June 19, 2025 • 9 mins
George Noory and therapist Howard Riback discuss the warning signs of gambling addiction, if there is anything wrong with recreational gambling, and the dangers posed by online gambling that make it much easier for people to get addicted to gambling.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Now here's a highlight from Coast to Coast AM on iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Man, welcome back to Coast to Coast George Noriy with you,
Howard reback back with us gaming and gambling therapist who
has had a gambling addiction himself go from almost ruining
his life to helping him turn things around and dedicate
his life to all those not as lucky as he
has been. One of his books includes Dear Gambling, I
forgive you Howard, welcome back.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
Have you been hey, George, I'm doing gray. What about you?
Speaker 2 (00:29):
All good? I bet you've been having a great couple
of years, haven't you.
Speaker 3 (00:33):
It's been unfortunately, you know, I feel like a funel director.
Sometimes it may be good for me, but it's not
good for society. I have to tell you the truth.
It's not good at.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
All, Howard, for the benefit of brand new listeners. What
the heck happened to you?
Speaker 3 (00:49):
Don't we only have two hours or we have a couple.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Of weeks to talk about Well, you can always come
back again.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
There we go. Thank you so much. What happened to
me was I became I'm a sick gambler and I
just loved going to casinos. I loved the allure of
what a casino was all about. I loved the game
of blackjack, and not really this may sound funny, but
not really for the money. I just love the map
behind the game of blackjack. And then, of course things spiraled,
(01:19):
not just out of control, way way out of control,
and it hit a point in my life that I
wanted to play blackjack as long as I was up
and I could breathe. And that was about twelve thirteen years,
which seemed like more than a lifetime to me. Luckily,
that was more than a couple of decades ago, so
(01:40):
that's the good news. But no, George, I fell into
a horrible hole of gambling troubles, an abyss that I
thought would never end, and my family came to save me.
And again, that was more than twenty years ago, and
not a day goes by that I don't think about
what I did, how remorseful I am for what I did,
(02:03):
But at the same time, I'm very proud of what
I did after to dig myself out of the hole
and be where I am today.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
Truly remarkable to be sure, Now, were you compulsive during
your childhood?
Speaker 3 (02:18):
It's a great question. I don't think I was compulsive. No,
I wouldn't. I wouldn't say so at all. The compulsion
really began just with the world of gambling, and that
happened roughly in my mid twenties. And I'll be sixty
six in a month and a half towards, so that
(02:39):
was a long long time ago, a lifetime ago, actually.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
Fascinating, Howard, Now, what are the common signs that somebody
may look at for themselves or family members might look
at somebody and say that person's got a gambling problem.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
Usually it did start with the borrowing of money, bills
in the household, not being paid of people's mood often
changes asking asking for and changing their schedule and their
daily routine and their life, affecting work, affecting friends, affecting
their family relationships, and just seeing somebody sort of drift
(03:20):
off into a into a different state from what they
were in. And all you could do when you're when
you're a gamming addict, much like being a drug addict
or or an alcoholic I assume, because those are not
my areas of expertise at all. You just want to
do what it is the mind and body tells you
to do. Every waking hour, and I think when when
(03:43):
when somebody's life starts to spiral out of control, that's
when the family and friends, I would assume, would notice
what's going on, and they they jump into help. And
I was lucky that my support system did. But at church, unfortuately,
many people aren't as lucky as I was.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
Howard, casinos are popping up all over the United States.
I know you're in Canada right now. Las Vegas is
a fun place to go to. There's nothing wrong with
doing some recreational gambling, is there.
Speaker 3 (04:17):
I completely completely agree with you, George, and I have
this take and this banter back and forth with a
few colleagues of mine. I completely agree with what you said.
But you know, this is where I get into trouble
in my field. I do believe that much like drinking
or gambling as we're talking about tonight this morning, that
(04:39):
done properly and properly is a massive word when it
comes to something that could turn into an addiction. Yes,
it can be done recreationally, it can be done just
for fun, and I still believe that the majority of people,
thank God, you know, ninety five percent of the people
who do gamble do do it for possibly, but I
(05:01):
take care of the three four five percent that don't
that let it get out of hand.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
George, Well, we're talking to Howard reback about gambling. He
is a gambling and gaming therapist. Exactly what is that, Howard?
