April 23, 2025

Gambling Interview – Archie Karas (Soft White Underbelly)

Soft White Underbelly interviews Archie Karas, a gambler who came to Las Vegas in 1995 with $50 and turned it into 40 million in three years from gambling, only to lose it all in three weeks [Taken from YT description]. Archie passed away at the age of 73 in 2024.
April 23, 2025

Do It for Her (Gambling Addiction Short Film)

Bilal is struggling in silence with university, family life and money. As he desperately looks for a way out, the devastating impact of a hidden addiction takes over all aspects of his life. Gambling has taken over his life, and threatens everything that has ever been important to him. Now Bilal is at a crossroads: can he take that first step to help himself, or will he burn bridges with everyone he loves along the way?
April 23, 2025

Only Need to Win Once (Gambling Addiction Short Film)

Teenager Brady Thornhill takes out a loan from an online PayDay Loan site in order to fuel his gambling addiction. However, he loses all his money again and Bailiff Liam is sent to collect on the debt. This causes Brady to spiral into a cycle of short term loans and online casinos, until his depression and entrapment takes its final toll.
April 23, 2025

Pieces of a Dream: A Story of Gambling

When Phillip Wong died by suicide, his family thought that silence would end their pain. But his sister, filmmaker Michelle Wong, needed to make sense of her brother’s death. What drove him to end his life at age 36? Weaving together intimate conversations with those closest to Phillip, as well as her own candid reflections, Wong embarks on a personal journey. Gently peeling away layers of silence, she uncovers her brother’s story of gambling addiction and his lonely spiral into desperation, isolation and depression. Filmed against the backdrop of the noisy casinos of Las Vegas and the quiet town of St. Paul, Alberta, the documentary lays bare the grief of family and friends. Sifting through feelings of guilt, sadness and shame, the once-fragmented family begins to discover a new closeness. This heart-wrenching film is a sister’s uncompromising search for the truth and healing–for herself, her family, and others struggling with addiction.
April 23, 2025

The Psychology and Neuroscience of Gambling Addiction

In this presentation, Dr. Luke Clark, Director of the Centre for Gambling Research at UBC, will consider the modern conceptualization of pathological gambling (or Gambling Disorder) as a behavioural addiction. After briefly reviewing diagnosis and prevalence, the talk will focus on the distorted styles of thinking that occur during gambling, and their neurobiological basis in terms of brain chemistry and the brain reward system.
April 23, 2025

Understanding Joy: The Devastation of a Gambling Addiction

Understanding Joy enters the mind of Joy, a 57-year-old woman whose gambling addiction has overcome her sense of morality and driven her to embezzle $700,000 from two employers. As she awaits sentencing for her crime, Joy struggles to explain her disease to her children, to the world, and to herself.
April 23, 2025

Trapped in a Gambling Addiction That Almost Destroyed His Life

After struggling with gambling addiction, Ike Dweck slowly turned his life around. He has gone on to help others in need. He created the SAFE Foundation, an outpatient treatment program located in Brooklyn, New York. They serve as a reliable haven for those experiencing difficulties with cigarettes, vaping, prescription drug addiction, alcoholism, and compulsive gambling. In this video with That’s an Issue Podcast, he shares his inspiring journey from being a compulsive gambler to saving the lives of others struggling with addiction.
April 23, 2025

Beating the Odds: Overcoming Gambling Addiction

Michael Mooney remembers throwing coins up against a wall with classmates to win lunch money at 10 years old. At 17, he spent a year behind bars for heroin possession, while his family moved to Las Vegas. Given the choice between prison and substance abuse recovery, Mooney committed to a clean lifestyle. Through a 12-step program, he swore off substances in 1991, but didn’t prioritize addressing his gambling addiction.
April 23, 2025

Gambling Addiction by Design: Slot Machines

Anthropologist Natasha Dow Schüll, the author of Addiction by Design: Machine Gambling in Las Vegas, spent 15 years studying how casinos and slot machines are designed to pull users into a trancelike state called the “machine zone” where social demands, worries, and bodily awareness fades away. While in this zone, gamblers are not just playing to win, but rather, to play for as long as possible, regardless of the physical, mental and financial costs. While the gambler loses themselves, the gambling industry profits. She extends this research into digital / smartphone gambling as well.