Gamblers Anonymous

DEFINITION: Gamblers Anonymous is a twelve-step recovery program based on Alcoholics Anonymous. There are no requirements for membership other than the desire to stop gambling. The purpose of Gamblers Anonymous is to support personal changes and daily behaviors that lead to a healthy way of living without gambling.

DATE: Established 1957

Background

Gamblers Anonymous (GA) was founded in 1957 in Los Angeles by compulsive gamblers Jim and Sam (no last names are used in any of the anonymous programs). GA is a twelve-step program modeled after Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and based on spiritual principles.

Following the medical model of addiction as an illness, compulsive gambling is seen as a progressive disease and an overactive behavior symptomatic of an emotional disorder related to low self-esteem and self-destruction. People who gamble compulsively want to be seen as generous (big spenders) and special (lucky), thus adding value to their lives. GA uses a list of twenty basic questions concerning gambling behavior; a person who answers “yes” to seven or more of these questions is considered a compulsive gambler. These questions, which were first developed in 1984, were still in use into the twenty-first century.

Like other twelve-step program meetings, GA meetings focus on sharing what it calls “experience, strength, and hope.” Personal stories commonly include episodes of theft, deceit, lost relationships, and self-loathing. Members with some degree of abstinence from gambling describe where they are in working the steps of the program and how they have benefitted from the principles of the program, thus supporting and encouraging newer members.

Although GA is based on spiritual principles, interpretation is individual and independent of religious dogma. Anonymity is paramount to creating a safe environment for revealing, learning, and growing, and members are reminded not to discuss what they have seen or heard in meetings.

In addition to focusing on emotional problems, GA provides resources to assist members with their financial and legal issues. Members are discouraged from filing for bankruptcy or borrowing money to repay debts. By abstaining from gambling, a person will usually have more earned income available to make restitution, resolving financial pressures.

Membership in GA does not require dues payment; however, because GA declines funding from outside sources to remain self-supporting and self-governing, free-will contributions are accepted at meetings. Participants are encouraged to donate toward expenses that include meeting room rental and the cost of refreshments.

Mission and Goals

The official literature of GA states that its members’ “primary purpose is to stop gambling and to help other compulsive gamblers do the same.” The nonprofit organization does not solicit members; persons must seek out the program. GA does not get involved with financial arrangements; members are responsible for paying off their own debts.

GA meetings are held in cities throughout the world and virtually online. As gambling has become legal in an increasing number of jurisdictions worldwide and online gambling has become more popular and accessible, the need for access to GA meetings has become increasingly acute. 

Caesars Entertainment Corporation (formerly Harrah’s Entertainment), one of the largest companies in the gaming industry, has been promoting responsible gaming since the late 1990s. While Caesars does not explicitly endorse GA, it has been publicizing the signs and symptoms of compulsive gambling, thus helping to reduce the stigma. With the proliferation of online gambling, online casinos have also taken up the task of promoting responsible gaming. Online casinos often have time and deposit limits and reserve the right to end a user’s access. 

Over the years, some studies of GA have shown only a small percentage of people who begin attending GA meetings continue to work the program and stay away from gambling for more than one year. One reason may be that the stress of accepting responsibility for financial, legal, and employment problems in spite of abstinence from gambling is overwhelming. Another possible reason is that compulsive gambling also may be compounded by substance abuse: When the concomitant addiction is not addressed, relapse into gambling is easily triggered.

In addition, the recovery rate of GA members remained lower than that of AA members because the medical model of compulsive behavior as a progressive illness has been less accepted by society for compulsive gamblers than for alcoholics. The medical community has labeled compulsive (pathological) gambling as an impulse control disorder similar to compulsive eating, kleptomania, and hypersexuality. The increasing incidence of compulsive gambling in persons with Parkinson’s disease, for example, has prompted research that has discovered an associated dysfunction in the frontal lobe of the brain. Scientists have worked on developing rat models of impulsivity to identify potential pharmacological targets and treatments for impulse control disorders.

Bibliography

A Day at a Time: Gamblers Anonymous. Hazelden, 1994.

"FAQs: What Is Problem Gambling?" National Council on Problem Gambling, www.ncpgambling.org/help-treatment/faqs-what-is-problem-gambling. Accessed 21 Aug. 2024.

GA Red Book: A New Beginning. 3rd ed., Gamblers Anonymous, 1998.

"The Role of Online Casinos in Promoting Responsible Gambling." The Daily Iowan, 5 July 2023, dailyiowan.com/2023/07/05/the-role-of-online-casinos-in-promoting-responsible-gambling. Accessed 21 Aug. 2024.

Sanders, Elizabeth. Gambling Recovery: Working the Gamblers Anonymous Recovery Program. Wheatmark, 2010.

Sharing Recovery through Gamblers Anonymous. Author, 1984.

"20 Questions." Gamblers Anonymous, www.gamblersanonymous.org/ga/content/20-questions. Accessed 21 Aug. 2024.