HOW TO MAKE A SMALL FORTUNE GAMBLING (Start with a Large One!) Reg Starkey Traditionally, society regards compulsive gambling as a moral failure of the individual.  It perpetuates the behaviour, whilst it rejects the personality.  The reality is that compulsive gambling may be defined as the purest form of Addiction.  Pure, undiluted dependence.  The anticipation, the event, the outcome, each one of these increasing the craving for another “hit”.  Reg is a Compulsive Gambler.  Today he is abstinent from the process of gambling, and from this vantage point he is ideally placed to reflect and educate upon the difference between choice and compulsion, and between pastime and preoccupation. When is the risk too great, when is the urge too strong, what drives the compulsion to gamble despite potentially ruinous consequences to the gambler and to their family.  Through his own story, Reg paints the picture.  His gambling won him plenty… and cost him far more.   Gambling is not about money.  Not when compulsion has kicked in.   And the true price can be measured in terms of relationships, career, and the physical and emotional stability of the gambler.  As the balance tips from hobby to habit, and as Reg’s story is evidence, gambling strips all these away. High intelligence, high ambitions, a need to be “better than in order to be as good as” – all traits that are as classic to the compulsive gambler as they are to any addictive personality.   The suicide rate amongst compulsive gamblers is 160 times higher than the national average. Disregarding this statistic does not compare to playing a bad hand at poker, but is more like playing Russian Roulette with real people’s lives.  This is a presentation concentrated on prevention and awareness, designed to inform, enlighten, and answer questions. It provides an honest account of one man’s experience, and delivers a valuable message to all.