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How Big Is the Gambling Problem?
First, the gambler must recognize that the problem exists. At one time, the American Psychiatric Association considered a problem with gambling, as an “impulse-control disorder,” but now ranks it as an addiction.
Addicted gamblers are looking everywhere for extra money to place bets. They use credit cards, savings accounts, investment portfolios, or retirement stocks. Moreover, they scrounge cash from colleagues and relatives. In some cases, there is a robbery.
Gamblers have the mindset that one more big wager can get them back to even. That’s never the right answer. The cautious route — easier said than done — is accepting the problem, preventing gambling, and looking for mental help for the addiction. Once the betting is under control, then seek financial help for gamblers throughout the USA.
Hints You Need Guidance for Gambling
Financial problems are always a sign of a gambling problem. Still, this is not a cause. To recognize if it’s a gambling addiction, there some common points:
- Moving or exchanging money between different accounts as an attempt to hide gambling.
- He/she is betting more significant amounts to repay for previous losses.
- The gambler sells properties to get more cash for gambling.
- Gambling is a critical conversation topic each day.
- The gambler lies about the money lost or the time spent gambling when confronted by family and friends.
- There is an inability to stop or limit gambling as soon as possible.
- The gambler borrows from co-workers, friends, or relatives, then uses the borrowed money to place a bet.
- Most addicts steal from their spouses or kids.
- The man/woman doesn’t repay debts on time.
- There are a series of loans taken by the gambler.
- The gambler turns to illegal activity to help fund the addiction.
Gambling leads to a typical pattern of emptied credit cards, overdrawn current accounts, unpaid loans, and overdue bills. This habit must be recognized and treated before financial issues can be addressed.
How to Preserve Your Finances from a Gambler in the Family
Before the gambling addiction is accepted, there are quick steps family members can take to help the situation. Moreover, there are some tips on how to secure funds from an addicted player.
- Only Separate Accounts — Spouses should set up checking accounts. After that, the problem gambler can’t have access to the family’s money. Moreover, keep several credit cards and PINs.
- Check the Mail — Spouses and relatives should unite and control all mail coming to the house. Withdraw new credit card or loan offers quickly.
- Open a Lockbox — It’s to preserve jewels and other precious items that could be pawned or sold.
- Never Become a Trustee — Addicts often get careless financially.
- Tell Others Not to Lend Cash — Colleagues and family members need to know the condition before hearing the imminent begging from the addict.
- Pay the Bills — The problem player should not have control of the money assigned to pay the house bills. The spouse or other relatives should take over.
Get Help With Your DEBT
Financial Help for Gambling Debts
Addicted gamblers have two different issues on their road to recovery. Solving the habit itself and finding ways to get their finances back in order.
It might be a massive debt, but it requires the same origins that everyone uses to make ends meet.
If you owe money to various sources, a plan is required to get rid of them.
- General Accounting — You must write down all the creditors and how much you owe. It doesn’t matter if it’s casinos, loan sharks, bookies, credit cards, overdrawn bank accounts, personal or home property loans. This step will clearly define the extent of your problem.
- Get Rid of the Bills — Do everything to repay the gambling debt loans as quickly as possible. It might require selling your car or valuables. Don’t delay in making a dent in the debt.
- Create a Budget — You must discover the cost of your needs and how much money you need for essential bills each month. Once you determine how much money you can put to your debt, you’ll know the specifics of your situation.
- Find Another Job — Raising your income is a safe way to pay down your arrears. If you can get a salary from a part-time job for the betting debts, you’ve taken a steady path towards a solution.
There’s help in coping with your gambling debt. It’s usually a great idea to contact credit advisers from a nonprofit debt management company. They can set up a budget and likely assign more beneficial interests.
There are some options for dealing with gambling debt. Let’s take a look at them:
- Debt Management Program — This good-faith effort can give relief from interests on credit cards, late fees, or penalties from creditors. Under the debt control plan, negotiated by credit advisers, you promise to pay off the full principal over a couple of years in an efficiently regulated way. The DMP provides the ability to handle the debt more efficiently than trying to sort it out yourself. By keeping your payments on track, it’ll be good for your credit score.
- Debt Consolidation — you are decreasing interest and joining all of your debts into one flexible monthly payment. Under debt consolidation, you take out a loan, which is used to join and pay all of your other debts. Debt consolidation companies are good at obtaining loans and getting the lowest monthly payment. The consolidated interest can be significantly lower than what is required on several credit cards.
- Debt Agreement — It’s a lump-sum settlement payment with lenders, allowing you to reduce the principal you owe while finally getting gambling debt relief for you. Still, it’s generally only considered for people with very poor credit standings. In some cases, you could pay only half of the original debt. But it’s important to determine upfront when the company is charging high interests. Debt settlement also harms your credit standing, as bankers report the debt as “settlement accepted” for seven years.
When to Recognize Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy should be the last option, but in severe cases of gambling debt — when numbers rise into the triple digits — it might be the most suitable option.
There’s no guarantee that gambling arrears will be paid, even though it isn’t explicitly covered legitimately. But it could be seen as a debt that you had no plan of paying back.
If the case of success, bankruptcy gives a fresh start from debt difficulties. You can apply for either a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, which removes your debts after paying off or a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, which arranges up a payment strategy.
