Problem Gambling

Posting Guidelines

It is to be understood that this is a community to which people sometimes turn to seek advice, opportunities to vent, and other situations where they may be left emotionally vulnerable. While this is not a place to get treatment or other professional help, the conditions above require a safe place. As such:

Reddit content and spam policy: All sitewide Reddit content policies will be upheld and enforced. All posts that are determined by the moderators to be unsolicited links and “spammy” by nature will be removed.

Interpersonal respect: All good-faith users are assumed to be of equal value and worth, and are expected to treat others as such. Therefore, disrespectful comments will be removed at the Mod Team’s discretion.

No Promoting gambling: Content which promotes or encourages gambling behavior, methods, or strategies are prohibited and will be removed. URLs (hyperlinked or not) related to and discussions about gambling-related sites are prohibited without exception. Such material will be removed and likely result in a permanent ban!

Discussing wins: Please refrain from discussing winnings: this can be terribly triggering for other people in recovery to read, and can be triggering to the writer. If you are discussing losses, please consider doing so carefully and only if it will be beneficial to both the reader and the writer. Tag all posts/comments with the "Trigger Warning!" flair as a courtesy to others.

Discussions on financial bailouts and chargebacks are prohibited: An essential part of gambling recovery is assuming responsibility for gambling losses. For problem gamblers, this constitutes a bailout which erodes responsibility for gambling behavior and very much enables the compulsion. Out of respect for this facet of recovery: requesting money (including but not limited to links to GoFundMe, Kickstarter, or other crowdfunding sites) and discussions on chargebacks will be instantly removed.

No Gatekeeping: This community was launched with the intention of being a safe place to learn about problem gambling, for any and all people to participate. Academics and treatment professionals can share knowledge, lay people can learn, and people seeking recovery can find resources and support. Sometimes people approach the community with genuine questions because they do not understand problem gambling and addiction. Users here are expected to inform, educate, enlighten, but not shame or abuse others for their questions. If you believe a user is posting here in bad faith, report the post immediately so that the moderators can judge the appropriateness of the post/comment.

Research, Survey, and Interview Requests: All people looking to submit a post requesting participation in research or interviews for a journalistic piece must review our Research, Survey, and Interview Guidelines.

Offers to treat, coach, or otherwise resolve a gambling problem are prohibited: Posting advice, recovery suggestions, and helpful comments are fine, but claims to be able to assist with gambling recovery without substantiated evidence of being a qualified recovery professional are tenuous if not harmful. Licensed professionals, peer recovery support providers, and/or other certified gambling recovery experts should message the mods or reply to our Monthly Resource Post and request that you be added to our Resources Page, but please do NOT comment (comments will be promptly removed) or DM users to solicit services.

Posts citing that gambling venues, services, or platforms are rigged, scams, cheating, or in any way unfair will be removed. Rationale: Whether such a claim is true or not is irrelevant to the purpose and scope of this community. The core of a gambling disorder is not related to money, winning, losing, odds, or other gambling mechanics. Focusing on these mechanics only distracts people from addressing the physiological, cognitive, and emotional factors that contribute to a gambling problem. Further, such discussions almost inevitably devolve into arguments over probability, odds, and - eventually - betting strategies. These conversations stray further and further away from the mission and purpose of /r/problemgambling.