Why do people return to gamble after quitting

[Grace333]

This thread is inspired by a true-life story:

A friend of mine while we were growing up, made quite a terrible mistake with gambling. The money that was ment for his school fees, he used it to gamble and that really made his family lose interest in supporting anything that concerns his education.  Because of the result he got from both sides he vowed never to gamble again because it almost ruined his relationship with his family. Recently I met with this same old friend and he was still in the act of gambling.
He is definitely not the only one who has declared not to gamble again but still did it anyway, so my question is:
What do you think would have prompted these people to return to gambling?

[Findingnemo]

"Promises are meant to be broken". I guess the dude takes this very seriously.

Everyone makes mistake, it's like I met with an accident on the road and my parents said I should never drive again but after a year I end up driving again kind of situation. It is fine to gamble again but if the person didn't realize his mistake and keeps doing it again then consider him an addict already.

[Oshosondy]

Same thing happened to me, but it was what later made me not to be addicted to gambling anymore. I stopped to the point that the fiat gambling sites that I was using at the time were given me weekly bonuses from $5 to $25 that I can use to gamble, but I did not use many of it to gamble.

Anyone that had such life situation and still later continue to gamble really need rehabilitation and his family has a role to play.

[tech30338]

This thread is inspired by a true-life story:

A friend of mine while we were growing up, made quite a terrible mistake with gambling. The money that was ment for his school fees, he used it to gamble and that really made his family lose interest in supporting anything that concerns his education.  Because of the result he got from both sides he vowed never to gamble again because it almost ruined his relationship with his family. Recently I met with this same old friend and he was still in the act of gambling.
He is definitely not the only one who has declared not to gamble again but still did it anyway, so my question is:
What do you think would have prompted these people to return to gambling?

Most of the people who declared that they will never go back to gambling will surely not going to make his promise when they are addicted they will just stop for a while because of the guilt, but the moment the urge to gamble kicks in they will unable to resist, or sometimes they think they will be able to control or win but ended up going back to old self

[Frankolala]

I believe that once a gambler is still a gambler and the person can start gambling again. Sometimes, these people who have quitted gambling comes back to gamble because they feel they can control themselves and can enjoy the fun again because they love it. The problem isn't gambling again but to learn from your past mistakes which got you addicted and gamble responsible to avoid being a victim to gambling addiction the second time.

[Orpichukwu]

People keep on coming back because they are not determined enough for them to honour their decision; that’s why they keep on coming back, while some reason why they come back to gambling is because they think that what made them lose control before, they have worked on themself and have improved enough not to allow themself to get addicted again.

Aside from that, we always have this belief that there is still a better chance for us to win back what was lost if we don’t stop, and stopping might be limiting that winning opportunity.

[Achalugo BTC]

Well, everyone may have their own opinions on this matter but for me, I think why most people can't get over gambling might be because, they think gambling is the only shortcut for them to get quick money especially if life is hard on them and this can cause them to become addicted to it, making it difficult for them to escape from it and until they understand that gambling is never designed for people to make money from it, they can help themselves overcome it, otherwise the game will continue to control them. As for your friend, you can help him by reminding him that his life is much more important than gambling because if he loses his life because of how frustrated he might become, the game will continue without him.

[Moreno233]

If a player returns to gambling after proclaiming that he was done with it, then such person took just a break from gambling which is absolutely fine. Taking a break from gambling is what every good player must learn to do because there are times that gambling can be major source of pain if not properly managed. Through discussions in this forum and gaining wisdom from the experience of other senior players here, I have learnt to take a break from gamnling whenever I experience a terrible losing streak or whenever I win a very big amount of money. This will enable me to plan my bankroll properly and also balance my psychology.  

[Wiwo]

This thread is inspired by a true-life story:

A friend of mine while we were growing up, made quite a terrible mistake with gambling. The money that was ment for his school fees, he used it to gamble and that really made his family lose interest in supporting anything that concerns his education.  Because of the result he got from both sides he vowed never to gamble again because it almost ruined his relationship with his family. Recently I met with this same old friend and he was still in the act of gambling.
He is definitely not the only one who has declared not to gamble again but still did it anyway, so my question is:
What do you think would have prompted these people to return to gambling?

You friend is now a graduate right, which means he have being gambling all through school and even after school, but what I am interested to know is his economic stability, how different is he now and then.

Does he still gamble with money meant for important things in life?

Is he winning more than he is losing, this and many more are questions that need answers so that we can know the direction to face with this discussion.

[viljy]

How much longer can this be discussed... In short, people can’t overcome their addiction because: they lack willpower (an unpleasant fact for every addicted gambler); because gambling addiction is a disease (a very convenient reason that immediately relieves the “patient” of any responsibility); because they don’t want to!

That’s just how it is — there are people who fundamentally don’t want to give something up, even knowing that it will harm them. For example, in St. Petersburg there lives a very old (about 80 years old) and quite well‑known actor and singer who stubbornly refuses to quit smoking, even though doctors have insisted. He also always parks his car incorrectly.

