For Ambus Hunter, what started as a fun trip to Las Vegas when he was 25 soon turned into a gambling addiction. “I got consumed with the vibes,” he says, recalling how he loved the feeling of winning at first. He began gambling back home in the Midwest and on business trips, playing roulette whenever possible. He burned through thousands of dollars of savings before realizing he needed to find a way to stop.
Now fully financially recovered at 37, Hunter works as an accredited financial counselor in Baltimore, helping other people recover their finances that have been damaged by problematic gambling. “I learned a lot about myself and my relationship with money,” he says, lessons he helps others apply to their own lives and budgets.
Gambling is a growing problem among young adults, according to experts, largely because sports betting and other forms of online wagering are so easily accessible. “More and more youth are becoming vulnerable to gambling and problem gambling. It’s a social contagion,” says Dorothy Nuckols, who teaches personal finance for the University of Maryland Extension in Central Maryland. In Kimberly Palmer’s latest for the Seattle Times, learn how to lower gambling risks.
Liz, I have suffered from gamblers all my life. First, was my best friend. She was eventually murdered from a guy she met at one of the L.A. Poker palaces before gambling became the ‘addiction’ it is. Then, my brother. Lost everything…made money, lost everything…for over 20 years…..Gambling is a horrible addiction. Worse than many others, among, young and old. You speak about it too lightly above.