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Speaker 1: Now here's a highlight from Coast to Coast am on iHeartRadio.

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Speaker 2: And welcome back to Coast to Coast George nor with you.

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Speaker 2: Howard reback with us, having gone through the tunnel and

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Speaker 2: made it out the other side successfully. Howard Reeback is

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Speaker 2: a gambling survivor who has seen it all. After twenty

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Speaker 2: five years of hard gambling, Howard overcame his own addiction

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Speaker 2: and his living proof that an addiction can be cured

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Speaker 2: quickly and permanently. Howard has built a new career as

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Speaker 2: a counselor television on radio personality, court appointed therapist for

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Speaker 2: those in real financial trouble, those trying to avoid jail,

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Speaker 2: for example, for possible fraudulent acts, and Howard's experience led

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Speaker 2: him to create a very unique approach to treating compulsive

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Speaker 2: gambling based on practical methods and proven results. Here he

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Speaker 2: is back on Coast to Coast Howard, welcome back.

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Speaker 3: Have you been George, so good to talk to you.

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Speaker 3: I'm doing great, Thank you. I'd love the intro, but

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Speaker 3: it does. It does bring tears back to my eyes

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Speaker 3: every time I hear someone mention what I was, who

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Speaker 3: I was, and look in the mirror now and see

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Speaker 3: what's happening with my life. It's it's quite a one

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Speaker 3: to eighty.

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Speaker 2: And Howard, for the benefit of new listeners, tell them

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Speaker 2: who you were, Well, who I.

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Speaker 3: Was was somebody who is not alive and kicking now,

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Speaker 3: Thank god I was. And I say this to your

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Speaker 3: two million plus listeners out there in radio land, that.

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Speaker 2: Three million, Howard, three million three.

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Speaker 3: You see, I'm not good with numbers. That's why I

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Speaker 3: lost the biggestino I was. I was somebody three million listeners.

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Speaker 3: I was somebody who ate, breathed, and lived the world

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Speaker 3: of gambling, could not get enough of it. To me.

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Speaker 3: It was it was my oxygen. And it took me

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Speaker 3: to places in this world that I thought I could

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Speaker 3: never be mentally, physically, family wise, friend wise, financially. And

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Speaker 3: it has literally shaken me to the core, to the

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Speaker 3: point that when somebody comes to speak to me about

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Speaker 3: the world of gambling and the addiction that they possibly

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Speaker 3: might have, I would work with them around the clock

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Speaker 3: until I could shake all those gambling addiction demons out

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Speaker 3: of them. Literally. It had done such a number on

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Speaker 3: me that when I think back to the days, and

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Speaker 3: we're going back about forty plus years, almost and I

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Speaker 3: think about what the world of gambling has done to

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Speaker 3: me and what is doing to me right now that

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Speaker 3: I've jumped across the fence and I'm on the good

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Speaker 3: side of the world of gambling, which of course we'll

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Speaker 3: get too soon. It's an amazing addiction. It's something that

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Speaker 3: you can't see, you can't smell, you can't taste. It's

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Speaker 3: called the silent addiction. And I lived a lie for

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Speaker 3: many years. I hurt many people, specifically myself, and I

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Speaker 3: will take the opportunity right now being in Montreal on

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Speaker 3: the East Coast at three o'clock in the morning to

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Speaker 3: thank friends and family who have either stayed up late

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Speaker 3: to listen to this show or who are up early

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Speaker 3: listening to the show. And for those I hurt, I

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Speaker 3: apologize every single day in more ways than anybody could imagine.

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Speaker 3: Gambling is a game. Gambling is supposed to be for fun.

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Speaker 3: And for the five to eight percent of those that

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Speaker 3: it bites in the rear end and takes their life

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Speaker 3: and mangles it as it did to me, those are

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Speaker 3: the people I'd like to help. Gambling in itself, like drinking,

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Speaker 3: like smoking, done recreationally, and yes that is possible. I

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Speaker 3: do believe in that is great, but somehow it gets

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Speaker 3: under the skin of a handful of people and it's tough.

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Speaker 3: It's tough to get out of that.

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Speaker 2: Join and Howard, what is the definition of recreational gambling.

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Speaker 3: I think recreational gambling would be a couple going to

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Speaker 3: the casino once a month, a few hundred dollars in

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Speaker 3: your pocket if you can afford that, really go out

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Speaker 3: and have fun as you would spend money on dinner

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Speaker 3: or a show, go to the casino, gamble online as

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Speaker 3: we say for Ekibitz, just to enjoy yourself, have a

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Speaker 3: winning dream in your pocket until the game is over.

