TOGEL BETTING WITH THEIR HEADS

Compulsive gamblers are often able to fool those around them about their problem — at first. But, the person they most often fool is themself.

Twenty-five years ago, gambling was restricted to Nevada and Atlantic City. Gamblers could take a weekend trip once or twice a year, come home and forget about it for a while. But, now that all 50 states have some form of legal gambling, it is as close as the lottery tickets on sale at the corner convenience store.

As the problem of compulsive gambling grew, the American Psychiatric Association recognized it for what it is, an emotional illness, another form of addiction. The APA states it is an impulse-control disorder causing negative consequences, similar to drug and alcohol addiction.

Now, states are setting up TOGEL centers where certified compulsive-gambling counselors are trained to help gamblers deal with the addiction and keep it from taking over their lives and ruining the lives of their family members.

Provident Counseling in St. Louis is one of the recognized compulsive-gambling treatment centers in Missouri. In a workshop recently, counselors and Missouri professionals who deal with compulsive gambling explained how widespread the problem is and what resources are available to help gamblers kick the habit.

There were 23 million visits to Missouri riverboat casinos last year. Some people only went one time, others visited everyday or more frequently. It is estimated that about 1 percent of the persons who gamble will have a compulsive gambling problem.

A toll-free telephone number is available to anyone in the metropolitan area, including the Metro East, where seekers may find counseling and treatment. They may also be referred to their local chapter of Gamblers Anonymous or for families of gamblers, Gam-Anon. The services are provided free of charge to the compulsive gambler who needs help. The number is 1-888-BETSOFF.

Scott, who gave only his first name, is a person who availed himself of the toll-free number. He was on the Alton Belle in June 2001 when he called.

“I asked for a location where a Gamblers Anonymous meeting was being held that night,” Scott said. “Fortunately, I was given the number of Provident Counseling on Watson Road.” There was a meeting that night which Scott attended. He was assigned a counselor who helped him break his habit.

“I have relapsed,” Scott admitted. “I was clean for 14 months, but gave in. I’ve been clean for three months now. Three months is easy because of the shame. It’s like a puppy that pees on the carpet and you smack it with a newspaper. After a while, the puppy forgets about the newspaper and does it again.”

Ironically, the funding for the programs to help compulsive gamblers control their addiction is provided by the riverboat casinos.

The industry believes its interests are best served when gambling is viewed as recreation and not as the path to destruction.

A problem gambler may be charming and loving, intellectually astute, articulate, sociable, philanthropic, energized and enduring, achievement oriented, and clever — clever enough to make people think that everything is fine.

Sooner or later, though, the truth about the gambler’s insecurity and low self-esteem and the fact that he is unrealistic about goals comes to the fore.

John Crum, director of counseling for Provident Counseling, described the stages of problem gambling that experts believe most problem gamblers go through as they move toward becoming compulsive gamblers.

The lure is the winning stage when the person discovers that gambling is an exciting social activity and perhaps a way to escape the stress of work, family or loneliness. Not all gamblers go through these stages, nor do they occur in any particular order or rate.

The gambler may share his largesse by showering family and friends with gifts, taking them on expensive vacations, and just plain living “high on the hog.”

There is the losing stage when the gambler becomes preoccupied with gambling. Bets become larger and more frequent. Then the gambler starts to “chase” his losses — to try to recoup the money and get ahead of the game. The gambler may start to max out his credit cards, pawn or sell personal property, dip into investment accounts, and borrow heavily. The problem becomes visible to those around the gambler. Bill collectors may come knocking at the door.

In the desperation stage, the gambler may experience health problems, relationships my falter or fall apart, and the gambler may turn to crime after financial resources are exhausted.

According to Crum, some experts believe there is a fourth stage called hopelessness, when the gambler believes there is no hope or help. Depression is common and suicide is a real risk. Suicide risk among problem gamblers is twice that of society at large and more likely than with any other addiction.

Compulsive gambling can affect men and women of any age, race or religion, without regard to social status. Young people are getting involved in gambling as early as elementary school.

“This is the first generation of kids who have grown up with the proliferation of legal gambling,” said Shelley Perez, Responsible Gaming Program coordinator for the Missouri Lottery. “We didn’t have this when we were growing up. Now there’s the lottery and the riverboat casinos.”

