'Never-ending' chases: Sask. men recovering from gambling addiction describe life they've left behind

Three Saskatchewan people recovering from gambling addiction are describing the wild swings, losses and sacrifices that came with their previous lifestyle — but also their improved quality of life since distancing themselves from it.

According to a recent Statistics Canada study of data gathered in the 2018 Canadian Community Health Survey–Gambling Rapid Response, the Prairie provinces had the highest percentage of past-year gamblers at moderate-to-severe risk of gambling problems at 2.5 per cent. The national average was 1.6 per cent.

The rate among men in the Prairies was 2.7 per cent — and 2.2 per cent among women. The national rates were two per cent and 1.2 per cent, respectively.

The same analysis pegged the percentage of Saskatchewan men who had gambled in the previous year at 76.9 per cent, tops in Canada. The national average was 68.8 per cent.

CBC News agreed to grant anonymity to three men who have been taking part in Gamblers Anonymous Saskatchewan meetings.

"Wade," who said he is recovering from an addiction to online gambling, said he began gambling as soon as he was old enough to get his first credit card, adding he was influenced by stories of big wins by friends who played VLTs.

"I guess being young and naive, I suppose that they only seemed to ever tell me about the times they won," he said.

Wade said he would play blackjack and slots online and once turned $1,000 into $74,975 — before losing it all in an attempt to win $25 more to make it an even $75,000.

He said he got "tunnel vision" trying to win the money back, adding it happened very fast, especially since it was online.

"You're there by yourself. There's no one watching," he said. "And before you know it, it's all gone because you don't have that ability when you're dealing with an addiction to really comprehend what's happening."

Wade said that loss was the "big turning point" for him, because he realized there was never going to be a win large enough to satisfy him.

"If I looked at all the money I ever gambled, I probably would have been up money at that point," he said. "If that's not enough, then there's never going to be something that's enough. It could be a $1,000,000 win."

He said he was also sick of worrying about bills and not being able to do things because he had no money.

"It was just a vicious cycle of get paid, blow it all immediately, wait two weeks, get paid, blow it immediately, over and over again," he said.