Experienced bankruptcy lawyers know how to deal with court officials and lenders. When you apply for bankruptcy, the court assigns an “automatic stay,” meaning that bankers will be banned from making collection efforts on your debts via phone calls and letters. Alternatively, they must deal with your lawyer. Bankruptcy exceptions prevent your assets from being stolen. This choice is not without costs — or consequences.
Bankruptcy attorneys can be pricey. Failure doesn’t include back taxes, many types of student loans, maintenance, child care, and fines owed to state agencies.
Seek Habit Help First, Then Debt Relief
For an addicted player, it’s essential to provide a plan that provides gambling debt forgiveness and a revamping of the financial picture. But it’s even more critical to deal with the obsession. As it would be devastating to pay down a credit card, and subsequently lose all of that progress after placing another losing bet.
Here are some hints to overcome gambling addiction. Once it’s under control, it’s a far more prolific time to discuss the finances.
You're Only a Click Away from Debt Relief
- Cut Off the Money Stock — Cutting up credit and debit cards is an excellent place to start. Ask your bank to require two signatures for a withdrawal (one from you, one from a colleague or family member). If there’s a wall between you and your money, the urge to bet can be reduced.
- Make a Decision — Psychiatrists and psychologists treat a gambling habit, like a substance abuse disorder. So, the same protocol is implemented. You must get rid of the habit— not for just today, but forever — then go day-by-day. It’s complicated, but small steps finally lead to significant gains.
- Get a Support System — Recognizing the problem — explicitly, admitting it to friends and family — is often a critical turning point. They will likely be your biggest partners while providing help with gambling and encouragement. Assistance groups can be motivational because you’ll meet others with the same issues. It can also erase the stigma of shame and be a reminder that you’re not alone.
- Seek Treatment — Gambling addictions have been added to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. So, your health insurance is required to provide some coverage for therapy through the Affordable Care Act. Therapy can provide a safe environment where you can communicate concerns and learn positive techniques.
There are some helpful agencies related to gambling addiction. Let’s examine them:
- The National Council on Problem Gambling
- Gamblers Anonymous
- Al-Anon Family Group
Problem Gamblers and Debt
Many other Americans are not casual players. There is information provided by the National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG), that an expected two million Americans meet the accepted principles for addictive or pathological gambling. They can’t simply say to themselves, “gambling ruined my life”.
There are four million to six million citizens of the USA listed as problem gamblers, and perhaps an extra 15 million are thought of as at-risk.
Problem betting is a mental health disorder in which the individual can’t control the urge to gamble. Like any addiction, problem gambling can cause significant disruptions in personal, professional, and family life. It can also precipitate severe financial problems.
Problem players may display any or all of the following points:
- A distraction with gambling and thoughts of gambling
- Borrowing from co-workers, friends or family to gamble
- Lying about money lost or the amount of time spent gambling
- A growing need to continue betting more significant amounts to defeat gambling losses
- Changing money around in various accounts to hide gambling activity
- Selling properties to finance a gambling habit
- Anxiety or irritability when attempting to stop gambling
- Continued failed attempts to prevent or limit gambling
- Neglecting to pay bills on time or taking out many credits
- Spousal financial abuse or taking money from kids
- Criminal activity to fund a gambling habit
The most consistent distinctive aspect of the problem gambler is that his/her finances are usually in some state of confusion. That means maxed-out credit cards, delayed bills, overdrawn checking accounts, or unpaid credits. And they’re often in debt.
In extreme states, problem gambling can result in serious legal difficulties or financial ruin. More than 20% of addicted gamblers end up applying for bankruptcy because of betting losses.
The individual damage is also essential: the divorce rate for addictive gamblers is twice the rate of non-gamblers. Furthermore, one in five addicted players has tried to commit suicide – 20 times the number of non-gamblers.
Contributing to the debt difficulties of the compulsive gambler is more than easy access to credit. 90% of those undergoing a gambling addiction, eliminate cash advances from their credit card accounts to gamble.
Also, there are no longer any times when a gambler needs to quit the casino due to a lack of funds. Casinos give billions of dollars of credits to their consumers yearly in the form of credit markers. The casinos require 3 to 10% interest or more for that assistance. Only about half the cash wagered in casinos is funded physically and brought onto the bases. Loans cover the rest.
College Learners and Online Gambling
Students are among the most unsafe when it comes to gambling. The mixture of free time and easy access to student loan funds doesn’t mix well. Nearly 75% of young adults have played in the last year, and 6% of students have a gambling addiction. It’s confirmed by the data from the National Center for Responsible Gaming.
There are federal lotteries that 18-year-olds can play, and some institutions have an 18+ policy on Texas Hold’em. Still, the real problem has been the growth of online gambling.
The Unlawful Internet Gambling Act of 2006, attempted to regulate online gambling, targeting poker websites such as PokerStars or Full Tilt Poker. Online gambling has persisted in the U.S., and these days online sports bettors like Bovada and 5Dimes are rising.
When the U.S. Department of Justice charged three of the head poker sites in 2011, they left the U.S. market. Online poker players changed to daily fantasy sports. It’s a profitable business for specialists with access to strategies that give them all the power over your average sports follower. DraftKings and Fanduel have faced their legal difficulties of late, and are currently outlawed in 11 USA states.
A credit card is all it takes to get into the universe of online gambling. Before you understand it, you will find yourself in a heap of credit card debt.
Don’t be afraid to seek help with gambling debt in the USA. DebtQuest is ready to assist you in finding the right solution for your financial problems. We are glad to become your long-term partner and save you and your family from critical debt situations.
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