Perez and Melissa Stephens, Problem Gaming Program administrator for the Missouri Gaming Commission, developed an assembly program for middle schools called “Beat the Addiction: Choose the Right Path,” which they presented in 19 schools last year, reaching 7,400 students.

“Schools denied they had a gambling problem because they aren’t located near a riverboat casino,” Perez said. “So we geared it toward all addictions and made it an assembly program to reach more children.”

The program is available free of charge to all public and private schools in Missouri, funded by the Missouri Alliance to Curb Problem Gambling.

Both Missouri and Illinois have set up a voluntary ban program for compulsive gamblers. By signing up, gamblers accept a voluntary ban from casinos, in Missouri for a lifetime, in Illinois for a lifetime with an escape clause.

After five years, a gambler in Illinois can petition to get off the list and go back to gambling on the boats with an affidavit from a licensed mental health professional that says the patient is no longer a compulsive gambler.

But, the counselors on the panel at Provident scoffed at this. “That’s a malpractice suit waiting to happen,” said one. Under Missouri’s program, compulsive gambling is a lifetime problem for which there is no cure, only treatment.

The program has consequences for violators. If they go on a riverboat casino they are subject to an arrest for trespassing and to a fine. Stephens said 6,000 people have voluntarily put themselves on the lifetime ban list in Missouri.

“We have 8 to 12 arrests per month on average,” she said.

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HOW TO PLAY TOGEL HONGKONG CRAPS

Short glossary

Box man: is the craps table supervisor who sits between the one stickman and directly behind the thousands of dollars worth of chips that the casino keeps on hand at each craps table.

Dealers: the two dealers at the Craps table are responsible for all the bets made on his half of the table. Whenever you want to make free odds, place, or lay bet in a casino, you should give the money to the dealer at your end of the table and he will make the bet for you.

Floor men: are the supervisors who are responsible for the games in the casino and the employees running them. Floor men spend their time behind the tables watching over the games.

Marker Puck: is the plastic disk, which the dealers use to mark the “Point” on the Craps table. When the puck is turned so that the side inscribed with ‘off’ is face up, then all free odds bets have no action on the following roll of the dice.

Pit: is the area enclosed by all of the craps tables in a casino. Floor men walk around in the pit and keep an eye on the craps games in progress and the casino employees.

Stickman: is the casino employee who calls out the dice rolls and returns the dice to the shooter. The stickman also is responsible for the placing and paying the proposition bets.

The basic idea behind Craps is to establish a “point” number and roll that number again before rolling a 7 (craps). Only the numbers 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10 can be a point number and all other rolls on the dice have special meanings depending on when they are rolled (before or after a point is established).

The casino game of Craps is played with a set of two perfectly balanced dice with each die having six white dots numbered 1 through 6. The game is played by tossing the dice from one of the short ends of the table to the other (make sure that both die hit the opposite side wall of the table). Payoffs are made based on the number combination displayed when the dice come to rest.

The inside walls of the table are covered with a serrated egg-carton like foam, designed to make the dice bounce around to assure randomness. Each throw of the dice is called a “roll”. Players take turn rolling the dice, clockwise around the table, and the player rolling at any given time is called the “shooter”. When a new shooter is given the dice, his or her first roll is called the “”Come Out”” roll. This begins a new series of rolls by that shooter and lasts for as long as that shooter continues to make winning rolls.

A new game in Craps begins with the “Come Out” roll. A “Come Out” roll can be made only when the previous shooter fails to make a winning roll — more correctly known as “not making the “Point”” or “seven out”. A new game then begins with a new shooter. If the current shooter does make his “Point”, the dice are returned to him and he then begins the new “Come Out” roll. This is a continuation of that shooter’s roll, although technically, the “Come Out” roll identifies a new game about to begin.

When the shooter fails to make his or her “Point”, the dice are then offered to the next player for a new “Come Out” roll and the game continues in the same manner. The new shooter will be the person directly next to the left of the previous shooter.

On the “Come Out” roll, the “Pass Line” bet wins if the shooter rolls a 7 or an 11. The bet loses automatically if the shooter rolls 2, 3 or 12. This is known as “rolling craps”. If the shooter rolls 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10 the shooter must roll this same number again (to win) before rolling the number 7. Rolling any of these numbers on the “Come Out” roll is called “establishing the “Point”. Any number so rolled is thereafter referred to as the “Point”.

