Correlation of Gambling at a Young Age and Gambling Addiction?

General ✍️
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Curious what you think of this hypothesis.

For me, I started betting at the horse track with my friends at age 15. By 16 we were sneaking into the local Indian casino which was hit or miss, but at worst they’d ask us to leave.

I really think that it’s partially because of these experiences at a young age that eventually led me down the problem gambling path. The reason I’m polling you all, is because I read an article on addiction to alcohol which said early substance use dramatically increases the risk of substance use disorder. Which by the way, when I was a kid my parents were fine with me drinking a bit too, which probably led to excessive drinking down the road.

So I’m wondering if that could be the same for gambling???

Did you start gambling at an early age and do you think it played a role in your addiction?

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Ya I’ve been playing cards since 13, started with friends because we were watching the World Series of Poker which is ironically going on right now. I find it much more exciting to watch than participate in now that it nearly wrecked my life for good.

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Same, started at an early age playing cards with friends. If I had to guess was probably like 12 or 13 playing cards and dominoes for money.

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Started at 12 playing bingo with my family at the vfw.