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Speaker 3: That would be recreational gambling. And I must tell you that,

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Speaker 3: thank God, the majority of people who do gamble, that

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Speaker 3: is the definition of what it is that happens. It

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Speaker 3: is recreation and that is fine. It doesn't affect your life,

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Speaker 3: It doesn't affect your purchasing power, it doesn't ruin your life,

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Speaker 3: it doesn't ruin your family life, it won't make a

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Speaker 3: hole in the bank account that you have. But it's

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Speaker 3: the other as I said, five to eight percent of

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Speaker 3: those who let the world of gambling out of control,

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Speaker 3: that's what this is all about. And I want to

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Speaker 3: thank you very very much for allowing me a couple

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Speaker 3: of hours tonight in this morning to speak for those

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Speaker 3: that can't speak for themselves, because there a lot of

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Speaker 3: people are living living in a dark corner, George, and

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Speaker 3: it's not fun. And I say that only because I

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Speaker 3: was one of them.

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Speaker 2: How many addicted gamblers, Howard want out of what they're in?

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Speaker 3: That's a very interesting question. Let's do the math backwards,

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Speaker 3: they say, whoever they are. And I'm not a huge

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Speaker 3: guy believing in statistics all the time, but being in

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Speaker 3: Canada and the majority of listeners being in the States,

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Speaker 3: the numbers pretty much are paraded. It's about the same.

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Speaker 3: And so if we use a figure of say six

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Speaker 3: percent of those that gamble have a problem. I think,

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Speaker 3: in my heart of hearts that anybody that is a

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Speaker 3: pathological and sick gambler as I I was, I think,

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Speaker 3: deep deep down, George, they do want to stop. I've

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Speaker 3: never met somebody who was a pathological gambler, meaning five

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Speaker 3: days a week, seven days a week at the casino

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Speaker 3: and or gamble g online for big money. I don't

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Speaker 3: think anybody that does that to that extent really does

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Speaker 3: not want to break the addiction. The problem is that

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Speaker 3: they can't. That's the problem. But I don't think anybody

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Speaker 3: that smokes tupacs of cigarette today really enjoys and wants

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Speaker 3: to continue to smoke two packs of cigarette to day.

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Speaker 3: I know that I didn't. I wanted out the second

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Speaker 3: I knew that I was sick, but I couldn't.

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Speaker 2: I mean, it's fun going to Vegas once in a while,

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Speaker 2: having a great time, getting a nice hotel room. There's

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Speaker 2: nothing wrong with that.

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Speaker 3: Oh absolutely, you're You're making me flip through my Rolodex

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Speaker 3: right now and wanting to call my agent in the morning.

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Speaker 3: I agree. It's it's look, who would not want to

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Speaker 3: go to the sin city for for three four days?

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Speaker 3: And you can't stay longer unless you're a resident.

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Speaker 2: Or two or two or two or two?

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Speaker 3: Right exactly? Who would not love to go to a

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Speaker 3: place where the only reason to stay in the room

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Speaker 3: is to shower and to sleep for twenty minutes? It's

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Speaker 3: fantasy land for adults. I mean Vegas, Atlantic City. But

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Speaker 3: let's use Vegas, as you just said, because Vegas is

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Speaker 3: one of a kind and it is Disneyland for adults, right,

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Speaker 3: And who would not want to go to Disneyland if

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Speaker 3: you're nine years old. I agree, it's when you lose

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Speaker 3: yourself and then you're paying the price long after the

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Speaker 3: plane lands back in the city from which you left

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Speaker 3: from and you're paying a heavy financial price.

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Speaker 2: Well as I tell people Howard Vegas was not built

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Speaker 2: by winners.

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Speaker 3: Well I'm laughing inside that you mentioned that, George, because

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Speaker 3: you mentioned that when I was on a few months ago,

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Speaker 3: and I must tell you, I've quoted you at least

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Speaker 3: once a week, and man, you are banging on with

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Speaker 3: that comment exactly exactly.

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Speaker 2: So a lot of is have been happening on this

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Speaker 2: planet in the last couple of years. We've gone through

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Speaker 2: a pandemic and everything else. Motions are up and down.

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Speaker 2: Are you seeing an increase or decrease in gambling.

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Speaker 3: I've seen an increase, George. I would say that since

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Speaker 3: the pandemic so called is over, that the uptick with gambling,

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Speaker 3: specifically sports gambling is still on their rise. And I really,

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Speaker 3: in fact don't know where how it's going to end.

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Speaker 3: If we take roughly the last eighteen months, since say,

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Speaker 3: spring of twenty two, eighteen months that people have sort

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Speaker 3: of found more semblance in their life have gone back

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Speaker 3: to their lives, whatever that means. In the new world.

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Speaker 3: As you just said, gambling is still in their eyes.

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Speaker 3: Sports gambling online is way up, Lottery ticket sells are

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Speaker 3: way up. The attendance at casinos that's about the same,

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Speaker 3: but that's because there's more online gaming. So in totality, George,

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Speaker 3: the world of gambling is still is still growing, It

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Speaker 3: still is.

