What to expect from your first Gamblers Anonymous meeting

Gamblers Anonymous yellow booklets

Pete chaired the meeting and passed around little yellow booklets with ‘Gamblers Anonymous’ printed on the cover (online GA yellow Combo book). Under the name on the booklet, I saw my favorite prayer from AA, the Serenity Prayer. The booklet had only seventeen pages. I wondered if they had a “Big Book” like in AA. The men around the table took turns reading from the book. The recovery steps were the same as AA, except that the members that wrote the GA book, changed the word alcohol to gambling and omitted the word God from several steps.

What is a compulsive gambler?

Don W. read the definition of gambling, “Gambling, for the compulsive gambler is defined as follows: Any betting or wagering, for self or others, whether for money or not, no matter how slight or insignificant, where the outcome is uncertain or depends upon chance or “skill” constitutes gambling.”

20 Gamblers Anonymous questions

After the men finished reading, Pete asked me the twenty questions from pages fifteen and sixteen. He said, “These questions are ‘designed to help new members decide whether they are compulsive gamblers’.” The questions didn’t require much thought. Number 3: ‘Did gambling affect your reputation?’ I answered “yes” and thought, I’m probably going to prison, I’ve lost my job, my home, and everything I worked for all my life. Yes, gambling ruined my reputation.

Number 9: ‘Did you often gamble until your last dollar was gone?’ I answered “no” to that one. I always saved two dollars to tip the valet when we left the casino, I didn’t want Tommie to know I’d lost all my money, so I’d save a couple of twenty dollar bills and wave them in the car on the way home, saying, “I didn’t lose all my money. How about you?” So I convinced myself that I always came home with money.

Number 14 was an easy “yes.” ‘Did you ever gamble longer than you planned?’ So many weekends I planned a leisurely dinner with Tommie and attend the show in the casino. Maybe even go up to the room early and relax. It never happened.

Number 16: ‘Have you ever committed, or considered committing, an illegal act to finance gambling?’ I not only considered it. I committed years of forgery, writing checks on the company’s checking account. The only way I escaped the feelings of guilt was to go back to the casino.

And Number 20: ‘Have you ever considered self-destruction or suicide as a result of your gambling?’ I thought of the times I drove home alone from Laughlin, broke and full of remorse. That was a definite yes! I considered turning my steering wheel, ever so slightly, into the path of a semi barreling towards me. Who would care? Besides, I was dying by inches every day. Why not hasten the process. My insurance would take care of my bills, my kids would have my property, and maybe the company I worked for wouldn’t find out about the checks I wrote. Most importantly, I wouldn’t have to gamble any more. Yes, I considered suicide. I answered seventeen of the questions with a yes. The last line on the page read, ‘Most compulsive gamblers will answer yes to at least seven of these questions.’