start exploring what's going on behind those urges. Don't rush this exploration process, just let the urges course through you like a temporary poison. They are some sort of feedback loop going on within you and eventually the feedback loop will exhaust itself and you will find temporary relief from the urges naturally.

75 times..?

Not insults. Balance to your constant barrage of lies and scamming. You're a scheming criminal and yet you believe this entitles you to some form of sympathy.

Sorry. Carry on with the canonization.

Oh, so what you shared with us is "balance" ?

Got it.

That is pretty funny, railbird. Did not see you at McCarran, sorry.

However ......, Mike, sorry I wasted your time listening to your complex airport scam. I was curious enough to google your telephone number a couple of days later to see if I had been wrong and your story actually held water.

Joe_seboks_luck has his read on the matter, so go with that one, where you were scammed and are a victim. I am sure he has your best interests at heart.

Self-pity is a bitch, good luck with that Scummy McScum? When you're one of the three people in this public forum defending themselves, you're probably not in the right. At first I really didn't think you were a bad dude, just lost in your ways. However, after responding the way you did I'm this portion of the thread, I'm now pretty certain (+/- 95%) that not only would you never have come clean about any of this (meaning it would still be occurring), you have ZERO remorse and are probably considering just laying off 2+2 for about 6-12 mths before repeating. I'm for damn sure no peach but hey, when I **** up I at least own up to my actions and the repercussions they bring in tow. This includes the ribbing that obviously you are to receive as you did something dumb in public and AS A RESULT OF YOUR ACTIONS are now being lambasted in public as well.

Gzesh, the best thing you could have done for Mike is post this story. I really mean this. He is able to confront his issue head on now. I am curious though, what would it take for Mike to make amends to you? Is getting help, changing his life choices and offering you an apology enough? Is there something else you would like instead?

Congrats on 6 days. I know its not easy….ODAAT, stay strong!

Not sure the relevance here. If true, shame on Chanman for laughing at yours/societies idiotic tendencies??? In fact, I vote to move the direction of this thread away from the fact that PSUMike is a robbing, degen-conman, to that in which we flame anyone that has ever laughed/never bought in to his fraudulent ways. Good idea PSU