How to forget about big losses? Just last week, I lost $4500 in winnings because I got too greedy. The only time you should think about how bad you feel now and about all of the money you have lost is when you are thinking of gambling again. Remind yourself about how bad you feel if the urge to gamble comes up.
- Gambles as a way of escaping from problems or relieving dysphoric mood (e.g., feelings of helplessness, guilt, anxiety, or depression). After losing money gambling, often returns another day in order to get even (“chasing one’s losses”). Lies to family members, therapists, or others to conceal the extent of involvement with gambling.
- Blowing through all my money on online gamblingHit big on slots for $1500.00 then sat there and blew through all of it in an hour. I feel sick.Then instead of stopping I throw more and more on my credit cards. I feel like the biggest idiot!!!
The amount of money people in America spent on gambling in 2016 was an estimated $116.9 billion, according to data from H2 Gambling Capital. That’s the amount won off of gamblers in areas including brick-and-mortar casinos, state lotteries and regulated online gaming sites.
Lost All My Money Gambling
The Economist first reported on the data, which showed that the U.S. is still by far the largest overall gambling market in the world. China was a distant second with an overall gambling market of $62.4 billion. About $30 billion of that comes from Macau.
Lost Everything Gambling
The U.S. gambling sector has room for major growth. The American Gaming Association says that about $150 billion is wagered on sports (the handle) each year in the U.S., with nearly all of it coming through illegal channels. Traditional sports betting is only legal in Nevada, where bettors are now wagering about $4.5 billion each year.
Nevada casinos won about $220 million on those wagers last year.
Most Money Lost Gambling
There are efforts on Capitol Hill to legalize sports betting nationwide.
Silver State casinos won $11.26 billion from gamblers last year, a small uptick over 2015.
Online casino gaming is legal in just three U.S. states, but many more are still considering the activity. New York and Pennsylvania stand as the front runners to legalize internet casinos in 2017.
The size of the commercial casino market is worth about $40 billion annually, while tribal casinos win about $30 billion a year. The lottery is the next largest component of the U.S. gambling market, with annual sales in the tens of billions of dollars.
The popularity of the lottery has led to a handful of states bringing it to the internet.