The many tells of problem gambling

Josh Hampton began gambling in 2010 with scratch-off lottery tickets and electronic slot machines. But he pinpoints 2019 as when he “really started to have a problem.” That’s when he began playing on the “fish tables” at game rooms in his hometown of Hickory.

“Fish tables” are table-sized video games where players shoot at a fish, and every hit increases their winnings. “The gaming element gives the illusion that it is skill-based, when it’s not,” Hampton says. In playing the fish tables, he had succumbed to “the gambler’s fallacy,” which he describes as “when someone believes that past events have an effect on the outcome of future events, when they are random occurrences.”

One percent of Americans have a gambling disorder, according to Yale Medicine. While Hampton hasn’t been diagnosed with gambling disorder himself, he says when he came to Asheville in 2022 to pursue substance use disorder (SUD) recovery, he realized the impact gambling was having on his life.

Now Hampton is helping others like him. In November, he became problem gambling program coordinator for Sunrise Community for Recovery and Wellness. The nonprofit is primarily known for providing peer support to individuals who experience SUD and mental health challenges. But it also has peer support available for the N.C. Problem Gambling Helpline and therefore recognizes the connection between problem gambling, SUDs and mental health. Sunrise’s emergent problem gambling program seeks to provide education and increase awareness so more people can understand the condition and learn that recovery is possible, Hampton says.

Hampton spoke with Xpress about the symptoms of problem gambling, new legislation in North Carolina legalizing mobile sports betting and a new Gamblers Anonymous support group beginning soon in Asheville.

This interview has been condensed for length and edited for clarity.

Xpress: What constitutes problem gambling?

Hampton: Problem gambling is not defined by how much is won or lost. It’s defined by the way it is affecting your life — vocational, educational, family, social responsibilities.

It is a continuum. [It ranges from] the casual social gambler to harmful involvement, to somebody that could be clinically diagnosed as having gambling disorder. It’s a wide range. And there’s no one-size-fits-all. Just because there’s a couple points on that continuum doesn’t mean those are the only points somebody can fit into.

You say problem gambling isn’t defined by how much money is won or lost. So someone could be gambling successfully — in the sense that they’re winning money — and still be a problem gambler?

If somebody’s gambling every day, that does not mean that they have a problem — again, it’s how the gambling causes problems in any area of their life. Serious social gamblers, they may go to the casino every weekend. It’s their main form of entertainment, but it’s just that they still look at it as entertainment and it’s not a way to make money.

What are some of the symptoms of problem gambling?

Financial difficulties — losing money or going into debt. People can have problems at work — loss of a job, they may miss the promotion, they may be slacking off at work, because they’re focused on that casino that’s in their pocket. Or maybe [they’re] not even actually gambling, but they could be daydreaming. That is one of the signs that gambling is a problem: when you are unable to stop thinking about gambling, even when you’re not.

[Problem gambling] can cause relationship problems. There may be arguments at home because somebody is spending too much money or they’re hiding things. They seem to be really secretive. Money may have come out of the bank account, and they don’t have a way to account for it. Maybe [they’re] not paying enough attention or being present in their role in the family because of gambling.

Not all, but a good percentage of problem gamblers will commit a crime to further their gambling. Most of the time, it’s like white-collar financial crimes: theft, embezzlement, writing bad checks or opening a credit card up in somebody else’s name. But there are people who resort to committing other criminal acts of prostitution, selling drugs and armed robbery. Those things have been known to be gambling-motivated.

I understand that you’re a peer support and not a clinician in addiction medicine. But can you explain what you see as a difference between problem gambling and, for example, a substance use disorder or an alcohol use disorder?

The one thing that I find is the most unique to gambling disorder is that a problem gambler — and I’m going to say “we,” because I had a problem gambling, so I can identify with this — we often think that we can gamble our way out of having a problem with gambling. And I never once thought when I used substances that I was going to go do some more dope and that was going to help me further my recovery. I knew that for recovery to take place for me, I had to quit using drugs.

But with gambling — and I relate to this personally — I hated the fact that I gambled so much money, but I honestly believed that as long as I was able to win back a certain amount, I could walk away and not look back. Oftentimes what happens — and it did with me — is that when you get to that certain amount, you’re unable to walk away, and it goes right back in the game.

In March, mobile betting on college, pro and Olympic-style sports became legal in North Carolina for anyone 21 and older. What are your thoughts on that?

You could already go to the casino and bet on sports [but it was not legal to do outside of casinos]. … I feel like there will be a large group of people that would not have had any involvement with online sports betting strictly because it was not legal. Now that it has been made legal, people [may] see it as socially acceptable or [won’t] feel like they’re risking anything by being involved with it.

Sunrise is starting up an in-person problem gamblers’ support group. Tell me more about that.

[Gamblers Anonymous, or GA] is a 12-step similar to Narcotics Anonymous or Alcoholics Anonymous in the way that it’s set up. But we don’t have any in-person GA meetings here. … I think the closest one in North Carolina is in Charlotte. So a lot of the [people who struggle with problem gambling] that live locally that I’ve supported were really interested in going to something. … I’m excited to get this [new] support group up and running at Sunrise Drop-In Center because I know it’s something that’s much needed and requested.

What do you wish the general public knew about gambling? 

There’s still a lot of stigma [about problem gambling]. Through providing awareness education, maybe we can shine a light on the fact that problem gambling is very similar to substance use and alcohol use disorder. It’s not always that somebody has the ability to stop once they start.

Sunrise’s Problem Gambling Support Group starts 9:30-11 a.m., Wednesday, July 31, at Sunrise Community for Recovery and Wellness, 209 Tunnel Road. For more information, call 828-552-3858.

Update, July 11: This article has been updated with the new date and time of Sunrise’s Problem Gambling Support Group. 

Update, July 12: This article has been updated to clarify Sunrise’s Problem Gambling Support Group is not affiliated with Gamblers Anonymous.