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Speaker 2: It's incredible. What was your game of choice?

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Speaker 3: My game of choice is the same age I wish

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Speaker 3: I was today, and that would be blackjack. To me,

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Speaker 3: aside from the money, it was the excitement, the so

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Speaker 3: called counting of the cards. But apparently I wasn't as

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Speaker 3: good as I thought I was because I didn't win

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Speaker 3: that much. Blackjack was my game and it still is.

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Speaker 3: I just love I love the math behind it. I

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Speaker 3: like the game when it could be played quickly, the

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Speaker 3: little bit of camaraderie. Although I never really liked playing

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Speaker 3: with what I called bobo players who really can't count

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Speaker 3: to twenty one. I always said, if you can't count

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Speaker 3: to twenty one, I don't think blackjack should be your game, right,

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Speaker 3: But that was my game, Blackjack.

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Speaker 2: It's always frustrating to have some next to you who

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Speaker 2: doesn't really know how to play screw up the cards.

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Speaker 2: You know what I'm saying?

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Speaker 3: Oh man, do I giggle because well? I giggle because

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Speaker 3: when you say what you just said, it resonates in

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Speaker 3: my mind and brings back all the memories. And when

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Speaker 3: you're sitting with somebody who's playing blackjack and they cannot

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Speaker 3: count to twenty one, it's pretty sad. I mean, having

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Speaker 3: a gambling addiction is sad enough. Having a gambling addiction

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Speaker 3: and not being able to count, that's a little bit

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Speaker 3: sadder exactly.

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Speaker 2: Some people say, depending on how much money one comes

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Speaker 2: with to a gambling casino, if they can afford to

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Speaker 2: lose it, so far, they're not addicted. That's not necessarily true, though,

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Speaker 2: is it.

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Speaker 3: It's again, it's a great question, and it's a great point.

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Speaker 3: I don't think that's necessarily true. I mean, I've seen

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Speaker 3: you know, Shock on TV being interviewed by gambling Michael

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Speaker 3: Jordan Nicholson, and if somebody can afford to lose a

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Speaker 3: million dollars a weekend at the high end, they would say,

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Speaker 3: don't worry about it, I can afford it. I still

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Speaker 3: think that's the sickness beyond beyond beyond. If everybody knows

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Speaker 3: in their heart of hearts what they can play with,

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Speaker 3: what they can afford. And again this is not just

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Speaker 3: limited to gambling at a named casino. This goes for

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Speaker 3: anybody online gambling too. You know that if you want

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Speaker 3: to spend twenty bucks a week on lottery tickets, as

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Speaker 3: my late mom used to do, it didn't change her life.

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Speaker 3: She enjoyed herself, as I said before, And I'd like

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Speaker 3: to always say, if you want to carry a dream

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Speaker 3: in your purse or your pocketbook for a couple of

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Speaker 3: days and check the numbers at the end of the week,

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Speaker 3: that's fine. That's not going to hurt anybody, unless, of course,

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Speaker 3: forgive me if the twenty five bucks a week will

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Speaker 3: hurt you. That's not what I meant. But your listeners

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Speaker 3: understand what I'm saying. If you can just do it

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Speaker 3: as recreation, as we said at the top of the hour,

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Speaker 3: and just have fun, that's great. But deep down, everybody

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Speaker 3: certainly knows what their budget is, be it for gambling

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Speaker 3: or for food or what kind of car they could buy.

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Speaker 3: Everybody knows deep down what they should be doing and

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Speaker 3: what they can afford.

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Speaker 2: I think you mentioned sports betting, and it seems to

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Speaker 2: be growing in this country, with states approving it left

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Speaker 2: and right because they want their tax money.

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Speaker 3: Well, I usually begin my lecture by saying to everybody

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Speaker 3: in the audience that the body of people that had

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Speaker 3: the biggest addiction is the government, and they're addicted to money.

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Speaker 3: And that held true when they legalize gambling. That held

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Speaker 3: true when they turned from prohibition to saying, one minute,

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Speaker 3: we can make money on booze, let's legalize it. And

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Speaker 3: that's all true if you took away and this fact

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Speaker 3: that I've checked in every province up here in Canada

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Speaker 3: and or in the States, every province or state, if

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Speaker 3: you were to remove income tax, alcohol sales, gambling revenues,

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Speaker 3: which is now, by the way, forty five states of

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Speaker 3: the fifty when I started playing it was in two.

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Speaker 3: If you took away all that net income, I think

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Speaker 3: every state, every province, and both of our countries would

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Speaker 3: be bankrupt. And by the way, I'm not so sure

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Speaker 3: that they aren't already on paper. But can you imagine

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Speaker 3: George taking away all that money from the conference? Oh

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Speaker 3: my god, I mean, look, I think the American deficit

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Speaker 3: right now will forgive me it's about thirty two trillion dollars.

