As I leave the casino thinking never again, a film runs on a loop through my head: there’s a stack of unpaid bills and lost money I can never get back. I feel a tightening in my temples. Also playing over and over in my head is the television commercial in which a high-ranking military officer proclaims that money spent gambling with the Slot Machine Association is for a worthy cause. The first time I saw that commercial, I felt like kicking the screen into million pieces. I’m full of optimism after my first hypnotic treatment. Immediately the next day, I rush to the casino to request a self-exclusion from gambling. I have made serious vow to get out of this roulette hell, and one way to do that is to be forbidden from entering the casino.
