Tradition

Today is the Baseball All Star game in Detroit. For the past 28 years my father and I have had a long standing wager on this baseball game. I would take the National League and he would take the American League and the winner would receive $5. The first bet was wagered when I was 12 years old and the dollar amount has remained the same. However; there will be no bet made on tonight's game because I am a recovering compulsive gambler. Did placing a wager on the All Star game when I was 12 years old turn me into a problem gambler? Probably not, it seemed like harmless fun at the time. In fact most gambling at least for me when it first started seemed like harmless fun then it become fun with problems and then it became just problems.

In fact I had rules for myself when I first starting wagering on sports. One of my "rules" was to never bet on an All Star game or pre-season game for a significant amount of money. Now, $5 to me was never a significant amount of money in fact a "significant" amount of money kept getting larger and larger each year I continued to bet but this maybe a story for later on. I should have known when I started to break my own rules. About 3 years ago I started betting on All Star games and pre-season games regularly and for significant amounts of money (at least to me). The slippery slope had taken full shape for me and I was headed into crash.

My gambling friend and I would joke because the All Star break in baseball was one of the three days that you couldn't make a sports bet. It was always the day before and the day after the All Star game and Christmas Eve. A few years ago they started playing college and professional football games on Christmas Eve so we were down to 2 days a year without placing a wager on sports. Now baseball has the home run hitting contest the day before the All Star game and you can place wagers on this contest. (I don't remember placing a wager on this event but I could have!) So we are now down to one day without betting on sports and a few years ago the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) came into existence and they play their games in the summer time. The day after the Major League Baseball All-Star game the WNBA has games and yes, I have even placed wagers on these games and yes, I would consider these wagers for a significant amount of money because what is the use of betting a game that you can't get excited about, again it was all about the ACTION.

As you can see for me the wagering was year round and non-stop. I wasn't running off to the casino or racetrack but I was always near my computer or cell phone. At the time I thought I was having fun but looking back it just seems so ridiculous.