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Through
Gamblers Anonymous

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Sharing Recovery
Through
Gamblers Anonymous

APPROVED
NSO

Published by
Gamblers Anonymous Publishing Inc.
P.O. Box 17173
Los Angeles, California 90017

SHARING RECOVERY THROUGH GAMBLERS ANONYMOUS. Copy-
right© 1984 Gamblers Anonymous Publishing Inc. All rights reserved. No part of
this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any informa-
tion storage or retrieval system, without the written permission of the publisher.
For information, address Gamblers Anonymous Publishing Inc., Post Office
Box 17173, Los Angeles, California 90017.

First Edition

Printed in the United States of America

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number
84-080686

ISBN 0-917839-00-5

Copy-
part of
means,
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ylisher.
Office

DEDICATION

This Book is dedicated to Jim W. our founder
1912 - 1983

May we also dedicate this Book to those members
who came before us and those who will come after.

FOREWORD

Pathological (compulsive) gambling is a destructive, dangerous and
potentially deadly disorder. Yet, this devastating problem is treatable and
Gamblers Anonymous (GA) has been and is the single most effective
treatment modality for the pathological gambler. This book presents the
principles and guidelines of GA which have been used by thousands of
people who are being successfully treated.

Lack of in-depth knowledge of GA is the primary reason for any
misunderstanding about its purposes, methods and activities. Simply, it is
a voluntary fellowship of compulsive gamblers gathered for the sole
purpose of helping themselves and each other to stop gambling. It is a
program of 12 steps that provide a framework of hope, structure and
friendship for those who have lived the program and successfully adapted
to life. This book describes the routes on the road to this successful
adaptation toa life without gambling. This road can be smooth or ro
but in any case, it is never a painless journey while recovering.

GA is effective because it (a) undercuts denial, projection and rationali-
s the serious implications of gambling, (c) demands
and responsibility, (d) identifies and corrects character problems
(e) gives affection, personal concern and support, (f) develops substitutes
for the void left by the cessation of gambling, and (g) is nonjudgmental.

The more a person understands Gamblers Anonymous, the more one

respects and admires it for its principles, accomplishments and effective-

ness — and the lives it has saved.

Robert L. Custer, M.D.
May 1983

INTRODUCTION

The editors believe that through the dramatic devices of fiction you will
gain an enhanced awareness of the emotional and physical pain endured
by compulsive gamblers and greater appreciation for the support and
encouragement — required for their recovery — which the members of
Gamblers Anonymous share with each other. This can be observed in
Chapter II.

You will also see that Chapter VIII, the largest chapter in the book,
consists of many pages of personal remembrances voluntarily contrib-
uted by members of the Fellowship and that Appendix “1” consists of a
sizeable extract from the biography of Jim W., the founder of Gam-
blers Anonymous.

Thus, it is apparent that a considerable portion of this book is devoted
to personal reminiscences and biographical sketches of compulsive
gamblers telling how they started on the path of recovery through
the Fellowship.

Our emphasis upon personal stories of recovery is necessary in order to
correctly present the view of our members who, as pragmatic behaviorists,
are more concerned with the process of recovery from compulsive gam-
bling than they are with reasons why they became compulsive gamblers.

Consequently, this book is not a text book on psychology, theories of
compulsion or systems of treatment, nor is it a polemic against recrea-
tional gambling. It has been organized ina particular order for the benefit
of those who wish to read it from the beginning. But each chapter has its
own internal cogency and you may choose to read chapters or sections of
the book at random.

xi

If youare a family member or close friend of a compulsive gamble

‘ } y you
may choose first to read Chapter VI. If you wish to know more about
treatment facilities turn to Chapter VII; those concerned with the therg.

peutic system used by Gamblers Anonymous turn first to Chapter Ill,

As to the personal stories, they are the shared emotional experiences
which bind together the members of the Fellowship and provide the
inspiration for this book. No understanding of the suffering and hopeless
degradation experienced by compulsive gamblers, nor their remarkable
recovery through the encouragement and direction of Gamblers Anony.
mous, can be truly comprehended without reading Chapter VIII, r

The process of recovery for members of Gamblers Anonymous is More
than a personal mastery over the compulsive desire to gamble. The
continuing recovery for each member of the Fellowship is characterizeq
by the desire to help other compulsive gamblers. This is why the Fellow.
ship places a high value on what is called “Twelfth Step Work,” which is
explained in Chapter V, but to which many references are made at other
places in the text.

xii

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COMPULSION AND COMPULSIVE GAMBLING

The most successful treatment for the psychological disorder of com-
pulsive gambling is provided by the Fellowship of Gamblers Anonymous.
The subject of this book is how Gamblers Anonymous succeeds where
other forms of treatment have been less successful. But in order to
understand the philosophy and therapy of Gamblers Anonymous it is |
necessary to know more about compulsive behavior and compulsive
gambling in particular. i

Gambling, for the compulsive gambler, is defined by the Fellowship of
Gamblers Anonymous as any betting or wagering, for self or others,
whether for money or not, no matter how slight or insignifi icant, where
the outcome is uncertain or depends upon chance or “skill” constitutes
gambling. Compulsive gambling, very simply, is gambling which is
beyond the emotional control of the gambler.

There is probably no individual who has not gambled. Most people are
able to monitor the frequency of their gambling according to their
income, the enjoyment they receive and the appropriateness of the social
situation in which gambling may take place. T not so for the
compulsive or pathological gambler. Unlike the social or professional
gambler, the pathological gambler cannot stop—interest is focused solely
on the next bet.

Gambling Is An Emotional Illness

For these afflicted people, gambling is an emotional illness, because the
need to gamble is uncontrollable. The compulsive gambler gambles even