Speaker 3 (05:17):
Well? What it is? I certainly believe and I don't
dish therapist at all, but I believe that I'm very
well positioned to help anybody that might have a gambling problem,
which is what I do, be lecturing, teaching, being at
one on one consulting for assorted casinos in Canada and
(05:38):
Upstate New York, which is what I do. I believe
that because of the life that I led and I
had the troubles that I did have many many years ago,
when somebody does come see me with a gambling problem,
I really believe that I can walk the walk and
talk to talk because I've been there, meaning that when
(05:58):
you have been in the trend, you can understand what
other soldiers are going through. I understand that many doctors
and therapists can be book smart and understand what goes
behind having an addiction, but I did have it. So
I think that, as I said before, I think I'm
well positioned to talk about this trade, this gambling addiction
(06:23):
practice that I run because I really understand what people
are going through, as I went through what they're going
through many many years ago. I understand the problem. George.
When you understand the problem, I think you're set a
little bit easier to handle the problem, Howard.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
When somebody has an addiction, do they have addictions to
a lot of different things like as you mentioned, alcohol, gambling,
sex addictions and whatever.
Speaker 3 (06:52):
Very often we talked about people having cross addictions, George,
meeting gambling and drinking, drinking and smoking, smoking and drugging
very often. The funny thing, and it's nice to use
the word funny on a serious topic like this. The
funny thing was, I had no other addiction. I at
sixty six years old. I don't drink at all. I've
(07:14):
never smoked. The idea of vaping makes me nauseous. I've
never held anything that was remotely like a drug. So
the only addiction I had was gambling. But yes, usually
people do have more than one addiction. Usually it's two
or three. And yes, it's called cross addiction.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
Yes, how do you know that you're addicted to gambling?
How does somebody know that.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
Well, I could tell you from my own experience is
that when my eyes open up in the morning, I
was already thinking of how I was going to go
to the casino, how I was going to play blackjack,
how much money I was going to go with, how
much money I was going to make, And of course
we all know how that went because, as you said
a few shows back towards Vegas wasn't built on winters,
(07:58):
so we all know how that goes, That's right, And
you just get into this cycle of you're always figuring
out where and how and when you're going to go
to a casino because again because what I did, when
I did it was so many years ago, we didn't
have the apps on the phone, or you couldn't go
(08:20):
to a casino on your cell phone or on your
laptop or a tablet. You physically had to go to
a land based, brick and mortar casino building at Montreal
only where I am now Montreal. We only got to
casino in ninety three, by the way, little bit of trivia,
the last time the Montreal Canadians won the Stanley Cup,
(08:40):
by the way, which is hard to believe. So growing
up when I got into that world of gambling. It
was either Las Vegas or Atlantic City. Those are the
only games in town that was it.
Speaker 1 (08:51):
Listen to more Coast to Coast AM every weeknight at
one am Eastern and go to Coast to coastam dot
com for more
Now here's a highlight from Coast to Coast AM on iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Man, welcome back to Coast to Coast George Noriy with you,
Howard reback back with us gaming and gambling therapist who
has had a gambling addiction himself go from almost ruining
his life to helping him turn things around and dedicate
his life to all those not as lucky as he
has been. One of his books includes Dear Gambling, I
forgive you Howard, welcome back.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
Have you been hey, George, I'm doing gray. What about you?
Speaker 2 (00:29):
All good? I bet you've been having a great couple
of years, haven't you.
Speaker 3 (00:33):
It's been unfortunately, you know, I feel like a funel director.
Sometimes it may be good for me, but it's not
good for society. I have to tell you the truth.
It's not good at.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
All, Howard, for the benefit of brand new listeners. What
the heck happened to you?
Speaker 3 (00:49):
Don't we only have two hours or we have a couple.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Of weeks to talk about Well, you can always come
back again.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
There we go. Thank you so much. What happened to
me was I became I'm a sick gambler and I
just loved going to casinos. I loved the allure of
what a casino was all about. I loved the game
of blackjack, and not really this may sound funny, but
not really for the money. I just love the map
behind the game of blackjack. And then, of course things spiraled,
(01:19):
not just out of control, way way out of control,
and it hit a point in my life that I
wanted to play blackjack as long as I was up
and I could breathe. And that was about twelve thirteen years,
which seemed like more than a lifetime to me. Luckily,
that was more than a couple of decades ago, so
(01:40):
that's the good news. But no, George, I fell into
a horrible hole of gambling troubles, an abyss that I
thought would never end, and my family came to save me.
And again, that was more than twenty years ago, and
not a day goes by that I don't think about
what I did, how remorseful I am for what I did,
(02:03):
But at the same time, I'm very proud of what
I did after to dig myself out of the hole
and be where I am today.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
Truly remarkable to be sure, Now, were you compulsive during
your childhood?
