Gambling addiction

I have earlier diagnosed myself to lack FUN in my checklist  of psychological needs.
So I did have some fun at Genting Highlands casino. During a recent  one nite stay, I entered the casino 3 times, on the day of arrival after a quick lunch and nap (one needs to be fresh to win), a late nite engagement after dinner and the morning-after attempt to recruit overnight losses. My take away from this trip is no different from the past, ie. you can never win them unless you are strictly disciplined or programmed to walk away from greed. Inevitably whatever small winnings gained will be squandered from greed and the dream to win big.

During this trip I have gained some further insight which is the pleasurable and dangerous taste of addiction. On the morning of departure I had to quit gambling by half past 11 to check out of my hotel room which I did. However I grumbled at my husband who took his own sweet time to have a bath which brought us past the check out time. My grouses was I could have stayed longer in the casino because "I was on a winning-back streak"! As I left the resort I thought to myself I should come back more often as I did have FUN and it really isn't a long ride from Singapore.

Now what's the fun? When I patronise casinos I only played the Big/Small game where the dealer rolls 3 dice in a concealed jar, the total of which determines whether the outcome is considered big or small. There are of course many many variations or combinations one can bet on., placing one's chips on the huge glass tables with flickering numbers and pictures of dices. The fun as I analyzed it arises from a few processes:

-the thrill of making predictions based on one's imagined cleverness of observing the trend and getting it right (there was this Singaporean couple, middle aged, white collar type diligently recording the results in a notebook!)
-the roller coaster feeling of ecstasy and disappointment
-the joy of hearing Chinese National women cursing and a group of English speaking Singaporean retirees swearing whilst your own chips build up
and to top it all
-the away from This World feeling

It is precisely the last experience which is the root of addiction, what I called "Away from This World Feeling". See, it is like an escape. Time fleets when one concentrates. There was no room for other thoughts, memories and mind interferences.  You feel like you are in a different world and the the world out there does not seem as real, the line blurs between the real and the unreal. So if one is troubled one can easily escape into this 'Other' world. Yes, that must be the experience of addiction!!!

Having what I thought was a taste of addiction I entertained the idea of learning counselling strategies on gambling addiction to help addicts. Haha at least I can empathize with them. Or will the exchange of thrilling moments see me walking into the casino with the client.