The upcoming football season is often a time when the amount of gambling rises. It also hightlights a time when people who are having trouble controlling their betting call for help.
Rose Gruber is Executive Director of the Wisconsin Council on Problem Gambling. She says the small-time office pool betting usually isn't a problem, but it can develop into a problem...
"....most people aren't going to get in trouble. What is most important is you should never spend more money than you could afford to lose. Only use money that is for entertainment purposes. Realize it's probably money you're going to lose as the odds of winning are low in any type of gamble. Just to be cautious...."
She says a warning sign is if a person starts to gamble more often with more money, or if they spend more time gambling and less with other activities....
".....if you're spending more money it may be affecting how they're doing their job, might be affecting their family relationships, they might get some depression because of it. They might be placing their bets and losing, and they place more bets, or they might be winning, the ndoing what we call 'chase the nickel back' and place more bets, either losing or winning...those are some of the things to pay attention to...."
The Wisconsin Council on Problem Gambling, an affiliate of the National Council on Problem Gambling, is a non-profit organization created in 1993. The primary mission is to educate and promote public understanding of problem gambling and the disorder of compulsive gambling.
Gruber says if someone thinks they, or someone they know, is headed toward a gambling problem, they can call toll free to their 24 hour helpline at 1-800-GAMBLE-5 or Google the Wisconsin Council on Problem Gamblingwebsite.
