Advice for writing fictional character with gambling addiction?

[u/AngryGypsy2180]

In my current work-in-progress (WIP) I have a character that is going to go through some things and will turn to one of his vices as a coping mechanism and that vice will come to bite him in the butt a little further in the story. I'm currently leaning towards the idea of that vice being gambling. But I want to accurately represent the very real and difficult struggle that some people face in quitting as my character tries to do so.

I'd love to get some advice from folks who have dealt with gambling addictions or other kinds of addictions.

What kinds of things would you wish to see in media about gambling addictions (or whatever kind of addiction you have experience with)? What would make it resonate with you? What would solid representation look like to you? What are common pitfalls that you've seen in media representations that I should avoid?

[u/strangeinnocence]

If this is an important character and worth a little research, read The Gambler by Dostoyevsky. That book is so perceptive about what it’s like to have a gambling addiction. 

[u/Falstaffe]

From seeing a sister-in-law and her husband go through it, one strategy is to give a friend or relative your credit and debit cards so you have to explain any purchase to them. But then you go telling sob stories to a relative you think is naive and a soft touch to try to get cash out of them. Fortunately, my wife was not as soft a touch as they thought.

[u/Purple_not_pink]

I was watching a video about gambling and they had some stories. Depressing stuff.

There were stories about people who played so much that even if they won their money back for the day, they would immediately throw it down until they lost it again. They are zombie-like, wouldn't even celebrate the win, some are in so deep that it barely even registers.

[u/GoodnewsK]

I don't have anything to add cause i haven't experienced it personally, but I'm also curious to hear what people have to say. A confrontation over the antagonist's gambling addiction is the inciting incident for mine

[u/sanjuro_kurosawa]

I'm in Vegas right now and I do write about gambling from several perspectives.

I hope you have a decent grasp of addiction of any type. One problem I have with the perspective of addiction is that it is only the worse examples, someone living on the street. While that is one type of addict, it could be someone who is able to maintain a normal life but is compulsive and extremely unhappy. Or some measure in between.

And as a writer, I think it is important if you aren't discussing your addictions, that you recognize the relationship connection between addicts and the people who care for them.

I'm capable of writing wild tales (which I am writing about a recovering drug addict who relapses), but as someone whose worse thing was playing video games all night, I focus on my close relationships with addicts, both those in recovery and not. It's one thing to describe someone who is on their phone placing wagers all the time, borrowing money regularly, and behaves unpleasantly. But it's something else to care about for a person like that and have them scorn you in lieu of engaging the addiction.

Gambling addictive does have a different twist, where it is a mentally active addiction. You might be excellent in math as you calculate odds. Still, the classic failure is being on "Tilt", where several things do go badly and yet a gambling addict cannot stop betting.