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Speaker 3: I mean, can you imagine if they didn't take in

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Speaker 3: all that extra revenue from gambling, Well, we'd be in

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Speaker 3: more trouble. I think we already are. But the revenues,

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Speaker 3: I mean, I have the wherewithal I'm privileged to work

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Speaker 3: and I'll get to this soon, hopefully, if we have time.

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Speaker 3: I work with a number of casinos, and the profits

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Speaker 3: on on on the gambling or rather in the gambling

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Speaker 3: world is not only wonderful. And as I always say

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Speaker 3: that that that gambling is great if you're the casino operator,

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Speaker 3: but it's you can't lose. You open a casino, you

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Speaker 3: cannot lose, I mean.

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Speaker 2: And then most casinos will discount or give away their

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Speaker 2: rooms to high rollers just to get them there.

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Speaker 3: Well, of course, you know the old the old story

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Speaker 3: was the guy that comes back to his hometown and says,

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Speaker 3: my god, I was in Vegas. I had a great room.

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Speaker 3: I didn't say anything. I whined and dined, I had

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Speaker 3: staked and lobster. I saw a show. It cost me nothing.

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Speaker 3: Oh I lost twelve grands a black Yeah. You know,

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Speaker 3: you know, if you worked it out, the MACS one

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Speaker 3: hundred and twelve dollars for a diet coke exactly. I mean,

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Speaker 3: that's that's where the money is. As you said twenty

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Speaker 3: minutes ago, Vegas was not built on winners, exactly, And

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Speaker 3: that's that's really what this is all about. George. I've

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Speaker 3: gone to full circle. It's forty plus years in this nonsensical,

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Speaker 3: whacked out, lovely crazy world of gambling, and I would

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Speaker 3: just love to promote the idea that people do go

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Speaker 3: to the casino, do gamble online sports betting, but just

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Speaker 3: do it for the fun of it. As they say

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Speaker 3: in so many ads that so many casinos use gambling,

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Speaker 3: it's just a game. If we could just keep that

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Speaker 3: mindset that it's just a game and it's not a

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Speaker 3: nine to five job where you're going to go and

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Speaker 3: make money so you can pay the rent on the

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Speaker 3: first of the month, that would be wonderful. But again,

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Speaker 3: it gets under the skin of six seven eight percent

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Speaker 3: of those who do play, and that's when their life

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Speaker 3: ends up in turmoil.

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Speaker 2: It's amazing, Ken, an addicted gambler like you did, stop

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Speaker 2: cold Turkey when you finally decide to.

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Speaker 3: Again. I have flashbacks of when it was that I stopped,

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Speaker 3: and how I stopped. This might be a great time, George,

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Speaker 3: if you don't mind for me to mention just one person,

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Speaker 3: if I may, And I think you already know what

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Speaker 3: I'm going to say. Who I'm going to mention in

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Speaker 3: full transparency my brother, who lives in Los Angeles and

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Speaker 3: who is listening right now in.

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Speaker 2: His home, whom I know and I know well what

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Speaker 2: I was going.

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Speaker 3: To say, is a good friend of George's. And this

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Speaker 3: is how I come to coast to coast, and I

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Speaker 3: thank both George and Billy for making the marriage and

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Speaker 3: allowing me the wherewthought to come on the air. Billy,

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Speaker 3: along with some family members many many years ago, fooled me,

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Speaker 3: and thank god, they fooled me and had me fly

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Speaker 3: to Los Angeles just for a long weekend, married kids,

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Speaker 3: and I went. But what I didn't know, and thank

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Speaker 3: god I did not know that I walked into a

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Speaker 3: family intervention. I was pinned against the corner by my

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Speaker 3: brother and some loving cousins, and I had to turn

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Speaker 3: state's evidence. I was verbally raped and I was questioned,

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Speaker 3: I was outed, and my life came crashing down. It

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Speaker 3: was all done out of love, obviously, and caring. My

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Speaker 3: folks knew, my family knew what it was I was

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Speaker 3: in store for when I when I was going to

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Speaker 3: get to Los Angeles. And that's how my gambling came

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Speaker 3: to a screeching haulk George, and that's that's the best

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Speaker 3: way to describe it. I was screeching Hall.

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Speaker 2: Is it difficult for you to stop?

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Speaker 3: Nope, because I was more worried about what my family

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Speaker 3: would do to me ex than losing money. Mentally, I

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Speaker 3: think when I had the intervention done to me around me,

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Speaker 3: that overtook what I was thinking about on a day

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Speaker 3: to day basis. I think by that time, the world

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Speaker 3: of gambling nauseated me. It really did.

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Speaker 1: Listen to more Coast to Coast AM every weeknight at

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