I still think it's comparable to gambling. In the end, true casino addicts never leave with more money than they came in with; the house always wins by design. Spending money for RNG rolls on anything - currency or sweatyman.jpgs - is exploitation all the same.
Sorry for the wall of text but it might give you a look into Phil's mentality from the view of a former gambling addict.
I don't typically share anything from my real life on this forum but I can say this is NOT true. I use to be pretty addicted to the casinos - Vegas, Biloxi, Tampa/Ft Lauderdale, and more. I've even gambled in London, Puerto Rico, Canada, the Bahamas (a lot) and more.
My biggest vegas winning weekend was about 136k. Other weekends I would take home 30 or 40k. And, of course, I'd lose weekends as well.
Overall over the course of a few years I was down about 200k.
The thing with casino gambling is you do have winning weekends. That's the difference between what Phil does and most real gamblers. There is no real winning with what he does. No chance to double or triple your money.
I make in a year about 3-4 times what Phil makes in a year (I have a great career and I own properties) so at the time I didn't feel the heat that Phil feels everytime he pulls sweaty gatcha. But I can promise you as a pretty decent gambler (or so I thought until I realized how much I had really lost) that I had some amazing winning weekends.
For my losing weekends I could always convince myself it was okay because I had an equal commission coming in the next week or revenues from the properties or if I got into trouble I had liquid assets I could sell. (Also the wrong attitude to have when gambling- Phil has adopted this method with the remergency situations. Everytime he pulls hard he has to have a random situation to beg for his losses back)
I would rationalize my losses with my previous wins or the thought that I could make it up in the future. I was already gambling with money I didn't didn't have yet...another thing that Phil is doing when he pulls.
What makes the lifestyle more addicting than the actual gambling is the way they treat you. Free flights and hotels. Free suites. Free cruises. Being treated like a king when you walk into casinos. It's more than the money. It's the lifestyle and the way they fuel your ego. This is probably what else keeps Phil pulling. To finally be close to being the best at something.
What I was more surprised with was when I talked with one of my hosts at the casino and told them that I really thought I had a gambling problem was how supportive they were. He gave me phone numbers and information and connected me with other people to help support my issue.
Anyway. My losses weren't staggering all at once. I'd have a winning 30 or 40k weekend and a losing 20 or 30k weekend or two. Always ups and downs. Never really big winning or losing streaks for me.
Because it was up and down I always felt I could chase my losses or I was evening out over time but when I finally sat down and calculated everything over the years I was actually down SOOOO much money.
I don't have "fuck you" money like Keemstar does but I do okay and my mindset was there were "acceptable losses". This was not the right mindset and I know that NOW but I was never putting myself in the poor house with what I was doing. With Phil's situation there are no acceptable losses and that is the problem.
I haven't gambled since 2019 but I can tell you gambling addiction is a real thing but there certainly ARE winners in the casino.
If there was no winning people would never come back. It's always chasing that high from that big win.
I suppose you can say there was value in the suites, flights, cruises, helicopter flights, and things like that but certainly not enough to make up for the 200k I've lost. Even to this day I still get calls and offer in the mail for free shit. It's been years since I gambled and still get them in the mail and my email.
Also for those curious, it wasn't just poker. I played a lot of craps and a lot of blackjack. Never slots or roulette which have the worst odds in the casino.
I'd just like to reiterate that, while what I consider Phil to be doing is gambling, there is no opportunity to cash out and take his money and run like you can do at the casino. He probably sees it more as "gaming" rather than gambling.
I see some of Phil's behavior and I recognize it from things I'd do - like "yeah I didn't get it that pull but definitely this next one" is the same as " I lost this trip but I'll win next time.
Edit: I keep saying winning weekends. To clarify. I worked Monday-Friday and had weekends off. I didn't gamble on the weekdays (even though I really wanted to). I would only gamble Friday afternoon/night to early Monday mornings. I never let it get in the way of my actual work but it was still an addiction. Just wanted to clarify why I used that phrase a lot. I know some people so go every day and I have met several that try to make it their full time job. I'm glad I stopped but it's been years and I still think about it all the time.
I'd say the difference here is to get to the casino it's a trip for me. For Phil to gamble all he has to do is pick up his phone. He has nothing else to occupy his time at home when he isn't streaming. Nothing to relieve the boredom which is why it will be difficult to give up. He needs help.
I'm curious if he called scopely and said he had an addiction problem would they lock his account? Would they be legally obligated to help ?