Establishing a “Point” is an event that happens as the immediate result of the “Come Out” roll, unless that “Come Out” roll results in 7, 11, 2, 3 or 12, in which case more rolls must be made until a “Point” is established.

It now becomes important to mention a device that looks like a hockey puck called the “Puck”. It is white on one side and black on the other, and is used by the dealers to identify the “Point”. Once the shooter establishes the “Point”, the dealer will move this puck to that “Point” number and turn it the white side up. The puck stays on this “Point” until the shooter either makes his “Point” or until he sevens out. When the puck is moved to the “Don’t Come” bar 12 area and turned black side up. The significance of this device is only in tracking the game. White side up over a “Point” indicates the game is in progress and that this box number is the “Point”. Black side up means a new “Come Out” roll is about to take place.

As with all table Togel Hongkong games, you will begin by changing your cash money into gaming chips. In Craps you do this by throwing your money on the table and yelling, “change”. If the table is playing well there will be a lot of people crowding around and a lot of noise, so make sure you yell out. Also it is a good idea to wait and ask for change between rolls of the dice.

In Craps, winning or losing depends on a variety of different possible outcomes on any roll of the two dice. The two dice can produce many different number combinations; some can be made several ways, others only one way. For example, two dice can roll the number 6 as follows: 5/1, 4/2, 3/3, 2/4 and 1/5. But the number 2 can only be rolled one way: 1/1.

Numbers such as 6, which can be rolled several ways, don’t pay as much as numbers which can be rolled only one way, unless you are betting that the number will be rolled in a specific way, such has 3/3, known as “Hard ways”. All winning payoffs are, therefore, determined by the frequency in which any two-dice number combinations can be rolled. Generally, the harder the combination is to roll, the more it will pay, and vice versa.

Although really taking advantage of the many betting options can involve a considerable degree of mastery, in its simplest form, Craps is a game where players bet either that the shooter will make his “Point” or that he or she will not make their “Point”. Betting that the shooter will make his/her “Point” is called betting “with the shooter” (also called “betting right”) and betting that the shooter will not make his/her “Point” is called “betting against the shooter” (also called “betting wrong”).

To bet with the shooter, you must place your bet in an area marked “”Pass Line””, before the new shooter rolls the dice. The so-called “Pass Line” is a strip on the table layout marked by two lines roughly two inches wide and it rims the entire table layout across from the Box Man. To bet against the shooter, you must place your bet in an area marked “Don’t Pass”. This area is also a strip on the table layout and it rims the table directly above the “Pass Line”.

No matter what stage the game is in, whether on the “Come Out” roll, or in progress, you can jump in immediately and place any bets. The only exception to this is the bet called the “Pass Line” bet with odds”, which can be made only on the “Come Out” roll. You can, however, bet with the shooter even while the game is in progress by placing a “Pass Line” bet without odds. Placing your chips halfway over one of the two lines framing the “Pass Line” area does this.

Before the new shooter rolls the dice on his or her “Come Out” roll, there are a variety of bets that can be made. The “Pass Line” and Don’t Pass Line” bet are the most common bets to make. Once the shooter establishes a “Point”, you can then place an additional bet behind your “Pass Line” bet. This is called “taking odds”.

In most casinos you can bet up to three times the amount of your “Pass Line” bet. This is called “taking full odds”. Some casinos offer up to 100 times odds! This simply means that you can bet up to 100 times the amount of your “Pass Line” bet once a “Point” has been established.

Betting the “Don’t Pass Line” is the exact opposite of betting the “Pass Line”. The “Don’t Pass” bet wins if the shooter rolls any craps; 2 or 3 (12 is considered a push; the bet neither wins nor loses, merely stays in limbo till a decision is reached on subsequent rolls) and loses if shooter rolls a 7 or 11.

Once the shooter establishes a “Point” your “Don’t Pass” bet stays in action, win until the shooter rolls a 7 or make his/her “Point”. Therefore, a “Don’ Pass” bet wins if the shooter fails to make his “Point”, but loses if the shooter does make the “Point”. You can also take odds on a “Don’t Pass” bet.

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