Speaker 3 (02:18):
It's a great question. I don't think I was compulsive. No,
I wouldn't. I wouldn't say so at all. The compulsion
really began just with the world of gambling, and that
happened roughly in my mid twenties. And I'll be sixty
six in a month and a half towards, so that
(02:39):
was a long long time ago, a lifetime ago, actually.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
Fascinating, Howard, Now, what are the common signs that somebody
may look at for themselves or family members might look
at somebody and say that person's got a gambling problem.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
Usually it did start with the borrowing of money, bills
in the household, not being paid of people's mood often
changes asking asking for and changing their schedule and their
daily routine and their life, affecting work, affecting friends, affecting
their family relationships, and just seeing somebody sort of drift
(03:20):
off into a into a different state from what they
were in. And all you could do when you're when
you're a gamming addict, much like being a drug addict
or or an alcoholic I assume, because those are not
my areas of expertise at all. You just want to
do what it is the mind and body tells you
to do. Every waking hour, and I think when when
(03:43):
when somebody's life starts to spiral out of control, that's
when the family and friends, I would assume, would notice
what's going on, and they they jump into help. And
I was lucky that my support system did. But at church, unfortuately,
many people aren't as lucky as I was.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
Howard, casinos are popping up all over the United States.
I know you're in Canada right now. Las Vegas is
a fun place to go to. There's nothing wrong with
doing some recreational gambling, is there.
Speaker 3 (04:17):
I completely completely agree with you, George, and I have
this take and this banter back and forth with a
few colleagues of mine. I completely agree with what you said.
But you know, this is where I get into trouble
in my field. I do believe that much like drinking
or gambling as we're talking about tonight this morning, that
(04:39):
done properly and properly is a massive word when it
comes to something that could turn into an addiction. Yes,
it can be done recreationally, it can be done just
for fun, and I still believe that the majority of people,
thank God, you know, ninety five percent of the people
who do gamble do do it for possibly, but I
(05:01):
take care of the three four five percent that don't
that let it get out of hand.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
George, Well, we're talking to Howard reback about gambling. He
is a gambling and gaming therapist. Exactly what is that, Howard?
Speaker 3 (05:17):
Well? What it is? I certainly believe and I don't
dish therapist at all, but I believe that I'm very
well positioned to help anybody that might have a gambling problem,
which is what I do, be lecturing, teaching, being at
one on one consulting for assorted casinos in Canada and
(05:38):
Upstate New York, which is what I do. I believe
that because of the life that I led and I
had the troubles that I did have many many years ago,
when somebody does come see me with a gambling problem,
I really believe that I can walk the walk and
talk to talk because I've been there, meaning that when
(05:58):
you have been in the trend, you can understand what
other soldiers are going through. I understand that many doctors
and therapists can be book smart and understand what goes
behind having an addiction, but I did have it. So
I think that, as I said before, I think I'm
well positioned to talk about this trade, this gambling addiction
(06:23):
practice that I run because I really understand what people
are going through, as I went through what they're going
through many many years ago. I understand the problem. George.
When you understand the problem, I think you're set a
little bit easier to handle the problem, Howard.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
When somebody has an addiction, do they have addictions to
a lot of different things like as you mentioned, alcohol, gambling,
sex addictions and whatever.
Speaker 3 (06:52):
Very often we talked about people having cross addictions, George,
meeting gambling and drinking, drinking and smoking, smoking and drugging
very often. The funny thing, and it's nice to use
the word funny on a serious topic like this. The
funny thing was, I had no other addiction. I at
sixty six years old. I don't drink at all. I've
(07:14):
never smoked. The idea of vaping makes me nauseous. I've
never held anything that was remotely like a drug. So
the only addiction I had was gambling. But yes, usually
people do have more than one addiction. Usually it's two
or three. And yes, it's called cross addiction.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
Yes, how do you know that you're addicted to gambling?
How does somebody know that.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
Well, I could tell you from my own experience is
that when my eyes open up in the morning, I
was already thinking of how I was going to go
to the casino, how I was going to play blackjack,
how much money I was going to go with, how
much money I was going to make, And of course
we all know how that went because, as you said
a few shows back towards Vegas wasn't built on winters,
(07:58):
so we all know how that goes, That's right, And
you just get into this cycle of you're always figuring
out where and how and when you're going to go
to a casino because again because what I did, when
I did it was so many years ago, we didn't
have the apps on the phone, or you couldn't go
(08:20):
to a casino on your cell phone or on your
laptop or a tablet. You physically had to go to
a land based, brick and mortar casino building at Montreal
only where I am now Montreal. We only got to
casino in ninety three, by the way, little bit of trivia,
the last time the Montreal Canadians won the Stanley Cup,
(08:40):
by the way, which is hard to believe. So growing
up when I got into that world of gambling. It
was either Las Vegas or Atlantic City. Those are the
only games in town that was it.
Speaker 1 (08:51):
Listen to more Coast to Coast AM every weeknight at
one am Eastern and go to Coast to coastam dot
com for more
The Best of Coast to Coast AM News
Host
George Noory
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