[SamReomo]

What do you think would have prompted these people to return to gambling?

Gambling is fun and addictive, those who gamble often return to it and it's normal but if someone gambles with the money that's otherwise needed for other areas of life then that's not good.  Even bad if someone gets addicted to gambling and gambles a lot on daily basis and even spends the money that's needed for his everyday needs. It's going to be hard to convince such a person to give up on gambling because he has reached the level of addiction where it's almost impossible to quit gambling. But, if someone gambles to enjoy sometimes and do it for long term then there's noting wrong in that as long as he doesn't spend a lot on gambling and also gambles with responsibility.

[Mrbluntzy]

What do you think would have prompted these people to return to gambling?

Definitely he was prompted by the "Illusion of self control " Haven't you made a mistake before, believed that you have learned from your mistake and then you promised yourself never to make that mistake again because you now have self control, but still you repeated the mistake despite your decision. That's example of illusion of control, because he believe that he has learned from his mistakes, could be the reason he returned to gambling again with the determination of not repeating the old mistake again.

Ask him why he returned to gambling again and apart from what I said already, he other reasons could be financial pressure, emotional escape, and lastly, to recover what was lost. However, I think that illusion of control could have been what will push him back to gamble.

[Cryptohygenic]

The story about the friend is so pathetic. He actually made the decision not to ever gamble again out his mess which got his parents disappointed of him over using his school fees to gamble.
He earlier made the right choice by choosing to school than gambling after learning in the regrettable way.
Seeing him continue gambling may only be saddened if he is still gambling with his school funds or other funds budgeted for something else but if he has some spare funds that is a different scenario.

[Jasmyne]

Gambling is not something that can be easily stopped more especially if the person is an addict, it can be easily said to stop than done, same goes to smokers. It takes a lot for an addicted gambler to just stop, he can not just quit immediately after saying he quits because he will surely go back. He just needs to come up with strategies that will help the process and help him avoid gambling forever.

[Hewlet]

He is definitely not the only one who has declared not to gamble again but still did it anyway, so my question is:
What do you think would have prompted these people to return to gambling?

As long as you are dealing with an addictive thing that you once become a victim of, it is not just enough that you have decided that you are never going back to that act ever again. there is more to that decision and as bad as this sounds, you have to be ready to go back to it once in a while until you learn to grow above it and gradually move away from. no one breaks free from addiction just by saying they are not doing again. as much as there is power in the words, you also have to understand that an habit tat took time before it formed and got to a stage where it can now control you will take time and effort before you can break free from.

There a lot of current gamblers that at a point in their life vowed never to gamble again but today they are still gambling. to break free from the habit generally involves that you become too intentional about your action and allow yourself to heal gradually.

[Junii]

What do you think would have prompted these people to return to gambling?

He is simply addicted to it and at that stage simply saying like i will not do it again doesn't work because the brain is addicted to that strong emotions which is formed during gambling. To reduce this first of all he has to admit that what he is doing is wrong this was the first and necessary step then he has to know his triggers that on which time he want to gamble when he became bore or any other trigger. Sometimes when a person lose 100$ the brain says let's gamble 20$ more to recover the losing money and then the person start chasing loses and gamble again.

[bitbollo]

relapsing likewise in all kinds of addictions are very commons and could come under noticed for many months.
reckless gamblers are sometimes the worst, despite having an addiction, for most of players it's not easy to identify / you can have big damages also in a short time (like in this case by spending important funds).
last point, the best answer to your question could be provided by your friend  ...

[Tetu100]

What do you think would have prompted these people to return to gambling?

Many reasons can make someone break his vow and probably come back to what he once rejected in the past. However in this case of gambling , it may be addiction. Not really your friend but in most cases it is. Because once addiction has eaten deep in a gambler's live, even after leaving it for several years there are still possibilities that he or she may still come back to it if care isn't taking.

Again, past memories of your gambling life style can make you turn back. Maybe this time it could not really be for a bad (making it source of income or gambling without control) reasons, perhaps to have a test of its fun and get entertained with friends and stuff like that after missing it for years.

Furthermore, another reason I can think of why someone normally come back to gamble after kissing it good bye Is that some tends to stay away from the game since they can barely afford it or fund their gambling habits, but on how they become stable financially and can afford it again, BOOM they start all over again and that's.

[joeperry]

I think the accessibility of these players. I know some people who gets back to gambling even after all the bad things that happened to them, the reason is that they can't control it. I think people like this needs professional help and therapy and I think they need to find other things to spend time with, honestly self control is possible but sometimes it's not enough to rely on something like "I won't play anymore". Sometimes, it's hard trusting yourself especially if you are vulnerable.

[gracreavix]

You shouldn't blame him. Have you actually asked him what made him go back? What if it was financial pressure? No money and he needs one and the only way of him getting one is gambling. Could be it has worked for him in the past and him thinking it is will work for him again.
Another thing that can push him to gamble is his environment. That can be an issue. The underlying reason that caused him to be addicted is still there. There's a whole lot that can actually cause him to gamble more. So I would ask him personally to know his side of the story.